http://www.scappoosechurchofchrist.org/

Scappoose Church of Christ, 53987 Columbia River Highway PO Box 1104, Scappoose, OR (2026)

02/23/2023

Who doesn't love hearing a story with a happy ending? Especially, if it's dramatic, engaging, personal, and told by the person who lived it.

Recent studies on evangelism indicate that 50-70% of Americans say they'd be open to hearing about someone's life story, even if that story included elements of religious faith. For Christians who are eager to share their faith with others this means that our personal faith stories are incredibly useful as a primary evangelistic tool. Most people will allow us to tell how Jesus has changed our lives for the better. We can be like the man in Mark chapter 5 who had formerly been possessed by demons whom Jesus sent home to his friends to tell them "how much Jesus had done for him."

This Sunday (Lord willing and weather permitting) we will discuss a plan for equipping each of us to tell our personal S.T.O.R.Y. We will consider an effective way to communicate to our friends who we were before Jesus, how we came to know Him, how He has changed us for the better and how much we desire to share His gospel with all others.

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

02/02/2023

Studies show that children as young as 18 months old begin to express altruistic behavior. I believe that people are created by God with an innate capacity for empathy, an innate desire to be connected to others, and an innate conscience urging them to help those in need. This nature within us can either be encouraged or stifled as it competes with other innate pulls toward selfishness and sinful desires.

As we grow and learn, our desire to help others becomes more emotionally complicated. We want to help. We often feel unsure how best to help. We wonder sometimes if our help is really helping. We help others but feel manipulated or used by them.

This Sunday, we will consider wisdom from Scripture that can help us to become better helpers and even protect us as we "learn to be devoted to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful" (Titus 3:14).

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

01/08/2023

New Series Begins January 8th, 2023.
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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

12/29/2022

A war has been raging behind the scenes for the entirety of human history. A great enemy leads an assault on all that is good in all of creation bitterly seeking to corrupt and control it all in defiance of the Good Creator, God. In Revelation 12 we are given a dynamic allegory summarizing this great spiritual conflict.

The enemy is Satan, the devil, that ancient serpent, depicted in Revelation 12 as a furious, red seven-headed dragon who waits, schemes, and attacks by varied assault on God and His people.

God's people- Israel and the Church, are depicted in Revelation 12 as a woman clothed in the radiant glory of the sun and moon and stars. She brings forth the Messiah who will rule and ultimately conquer the dragon. The dragon tries to destroy her and the male child but fails. The male child is assumed to God's throne in Heaven and the woman remains under God's protection.

The dragon seeks to conquer Heaven itself. He is thwarted by Michael and his angels and thrown down to earth. He attempts to destroy both the woman and her son but is unsuccessful. He cannot defeat Jesus or His Church. His final desparate strategy is to isolate the rest of the woman's offspring- singling out the brethren of Jesus, the individual members of household of God. If he cannot destroy the whole, he will damage whomever he can.

The repeated plea of Revelation to every individual: "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus" (Rev 14:12). And the repeated assurance of final vindication: "Do not fear what you are about to suffer… Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev 2:10).

[https://www.facebook.com/PreachingMinister/]
Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

12/24/2022

Who doesn't enjoy receiving a good gift? Especially when the gift is a clear manifestation that the giver has given personal and intentional consideration of our particular and individual interests. It feels good because you feel like you have been seen and understood. Your spirit rejoices, "They really get me!" You feel deeply connected to the giver in love and gratitude.

God is this kind of good giver (James 1:17). His gifts are perfectly tailored to each of us. They reflect His deep understanding of exactly what we need both universally as humans and particularly as individuals. His gifts are generously given out of abundance and love; no mere obligation. Even the manner of His giving is every bit as perfect as the gifts themselves.

Nowhere is God's goodness in giving seen more perfectly than in the giving of Jesus Christ, His only Begotten Son. Jesus is a gift universally necessary and individually received. It is nothing short of full forgiveness of sins and full salvation from death. Receiving the gift of Jesus requires a personal acceptance in baptism of a new connected relationship with God. That this gift is available to everyone should not diminish in our minds that it was given for every single one of us in particular. In the giving of Jesus, as the most expensive and valuable gift ever given, we are assured that God will spare no expense in giving us anything else we will ever need (cf. Romans 8:32). In baptism, we receive the gift of the continual presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is a guarantee of even greater gifts to follow (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 1:13-14). There is no greater Gift. There is no greater Giver.

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

12/15/2022

An impossible problem- sin.

Every adult is individually guilty. The penalty for sin is death. No human is able to remove the penalty either from himself or anyone else. No offering of animal blood or whole sacrifice is adequate to permanently remove guilt from even one human soul. Justice as a principle demands a recompense equal to the value of the sinner himself. What can be done?

God is adequate in perfect righteousness.

He is free of sin, free from death, but He is not human and thus cannot stand as one of us to represent us as a priest or mediator. Neither does He possess a physical or mortal body so as to offer His own life in place of ours. What can be done?

An ingenious solution- the incarnation of God's Divine Son, the Annointed, Christ, Messiah, Immanuel.

God the Father prepared a body for God the Son to inhabit. God the Son lived as a man among people, was tested in every way, proved perfect obedience, maintained perfect innocence, kept himself free of sin but volunteered His perfect life to die for the sins of all humanity. Being in possession of both humanness and divinity, He alone was uniquely qualified to represent humanity and offer Himself in place of all humankind. Being free of sin, death could not retain Him; He was resurrected and returned to immortality. He was uniquely capable of obtaining and securing eternal salvation by His offering and priesthood because neither will ever need refreshment or replacement (Hebrews 10:5-10).

Behold, the long-hidden plan of godliness is incredible!

We confess with 1 Timothy 3:16 that Jesus Christ "was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory." We express our gratitude with 2 Corinthians 5:21 that, "for our sake [God] made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

12/09/2022

This time of year we often see signs and memes declaring, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" or "Keep Christ in Christmas." Perhaps you've also seen someone respond sort of cheekily, "Isn't Jesus the reason for EVERY season?" or "How 'bout we start by keeping Christ in CHRISTIANITY." Snarky, perhaps. But not wholly wrong.

As believers, we surely understand that Jesus Christ's coming into the world is a thing worthy of constant remembrance and celebration. It is a thing of monumental historical significance deserving of recognition far exceeding a single day or even month of the year. Jesus is the singular hope of salvation for all humankind. We should spend every day of every year magnifying the Gospel of Jesus Christ before the world.

In Colossians 1:27-29, Paul celebrates the Gospel as "the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me."

Like a present that's spent a long time under the tree, its contents guessed at now finally unwrapped- the gospel was revealed 2000+ years ago as a gift of exceeding value offered to any who will receive it. The gift is Christ himself- the son of God offered for the forgiveness of our sins, raised from the dead, reigning in Heaven and yet also living and working within our hearts. He is maturing us, refining us and securing within us the glorious hope of even better things to come when He returns a second time. Let Christ dwell in you richly. Keep Christ inside you always, Christian.

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

12/01/2022

There seems to be a lot of confusion and condemnation these days regarding the definition of love and what it means to be considered a "loving" person. I seriously doubt that in a few brief paragraphs here I will be able to clear the whole mess up. Nevertheless, I will attempt to direct your attention to a pair of passages that contain summative definitions of love and maybe point out some details in them that often seem to be missed.

To begin a positive definition, I John 4:8 plainly states that, "God is love." This may seem trite but it is actually a very helpful definition because it means that whatever else we think or discover in Scripture or elsewhere, the fundamental definition of love is firmly anchored and on display in the essential character, attitudes, and declarations of God, Himself. What this means is that nothing God says, thinks, or does should ever be regarded as "unloving." Love is His core nature and He is the singular standard and definition of perfect love. If you want to know what love is, look at what God says and does.

I Corinthians 13:4-8 is another helpful passage in defining love as it speaks both positively regarding love's proper attitude and behavior as well as negatively regarding things love will not do. Verse 6 helps by limiting the definition of love when it negatively states that love "does not rejoice in wrongdoing." This is an important limitation in the definition of love. God loves all people very much, but He is never happy for us when we involve ourselves in wrongdoing, even when we think ourselves very happy to be involved in it. By this definition, we are made to understand that it is never loving to rejoice with anyone who is happy about doing something God has declared to be wrong.

There seems to be a major disconnect that happens right here for some regarding this aspect of love. Perhaps the disconnection occurs because we forget that, like our definition of love, the definition of "wrongdoing" must also be drawn from the character, attitudes, and declarations of God rather than our own opinions. In other words, nothing God declares to be wrongdoing can or ever should be considered "love" or "loving." Perhaps part of the problem lies in trying to love too many things equally and without the proper prioritization defined in Scripture. Our love for God and His preferences is to bear the highest priority above our love for ourselves, our neighbors, our friends, or even our family. We must not "insist on our own way" or theirs (1 Cor 13:5). There is a necessary submission to God's definition of righteousness that must inform our definition of love.

While this is certainly not a complete definition of love, I believe it to be helpful in putting some solid parameters on our definition and pointing us in the right direction for further study and understanding. Positively, we can know that we must look to the character and actions of God to identify what love is. Negatively, we can understand that we must look to the commands and declarations of God to identify what love is not.

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

11/26/2022

One of my favorite poems of all time is a haiku by Master Matsuo Basho. The translation reads: "A cicada shell/ it sang itself/ utterly away." I love the imagery of a cicada who has sung himself out of his body- taking flight, carried away on the same wind that carried his song. Perhaps he has even transformed himself into ethereal song.

Having lived in the Midwest and South, I have experienced first-hand the constant, deafening drone of cicada songs in the spring and summer. It takes some getting used to but after a time it becomes a familiar, comforting sound (at least to me). I have seen the dry shells of former exoskeletons hanging on trees as the cicadas shed their outer skin to assume their final form. It is amazing to see how intact these shells appear- a perfect hollow representation of their former selves except for the split down the back where they extracted themselves.

Researchers tell us that of their 17-year life span, only the final 1-2 months is spent above ground. While still underground, a cicada will molt and grow, successively shedding its skin four or five times in a process of "incomplete metamorphoses." This renewing of their bodies allows them to shed damaged skin and regenerate newer, larger, healthier bodies. Only in their final form do the cicadas emerge with wings capable of flight.

When I consider Paul's admonition in Romans 12:2 to "be transformed by the renewing of your minds" I think of the metamorphoses of the cicada. The Greek word that is translated as "transformed" in this verse is METAMORPHOO. The cicada's initial emergence from the egg is a significant metamorphosis marking the start of a new kind of life. It's final transformation to a flying body is magnificent finale to its final metamorphosis. But the intermediate, "incomplete metamorphoses" are absolutely vital to its growth and progress toward that final end. If the cicada hopes to fly and sing one day, it must continually renew itself over the course of its lifetime.

Surely there is a lesson in this imagery. As Christians we are to be constantly renewing our minds, transforming our thoughts, attitudes and behaviors, aligning them more perfectly with the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. We are being transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus who rose from the grave and ascended on high. We sing together as we progress toward our final flight to Heaven. And we eagerly await the final transformation of these lowly physical bodies into their perfect eternal state.

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

11/17/2022

It is often painfully indicting to contrast the lethargic state of modern Christianity with the passionate zeal of our first century forebears. In modern America, we often see a Christianity that has settled into a comfortable, well-established cultural position yet which seems scattered and unfocused regarding its mission and purpose. The first century church, on the other hand, had been physically scattered by persecution, yet seemed firmly settled and focused regarding the primacy of its mission and purpose to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples.

In Acts 8:1, we read how "there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." But their reaction was not to cower in fear or dial back their evangelistic efforts. In 8:4 we read that, "those who were scattered went about preaching the word." Later in Acts 11:19ff we gain further detail that "those who were scattered because of the persecution… traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord." This was not done by the apostles or paid preachers or specially-appointed missionaries. This was simply done by scattered members of the church sharing the message of salvation with as many others as possible because they felt compelled by their love for Jesus and His Gospel and their concern for their fellow man.

Now that's a kind of "scatter-brained" thinking modern Christianity would do well to imitate!

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

11/10/2022

Wesley Hanson will be speaking at a Youth Rally in Washington this weekend. There will not be a new video posting this Sunday.

11/03/2022

The Second book of the New Testament is called the Gospel According to Mark.

Who's Mark?

Well technically his name was John, but Luke tells us they also called him Mark.

Man, there are a lot of people with the same name to keep track of in the Bible. Was Mark one of the apostles?

No.

Then how come he got to write a gospel?

Peter was an apostle and he referred to his relationship with Mark as being like father and son.

So did Peter ask Mark to write it?

No, but others did. Clement of Alexandria tells us that after hearing Peter preach on several occasions, a group of believers encouraged Mark to make a written collection of Peter's remembrances of Jesus. In fact Justin Martyr quotes Mark's Gospel and refers to his source as "Peter's Memoirs." These believers expressed a desire to have a written record of Peter's messages that they could study and commit to memory for themselves. They also wanted something that could be read in church even after Peter was gone.

So that's how the Gospel of Mark came to be?

Well, that's the main part. You'll have to tune in Sunday morning for the rest of the story.

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Sermon outlines will be happily provided upon request after the sermon has been delivered.

Scappoose Church of Christ

02/23/2023

02/02/2023

01/08/2023

12/29/2022

12/24/2022

12/15/2022

12/09/2022

12/01/2022

11/26/2022

11/17/2022

11/10/2022

11/03/2022

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