Blog | Life Church St Louis

Believing In God’s Power

God, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 2, 2007

Today, we’re concluding my message series “Bright Living In A Dark World. We’ve been looking at the ancient book of Esther as a model for how we should live for God in the world that God has put us into. Our world in the 21st century AD is a dark world, but so was the world of the Persian empire that Esther found herself in the 5th century BC.

Let’s review the story of Esther so far that we’ve covered. If you haven’t yet read the book of Esther, I encourage you to read it this week, it’s only ten chapters long. The setting of the book of Esther is the capital city of the Persian empire ruled over by King Xerxes. The queen of the empire was deposed and a young Jewish girl, Esther was chosen to replace her. Esther was part of the exiled Jewish community in Persia. Esther’s uncle Mordecai counseled Esther to conceal her Jewish identity and remained in contact with her.

Mordecai saved King Xerxes life by uncovering a conspiracy against him. However, Mordecai was hated by the evil prince Haman for refusing to bow to him. Haman conspired to destroy both Mordecai and the entire Jewish community throughout the Persian empire and a date was set. Mordecai persuaded Queen Esther to risk her life and approach King Xerxes with the goal of thwarting Haman’s evil plot. Esther requested that a banquet be held with the King and Haman. At the first banquet, Esther did not reveal her concern, but requested a second banquet with King Xerxes and Haman. That’s where we left of last week with the question, how could Esther persuade the King to reverse the decree to destroy the Jews?

So today, my message title is “Believing In God’s Power.” We’re going to see how God’s power, not only raised Esther to be queen but used her to bring deliverance for the Jews. What does this story from thousands of years ago have to do with us? NIV Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. The stories in the Old Testament, such as the book of Esther was written to teach you about how God works in our world. Esther was written to encourage you and give you hope to live in the dark world of the 21st century.

Now, I’m going to give away the ending to the story, if you haven’t read Esther yet. It is a great ending, evil is defeated and Esther and Mordecai are honored. We’ll see how God’s power accomplished that today. A thinking person might ask me the question, Pastor Dan, what is God teaching us in Esther, that evil will always be defeated and the righteous always exalted? The answer to that question is Yes and No. The proper understanding of that answer is crucial to your understanding of God, the Bible and life.

Theologians call the concept the Already and the Not Yet. Here it is in a nutshell. One day, all evil will be defeated and every righteous person exalted. When will that be? It will be at the end of time when Christ returns. However, in our lives, we do not always see evil defeated and righteousness always exalted. We are living in the Not Yet. But oftentimes we do already see evil defeated and righteousness exalted. We are living in the Already. NIV 1 Corinthians 15:25 For he [Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. So you and I are living in the period of time where Jesus is reigning and defeating enemies already. However not yet do we see all enemies defeated. Our destiny is to allow Christ to use us to bring the not yet into the already and we do that through faith.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 1, 2007 message entitled Believing In God’s Power

Finding Courage To Serve God

God, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / March 26, 2007

In my message series, ”Bright Living In A Dark World” we’re looking at how you and I can shine like candles in a dark room. As believers, as followers of Jesus Christ, our purpose in life is to push back the darkness around us by allowing God’s light to shine through us. The brighter you shine for God, the more power God gives you so you can shine even more brightly.

The problem is that many people aren’t shining at all. They’re being overcome by the darkness, by the dark side that we talked about last Sunday. Jesus warned us of the problem in NIV Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men. Why would someone light a lamp and put it under a bowl? Seems to me, the only reason someone would do that is if they were afraid that someone might see the light. And what happens to a burning lamp put under a bowl, it will go out. We don’t want our lights to go out, we don’t want our children’s lights to go out. So, we need courage to let our lights shine for God before men in a dark world.

Today, my message is entitled “Finding Courage To Serve God.” The dictionary defines courage as mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. We need courage to live brightly in a dark world, courage to serve God no matter what other people think, say or do to us. NIV Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. When you live in a dark world, it’s easy to get discouraged, it’s easy to become afraid, it’s easy to worry and get depressed. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Why? Because God goes with you. He can make you strong and courageous.

Eighteenth century England was a dark period and Christians were concerned about the slave trade, but it seemed nothing could be done about it. A man named William Wilberforce was elected to Parliament and became a believer five years later. He became convinced that his destiny was to abolish the slave trade, yet the dark side opposed him. Lord Melbourne said “Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade public life.” Sounds familiar doesn’t it. The dark side doesn’t want any lights shining. After twenty years of courageously serving God, Wilberforce succeeded in abolishing the slave trade in 1807. The light of God through him had pushed back the darkness.

What about your life and destiny? How does God want your light to shine? First of all, you need courage to let your light shine in your family. However, I am convinced that God wants every believer’s light to shine beyond their own families and influence many people around them. That takes courage and God wants to help you.

In this message series, we’re looking at the book of Esther as a model of the dark time we live in today. The Persian King Xerxes had just decreed the destruction of the entire Jewish community through the empire. It was a very dark time indeed, yet God had raised up a candle in Esther as queen of the empire.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my March 25, 2007 message entitled Finding Courage To Serve God

Understanding The Dark Side

God, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / March 20, 2007

Currently, we’re in a message series which I’ve called “Bright Living In A Dark World.” Even though we may all agree that the world is a dark place, God is calling us as believers to shine as candles in the darkness. The Bible speaks of two kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Every person is in one of those kingdoms or the other. No one can straddle the fence. Those two kingdoms are in conflict. There is a battle raging between these two kingdoms that has gone on since man was created.

What does that have to do with you? Whether we like it or not, you and I are trapped in the war zone between these two kingdoms. In fact, we are either on one side or the other. The problem is that most people have no idea that any type of conflict is going on between these spiritual kingdoms. Many people see the world in shades of gray, rather than the contrast the Bible teaches between light and darkness. The result is that many people’s lives are being destroyed and short circuited by forces and conflicts they either don’t believe in or don’t understand.

Today, I want to talk about “Understanding The Dark Side” Let’s gain some insight about what the dark side is all about from God’s words to Paul. NIV Acts 26:17-18 I am sending you to them [the Gentiles] to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins. So we see that people are in darkness and need to be rescued. The dark kingdom is ruled by the power of Satan, whereas the kingdom of light is God’s kingdom. Unfortunately, the majority of people in America no longer believe in the existence of Satan. So they are incredibly naïve about the dark side and it’s power.

People just think that they are dealing with bad people or unfortunate circumstances, rather than with any evil power behind them. They’re wrong. NIV Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Your real struggles in life are not ultimately with people, but against the powers of this dark world, against spiritual forces of evil. When you begin to understand who the real enemy is, it simplifies life and makes you much more effective in dealing with the struggles of life.

In this message series, we are looking at the ancient book of Esther from the Old Testament, but we are looking at it through the lens of the New Testament. Jesus said of Himself in NIV John 12:46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. Jesus showed us the forces behind the darkness and how to defeat them through His power.

So let’s look again at the book of Esther. You’ll remember from last week, that God had designed Esther for the purpose of being queen of Persia. After Esther became queen, her uncle Mordecai uncovered a conspiracy to assassinate King Xerxes and reported it to the King through Esther. The king’s life was saved. So now let’s look at some principles for our lives as we move into Esther chapter 3.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my March 18, 2007 message entitled Understanding The Dark Side

Designed For A Purpose

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / March 12, 2007

The world is a dark place in many ways. The top headlines on the MSNBC website last Tuesday were: Fall Guy – Libby was set up to take the blame for CIA Leak, Dozens of Iraqi pilgrims massacred, Sumatra quake kills scores. You might say that the news media is not a true barometer of what is going on in the world. I think there’s a certain amount of truth to that – seems like the only news fit for print is the bad news. However, you have to admit that everything is not right in our world – there is a lot of darkness, there is a lot of evil.

It’s also in St Louis, here’s the local headlines from the Post Dispatch web site on the same day: Suspect in realty agent assault had been imprisoned, Pilot reported problems before fatal plane crash, Devlin pleads not guilty to Franklin County charges, Teen hits grandfather with metal pipe in cell phone dispute. Looks like we’ve got plenty of problems, plenty of darkness right here in St Louis.

Today, I begin a new message series called “Bright Living In A Dark World.” Just because the world is a dark place, I don’t think that we need to throw up our hands and say that life is hopeless. I don’t think that we need to get down or depressed about the darkness. God wants us to live brightly in our dark world, He wants us to let our lights shine. He doesn’t want believers overwhelmed by the darkness.

NIV Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. In a dark world, a lot of people go around complaining about the darkness. In a dark world, a lot of people argue with others about their behaviors. God’s Word tells us that complaining and arguing don’t help at all, we shouldn’t do either. In fact, to complain or argue puts you right back into the darkness. But there’s a better way, a way to live a blameless and pure life, to shine like stars in a dark world.

My message today is entitled “Designed For A Purpose.” It is no accident that you and I are living in 2007 in a dark world. God designed you to live in such a time of this. So no complaining or arguing. In this series, we’re going to look at a book in the Old Testament called Esther. If you’ve never read it before or not recently, I’d encourage you to read it this week. It’s only 10 chapters long. The book is about a young Jewish girl named Esther who was living in a dark world.

Esther was part of the exiled nation of Israel living in captivity in Persia during the reign of King Xerxes between 486 and 465 BC. The story begins with King Xerxes throwing a royal banquet that lasted for 180 days, showcasing the enormous wealth and splendor of the kingdom. Near the end of the banquet, the King sent for Queen Vashti to parade her beauty before the guests, but she refused to come. Needless to say, she was removed from her position of queen and that’s where our story of Esther begins.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my March 11, 2007 message entitled Designed For A Purpose

Finding The Right Friends

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / March 5, 2007

A man once had a pet canary that had a beautiful song. During the summer, the man thought he would let his canary enjoy the sunshine. So he put the canary’s cage in a tree in his backyard. Of course, there were a lot of other birds that frequented the tree, mainly sparrows. Whereas canaries sing, sparrows simply twitter and chirp. Over the course of the summer, the canary’s song began to change. By the end of the summer, the canary sounded just like a sparrow. He had lost his beautiful song and become like those sparrows. You also become like the friends you keep, whether for good or bad.

Today my messages is entitled “Finding The Right Friends.” I’m going to be talking about how you as a parent can influence your children’s relationships with others. In this messages series, “Parental Guidance Required”, I’ve been talking about the three relationships of your children that you need to influence: their relationship with God, their relationship with you and their relationship with others. NIV Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right. Even children become known for their actions and conduct. One of the important parts of life is your child’s relationships. Who does your child play with, who do they hang out with? Your child’s reputation and behavior will be strongly influenced by their friends.

NIV Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. We could, of course, substitute man with child and the verse would still be true. Blessed is the child who does not walk with the wicked, but who delights in God’s Word. So in this verse, we have the negative warning that parents are to teach their children. Don’t hang out with sinners or you will become like them. The positive encouragement is that children need to build relationships with friends who put a high priority on God’s Words, people who are believers.

Think back over your life to some of the major events. If you’re like me, your best decisions in life were influenced by good relationships. On the other hand, your worst mistakes were often strongly influenced by bad relationships. As a parent, God wants you and I to teach our children the importance of finding the right friends. So, let’s look at these two principles in more detail.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my March 4, 2007 message entitled Finding The Right Friends

The Lost Tomb Of Jesus?

World / By Pastor Dan Walker / February 28, 2007

Has Jesus’ tomb been found? If you’ve been following the news, in the last week of February filmmaker James Cameron and director Simcha Jacobovici have announced that they have found the bones of Jesus. Their documentary will air on the Discovery Channel on March 4. Jacobovici has also authored a book entitled “The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History.” What are we to make of this?

If the bones of Jesus have been found, it would mean that the resurrection of Jesus was not true. The Bible teaches that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven, which leaves no room for a body. The cross and the resurrection are the central tenets of the Christian faith. Paul writes in NIV 1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. So, this book and documentary are a frontal attack on the basis of Christianity. Jacobovici makes this bizarre statement, “some believers are going to say, well, this challenges the resurrection. I don’t know why, if Jesus rose from one tomb, he couldn’t have risen from the other tomb.” Not much logic here. Multiple resurrections? If Jesus was resurrected, there would be no bones or tomb at all.

Let’s look at the facts. The tomb is not new, it was discovered in 1980 by contruction workers digging in Jerusalem. Inside the tomb were ten limestone ossuaries. A prominent Israeli archaelogist, Professor Amos Kloner, who examined them at the time did not see any special signficance in them. Now, all of a sudden, 27 years later, much ado is being made over these ossuaries. What is the evidence?

The main evidence consists of the names written on the ossuaries. Some of the names are Judah, son of Jesus, Jesus, son of Joseph, Mariamene (Mary Magdalene) and Maria. These were all very common names at the time. The name Jesus appears in 98 other known tombs and on 21 other known ossuaries. So called statistical analysis is purported to indicate that the random probability of this particular association of names would be low. This is not evidence, it is simply junk science. Joe Zias, who was the curator for anthropology and archeology at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem says, “Projects like these make a mockery of the archeological profession.”

To introduce a high-tech CSI element, the authors did DNA testing. What did they test? Well, that’s not clear at all, as the bones contained in the ossuaries were buried immediately after they were found. So they scraped something out of the boxes and they found that the DNA from the Jesus box and from the Mariamene box were not related. What does that prove? Well, if you have read the fictional novel, The DaVinci Code, you would know. It supposedly supports the preposterous claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a child. DNA testing in this case is completely meaningless as we don’t even have the bones anymore. In any tomb, one would expect a high probability that that the DNA of a husband and wife would not be related. More junk science.

As opposed to this junk science, what do we have to disprove it. We have multiple ancient texts written by eye witnesses that date to within a few years of the actual events. In these ancient texts, translated for us in the New Testament, we have evidence that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead. No body was ever produced. If Jesus’ body was available, the enemies of Christianity would have produced it and that would have been the end of Christianity. However, no one could find Jesus’ body, because it didn’t exist.

For any thinking person, the evidence against the lost tomb of Jesus is overwhelming. The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is solid. Use the controversy to talk about Jesus to your friends.