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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date September 21, 2025
Text Joshua 8:1-29
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Our text speaks about the tiny city of AI. From all indications, this city should have been a pushover for Israel as they marched through Canaan. However, in Chapter 7, Israel experienced its only defeat when it attacked the little city of Ai. In that battle, 36 of their soldiers died, and Israel was forced to flee from Ai.

Israel experienced this defeat for a couple of reasons.

FIRST,

THEY FAILED TO SEEK THE LORD’S WILL

BEFORE THEY WENT INTO BATTLE.

They were arrogant and proud after their victory at Jericho. They assumed they were beyond defeat. They learned that wasn’t the case.

Another reason they suffered this defeat was:

BECAUSE THERE WAS SIN AMONG THEM IN THEIR CAMP

When Israel faced Jericho in Chapter 6, they were commanded to destroy the city, but they were to take the wealth of the city and dedicate it to the Lord. A man named Achan took some of that wealth for himself and brought the wrath of God upon the whole nation. Because of these two failures, Israel suffered a tragic defeat at Ai.

The Lord used the defeat at Ai to teach Israel the importance of holiness and of seeking the Lord’s will in every situation. He used this defeat to teach them the danger of pride. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. One of the most valuable lessons Israel learned was the truth that they needed the Lord. His presence and His power, if they were going to defeat their enemies and walk in VICTORY.

There is a sense in which we believers are a lot like Israel. If you are a child of God, then you know something about battles. You know that you have very powerful enemies that must be overcome every day you live. The world, the flesh, and the devil are all out to destroy the child of God, but each of these enemies can be defeated if they are handled according to the will of God. God will not bring blessing if there is unconfessed sin “in the camp” (so to speak). It doesn’t have to be blatant sins of the flesh; it is more likely to be sins of a heart attitude that is not of the Lord.

As we move into these verses, I want you to see that Ai is a picture of one of our enemies. Ai is a picture of the flesh. The word “AI” means “a heap of ruins.” That is a good way to describe our flesh, of our fallen, human nature.” Paul reminds us about the wickedness of the flesh in Romans 7:18. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) there is no good thing. “Our flesh is dead, (Eph. 2:1), and “it is absolutely wicked and unredeemable” Romans 3:10-23) OUTSIDE OF Jesus Christ.

Ai is first mentioned in the book of Genesis in connection with the life of Abraham, Gen. 12:8, 13:3. The Bible tells us that Abraham pitched his tent “between Bethel and Ai.” Now, the name “Bethel” means “the house of God.” Like Abraham, many of God’s people have pitched their tents somewhere between “the house of God” and “a heap of ruins.”

Do you see the connection? You can either live in a place of victory and blessing, or you can live in a place of defeat and misery. You can either have a Bethel kind of life or an Ai experience. The kind of life you live will be determined by where you pitch your tent.

Just like Israel, we often lose battles with our flesh, but by God’s help, we can learn how to defeat our Ai and walk away with the victory in our lives.

I don’t know the battles that you are fighting with your flesh, but I do know that you are fighting something, because we all are at some point. It may be physical, or it may be spiritual, or BOTH.

I DO KNOW THAT: YOU CAN EXPERIENCE VICTORY OVER YOUR AI.

These verses have something to teach us about how that can become a reality in our lives. Notice with me the truths that present themselves in this passage. I want to preach on the thought.:

VICTORY IS YOURS IF YOU WANT IT

In verses 1 and 2, VICTORY OVER AI IS PROMISED

Verse 1: —IS A WORD ABOUT WINNING. When the Lord speaks to Joshua, God tells him to go to Ai. God promises Joshua that things will be different this time. He assures Joshua and Israel of the victory.

It is interesting that the Lord called them to return to the place of their greatest defeat. God knew that they needed to overcome Ai before they could move on in the conquest of Canaan.

The same is true for us, How many times have we lost the battle to the flesh? How many times have we been defeated by this old, sinful nature’s lust for the forbidden? How many times have we fallen and wondered if we would ever get back to where we were before?

If that has been your experience, the Lord has a word for you today! He says to Joshua. “FEAR NOT”. I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land. And you shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king.”

To those who have fallen and have lost a battle to the flesh, God says:

Fear not! I am able to give you the victory.

God has made some tremendous promises to his children

We do not have to live in defeat!

We are no longer slaves to sin, the flesh, and the devil

. “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6 :14

We have been made “new creatures” in Jesus Christ. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new 2 Corinthians 5:17 In the NIV it says: The old has gone and the new has come.

We have been given everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us…

”He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, and escape the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:4)

We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who teaches us about the Spirit of truth, Come, he will guide you into all truth…” John 15:13

God has promised victory to his children. But thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15:57

The Lord did not save you to leave you defeated, beaten, and enslaved by the flesh. He saved you to set you free, to enable you to walk in the victory that he gives to all those who walk according to his word and his will.

Now in verse 2, we have: A WORD ABOUT WAITING (Jeannene and I learned to wait on the Lord in 1975 when we were returning to Zaire. We were anxious to go to the Capital city of Kinshasa, but God had other plans that were the best for us and for the Church.)

Notice that the Lord tells them that they will do to Ai what they did to Jericho, except this time, they are allowed to take all the spoils for themselves! If Achan had waited just a few more days, he could have had all the riches that he could have imagined. Instead, he ran ahead of God and grabbed for himself what God had forbidden, and as a result, Achan and Israel paid a terribly high price.

What a lesson for you and me today! If we could just learn to WAIT on God and let him lead and bring into our lives the things that need to be there, we would be far better off, because we would see his blessing. The flrsh is impatient. Our flesh wants what it wants and it wants it now. It doesn’t want to wait for its gratification.

We are better off waiting on the Lord to bring those things into our lives that he knows are best for us than we are to run ahead of God. But that’s what we do, isn’t it? Too often. We make our plans, do our thing, and never check with God about it. Are we doing things in God’s time, or ours? Let alone even doing things that God condemns in His Word. Then, when we make a mess, we ask and expect him to “bail us out.”

When we can learn to be patient and wait on the Lord, we are well on our way to victory in the Christian life.

*Wait for the LORD, and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.” Psalm 37:34

“Wait for the LORD: be strong and take heart; and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

Not only do we see that Victory over AI is promised, but also in verses 3-26, we see

VICTORY OVER AI IS PURSUED

So for us, as we pursue spiritual victory, we can experience God at work, just like the army of Israel did.

In verses 3-17, THEY EXPERIENCED GOD’S PLAN

God told them in exact detail how they were to mount their attack against Ai. They were to lay an ambush for Ai, and they would take the city and all its inhabitants. Israel learned at Jericho what happens when you do things the Lord’s way. They had also learned what happens when they refused to do it God’s way. They learned that failure awaits the person who goes against the will of the Lord.

We need to learn this lesson today! When you fight the battle God’s way, you cannot fail. When we do it our way, we are headed for trouble.

We are talking about fighting this flesh and its lusts. If you are going to pursue victory over your flesh, and if you ever expect to gain the victory, then you must go about it God’s way. No other plan will work! We need constant contact with the spiritual support God has given us. We are strengthened spiritually when we are exposed to the spiritual blessings the Lord has given to us to help us walk in his will. God’s spiritual support system must be made a huge part of our lives.

What are the things we need in our lives?

1. We need the Word of God, I Peter 2:2; 2 Tim 2:15
2. We need prayer. Luke 18:1:1; I Thess. 5:17; James 4:2 (you don’t have because you don’t ask, you don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives.)
3. We need faithful church attendance. (You may think you can worship God anywhere. You don’t have to always “go to church.” That’s true. But it is also true that the body of believers needs you. You can’t have fellowship with the church body when you are out on a boat _We read in Hebrews 10:25, “Don’t neglect the assembling of yourselves together.”
4. We need the constant fellowship of the saints—–I Cor. 12:27 None of these things will give victory in and of themselves, but we need each of them to strengthen us and to help us grow in the Lord. When we begin to neglect even one of these essential areas, then we are headed toward spiritual trouble. When we feed the flesh and ignore our spiritual needs, it is a sign of impending problems in our spiritual lives and in our church.

Scroll down past Sermon for more info

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date September 14, 2025
Text I Peter 5:7-8
Pastor Wayne Augustine

Listen to live audio here

Scroll down past Sermon for more info

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date September 7, 2025
Text James 3:13-4:10 (Reading verses 13-17 of chapter 3 and verses 1-10 of chapter 4)
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

I’m sure that: You have heard that we use only 10% of our brains at any given time. There was a movie that came out in 2011 entitled “Limitless.” I never saw the movie, but the review of it says that it takes that idea and runs with it, spinning a story about a writer who takes a secret experimental drug that allows him to use 100% of his mind. This causes him, until the drug wears off, to be the perfect version of himself, incredibly creative and attentive. Everything he’s ever read or seen is instantly organized in his mind and available for him to use in whatever way he needs. While he’s taking the pills, he’s such a radiant and appealing person that people are immediately drawn to him. And with his entire mind focused like a laser, he’s able to grasp the details of complex business situations and outguess the stock market, a skill he uses to great financial success.

Of course, there’s a wrinkle—-bad guys who want to get their hands on this drug and kill anyone else who has it. The movie apparently is an action-thriller that keeps you engaged until its surprising end. If nothing else, the movie presents one vision of what any of us might be able to do and how dazzling we’d be if only we could use 100% of our brains.

But here’s the problem. Turns out, we’re already using most of our brains! The old assertion that we are using only 10% is a myth. Now that we have better technology —like PET scans and MRIs—for studying brain activity, researchers have found that any mentally complex activity uses many areas of the brain, and over a day, just about every part of our brain gets a workout. Other evidence that the entire brain is operating most of the time, makes a devastating impact on us to discover what even a small amount of brain damage has on a person.

Our text in James is basically saying, however, that even if we’re brain-smart, we might still be dumb—we might still do really stupid things. For instance there is a list that was published showing the 10 top stupid (or dumb) things people do.

1. Cannon ball into a two-foot deep pool.
2. Cut coupons and never use them.
3. Order diet soda a t a fast food restaurant.
4. Wash clothes without separating the whites and colors
5. Wash clothes without putting soap in the machine.
6. Park in a Tow Away Zone for two minutes and then wonder why you got a parking ticket.
7. Not vote and then complain about the president.
8. Gossip about people who gossip
9. Marry a person you met at a bar and then wonder why it’s not working out.
10. Pick up a porcupine.

In our reading,

James talks of wisdom that is from above and wisdom that is earthbound, and he makes his remarks to Christian believers. In verse 16, James speaks of “disorder,”

About that: commentator Thorsten Moritz says;

“It is a reference to the schizophrenic situation in which Christians who are double-minded find themselves. They claim possession of wisdom from above on the one hand, while on the other hand they display the fruits of wisdom from below.” Earthbound, human smart isn’t always very smart.

James, who was very concerned about how Christians behaved with one another in the faith community, saw that the community was fit and vigorous only when it was hyperlinked to divine wisdom. James’s distinction between the two kinds of smart is especially clear in

The Message –Eugene Peterson’s New Testament in contemporary English. James 3:13-17 reads like this:

“It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the other’s throats. Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God, and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.”

When it’s put that plainly, we might want to say that this so-called earthbound smarts is not smarts at all, and James acknowledges that when he says.

“It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving.” But he’s meeting people where they are, where even some Christians viewed people who were getting ahead by mean-spirited boasting, twisting the truth and pitting one person against another, as cunningly wise.

It may sound strange to say that even some Christians admired such persons, but sometimes there is a begrudging admiration for the cons among us, or the bullies who get away with their behavior because of their brilliance in other ways. Steve Jobs comes to mind. He probably was not a Christian, but:

On some level—we admire at least what he accomplished before he died? His biographer, Walter Isaacson, compares him to Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), who was known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park.” He was a prolific inventor a little more than a hundred years ago. Edison was a 19th-century Steve Jobs, the Genius (Jobs hated the word) of Silicon Valley. Jobs changed the world we live in, as did Edison. We can’t go through a single hour anymore without being affected in some way by a product Jobs created.

Yet as smart as he was, he was a beast of a human being to work with or work for. Isaacson cites colleagues, friends, family, and acquaintances, and the adjectives that come rolling off the tongue include autocratic, controlling, changeable, temperamental, cold, absent, obsessive, distant, passionate, rebellious, and so on. He shouted, he yelled, he bad-mouthed people, and he misled. He was a jerk. “Velvety diplomacy was…not a part of his repertoire,” writes Isaacson.

He was also only one of the most influential people of the past 40 years. His mantra might be identified by the ad campaign Apple ran for some time: Think Different. The grammatically incorrect spelling was intentional. It was a choice to challenge unconventional thinking.

Jobs knew that for Apple to succeed, the company had to not only have a kind of smarts that was unlike its competitors, but that it had to encourage its customers to tap into their own creativity. He also spotted the wisdom in the idea that “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication—a word which itself is rooted in the Greek word for wisdom, sophia.”

So, isn’t it true that we’re sometimes in awe of people who, on the basis of their brain-power, carve out a moneymaking niche for themselves? People who think differently, like Mark Zuckerberg launching Facebook from his college dorm room, jobless J.K. Rowling writing the Harry Potter series from a story idea she thought of, and young Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founding Apple in Jobs’ garage. Isn’t there a kind of wisdom that many of us envy? Or how many of us have said something like, “I wish I’d had the wisdom to invest in ————–some successful company—-like McDonald’s in 1958 or shortly after. Or Walmart when it first started. Or more recently—Google or Bit coin.

What we get from our text is that Christians don’t automatically get a dose of heavenly smarts. The other kind of wisdom—the world’s wisdom—to often predominates in the community of faith.

Commenting on this passage, Luke Timothy Johnson says that James “is addressing members of the Christian community who gather in the name of Jesus and profess the faith of the glorious Lord Jesus Christ, but whose attitudes and actions are not yet fully in friendship with God.”

FOR US IT IS CLEAR THAT SOMETIMES,

OUR ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS ARE

NOT YET FULLY IN FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD.

Johnson is not condemning this congregation, but simply recognizing that conversion does not remove the ambiguity of life and that complete consistency “is not given by a first commitment. It is slowly and painfully won through many conversions.” He also says,

“There is always double-mindedness, even among those who truly want to know God and be friends of God. The wisdom from below is not easy to abandon or avoid, precisely because:

The ‘way of the world is,’ inscribed not only in the language and literature of our surrounding culture but also in our very hearts.”

The true story is told of this “Bowery bum” as he describes himself, wonders drunk as a skunk into a downtown mission. He’s come to the mission for the free dinner but stays for the service, and when the preacher gives an altar call, this man, Frank, goes forward, where a counselor prays with him. He says that night was the big turnaround for him as he repented of his sin and received Christ into his life. Although it doesn’t always happen this way, Frank doesn’t ever drink again after going to the altar that night.

But he says that in many ways, his conversion was only a start. He felt that his sins had been forgiven, but in most ways, he was the same self-centered, profane, bigoted, uncaring person he’d been—except that now, he was attending worship services in a church where he prayed and started listening for God

. There came a time when:

He realized that he had to give himself completely over to the power and control of the Holy Spirit, or he would just keep on being this saved man, who continues to walk in his carnal flesh. So one by one, God revealed things to Frank that he needed to give up or rethink or do differently or take on if he was to continue following Jesus, and growing in His grace.

Little by little, he began to make those adjustments—more changes—but he never said or even felt like he had “arrived,” but he had a sense of where—and toward whom—he was headed.

The point I want us to understand is not the nature of Frank’s conversion, but that:

He didn’t get “divine wisdom” all at once, but after he “got saved,” (and the alcohol problem was a big one to be delivered from), he was filled with the Holy Spirit in a crisis experience of realization that he had to surrender everything to the Lord. Then his spiritual growth and his knowledge of the Lord became progressive. The appropriation of wisdom that is from above is a lifelong learning event, and that should not discourage us, but animate us. C.S. Lewis, puts it this way using a house—-a lifelong building project—for a metaphor:

Imagine yourself as a living house. God come in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on…. But presently, he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts and does not seem to make sense. What on Earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself.

If current brain research is correct, we’re already using most of our brains each day. But that doesn’t keep us from being double-minded.

Maybe we’re giving only 10% of our thinking power toward living a holy life. That doesn’t disqualify us from discipleship—-but it gives us lots of room for growth…and lots of room for Jesus to build on. We need to give 100% of not only our thinking power but :

We need to give 100% of ourselves to Him, so He can wholly sanctify us, purify us, and take control of our lives. He wants to walk with us, and live His life through us.

Won’t you let him do that this morning?

That’s the wisdom He imparts to us.

James tells us that in order to come to this place we must resist the devil, who will do everything he possibly can to keep us from this. But when we take the step he runs away.

When we walk close to the Lord, He comes closer and closer to us.

Scroll down past Sermon for more info

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 31, 2025
Text II Thessalonians 3:1-18
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

(This morning, we want to conclude Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. But first, I would like to review some things in I Thessalonians.

In his first letter, he praised them for the way they received the Gospel. It came to them not just in words but in power. They became models for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. Their faith had become known everywhere. Paul had been suffering and longed to get back to see them again. When Timothy brought back a good report to him, he was encouraged to pray for them even more. He wrote to them and encouraged them to be sanctified. This is the only way to live to please God. They were to avoid sexual immorality and not live like the pagans. They were not to take advantage of a brother or sister in the church. The Lord will punish those who commit such sins. God did not call us to be impure but to live a holy life.

For those who had died, he told them it was natural to grieve their loss, but the good news is that we don’t grieve like those who have no hope. (Like the pagans do). Then we have that wonderful passage about the end times. He tells us that when Christ comes back again, He will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then all of us who are still alive will meet him in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Paul tells us to encourage one another with these words.

He reminds us not to quench the Spirit. Don’t put out the fire of the Holy Spirit. We look forward to the day of the Lord. It will come upon people like a thief in the night. They will be surprised, but we who are expecting him should be awake and sober, and not be surprised. We are to put on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now this is a key passage to realize that when God pours out his wrath on all of those who refused to believe in Jesus as their Savior, we won’t be subject to this. He will remove all believers from his judgment and wrath, which will be poured out at the end of the Great Tribulation. In chapter five of I Thessalonians, he tells us that we are not to be concerned about the times and dates.

In chapters 1 and 2 of II Thessalonians. The Lawless One has to be revealed, and there is a rebellion against God led by him. He will oppose God and exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. When all of this occurs, stand firm and hold fast to the Word. (the teachings). May the Lord Jesus Christ, by his grace, give us eternal encouragement and good hope.

Okay: Now let’s look at today’s passage: Chapter 3 verses 1-18.

Paul is asking the Thessalonians for prayer. I would like to ask each one of you for a prayer too. We live in a day when there are many changes taking place in our society. Ten years ago, there were five Supreme Court Justices out of nine who voted to allow same-sex marriages. In fact to declare that there is no State that has the right to refuse this. Fifty years ago, maybe even just twenty years ago, we would never have believed that this could happen. It is unclear where this will go, but one thing that those who are pushing this agenda will want to force all churches to comply. Some churches have no problem with this, but I declare to you, that if a pastor or church has no problem with this, they do not believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. They pick and choose only those passages that fit what they believe, rather than what God’s Word teaches.

Paul is saying in verse 2 that he would be delivered from “wicked and evil people, for NOT EVERYONE HAS FAITH. But the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.

There will be times when you may have to defend the position that the Bible definition of marriage is between one man, and one woman. Whatever man decides is “marriage,” is not the Biblical definition. Probably everyone of us has someone in our family, or a close friend’s family, that you have found out they are Gay. Not everyone, though, is pushing to get married. I find it ironic that in this day, when heterosexual couples are not getting married before they live together, and even before they have children, the Gay community is pushing their agenda to have the right to get married. One thing that is too often neglected is that sin is sin. Premarital sex is a sin, and homosexual sex is a sin. Neither one is excluded from what God calls sin. Therefore, we must continue to love Gays, just like we continue to love Heterosexual couples who live together but are not married. We must know God’s Word in order to talk to people in love, to let them know what the Bible says and not what society is accepting.

Then, in verse 6, we are told that we are to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching that they had received from Paul.

1.. Follow the example of integrity.

Paul says…in verse 7

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example.

He said that because he had just finished saying …in verse 6

… keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

Paul is saying you’ve got good examples to follow and you’ve got bad examples to follow. Follow the good example — my example.

Now, when Paul says “keep away from every brother who is idle,” he’s not talking about the Amish practice of shunning, where you cut off all social contact with a person. In fact, in verse 14, he says that we should not treat these people as enemies, but rather warn them as brothers.

So, when he says “keep away,” he’s talking about the amount of influence you let that person have in your life.

Paul says, “Follow the example of integrity.”

For everyone you know — every friend, every co-worker, every family member — you will have to decide: What level of influence will I extend to this person? Is this someone whose example I can follow? Or is this someone who desperately needs my good example?

Another way to say it is: Will I be this person’s student, or will I be this person’s teacher? Now, in your best relationships, you will be both. It will be a case of iron sharpening iron, and one person sharpening another. As we read in [Proverbs 27:17] But you need to be selective with who you let sharpen you. Paul said, “Follow our example.” In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he said…You became imitators of us and of the Lord.

(I Thessalonians 1:6)

We need to determine exactly what it is about certain people that is worth imitating: The way this man leads his family; the way this woman speaks so kindly to everyone, even when people are rude to her; the way this person is always on time; the way this person always tells the truth, even when it hurts; the way this person exudes the presence of the Holy Spirit; the way this person can listen without interrupting; the way this person has an attitude of no condemnation; and on and on.

In fact, every time I think of a character quality that I need to develop, the first thing I ask is: Who do I know who has this quality? How can I learn it the way they learned it?

If you want to develop good character, make the intentional, on-purpose decision to always follow the example of integrity.

Here’s the second thing I want you to see today.

2. Follow the path of responsibility.

Paul says..Verse.11: WE HEAR THAT SOME OF YOU ARE IDLE.

                     THEY ARE NOT BUSY:  THEY ARE BUSY-BODIES

Verse 12: Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

We’ve all heard the saying, “An idle mind is the devil’s playground.” You could also say, “An idle life is the devil’s playground,” because when you are idle and unproductive, you create a lot of room in your life for a wide variety of bad decisions.

That’s why Paul goes on to say…

Verse 13: And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

What’s he saying? He’s saying follow the path of responsibility.

Here’s a good question to ask yourself — especially when you don’t really have anything to do. Ask yourself, “What’s the most responsible thing I can do right now?”

Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is close your eyes and go to sleep. Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is get out of bed. Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is to give your undivided attention to your spouse, or your child. Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is to read something, learn something, study something. Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is to reward yourself with a movie, or some uplifting entertainment.

Get in the habit of asking yourself, “Is what I am about to do the most responsible thing I can do? If not, what is?”

Character is not something that you will just accidentally stumble upon. If you’re going to get there, you’re going to get there on purpose. Follow the path of responsibility.

Here’s the third thing I want you to see. If you want to develop character…

3. Follow the practice of accountability.

Paul was saying to the Thessalonians that there were some among them who were idle and unproductive, then he said…

10 …when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” He also said…14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.

15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

There are people in this world who want to live according to their rules; they want to do things their way without having to answer anyone — and they still want everything they think they’re entitled to . As a person of character, this cannot be you. You need people in your life who will hold you accountable for what you say and do. At the same time, as a person of character, you can’t let yourself get talked into a situation in which you are carrying someone’s load, with no accountability on their part. If you do, it’s a disservice to the other person. We need accountability. We need to answer to someone for the decisions that we make. People who have no accountability usually fail in the area of responsibility.

I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count — in churches, in businesses, and in families. I’ve seen churches organized in such a way that the pastor answers to no one. I’ve never seen that model of church government work successfully over the long haul. Without accountability, it’s too easy to fall into the I’m not going to work, but I still want to eat mentality. People of character don’t take that risk. They set up accountability structures in their life to help keep them focused and on track.So let me ask you: How accountable are you? Think about your accountability in these areas.

Your work life. Most people have a boss. If you don’t, if you’re self-employed, do you have someone to answer to? Can you think of how maybe you could be more productive in your work if you set up an accountability structure?

Your personal life. Are there parts of your personal life that are hidden from everyone? Are you the only one who knows your password, for example? Do you panic when someone asks to borrow your phone or use your computer? Are you spending money that your spouse doesn’t know about? Do you make unilateral decisions without consulting anyone else? Can you think of a way that you could open up levels of accountability in your marriage and home life?

How about your spiritual life? Is there anyone to keep you on your toes? Can you go days without praying or reading the Bible — and no one would ever know? Is there some way you could establish accountability with someone whose spiritual leadership you trust? It’s as simple as this. People of character are accountable, and they hold others accountable as well. There’s a contagious nature to character. In fact, character must be caught before it can be taught. You can say it this way: If you want to develop character, be careful what you catch, be careful what you pass on.

What does that mean?

It means that if you want to become a person of character, you have to make a conscious decision to surround yourself with the right people of good influence and protect yourself from those who aren’t heading in the right direction. You also want to think about how you’re influencing others.

Look closely at the examples you follow, and the example you set for others. Look closely at your level of responsibility. Are you doing the best you can with what you have? Look closely at your system of accountability. Have you organized your life so that you’re not able to get away with anything, so to speak? Have you organized your life so that people of integrity have the right to offer correction? And are you willing to do the same for people who seek your leadership? Character doesn’t happen by accident. It’s intentional. So…

Make it your intention to catch the right qualities and to pass them on to those around you.

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 24, 2025
Text John 14:8-17 and John 15:5-17
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

One of the popular things that parents say to their children, especially teenagers, (maybe your mom or dad said it, or some of you said it to your children): “What part of NO don’t you understand?” This is after the begging and pleading that there would be a different decision. `But the statement means just what I said. Now also in the affirmative, Jesus also means just what He says when he says ANYTHING! (This is a pronoun meaning any occurrence.)

This is hard for us to understand when we don’t see the answer to our prayers right away. It might be prayers for healing, deliverance, open doors for evangelism: —–like we prayed when we first went to France to work with Muslims. It was after we had prayed, walked the streets, had a Bible Stand, and believed the promise that God would do great things,

Habakkuk 1:6 (NIV) “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.” This is very important to see God answer our prayers for “anything” we ask for.

We needed to:

first- Have FAITH, but also to BELIEVE HIS WORD.

In John 15:7 … :If you remain in me, and my words remain in you—–Ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.”

We need to understand that this isn’t a magic formula, so that we can ask for just anything our fleshly worldly hearts desire. But if we stay connected to the vine, and stay in a close relationship with Jesus, we will know what his will is, and as I have said before—-His will becomes our will.

There are a number of other conditions that we overlook when we read that we can ask for whatever we wish. The starting point, of course, is to have faith and believe, but we read in verse 7 of chapter 15 that we must stay in a close relationship with Jesus and His word.

. Some people pray for the sick or the disabled to be healed, and when they aren’t, they say that the person didn’t have enough faith. We must realize that many times in scripture, the people Jesus healed didn’t know that they were going to be healed. Faith was important for someone in order for them to be healed, but not necessarily the person receiving the healing. Jesus said to believe that the Father was in Him, and He was In the Father. ( a tremendous declaration of the deity of Jesus).

We see in our scripture passages this morning some other conditions that may explain why we don’t see answered prayer. Verse 16 tells us that:

WE ARE TO BEAR FRUIT,— FRUIT THAT WILL LAST.

Wow!, Not only are we to bear fruit, but we have to see results, and the results must last. Now we know that it is only the Holy Spirit that causes them to desire being discipled and having a desire to grow in the Lord, but our part is to keep sowing. Then at some point we will see a yield of 30, 60 even 100 times what was sown. This is the kind of reproduction Jesus was talking about in Matthew 13:23. Anyone who has faith in Him will do what he had been doing.

Back to chapter 14:

In John 14:12, Jesus makes an amazing statement: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” Jesus performed many amazing and wonderful works—healing the sick and delivering people from evil spirits, raising the dead, walking on water, and feeding thousands come to mind—how can it be true that those who have faith in Him will perform “even greater” works than those? Like raising people from the dead and He Himself rose from the dead; How do you “top that”

In saying that those who believe in Him would do the works that He did, Jesus was not saying that every Christian would walk on water and raise the dead. The apostles in the book of Acts performed some miracles that were similar to Jesus’ works, but even they did not walk on water or feed multitudes, as far as we know. The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people as He sees fit (1 Corinthians 12:4). Not everyone has the same set of gifts. Some believers have more revelatory or public gifts, and others have quieter, more private gifts.

Jesus said that not only would His followers do the same works, but they would do “greater” works than He. Again, this is not a reference to the works’ being greater in power.(qualitatively) Jesus had raised Lazarus, who had been four days in the tomb (John 11); humanly speaking, not even the apostles did a greater work than that. No one has ever exceeded the power or majesty of Jesus’ miracles.

So, what did Jesus mean that His faithful followers would do “greater” works than He? Without a doubt,

The works of Jesus’ followers would be greater in extent (quantitatively). Jesus’ earthly ministry had been largely limited to Galilee and Judea; That’s about 120 miles north to south, and 20 miles east to west. A narrow strip that he and his disciples walked. His disciples, however, were going to extend His ministry to the uttermost parts of the earth. When Jesus ascended to heaven, His followers numbered in the hundreds; forty days later, in response to the preaching of the apostles, that number leaped to 3,000. (Acts 2:41). In Acts 4:4 the number was 5,000 “men”

By the end of Acts, the gospel had made its way to Rome.

I want to emphasize the “quality” of the “greater works” that the disciples and we are able to do. The greatest miracle that God performs in the life of people is their transformation from death to life. It is what I see as an important privilege that we have, that Jesus did not have.

JESUS COULDN’T PREACH THE CROSS. He couldn’t preach the Good News of salvation, like we can. He left that to his disciples and to us.

A Hymn written by Johnson Oatman tells about the fact that even angels can’t sing A SONG OF REDEMPTION. The chorus says:

Holy, Holy is what the angels sing, and I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring. But when I sing redemption’s story, they will fold their wings, for angels never felt the joy that our salvation brings.

There is also a Southern Gospel song entitled “ A Song Holy Angels Cannot Sing.” The song emphasizes that only human beings can truly share the message of Christ’s redemption. Angels are holy and have not sinned, so they cannot testify to being forgiven and saved by grace. Jesus couldn’t and didn’t either.

Jesus links the works of His followers with the fact of His return to heaven. In fact, He says His absence is the cause of their greater works: “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12, Jesus later told His disciples that the gift of the Holy Spirit depended on Jesus’ return to heaven (John 16:7). It was through the Spirit that the church is enabled to do the work of God.

WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE ANSWERS FOR ANYTHING WE ASK FOR —–THERE ARE CONDITIONS.

FIRST:

1. But we must accept Him as the only way to God. And that Jesus is the truth and the life. ( John 14:6)
2. We must BELIEVE IN HIM AND HAVE FAITH

3 We must PRAY TO MAKE HIS WILL, OUR WILL

4. We must REMAIN IN HIM AND TRUST IN HIS WORD
5. We must BEAR FRUIT—-AND DISCIPLE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED

We must LOVE EACH OTHER.

The words of Jesus in John 14

What does John chapter 14 mean? | BibleRef.com
What does John chapter 14 mean? How should I understand John chapter 14? How does John chapter 14 fit with the s…

and 15 were of great comfort to His eleven disciples. He was about to be arrested and suffer a cruel and unjust death. The disciples themselves would be scattered that night. But Jesus assures them that:

No matter what happens, God’s work will continue in the world. Even after Jesus’ earthly ministry ended, His work would go on. The followers of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, would continue to help and heal people. The gospel would have a worldwide impact.

As God’s people pray in Jesus’ name, answers will come, and the greatest miracle of all—the spiritual transformation of a sinful heart through faith in Christ—will become commonplace, to the glory of God.

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 17, 2025
Text TEXT: Exodus 4:1-20
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

On a plaque marking Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace near Hodgenville, Kentucky, is recorded this scrap of conversation: “Any news down t’ the village, Ezry?” “ Well, Squire, McLain’s gone t’ Washington t’ see Madison swore in, and ol’ Spellman tells me this Bonaparte fella has captured most o’ Spain. What’s new out here, neighbor?” “Nuthin’, nuthin’ a ‘tall, ‘cept fer a new baby born t’ Tom Lincoln’s, Nothin’ ever happens out here.”

Some events, such as birthdays in Hodgenville, where Abraham Lincoln

was born. Or in Bethlehem, or a baby found among the reeds along the Nile River in Egypt, or spiritual rebirth in a person’s life, may not create much earthly splash, but those of lasting importance will eventually get the notice they deserve.

The three earthly births mentioned were deliverers: Abe Lincoln, Jesus, and Moses.

Moses was a reluctant one. Moses asked God: “Who is sending me?”

God answers him with: I AM — AM—The great I AM —I AM WHO I AM. Now this is after God has spoken to him from a burning bush that wasn’t consumed. In the last part of chapter 3, God has laid out for Moses, all that he is to do, how he is to explain everything to the elders, and what was going to happen, and how the Israelites would be able to receive plunder, l from their Egyptian neighbors, to make up for all of their hardship during the years of their bondage. All of these riches are what will make it possible for them to have the elaborate tabernacle in the wilderness to worship in.

Now, beginning in chapter 4, Moses shows incredible unbelief. Oh, he believes IN God, he knows that God is the only true God, and in his heart he has faith in God. That’s why God is calling him to be the deliverer of Israel. We too believe in God. He has provided us with salvation, we believe he is the Creator, and we believe he takes care of us. We have even seen him answer prayers and help us in so many different ways.

However, we have also seen times when he hasn’t answered our prayers, and times when we have had a very hard time of it. Nothing like the Israelites experienced, but nevertheless, we have had some trying times in our lives; but we continue to believe IN Him, even if sometimes we have our doubts. But the title of my message this morning is:

“DO WE REALLY BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS?” There is a difference in believing IN God and believing what he says. When we don’t believe what God says to us in his Word, or when he calls us, or tells us to do something, we give excuses to him, or we rationalize things he says; like; oh he doesn’t really mean that—-or he will overlook that—-or it will be Okay if I don’t do exactly like he wants me to do, and so forth. Or maybe we answer him like Moses did (in verses 1 -2) when God had told him what he was to do; he comes up with an EXCUSE: “What if they don’t believe me, or listen to me,” or they say, “the Lord didn’t appear to you? God just asks him, “Is that a staff in your hand? Uh, yes—“Throw it on the ground.” Moses did, and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then in verse 4. God tells him to “take the snake by the tail.” So Moses did, and “it turned back into a staff.” God says to him, “This is so that they will believe the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appeared to you. The staff would be his credentials before the people. God takes what we have in our hands and uses it, if we just trust Him. Of itself, the rod was nothing, but in God’s hands it became POWERFUL.

Moses didn’t have a chance to ask God—if he was going to do this in front of the Israelite elders. God just told him to put his hand inside his cloak. So he did, and when he took it out, it was leprous and completely white. “Now put it back into your cloak.” He did, and when he pulled it back out, his skin was normal, and he was completely healed.

Moses’ own hand had killed a man, but in the second miracle, God showed him that he could heal the weakness of the flesh and use Moses for His glory. His own hand was nothing, but in God’s hand, it would do wonders!

God says to him, “If they won’t believe the first sign—your staff turning into a snake, and then back to a staff again, or this second sign of you getting leprosy and then being healed, go get some water from the Nile and pour it on the ground. It will become blood. These are pretty convincing answers to them not believing that God appeared to him and called him to be their deliverer. However, these signs would eventually be imitated by the godless Egyptian magicians.

So Moses has to give another EXCUSE.

“Pardon your servant, Lord.” (he acknowledges that God has called him to serve him.)—“I have never been eloquent”—(-I don’t speak very good, especially in front of people,) neither in the past, nor since you have spoken to me. I am slow of speech and tongue ( did he stutter?) He is saying, “I am not gifted.” God had said, “I AM, and all Moses could say was, “I am not.” He was looking at himself and his failures instead of at God and His power. God doesn’t need eloquence or oratory; He needs only a clean vessel that He can fill with His message.

In verse 11, God asks him; Who makes people mute or deaf?—Who gives sight, or makes people blind. Is it not I?——–NOW GO! “ I WILL HELP YOU SPEAK AND WILL TEACH YOU WHAT TO SAY.”

“Pardon your servant Lord” (here we go again)—

‘PLEASE SEND SOMEONE ELSE!!!” In verse 14, we read, “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, ‘What about your brother Aaron? ( I can just hear Moses saying—yeah—what about him?) but no, he didn’t say that to God. God says, “I know he can speak well, and he is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You will speak to him and put words in his mouth, and I will help you both to speak, and I will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth, and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so that you can perform the signs with it.”

Moses’ reaction to what God had said was one of UNBELIEF.

Next, we also see a question of INTEGRITY.

Moses returned to Jethro’s house and told him all about his encounter with the Lord, and asked permission to return to Egypt and see if any of his people were still alive. Now he wasn’t honest with Jethro. God had told him his brothers were still alive.

This was the first uncovering of a lack of integrity. However, his father-in-law, Jethro, encouraged him to go. Moses wasn’t a very good testimony for the Lord to his father-in-law, then — he was a lot like we are sometimes. We just don’t come out and tell people what God has said to us, or what he has done for us. Later on in the wilderness, chapter 18

The Lord told Moses in Midian that all of those who sought to kill him were dead, and that he should return to Egypt. God wanted Moses to trust Him and not be afraid. How patient God is with His own. How encouraging are His promises.

Then God says to Moses, Be sure that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. BUT, I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. What does this mean? How is it that God caused Pharaoh’s heart to harden, and that he refused to let the Israelites go free? Think of it this way.

The heat of the sun beats down on the clay on the ground, and makes it hard. That same sun, when it beats down on wax, softens it. It is the substance that causes the result. In the same way, since Pharaoh’s heart was already turned against the One true God, God’s power forced a response from him. Then you are to say to him, “This is what the Lord says; Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, Let my son-(that is, my people) go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go, so I will kill your firstborn son” (verse 23). Then the next verse, 24, we read a very shocking statement. “… The Lord met Moses, and was about to kill him.” Many commentators and theologians have trouble with this verse. It goes against all of our understanding of who God is, and the mercy, love, and forgiveness he shows us. But this isn’t anymore harder to understand than his instructions to the Israelites when they went to battle; in some cases, they were told to kill every inhabitant in a village. That is, men, women, children, and animals. That too is hard to understand.

WE MUST GRASP THE HOLINESS OF GOD, THEN WE CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND BETTER WHAT HE DOES.

But once we grasp the holiness of God, and how he hates sin, and the fact that he will not tolerate someone ignoring Him, it becomes clearer how serious it is when we refuse to bow down to Him and obey Him. It is only because we live in a day of Grace that he holds back his wrath now,

but some day on the day of judgment, everything that we have done against God, and all of man’s rebellion, will be dwelt with.

Circumcision was an important part of the Jewish faith, yet Moses had neglected to bring his own son into the covenant (Gen. 17:10).

This was his second lack of INTEGRITY before the Lord. God had to discipline Moses (perhaps by sickness) to remind him of his obligation. How could he lead Israel if he was failing to lead his own household in things spiritual? Especially since he was going to kill all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, because of Pharaoh’s refusal to listen to God. His wife Zipporah probably was against doing this before, but now, reluctantly and with disgust, she circumcises Moses’s son herself. The Hebrew phrase that she uses, “you have become a bridegroom of blood to me,” refers to this command to circumcise male babies. Moses later sent his family back to Midian. (Because in chapter 18:2, we see that Jethro, Zipporah, and Moses’ two sons come from Midian and join him in the Wilderness.

God had promised that Aaron was coming (v. 14), and now He fulfilled that promise. While both Moses and Aaron had their weaknesses, and each failed God and each other more than once, it was a great help to Moses to have his brother at his side. They met at “the mountain of God” where Moses had seen the burning bush (3:1-5). Verse 5; “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Moses told Aaron all that God had told him to do. When they performed the signs before the people, they believed. When they heard that God had heard their cries and seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

God sees everything you are going through and is still providing deliverance for you. Today, the power of the Holy Spirit will give you strength to withstand anything the enemy throws at you

Jesus is your deliverer. He wants you to believe everything he has told us in The Word. Let’s not give him excuses when he asks us to do something for him.

Moses’s reluctance and fear were caused by overanticipation. He was worried about how the people might respond to him. We often build up events in our minds and then panic over what might go wrong. God does not ask us to go where he has not provided the means to help. Go where he leads, trusting him to supply courage, confidence, and resources at the right moment

A shepherd’s staff was commonly a three to six-foot wooden rod with a curved hook at the top. The shepherd used it for walking, guiding his sheep, killing snakes, or pulling a lamb out of a crevice. Still, it was just a stick. But God used the simple shepherd’s staff Moses carried as a sign to teach him an important lesson. God sometimes takes joy in using ordinary things for extraordinary purposes. What are the ordinary things in your life—your voice, a pen, a hammer, a broom, a musical instrument? While it is easy to assume God can use only special skills, you must not hinder his use of the everyday contributions you can make. Little did Moses imagine the power his simple staff would give when it became the staff of God.

For us today, Jesus Christ, God’s son, is the ROCK that we stand on. Because of him, we can do anything he asks us to do. Because of his shed blood on the cross, we are delivered from sin, healed from sicknesses and addictions, and BECAUSE OF HIM, WE TOO, CAN HELP OTHERS TO BE DELIVERED. JUST BELIEVE HIM, AND DO WHAT HE SAYS WHEN HE CALLS US TO ACTION.

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 10, 2025
Text Luke 16: 1-13 I Corinthians 4:1-5
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Verse two in this passage that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church says, “It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

This morning, we have sung about the faithfulness of God and of our Savior Jesus Christ to bless us, help us to solve our problems, relieve the burden of the suffering heart, and so forth. It seems natural that we, in turn, should be faithful to Him for all He has done and is doing, and will continue to do for us. Yet we do not understand what it really means to be faithful stewards. I wonder if we would or could give an account of our stewardship like the steward in the parable, what we would say if our master would say to us, “What’s this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship or your management. The picture here was of a steward or servant who was in charge of an estate or household, dispensing tasks to other servants. He is called in the text a manager in some translations. He probably was a “slave” put in charge of running his master’s estate. In Palestine, there were many absentee landlords. This steward in this parable had followed a career of embezzlement. The debtors were dishonest, too. No doubt what they owed was rent. Rent in Palestine was often paid to a landlord not in money, but in goods. It was a lot like the old system of “sharecropping.” Someone who rents land and farms it for the owner, and he pays for the land by giving the owner a share of the crops he raises. Palestine was like that. It was often an agreed proportion of the produce of the part of the estate which had been rented.

The steward knew that he had lost his job. He therefore had a brilliant idea. He falsified the entries in the books so that the debtors were debited with far less than they owed. This would make them grateful to him, and he had also involved the debtors in his own misdemeanors, and if worst came to worst, he was now in a strong position to exercise a little judicious blackmail! The master wasn’t shocked but appreciated the shrewd brain behind it, and actually praised the steward for what he had done.

One important meaning is to teach that all men are God’s stewards. Those who are unrepentant are bad stewards without doubt, but also those who claim to want to serve their master sometimes are bad.

The apostle Paul writes in I Cor 4:2 about what is required by those who have been given a trust; a steward must prove faithful.

THERE ARE FOUR LESSONS FOR US TO LEARN FROM THIS PARABLE. In verse 8, the lesson is that:

I. CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD ARE WISER (IN THEIR GENERATION) OR (IN DEALING WITH THEIR OWN KIND), THAN ARE THE PEOPLE OF LIGHT.

If only the Christian were as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his attempts to attain money and comfort, he would be a good servant for his Lord.

If only men would give as much attention to the things which concern their souls as they do to the things which concern their business, they would be good stewards.

It is a fact that people will spend twenty times the amount of time and money and effort on their pleasure or recreation, their hobby, their golf (or watching sports), their gardening, and so forth, as he does the Lord’s work. (ie. Things in church for the Kingdom.

Our Christian service will only begin to become real and effective when we spend as much time and effort on it as we do on our own worldly activities.

You may say, “But Pastor Paul, we are told that whatever we do, we are to do it for God’s glory. Can’t I serve the Lord just as easily doing the things you mentioned? They are legitimate activities. Yes, you can, and I trust you do, and some of you are doing them a large proportion of your time. Others, not so much. Many of us need to examine this area of our lives. We should be faithful in giving of ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ and His purposes. This means a full life commitment of doing HIS WILL, not ours. We must quit trying to run our lives according to our selfish interests and allow the Lord to take control and show us areas where we have not yet surrendered to Him.

A few years ago, there was a small boy, described as a “shy” second grader, eight years old, “a little owlish in spectacles,” who was guilty of committing a crime in a New Jersey school. It was Valentine’s Day. He brought a Valentine and put it on the teacher’s desk; then he went down into the basement and set fire to the school by lighting wastepaper in the boiler room. When the Fire Commissioner conducted an inquiry, evidence pointed to the boy. He readily admitted that he had done it. When he was asked why, he explained, as the news report put it, with childish simplicity, “In class yesterday teacher took away my bubble gum.”

The child says in effect, “ I am on the throne of my life, and I want everybody else to bow down before me. I want to rule. When I want anything, I want it, and that is sufficient reason for my having it. If I want to chew bubble gum, I should get to do it. If anybody takes it away from me, I have a right to lash out and destroy anything that stands in the way of my whim and desire.” Maybe we don’t burn down schools, but we lash out in our own way. The only way to curb that desire is to have our Adam sin nature cleansed and changed by the Spirit of God by a new birth experience. This isn’t just “trying again” as the world sees it; “a new start on our own,” but rather by life-transforming power when Christ enters our life. II Peter 1:3, 4 says that His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

Day by day we must submit our lives to the control of the Lord Jesus Christ in order that He may keep the old nature crucified with Him. All He wants is our lives and that we yield to His will. Now that isn’t so bad, because we were created to serve God and to glorify Him. Some of you may have learned the Heidelberg Catechism (written in Germany in the 16th c. and used in the Reformed Church then, and many churches today), which says “the chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Some of you have gotten that confused and have thought that your chief aim in life is to enjoy the good things God has given you forever.

THE SECOND LESSON IS FOUND IN VERSE 9

II. THAT MATERIAL POSSESSIONS SHOULD BE USED TO CEMENT THE FRIENDSHIP WHEREIN THE REAL AND PERMANENT VALUE OF LIFE LIES.

It could be done in two ways.

1.) It could be done as it affects eternity. The Rabbis had a saying. “The rich help the poor in this world, but the poor help the rich in the world to come.”

Ambrose, who lived from 340-397, was Bishop of Milan and later Governor of Northern Italy. was contemporary with other early Church fathers like Jerome and Augustine. In his commentary on the rich fool who, in the parable that Jesus told, built bigger barns to store his goods, Ambrose said, “the bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever.” It was, in any event, a Jewish belief that charity given to poor people would stand to a man’s credit in the world to come. A man’s true wealth would not be in what he kept, but in what he gave away.

2.) It could be done as it effects this world.

A man can use his wealth selfishly or he can use it to make life easier for his fellowmen. Possessions in themselves are not a sin, but they are a great responsibility that God has given to us because he has given our possessions to us. We are stewards.

“You might say; “Oh, no wonder I don’t have much; I probably wouldn’t take care of it very well—I would blow it!”

Yes, you might be right, because you might misuse it.

Jesus made a point about this. He said; “whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

LOOK AT VERSES 10 AND 11. THE LESSON IS THAT:

III. A MAN’S WAY OF FULFILLING A SMALL TASK IS THE BEST PROOF OF HIS FITNESS OR UNFITNESS TO BE ENTRUSTED WITH A BIGGER TASK.

Jesus says that; “upon earth you are in charge of things which are not really yours. You cannot take them with you when you die. They are only lent to you, so to speak. You are responsible for them. You are only a steward or manager over them. On the other hand in heaven you will get what is really and eternally and essentially yours, and what you get in heaven depends on how you used certain things on EARTH.

IV. THEN FINALLY VERSE 13 LAYS DOWN THE RULE THAT NO SERVANT CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS.

In our economy today many people, if they still have a job, it isn’t enough, and they try to have two jobs, and work for two different people. We can use our spare time in this way but a slave could not, actually he had no spare time; every moment of his day and every ounce of his energy, belonged to his master. He had not time which was his own. So, serving God, can never be a part time or a spare time job. Once a man chooses to serve God every moment of his time and every bit of his energy belongs to God. God is an exclusive master we either belong to Him totally and altogether or not at all.

You probably remember the account of a former city employee in Albany, NY, who attended an evangelistic service, and received Jesus Christ as His personal Savior. The Holy Spirit convicted him of some of things he did when he worked for the State, but more importantly he was convicted of what he didn’t do; for the hours he wasted by “goofing off” instead of working. He then mailed a check for $100.00 to the then city treasurer Frank J. O’Brian, and with it a note which read;

“FOR STOLEN TIME”

Not very many people would have done that.

We should think about the way we use our time. I know I have thought about this. I believe all of us need to consider how we spend our time, in the days that the Lord gives us. Time at work; time for meditation, devotion, and prayer; time for the Lord in worship, “singing spiritual songs” (as they did in the early Church); time serving Him and listening to Him when He tells us we should do a certain thing; time in fellowship with God’s people.

Let’s ask ourselves the question this morning; “Am I serving self, and ultimately Satan when I do that, and is it he who has mastery over my time, or am I serving my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and is it He who is master over my time, my money,

over my talents, my abilities- maybe to sing, to teach or work with children; are there spiritual gifts the Lord has given me, that I am not using to serve Him?

Remember it is required that we as stewards be found faithful. Then, when we see Him some day, He will be able to say, “WELL DONE, MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.”

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 3, 2025
Text I Corinthians 11: 23-34
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Celebrations come in all shapes and sizes; birthday parties and celebrations, wedding anniversaries, family and class reunions, small town carnivals, ethnic celebrations, and National Independence Days and holidays. All of these are almost always accompanied by “feasts”—eating together, and usually plenty of food, or at the least cakes or other delicious desserts.

There is one celebration that is celebrated worldwide in a similar fashion. It is “The Lord’s Table” or what we call COMMUNION. The differences have to do with the understanding of why it is celebrated and also the way that it looks.

There are those who treat it as a sacrament which is necessary for salvation, and many others who understand it as a symbol of what Christ accomplished on the cross.

It is Jesus Christ alone who provides salvation, not the elements of unleavened bread and wine. We share these to remember what He did. But in every country where there is a Christian Church, the Lord’s table is recognized, and communion is given for all believers.

The passage that we read envisions a great banquet table.

Extending from Rome to Corinth, to Philippi, to Galatia, and so forth.

Today, that table extends to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Latin America, South America, and every island of the sea.

In many parts of the world, they are not very well dressed, and the bread is what they can buy in the open market, and is the juice of a tree that is indigenous to their country.

Some are eating hard brown bread; others are eating rice cakes or corn bread. Some are drinking wine from silver goblets, others are pouring juice of tropical plants from earthen bowls. Some are dressed in suits, some are dressed in expensive casual wear, even shorts, and some wear tattered clothing.

In this celebration, we all acknowledge a worldwide need;

That we have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God, (or God’s glorious standard) (Romans 3:23)

We set aside all boasting and claims of superiority. Instead of claiming goodness, we seek mercy. We share a common humanity, and so because of that, a common need. The evidence of sin is worldwide.

Hatred and injustice know no boundaries. In every major city, and in many smaller communities in the world, we see all sorts of crimes, brutal murders, theft, extortion, fraud, and unbelievable injustices

Recently, especially in the United States, we have seen a spirit of anti-Semitism against Jewish students and Jewish people in general that we haven’t seen since the days of Nazi Germany.

Jesus Himself suffered unjust treatment (actually illegal treatment based on both Jewish and Roman law), and was crucified even though he was totally innocent of the charges brought against Him. We read in I Peter 2:21, “this suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps.”

It seems that everywhere in the world, there is restlessness and revolt. It is no longer just in developing nations like in Africa, but countries like Greece, Spain, and at various times, France, Great Britain, and Germany, and right now in our own country, we see mobs of people revolting in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and recently in Cincinnati, Ohio as well as other cities. Everywhere, there are attempts at suppression, manipulation, and discrimination. There are times when it seems like the persecutors are at fault, like when, for years, the Islamic Sudanese regime persecuted and killed Christians. Now, South Sudan has finally gotten their independence, but persecution continues, and has spread down into the north-eastern part of the Congo. And of course, since last Oct. Hamas started the war with Israel. There are other times when the revolutionaries seem to be at fault in disrupting things. In all nations:

PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS IN THE WRONG PLACES; they don’t want to know what the Bible says.

Also in this celebration of communion, we rejoice in a worldwide love.

(John 3:16)—“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God established no boundaries for His love. His love is unconditional, and the atonement for sin is not limited. There are some denominations that claim a doctrine that states—“Limited Atonement” That is, that Christ didn’t die for everyone, only God’s elect who will be saved. They only say this to try and explain the doctrine of election that scripture talks about. Whatever else it means to God, it does not mean that some are determined for eternal life and some for damnation, for such a purpose would destroy the cosmic aspect of the cross and make it something which is contrary to the great truth that we just quoted from John 3:16. An invitation to whoever believes would hardly be honest if some were unable to be among the- “whoever.”

However, if by election it is meant that God takes the initiative, then this idea is in conformity with the purpose of redemption, for man does not turn to God by himself, but is impelled by the convincing power of the Holy Spirit. This understanding of election makes man dependent on God not only for his salvation, but also for the motivation which brings him to God. It must always be remembered that God shows no partiality, for he loved the world, and

The cross raises no barriers and imposes no limitations, but its message is, “whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Rev. 22:17)

God established no boundaries for His love. His love was unconditional when He sent His son to die. His love continues to be unconditional.

There was a young boy who asked his dad one day, Daddy, how does God love us? His dad answered, “God loves us with an unconditional love!” The boy thought for a moment and then asked, “What kind of love is unconditional love? His dad said, “Do you remember the two boys that used to live next door to us, and the cute little puppy they got last Christmas? “Yeah”—“Do you remember how they used to tease it, throw sticks and even rocks at it? “Yeah,” Do you also remember how the puppy would always greet them with a wagging tail and would try to lick their faces? “Yeah”—Well, that puppy had an unconditional love for those boys. They certainly didn’t deserve his love for them because they were mean to him. But he loved them anyway. The father then said—You see, God’s love for us is also unconditional. Men hit Jesus (God’s son), and then killed Him, but Jesus loved them anyway.

Romans 5:6-8 says:…”When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man. Though for a good man, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his LOVE for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

II Peter 3:9 we read…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The text of John 3:16 doesn’t say that God only loved the Jewish world, or the Gentile world, or the white, European world, or Asian or African. It doesn’t even say He loves only the elect! It doesn’t say God loved the rich world, the poor world, or the middle-class world.

God expressed His love for all people. His love is expressed in provisions for our spiritual welfare. There is no material provision that can ensure the life of the soul. Through the gift of His Son, God has provided forgiveness, new birth, and eternal life.

As we partake of the Lord’s Supper this morning, let us again accept the love of God for our salvation.

In this celebration, we express a worldwide fellowship.

Eating together is a symbol of unity. The common meal is a symbol of loyalty, love, friendship, and unity. When people are angry with each other, they usually refuse to eat together. We should never come to the Lord’s Table with anger, or bitterness, or jealousy in our hearts towards someone.

At the time that Paul is reminding the Christians at Corinth about some things having to do with the Lord’s Supper, they would use one loaf of bread, and he says in I Cor. 10:17—that drinking the cup and eating the broken bread is a participation (or sharing) in Christ’s blood and body. “because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. That is to say, those who receive these elements, in faith, are united to Christ and, by the Spirit, to one another. They partake of the benefits secured for them through our Savior’s shed blood and crucified body. —benefits that include atonement for sin, justification through faith, and healing for the body.

Thus, both strong and weak members need to remember that the body of Christ is not divided, and therefore, we must express our unity in our relationship to each other.

We are all one in Christ. What we have in common with Christians everywhere is more important than the cultural, racial, or economic differences that separate us. We have accepted the same love and believed in the same Lord, we are united in a common purpose, and we will share the same heaven.

For safety reasons, mountain climbers rope themselves together when climbing a mountain. That way, if one climber should slip and fall, he will not fall to his death. He would be held by the others until he could regain his footing.

The church ought to be like that. When one member slips and falls, the others should hold him up until he regains his footing. We are all “roped together” by the Holy Spirit. As we unite and go forward in His power, we will affect others both inside and outside the church.

So let’s acknowledge a worldwide need.

Celebrate a worldwide love, and

Express a worldwide fellowship

[Unless we tend our relationship with God, our spiritual houses
can become places of desolation.]

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date July 27, 2025
Text Luke 13:31-35
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

During our home foreclosure crisis, we got too acquainted with literal desolate houses. Foreclosure signs were a familiar sight in many communities across America. Some of these properties fell into disrepair. Neighborhoods in cities and towns across America were decimated because of houses abandoned after their owners were either forced out by mortgage holders or gave up and walked away from them ahead of inevitable foreclosures. And we know how things often go from there: With no one tending them, the buildings start to crumble, eaves begin to sag, windows get smashed, mold becomes a problem, yards become overgrown, and vandals or squatters or even drug dealers add to the deterioration. The houses begin to die, and so do the neighborhoods in which they sit.

In this passage, Jesus refers to a house that has been left “desolate.” The RSV has it “forsaken.” It’s an opportunity to examine how our “houses” (our inner beings) become desolate, and how they might be restored once again.

If there’s one biblical metaphor that translates easily to our culture today, it’s likely the one Jesus uses in Luke 13:35, where he laments over Jerusalem and says, “Look, your house is left to you desolate …” (NIV).

What sort of houses did Jesus consider desolate? In both New Testament Greek and modern English, the word “house” can stand not only for a building but also for a family. The text begins with the Pharisees passing along a threat from Herod, whom Jesus would refer to as a fox. This passage shows us Jesus talking to Herod Antipas, King of Galilee, who was out to stop him. To the Jew, the fox was a symbol of three things.

First, it was regarded as the sliest of animals.

Second, it was regarded as the most destructive of animals.

Third, it was the symbol of a worthless and insignificant man

. So, it was a courageous remark by Jesus, and probably reflected a little bit of his humanity, to call the reigning king a fox.

One of the well-known preachers in England, named Latimer, was once preaching in Westminster Abbey when Henry the king was in the congregation. In the pulpit, he remarked: “Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! Be careful what you say. The king of England is here!” Then he went on to say, “Latimer!, Latimer!, Latimer! Be careful what you say. The King of Kings is here.” Yes it is far more important what we say about Jesus The King of Kings than any earthly king. And Jesus took his orders from God, and he would not shorten his work by one day to please or to escape any earthly king.

Luke 13:31-35 strongly connects Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51–19:28). The passage is a continuation of 13:22-30, which records Jesus’ traveling “through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem” (v. 22). Here, Jesus specifically discusses the likelihood that expectations will be defied with respect to those who will be welcomed in and those who will be left out come judgment day. Heavenly standards will confound the earthly status quo. In the midst of this lesson — “At that very hour” (v. 31) —This is where the Pharisees enter the scene to warn Jesus that Herod is seeking to kill him.

This warning is the source of speculation regarding the intent of the Pharisees. Because their own authority is thrown into question by much of what Jesus teaches, 13:22-30 included, the Pharisees are typically portrayed as being in tension with him. Thus, it is surprising that Luke depicts them — “some” (v.31), at least — as cautioning Jesus about Herod. Perhaps the Pharisees are merely taunting Jesus. But they may very well be concerned for his safety, suggesting that not all Pharisees are unbendingly at odds with Jesus (witness Nicodemus in the gospel of John and examples of hospitality extended to Jesus by Pharisees in Luke 7:6, 11:37 and 14:1).

Less open to speculation is Herod’s dire threat. Herod, of course, stands to be one of the biggest losers when the earthly status quo is disrupted. He has already met the prophetic challenge of John the Baptist with lethal force (9:7-9). Because of his own prophetic presence, Jesus has also made his way onto Herod’s enemies list. Having withstood temptation posed by the devil in the wilderness (4:1-13), Jesus now faces the temptation of avoiding the wrath of a despot.

Jesus responds by not succumbing to fear. He is defiant, dismissively referring to Herod as “that fox” (v. 32), one who is sly and not to be trusted. Jesus is doing holy work, “casting out demons and healing people” (v. 32), and he instructs the Pharisees to tell Herod that this work will go on until it is accomplished. Moreover, Jesus makes it clear that this work is integral to the overall task of making his way to Jerusalem, a task he “must” pursue (v. 33a). The word here connotes a necessity corresponding to carrying out orders, in this case a divine mission (see Luke 2:49; 9:22; 22:7).

The house of Herod was tangled. The family line did not resemble so much a tree as a tangled ball of yarn. This Herod, named Antipas, had other relatives called Herod as well, and their marriages, divorces and remarriages were not only often ill-considered, but were sometimes incestuous.

The Herods were greatly admired in the Roman Empire. Herod the Great, for instance, had saved the Olympics around the year 12 B.C. by funding them perfectly. He left behind many great architectural works, including substantial improvements to the Jewish temple — so impressive that it caused one of Jesus’ disciples to marvel: “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Jesus, however, knew about the coming desolation and replied, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down” (Mark 13:1-2). Jesus was right, and eventually, that desolation would become all too tangible. In A.D. 66, the Jewish population rebelled against Rome. The empire could not allow that revolt to succeed, and so in A.D. 70, Roman legions under future emperor Titus retook the city and destroyed much of it, including the temple, which has not been rebuilt to this day.

Despite his major improvements to the temple and his popularity in the empire, Herod was hated by his own people because of his murderous ways, which were emulated by his descendants.

The failed relationships in the family of Herod may represent the sort of house Jesus lamented over. But he likely was thinking about the brokenness among the common people as well, and about the failure by many to love God with their whole hearts and love their neighbors as themselves.

It’s not much of a stretch to apply “the house desolate” to our lives. An unattended life — one littered with missed opportunities, broken relationships, repeated procrastinations, a lack of empathy, unkept promises, false starts, yielded-to temptations, selfish priorities, and the like — can quickly become a forsaken or desolate “house.”

It’s pretty easy to find desolate-house-type lives in the news. Think of any one of the celebrities or politicians or yes, even big-name religious figures, who destroyed their families, lost their positions, ruined their reputations and betrayed those who trusted them because of some act of infidelity or gross selfishness. But don’t limit your thinking to just them, because it’s often much smaller acts of inattention that we are guilty of in our families, but nevertheless, just as destructive.

For example, a song by Roger Miller, high on both the country and pop charts several years ago, told of a marriage breaking down, and began, “Two broken hearts — lonely, lookin’ like houses where nobody lives.”

The popular TV cop show The Closer, which ended quite a few years ago, after seven seasons, contains another example. The main character, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (played by Kyra Sedgwick), was an effective police officer with an innate ability to discern who the bad guys were and wrangle admissions of guilt out of them. But she had one habit that drove her family and co-workers nuts: When she was hot on a case, she became so focused that she usually deflected their requests for her attention, even if they only wanted a brief moment, putting them off until “later.” As the series went along, it became obvious that she was always behind in tending the most important relationships in her life, and in an episode near the end of the series, it caught up with her.

In that episode, Brenda’s parents, whom she loved deeply but too often shortchanged with her time, are visiting in her home. Just after Brenda gets a fresh lead on her current case, her mother asks for a moment to tell her something important. Reluctant to look away from her case, Brenda promises to give her some time over breakfast the next morning. Her mother agrees, but looks disappointed. The next morning, intending to keep her date with her mother, Brenda goes to the guest bedroom to awaken her, only to find that Mama has died unexpectedly during the night. That episode ends with Brenda screaming for her husband who comes and rushes her from the room.

The next episode, set a week or so later and after the funeral, has Brenda, still grieving and badly shaken, back at work, where in a reflective moment, she tells a co-worker that she’s sorry for not listening to him better. Then she adds, “Funny, I feel like I pay more attention to what murderers have to say while ignoring the people I really care about.” In the concluding scene of that episode, her husband finds her sitting on the bed where her mother died. She says to him, “The last time I saw Mama, she asked me if I had a minute, and I didn’t have the time just then. Now, I’m the one who could really use a minute, and Mama has no time at all.” The episode ends with her weeping — inconsolably — in her husband’s arms.

Improper or deferred maintenance is always bad for relationships, and that includes our spiritual ones as well. An unattended spiritual house can yield a life where God is supposedly welcome, but where he refuses to abide because the place is a spiritual dump where he is ignored by the occupant — so ignored, that the occupant doesn’t even notice when the Lord is no longer there.

We can become so accustomed to starving our relationships, breaking our promises, failing to carry through, ignoring our spiritual health and so on that we don’t realize how bad things are until the whole thing comes crashing down. (There was a certain irony in Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem in that there was no widespread awareness among its residents of how far many in the city had drifted from God.)

Jesus said to Jerusalem, “Look, your house is left to you desolate ….” He wept over Jerusalem because of their rejection of the love he tried to show them. He probably came to Jerusalem a lot more times than what is recorded in scripture. It is always heart wrenching when someone rejects our love. We could substitute the name Nobleton or Bushnell, or Brooksville, in the place of Jerusalem, because wherever we have people who have not responded to our witness of Christ, or our testimony of what Jesus has done for us, we too, will feel the rejection He felt. What might it mean for our lives to be left to ourselves? For one thing, it means that life is only what we can make of it on a temporal time scale, devoid of any hope that extends beyond our lifetime, devoid of any confidence that God will multiply our efforts in this life. For another, it means that we have no ultimate authority to which we answer. Yes, we still have societal standards, but no rock on which to stand when society is bending with ill winds. For yet another, we have no access to the sheltering wings that give comfort, no eternal healing balm for our wounds, no assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

An atheist might hear that and say, “So be it. I’m on my own in this world and that’s just fine.” In fact, the unbeliever might even declare that such a state is not one of desolation but of contentment. It’s hard to say whether any of that is bravado or whether it’s a sincere conviction, but most people don’t want to be left on their own in this life, and if they were, they’d recognize that condition as one of desolation. We want to know that when terrible things happen to us and losses pile up, ultimately it’s going to be all right.

We keep our spiritual houses from becoming desolate by tending our relationship with the Lord. We can’t keep telling the Lord “later” or “someday” and expect that to keep the relationship strong.

In The Closer episode following the death of Brenda’s mother, her husband stops by the police station and asks Brenda if she has a minute. She’s begun work on a new case, and almost reflexively, she responds, stalling him, and she begins to walk away. But then, with the memory of what she missed by doing that to her mother apparently hitting her afresh, she turns back and says, “Sorry. Yes, I do.” After they are alone in her office, she tells him, “Don’t ask me. If you need to talk to me, just say, ‘Listen,’ okay?”

It’s good for us to be in that kind of :

Relationship with God as well, where he can just say, “Listen,” and we give him our attention.

Rick Long, the pastor of Jones Memorial UMC, Lake City, Georgia, says:

“God rarely shouts ‘LISTEN’ to me (as Brenda asks Fritz to do for her). More often I just get a gentle nudge. Someone will come to mind, and I’ll wonder why. I’ve learned to pay attention to these moments; to make a contact, a call, a visit. One might miss the nudge, thinking it’s just a coincidence; a little nothing passing through our day, but it probably is so much more. When we focus our attention upon the person who comes to mind, we are actually praying for them. When we make contact with them, the conduit for grace to move between us is made. A fresh wind of the Spirit moves among us.”

When it comes to our actual houses, it’s not always our fault when maintenance is deferred. Sometimes we just don’t have the budget for every repair the house could use, and we have to prioritize. But our spiritual house has this odd stipulation that not all maintenance is up to the occupant alone. God is ready to help us keep the place up.

It’s only our fault if we don’t seek his help and then keep the lines of communication open.

••••

The lyrics of the song “Separate Me From What Separates Us” by Steve Ivey are a great prayer for those who wish to keep their spiritual house in good repair:

Separate me from what separates us.

Fill me with your love.

Separate me from what separates us.

My affections are set on above.

My heart cries out to you, O Lord.

You are my rock and fortress.

Protector, director, deliver me now

To the unseen things above.

Elisabeth Elliot, the widow of martyred missionary Jim Elliot, one of the 5 MAF pilots who lost their lives when the Waorani Indians (back then known as the Auca), which means “savage,” killed them, says;

“If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things. It is we, of course, to whom things look ‘little’ or ‘big.’ “

Scroll down past Sermon for more info

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date July 20, 2025
Text Acts 2:24-47 (message based on verses 37-38)
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

None of us likes pain. Yet pain is very important because it is a signal designed to alert us when something is wrong in our bodies. Our response to pain may be to determine the root of the problem or to simply numb the discomfort with painkillers. The painkillers may work for a while, but when the numbing effect wears off, the pain often reemerges because the source was never identified and corrected.

Generally speaking, the only way to permanently get rid of pain is to go to the root of the problem. Once the source is identified and the correct treatment is applied, the pain can usually be eliminated.

This principle is also true spiritually, especially for people who are unsaved or are out of fellowship with God. For example, a sermon about the coming of Jesus that simply thrills the heart of a born-again believer and fills us with joy can create great pain in the heart of an unsaved person or a Christian who isn’t walking with God. When they hear that Jesus will soon return, it scares them and causes them inner pain and discomfort because they know they’re not right with God. That unsettled feeling in the pit of their stomachs—-that pain—is a signal to let them know things are not well in their souls. Otherwise, they’d be rejoicing!

We live in an age when people want to be comforted and told everything is going to be all right. The truth is, some things are not going to be all right unless a change is made. We must love people enough to be graciously honest with them, regardless of how painful it is for them to hear the truth. Especially regarding people’s salvation, we must speak the truth and not be fearful of their response. If we are not forthright with unbelievers regarding their spiritual condition, they could spend an eternity separated from God in eternal punishment.

It’s good to preach positive, uplifting messages. In fact, this is something we need to do in a world where there is so much hurt, depression, difficulty, and disappointment. Certainly, we need to be a source of encouragement to fellow church members and other people who feel put down by life. But when unbelievers are in our midst, we are obligated to make sure they understand that sin separates them from God. As much as we may like them and enjoy their company, the unsaved are not all right with God. It may be painful for them to hear the reality of their situation, but we must not merely toss “painkillers” at them to numb them and keep them ignorant of the truth. We must open their eyes to the root of the problem in their lives—their spiritually lost condition.

Especially when we are talking about reaching unbelievers or the subject of sin, we must address the root. All the motivational and “how-to” sermons in the world cannot cure a sinner’s heart. The sin nature cannot be changed by a pat on the back or a hug. We must come to grips with our responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to help us be lovingly candid with unsaved people about their spiritual status. If they are lost, there is only one remedy: repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. It may be difficult at first for them to hear the truth, but it’s good for them to experience that kind of pain. It will make them inwardly aware that things are not right between them and God.

In Acts 2:37, we see how God used the apostle Peter to address unbelievers on the Day of Pentecost. With a no-nonsense, unapologetic, and direct approach. Peter preached the Gospel with power. He didn’t attack his listeners, and neither should we attack those we are trying to reach. There is never a reason to attack or to speak disparagingly to our audience. Even if people are dead in sin, they were made in the image of God, and they deserve to be spoken to with dignity and respect. Peter was respectful, yet he was honest as he went straight to the root of his listeners’ problem, preaching a message that made them so extremely uncomfortable and inwardly pained that they cried out to learn how to be saved!

Let’s look at the effect Peter’s message had on his listeners and see what we can learn from this New Testament example. In verse 36, Peter says, “ …Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” Acts 2:37 tells us, “Now when they (that is the unsaved crowd) heard this, they were pricked in their hearts—or “cut to the heart” (in the NIV)—and they said to Peter and the other apostles; “Brothers, what shall we do?” They felt convicted because they were guilty. They were pierced in their hearts because they realized they were objects of God’s wrath. They longed to be free from condemnation. Notice that they don’t wait for Peter to offer an invitation. They ask him how they should respond to his message.

Jesus’ words about the work of the Holy Spirit are on display. In John 16:8-11 Jesus said; “When he comes, (the Holy Spirit), he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment. About sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

Peter’s sermon shows us how the Spirit of God takes the gospel and works in people’s hearts. As you exalt Jesus through your witness, pray for the Spirit to bring conviction and repentance to your `hearers.

This is a good or “right kind of pain.” The Holy Spirit “pricked their hearts” The Greek word that is translated here is katanusso, a compound of the words kata and nusso.

The word kata means down. However, used in the word pricked, or cut– it gives the idea of something that is deep or something that is deep down. The second part of the word is nusso, which means to prick, to puncture, to stub, to sting, to stun, to stab, or to pierce or cut.

The only other time the word katanusso is found in the New Testament is in John 19:34 where John writes about Jesus: But one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” The word “pierced or cut” in this verse is from this same root word nusso. It tells how the soldiers with a spear pierced, punctured, stabbed, and sliced open Jesus ‘ side. It was a deep puncture of His side that pierced even His lungs.

This same root word, nusso, that describes such a deep puncturing is used in Acts 2:37, our verse here, where it is translated as pricked or cut. This alone tells us that the unsaved people in the crowd that day were deeply affected by Peter’s words. In fact, it means that his words had the spiritual effect of puncturing their hearts and that they felt sliced wide open by his message. Thus one translation has it; “they were moved to the depths of their hearts.”

However, when the words kata and nusso are compounded to become katanusso, the new word is even more profound, for it describes not just a piercing but an extremely deep piercing that would produce pain and discomfort.

This word emphatically means that Peter’s listeners were deeply disturbed when they heard his message. That message gave them such an intense stab to their hearts that it penetrated their conscience, sliced open their souls, punctured their hearts, and cut them so deeply on the inside that they cried out for help. The message stung their hearts and minds as they became aware of their sin. Suddenly, their souls felt an ache, and their hearts were filled with anguish. Only the Holy Spirit can bring that kind of deep conviction.

When Peter stood before that crowd on the Day of Pentecost, he was standing before sinners in dire need of repentance. They needed the truth that would change them, not a painkiller that would make them feel good while failing to remedy their problem. The root of the problem had to be identified so it could be dealt with and eliminated. For those unbelievers to have a supernatural change of nature, it would require REPENTANCE, so Peter presented the truth boldly, plainly, and with no apologies. S

WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK ABOUT

WHEN THEY ARE ASKED TO REPENT

In a recent survey, people who regularly attend church were asked to articulate what the word repentance meant to them. The survey resulted in an intriguing and interesting assortment of answers. The majority of those who participated in the survey stated that they believed the word repentance meant one or more of the following:

To feel sorry about something one did or failed to do.

To feel remorseful about some act and to ask for forgiveness for it.

To walk forward in a church service to formally ask Jesus into one’s heart.

Although these answers are interesting, none of them is correct! It’s somewhat surprising that this survey was given to people who regularly attend church yet who could not accurately articulate what it means to repent. Many of you may know what the correct answer would be because I have talked about it a lot over the years,

But others may have responded like those in the survey, because they are rather traditional answers when we think of repenting of our sins.

The word “repent” is a very important New Testament word. It is used in Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:4; and Luke 3:3, where we are told that John the Baptist preached, “…Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” Matt. 3:2. John’s ministry was literally launched with that one word “repent,” because according to his preaching, it is the only way to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus, too, in his public ministry, told people to repent. In Matt. 4:17.He knew that this was the only way to enter into the Kingdom of God.

Now in Acts 2:38, we read that Peter launched his preaching ministry by also telling the people that they needed to repent. He knew, too, that real repentance was very different from remorse. Yet feelings of remorse for a past action were one of the most frequent definitions given by people who participated in the survey. It is true that when a person is convicted of sin, they often do break down and weep because of past sin. But just being sorry for sin is not repentance.

The Greek word for “remorse in the New Testament is metamelomai, which is very different from the Greek word for “repent,” the word metanoeo. Metamelomi expresses sorrow, mourning, or grief. It seldom refers to someone moved to change; rather, it gives a picture of a person consumed with remorse, guilt, or regret.

For example, the word metamelomai is used in the gospels to describe the remorse, guilt, and regret that seized the heart and mind of Judas Iscariot after he betrayed Jesus. What Judas experienced was not true repentance, which brings personal change and transformation. Because the Greek word metamelomai is used to describe the emotions that captured him, it tells us that Judas was inundated with distressed, regretful emotions. Such sorrow should not be confused with repentance, for there are many who undergo a flood of regret and sorrow for something they have done, yet they don’t truly repent.

Personal change and transformation that leads to action —-NOT remorse, regret, and sorrow—-are the true proof of repentance.

When Michigan played Wisconsin in basketball early in the season in 1989, Michigan’s Rumeal Robinson stepped to the foul line for two shots late in the fourth quarter. His team trailed by one point, so Rumeal could regain the lead for Michigan. He missed both shots, allowing Wisconsin to upset favored Michigan. Rameal felt awful about costing his team the game, but his sorrow didn’t stop at the emotional level. After each practice for the rest of the season. Rumeal shot 100 extra foul shots. Thus, Rumeal was ready when he stepped to the foul line to shoot two shots with three seconds left in overtime in the national championship game. He made both shots, which won Michigan the national championship. Rumeal’s repentance had been genuine, and sorrow motivated him to work so that he would never make that mistake again. As Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 7:10, “Godly sorrow leads to repentance.”

This word repent used in the New Testament when Jesus, John the Baptist and Peter used the word, means a change of mind, —a turning around—repentance or conversion. Metanoeo is the call to turn or to change one’s attitudes and ways, and leads to action. In the New Testament, it demands a complete, radical, and total change. A change or turn around in the way one is thinking, believing, or living. The word repent in the New Testament gives the image of a person changing from top to bottom—a total transformation wholly affecting every part of a person’s life.

Once again, this is a compound word. Meta, in this context, refers to a turn or a change. The word nous is the word for the mind, intellect, will, frame of thinking, opinion, or general view of life. When the words meta and nous are compounded, as in the word “repent,” it portrays a decision to completely change the way one thinks, lives, or behaves. It is a change of direction, a new course, and a completely altered view of life and behavior. Real repentance, then, is a mental choice to leave a life of sin, flesh, and selfishness, and to turn toward God with all of one’s heart and mind in order to follow Jesus. A prime example is when Paul mentions in I Thess. 1:9, that they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”

Repentance is not the mere acceptance of a new philosophy or new idea. It is a conversion to truth so deep that it results in a total life change. It leads to action. It is the Holy Spirit that brings about this new, born-again experience, but it begins with a willingness to change completely. Without that transformation, one is not truly saved. Then the Holy Spirit continues to point out things that need to change in your life, as you grow in your walk with the Lord. When He opens your eyes to those things that are displeasing to Him, you must be willing to repent—and make an intelligent, intellectual decision to adjust your thinking and behavior to conform to God’s ways. It’s a conscious choice. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you, and how should you respond today?

Can you say to Him—“It is well with my soul ?”