A Word From Pastor Mike - Coach 'Em Up

This was a sermon Mike gave a couple of weeks ago...

"Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you and do them that you may live... " Deuteronomy 4:1

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might."  Ephesians 6:10

"All those evil things come from within and they defile a person." Mark 7:23



Moses, Paul and Jesus are coaching. At least, that's one way of looking at it. A coach wants the one, or the team, to succeed, to be victorious.  I think that was the case with Moses, Paul and Jesus.

I grew up in a small town in Montana. The only sport to do in the winter was to play basketball.

(Mike didn't show these photos when he gave this sermon.  It's my blog, though, so I can do what I want, right?  Just so you know, Mike is #30.)

I played basketball from 5th grade through my senior year in high school and I basically had one coach through out that time, Clayton Hornung.

I looked on the internet to see if I could find a picture of him. I did!

Then, I looked to see if there were any stories about him, and there was!  Well, he was inducted into the Montana Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014. He was quoted as saying, "Its a tremendous honor to be recognized by your peers and its a humbling experience.  It is not necessarily something I worked for but it is deeply appreciated."  I was excited to read, "I would also like to thank Mike Struck for making me the coach I am today."  I may have made up that last part.

Clayton Hornung coached 7 years in Turner.  One of his gigs was coaching the first year of Turner's girls' basketball team.  Their photo in the annual that year said, "We almost won one!"

(I am number 15, probably the worst player on the team.  Seriously, that first year I didn't even know the rules or any of the basics.  Still, I had fun! I won't name all the others in case they wish to remain anonymous, but I know a few readers may recognize themselves.  

Feel free to identify yourselves in the comments!)

Coach Hornung was so despondent that he said he would never coach women's basketball again.  (That may or may not be true.)

Clayton Hornung ended up going to Baker, MT and there he coached girls' basketball.  They won 3 state championships, took 2 seconds, 2 thirds and 1 fourth place. Three times he was Coach of the Year. He was also nominated for coach of the year 8 other times.  Additionally, he was a nominee for the National Coach of the Year Award.

I had no idea I would have such a great influence on him.  (groan...) He was also elected mayor of Baker, MT.

Coach Hornung loved to coach and he was a good teacher. However, whenever there was a practical joke played, he always blamed me.  It was only me SOME of the time.

I still have his playbook somewhere.  He was influenced by John Wooden, the great basketball coach of the UCLA Bruins.  My classmates and me still remember his teachings all these years later, "Don't televise your passes."  "Take the initiative!"  "Don't be lackadaisical!"  And here's another thing, something he probably couldn't do today, he prayed before we went out for the basketball game.

As I said earlier, we can see Moses, Paul and Jesus as coaches.  First, let's start with Moses.  In the book of Deuteronomy Moses is trying to get the people out of their wilderness wandering and into the promised land.  Deuteronomy is the Farewell Address of Moses.  It was through his last chance to "coach 'em up" before he died and they crossed the Jordan River to the Promised Land.

What was Moses saying in our reading today?

• Keep statutes, rules, commandments.
• What to DO, in order to live and take possession of the land.
• Don't add or subtract from these laws.
• Take care to keep these commandments, lest you forget or depart from them.
• Teach your children and grandchildren.

Moses could coach 'em up today, make an application for our life. I think he would tell us:

• Obey God and God's Word.
• Don't forget or change the commandments.
• Teach them... pass on the faith.

Do you have a Christian goal?  Is there some reason you are here today?  Is it to get to heaven?  Is it to become a disciple or work on discipleship?  Is it to promise something to God or to thank God?

Where are we going?  Where is this team going?  How are we doing?  A coach wants to know.

Let's move on to Paul.  We know about him. He coached for the other team for awhile. He was a Jewish Pharisee.  He wanted his people to follow the law and not be lead down the wrong road by a cultish group called Christians.

Well, Paul switched teams and he became the coach for many Christian Congregations.  Usually, the end of his letters were full of all kinds of coaching.  That's the way it is in Chapter 6 of Ephesians. Here's a summary of his coaching:

• Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might.
• Put on the whole armor or God.
• We are standing against/wrestling with the devil, rulers, authorities, cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil.
• The Whole Armor of God is Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes - Gospel of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation, Sword of the Spirit - God's Word.
• Pray! ... at all times, for the saints, for Paul to be bold in his proclamation of the Gospel.

What's the application for today? We are battling evil forces; We are in a spiritual battle. We must be strong in God's power and use God's weapons.  We are to pray.

Battles and contests can be overwhelming at times, but we have the greatest power in the universe on our side.  We need to lean on HIM, not on our own understanding.

Finally, Jesus does some coaching.  The scribe or Pharisees were complaining that his disciples were eating with unwashed hands, thus making them defiled.  Jesus does some coaching on the floor, then he takes his disciples into the locker room and does some more coaching. Here are his points.

• Nothing outside, going in, defiles us before God.
• He declared all foods clean, freeing Christians from Jewish dietary laws.
• From within the human heart, that central place of who we are, comes evil thoughts, etc.

What does this reading mean to us today? Is there something to learn? Yes, evil thoughts and actions defile us before God. Beware of your sinful human nature!

So, each week you come to church.  Sometimes you need to be "coached up". Sometimes the coach can be hard on you. Sometimes you need to hear:

• I am a sinner. I need to change.
• I've got to quit going through the motion of being a Christian.
• Quit complaining. Quit judging people.
• Say, "I'm sorry." "I forgive you."
• Let go of the past. Don't be a victim.
• Sometimes our failures, our stress, our difficulties, are times of growth for us. We can become bitter or better.

And sometimes you need to hear encouragement:

• God loves me. I'm one of God's children.
• Thanks for years of faithfulness and service.
• I'm not perfect but I'm moving forward in faith.
• Jesus' death on the cross brings me life, peace and salvation.
• God knows what I'm going through and God cares about my life. God wants me to have an abundant life. God wants to fill my life with favor and blessing.

I want you to know you have the most powerful coach ever - God.  He wants you to win, to have an abundant life, to be happy and blessed.

This is my coaching advice to you.  Let God "coach you up" and it will go well for you.

A Word From Pastor Mike "You Can Make a Difference For God"

I'm a bit slow, but the following was Mike's Easter Sermon:

Happy Easter! Here at our congregation we have been reading the Book of Acts during Lent, 50 readings in 50 days. The companion  book to the series is called, The Essential Question - How You Can Make a Difference for God.

The Essential Question  is from Acts 22. It involves the conversion of Saul, Christianity's greatest enemy, into its greatest missionary and theologian. The Essential Question Saul/Paul asks is "What do you want me to do, Lord?"

Let's hear the story from Saul/Paul...
   As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus about noon, a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me and I feel to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And I answered. "Who are you, Lord?"  And he said to me, "I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting." Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, "What do you want me to do, Lord?" And the Lord said to me, "Rise and go into Damascus and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do."

Saul went into Damascus, prayed and fasted. He regained his sight. He went into the Jewish synagogues and proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God. He started going by Paul instead of Saul.  He spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Roman Empire.

What a turn around from trying to stamp Christianity out to becoming its greatest promoter. Paul's life made a difference. Two billion Christians in the world and not only is Christianity the world's largest religion, it's growing!

Since our series, The Essential Question, is about a question, I have been investigating questions. Did you  know that in the Gospels Jesus asked 307 questions? The questions were sometimes simple. How many loaves do you have? What's your name? Sometimes the questions were probing, Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am? And sometimes the questions were heart-wrenching... Why did you doubt, oh you of little faith? Do you want to be made well?

Jesus was also asked at least 183 questions. Depending on who you listen to, he only answered 3 to 8 of them directly.

Questions help us to learn and to gather information. Questions even help us to believe. Questions are fascinating.

Back in 1993 a two word question became one of the most successful advertising campaigns ever. Do you know what it was?   ...Got milk?

At first they weren't going to run it because
     a) it was lazy
     b) it was grammatically incorrect

The popularity of the ad spilled over into other fronts...
Got Jesus? Got God? Got coffee? Got talent?

Friends got your back. Atheists got nothing. Kids - got your nose.  A Colorado billboard before you get into Wyoming... Got Weed? (Mike had many more examples and photos on the big screen to go with them. I guess you would have had to have been there.)

In our Gospel reading the woman, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Salome had a question, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"

The Gospels tell us that Jesus was wrapped in a linen shroud and laid in a tomb cut out of rock, then a larger stone was rolled in place to seal the tomb. When the women got to the tomb their question was answered, the stone was rolled away. Inside a young man in a white robe said, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples. He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."

Of course, all the questions were answered for the women (sarcasm). They were afraid! They fled. Their heads were probably about to explode with questions.

Of course, when the women told the disciples, all their questions were answered. No way! They had to check it out for themselves. Even then, though they believed, I'll bet they still had questions.

What are we to make of Saul, a Jewish hit man, a thug. He knew for a fact that Christianity was a lie and he wanted to stomp it out. He has an encounter with the living Christ and he asks the essential question, "What do you want me to do, Lord?" He made a difference for God.

You can make a difference for God, too! Maybe you have questions, that's ok. The women at the tomb had questions. The disciples had questions. Saul had questions. Augustine, a great church leader had questions. Martin Luther had questions. The Protestant tradition was born out of questioning.
The thing is, what are you going to do with questions?

For some people questions lead to a negative road of bitterness, indifference, a hard heart and despair. Questions can also lead to understanding, eyes being opened, an "Aha" moment, confession... thank you God for all you've done for me.

If you were to ask me what all this Good Friday and Easter stuff means I'd tell you 3 things.

     1) What Jesus did for us on the cross brought reconciliation between us and God. Right relationship with God has been restored. Our sins are taken away.
     2) Jesus won the victory over death. Because he lives, we shall live, too. We don't need to fear death. it brings us closer to God.
     3) In his instruction, Jesus taught us how to live with God and neighbor. His teaching brings meaning to life. Now I get it!

When I asked God the Essential Question, "What shall I do, Lord?" the answer was Preach the Gospel.

• You are God's good creation but we are sinners. We fall short. We miss the mark. Repeat every day...tell God you're sorry and that you trust and believe in his forgiveness.
• God loves you. God is not as worried about your past as your are. God's all about new starts, beginning again. God wants us to have life and have it abundantly. God wants us to have joy. God wants to bless us and he wants us to have a life of purpose.
• God wants relationship with us. He'll take our doubts, our questions. He'll take our thanks and praise. Thank God for Easter, for the beauty of creation, thanks for Easter dresses, thanks for family and friends, thanks for health, for food and drink. Thank God for all good gifts. Let your Easter and everyday be filled with thank yous for God.

So this Easter you have:

1. The cross restoring relationship with God 
2. The empty tomb is victory over death 
3. The teaching of Jesus brings meaning and purpose to life

You also have the Essential Question, "What do you want me to do, lord?"

Well, that will be answered differently by everyone but let me suggest a few things:

•    Use your talents.
•    Be kind, be encouraging, be thankful.
•    If something jumps inside you... do it.

Whatever you do, ask God to help you and whether it be big or small, do it to the Glory of God. I know you can make a difference for God.