Rev. David Holwick ZG
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 10, 1999
Deuteronomy 32:7-12
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I. Learning from the past.
A. I am a history buff.
1) Ned & Marilyn Patterson's house - ghosts on walls.
2) Church photos just since I have been here.
Time is flying by.
3) Moses: "Remember the days of old; consider the generations
long past."
B. History has lessons.
1) Santana - "Those who don't learn from the mistakes of the
past are condemned to repeat them."
a) History never repeats exactly.
b) I like what Bernard Shaw said: "We learn from experience
that men never learn anything from experience."
#1782
2) We don't have to be that pessimistic, and we don't have
to be slaves of past.
Years ago a thunderstorm swept through southern Kentucky
at the farm where the Claypool family has lived for six
generations.
In the orchard, the wind blew over an old pear tree that
had been there as long as anybody could remember.
The grandfather was grieved to lose the tree on which he had
climbed as a boy and whose fruit he had eaten all his life.
A neighbor came by and said, "Doc, I'm really sorry to see
your pear tree blown down."
"I'm sorry too," said the grandfather.
"It was a real part of my past."
"What are you going to do?" the neighbor asked.
The grandfather paused for a moment and then said, "I'm
going to pick the fruit and burn what is left."
That is the wise way to deal with many things in our past.
We need to learn their lessons, enjoy their pleasures, and
go on with the present and the future. #3138
II. What we can discard from the past.
A. Legalism.
1) Reducing Christianity to set of rules. (alcohol, dress codes)
2) Don't get caught up in secondary stuff.
B. Narrow attitudes.
1) KKK may have made offering in this church in 1920's.
2) Women were too restricted.
a) They went beyond biblical mandates.
3) Listen to society's criticism of the church.
a) Some of it is due to society's rejection of God.
b) And some of it is well-deserved by us.
C. Stagnation.
1) For long periods, little happened in church.
2) We have a tendency to be complacent.
a) Ask yourself: what is this church going? What is
being accomplished?
b) If not much is happening, shake things up.
D. Bickering and grumbling.
1) The olden age wasn't necessarily the golden age.
a) They had plenty of personality conflicts in church.
b) Human nature is unchanged in thousands of years.
2) Keep eyes on Jesus.
a) People will continue to disappoint.
b) Watch your own life and attitude.
III. What we need to recover from the past.
A. Simple lifestyle.
1) My suit is too fancy for typical Baptist preacher.
a) They were proud to be plain, even a little dowdy.
2) They were against worldliness.
a) Rockefeller's wife - $200 worth of clothes.
b) 1 Peter 3:3 - adornment doesn't make us pretty.
3) We ape the culture.
a) Most expensive clothes, etc...
b) We don't need as much stuff, especially when it puts
us in debt.
B. Concern for sin.
1) Fine line between legalism and concern for sin.
2) Previous generations realized their actions mattered.
3) Your habits, choices of entertainment, relationships
affect you and everyone around you.
C. Aggressive evangelism.
1) They were not afraid to make waves.
2) Confronted sinners.
3) Confronted sin.
a) Tent meetings were an annual event.
b) We are too shy, concerned about appearances.
D. Making church a priority.
1) There were less distractions, attractions, in the past.
2) Church membership must mean more than another club.
IV. What we can keep doing, just like our forebears.
A. Commitment to Bible.
1) We believe in the full authority of the Bible.
2) If we stray from it, challenge us.
B. Commitment to fellowship.
1) We can expect many medical, scientific advances but people
will still be lonely, alienated.
2) Other churches will be bigger than us, but we can be
personable.
C. Commitment to Jesus.
1) We are more than an organization.
a) We are an organism, the body of Christ.
2) Personal relationship to Jesus is essential.
a) More important than godly politicians, laws.
b) Daily walking with the Lord.
c) A personal, vital faith. [Brunner and TV...]
V. Only Jesus is constant.
A. This church will change.
1) I hope it stays committed to evangelical doctrine.
2) Maybe this building will change.
a) NYC "little brown church in the country" - now
surrounded by skyscrapers.
b) Ledgewood will probably end up like that.
1> Route 10 will be six lanes.
2> Mooney Mountain will be like streets of San Francisco.
B. Jesus stays the same. Hebrews 13:8
1) Believe in him.
2) Serve him.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#1782, "Quoatable Quotes - Bernard Shaw," Readers' Digest, February 1992,
page 179.
#3138, "The Past," by John Claypool, Leadership Journal, Fall 1992,
page 46.
These and 4,900 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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