http://www.voteformarriagenc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Campbell-White-Paper.pdf

One of the issues that David has been especially concerned with is the deteriorating morality in our country. I began a few sermons on related issues this past Sunday with a message about the place of the church in the world. I will have a sermon next Sunday dealing specifically with being “Faithful Families.” This Sunday I would like to share some thoughts regarding issues related to the upcoming vote on a “Constitutional Amendment” that would add this new section to our state constitution:

“Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts.”

While on the surface that sounds like something we could all easily support, there are other issues and concerns associated with the amendment, including its impact on the rights, services and protection of children in non-marriage households, domestic violence victims, and others. Of course there is also a difference between our personal values and practices and civil legislation. That being said, I will speak Sunday about the Biblical call for marriage to be between a man and a woman, and the important opportunity I believe this is for Christians to take a stand for that Biblical teaching in our community and our state at a time when that stand is critically needed.

We will have information sheets available Sunday, as well as yard signs if you care to be involved in this issue in a more public way in your neighborhood. You will need to take up the message sleeve each night, as $10,000 worth of signs and billboards have been vandalized and destroyed in recent weeks by those who oppose this amendment. We ask that you do your own research and recognize that not everyone who is against homosexuality will be for this particular amendment. And of course be prayerful for our society that we will seek the Lord’s will and be the light of the world.

Here are a couple of web links with further information.
In support of the Amendment http://www.voteformarriagenc.com/
Opposing the Amendment http://www.protectallncfamilies.org/

As the saying goes, we are to be in the world but not of the world. That actually is a very hard balance to maintain, and it’s getting harder all the time. We are not to take on the world’s values as our own. But neither are we to try to escape our interaction with the world. Both destroy our opportunity for ministry and witness.

You see, some would have us not be any different at all, and simply accommodate ourselves to the values and ways of our culture. Yet that is not what the faithful of God’s people have ever done. The apostle Paul reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:20) The writer of the book of Hebrews affirms this, recalling that those great heroes of faith listed in chapter 11 “admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth,” that they were looking and “longing for a better country—a heavenly one.” (Hebrews 11:13-14) And the apostle John charges us that we are not to love the world or anything in it, for it all passes away. (1 John 2:15-17) Truly, we are not to be identical to the world.

Yet neither are we to be isolated from the world. Rather we are to be a real and genuine presence in our world and seek to influence and impact our world for Christ. Just as Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” (John 8:12), He also said of us, “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14) In fact, our Lord was crucified because He came to this world yet refused to change His values from the heavenly, eternal ones to earthly, temporal ones. And just before that happened He prayed that we would faithfully do the same:

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from
the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the
truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the
world.” (John 17:15-18)

Aren’t you glad that Jesus chose not to isolate Himself from the world? Aren’t you glad that though Jesus was tempted in every way by the world just as we are, that He never sinned, never sought to be identical to the world, never took on the world’s values and lifestyle? (Hebrews 4:15) And now our Lord has sent us into the world to live with the same faithfulness and love, and to have the same impact on those in our world today.

In the sermon today we focus on the resurrection—the resurrection of Christ, the resurrection at the second coming of our Lord, and the resurrection we experience when we are born again of water and spirit (John 3:1-8). In this article, as well as in our sermon time today, I want to emphasize this last side of resurrection.

The apostle Paul affirms that in our baptism we experience a death to sin, a burial with Christ, and a resurrection to “a new life.” I have used a sermon title before, “Is there life after baptism?” I think for many of us the sole emphasis in baptism is on the salvation through Christ that this response of faith brings. However, as I will say in today’s message, if all we see in baptism is the moment of being saved, we have missed the incredible significance of what this death and resurrection means for our lives. This is emphasized in a wonderful book on baptism, Down in the River to Pray, by John Mark Hicks and Greg Taylor. This excerpt is an example.

“For Paul, baptism is a holy moment where transformation occurs in the life of the
believer and leads to a transformed life. It is an event that unites us with the Christ-
event. He points back to baptism in his letters when it seems his readers have
forgotten their calling, have become divided, have slipped into antinomianism, or have
elevated Jewish rituals over the grace of God. Baptism is a sign of a new ethical
lifestyle grounded in the grace of God and lived out in the body of Christ, the
community of faith.” (p. 85)

Paul says in Galatians 3:26-27, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” To the Corinthians he writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17) In each of these instances he goes on to say that this changes how we live.

And not only are we “baptized into Christ,” we are baptized into a community of fellow believers. That community is the church. “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1 Cor. 12:12-13)

Clearly there is life after baptism. We are raised to live a new life; a faithful life; a serving life; a transformed and transforming life.

As we have seen through the past two Sundays, God commissions and commands His people to be conscious and compassionate of those in need of spiritual as well as material blessings and necessities. Several commented after this past Sunday’s sermon at the consistent message throughout Scripture for God’s people to help take care of orphans, widows, immigrants, the poor, and others in need. Your compassionate hearts and sacrificial spirit were put on great display through the funds given for this great part of our ministry. To date just under $23,000 has been gathered for this good and important work. If you were unable to give please have fellowship in this great work by taking part and making up your contribution. Helping our own members in need and reaching out to our community is an essential part of our work. Expanding that to feed needy children in our schools with efforts such as “The Backpack Program” of the Food Bank will further our commitment to reach out to and help others.

And don’t forget this Sunday’s contribution as well! With Spring Break come wonderful days of important time spent “recreating” with family and friends. Please stay current with your contribution! It’s similar to daily Bible reading—better to not get behind than to find yourself with too much to catch up!

This special emphasis on benevolence, as well as our study of the prophets on Sunday evenings, are very timely. Our communities, our nation and our world struggle with many calls against injustices here and abroad. As Christians we have compassion, respect and appreciation for those in authority; for those who seek to provide safety and who legislate, interpret and enforce the laws of the land. As Christians we have compassion for those who feel they have been treated unjustly and have not seen “liberty and justice for all” in their own experience.

We affirm the voice of God through the prophets: “Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16-17) “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24) “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

So here are a few other comments from the record of Scripture.  We’ll cover these and others as we prepare for our Benevolence contribution. Our shepherds challenged us this past Sunday with a goal of $30,000 total, which will enable us to take care of our church family, have some to share with the community around us, and be able to commit to the Backpack program with the local Second Harvest Food Bank to provide food over the weekends during the school year for poverty stricken children in our own Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District.

From the Law of Moses: “If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother…Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.  There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:7, 10-11)

From the apostle John: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:16-18)

From the book of Hebrews: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.  And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Hebrews 13:15-16)

If our worship of God is only the “direct” kind—the fruit of lips that confess his name—and we are not offering to God with our lives the “indirect kind”—doing good and sharing with others—then our worship is unacceptable to God.  That is the consistent message of Scripture, from the books of the Law through the Old Testament prophets, and from the gospels through the epistles to the promises of Revelation.  Jesus demonstrated that fact in so very many ways, including in the way He defined the greatest commandment: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)

Or what if you were foretelling the judgment scene, and were going to write a story that emphasized what was different about the ones that made it “through the pearly gates” and the ones that didn’t? What would be the deciding factors in your mind? Here’s what our Lord Jesus Christ had to say about it:

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

Clearly, taking care of those in need is important to God, and He demands that it be important to us. On March 25th we have the opportunity to demonstrate that importance in our special benevolence contribution.

Our hearts go out to the family of Harding University freshman Ty Osman of Brentwood, Tennessee. Ty and some other Harding students were traveling to Fort Worth for Spring Break and were involved in a car wreck in a section of the highway under construction. Ty got out to check on those in one of the vehicles involved and was killed when another car hit his vehicle which struck Ty. He died later after being careflighted to a nearby hospital. In an article in The Tennessean it was acknowledged that those at Harding as well as Brentwood High School and the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ were mourning the loss of a young man who had a heart for helping others. That continued even in death, as Ty’s family donated his organs and asked for prayers for those who would be recipients in the hours following this terrible tragedy. One of his friends who was in another vehicle and witnessed the accident said, “He really cared about the people around him.” Keller Phillips continued, “We’re just out of tears. It’s been tough.”

We sometimes get the mistaken sense that as Christians we are immune from life’s struggles and tragedies. That’s not true of course, and we all realize that in our moments of clearer thinking. We only have to remember Bible stories of some of the most faithful people who ever lived and recall that their lives certainly included hardship and suffering at times.

So what’s the use then? Why be a Christian at all?

There are several answers to this very genuine question. Jesus is Lord of all, and every knee should bow before Him, and one day will (Phil. 2:9-11). There is the promise that our Lord will be with us through it all, and will never leave nor forsake us, no matter what difficult things we go through (Matt. 10; Heb. 13:5-6). There is the promise that though we will experience trials, we can be assured that our God will not allow us to be tempted with more than we can handle, and will always provide an opportunity for us to make it through the difficulties (1 Cor. 10:13). There is the blessing of a church family to share our triumphs and sorrows. Can you imagine going through something like what Ty’s family is enduring without a caring and loving church family? And one more thing. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). Our world needs us to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ! There are those in your life right now who are experiencing great difficulties and trials. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to share the love of Christ with them. Will you focus on your needs and wants, or will you focus on helping and serving others in their difficulties? “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).