Turning on the Lights! – Thursday, March 27, 2025. Are you the one or one of the 9
The message is short and sweet today. It is from Luke chapter 17 and is in the form of a question. “Are you the one – or are you one of the nine?”
We derive this question from the story that is told about Jesus healing the ten lepers. All 10 are healed – only one returns to worship Jesus.
I hope that this simple question challenges you and caused your faith to GROW.
Keep looking up, my friends, and we will see you in church!
This is a video recorded copy of the FaceBook Live event of Turning on the Lights! – Thursday, March 27, 2025. Watch here via the YouTube link!
This is an audio recorded copy of the FaceBook Live event of Turning on the Lights! – Thursday, March 27, 2025. Listen here or through your favorite podcast app!
This is a transcript from the audio of this episode of Turning on the Lights! – Thursday, March 27, 2025
Good morning. Good morning. My brothers and my sisters. Welcome to the Church Town Church of God. We are a work in progress. Aren’t we all just like the title says, aren’t we all the old church is getting a much needed exterior facelift. I’ll take you over here. Maybe you’ll be able to see or hear some of the machinery. It’s crazy. Yesterday was crazy. Pouring concrete. I never knew was such a thing. You hear it. They’re doing something. Sanding it, I think. I mean the work that they do is just amazing. They come in with rock and water, you know cement. It’s just cement. It’s not like marble or anything and these guys just turn it into something that is amazing. You watch craftsmen do what they do tradesmen do what they do. Oh my goodness. They’re really nice guys too. Last Sunday, I was feeling mischievous. I wrote a lot about that. I wrote about a lot about last Sunday in the Church Town Weekly that will be coming out in just a couple of hours and today. I just want to take a few minutes to talk about a little bit of something else. Good morning. Everybody good morning. Good morning. Good morning. I didn’t check the Wi-Fi so I hope that I’m on the correct Wi-Fi. Sometimes it makes a difference. You know in terms of how the signal goes out, but Lord we pray that your word will go out today. We know it will exactly where you want it to go to whom you want it to go Lord. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen in Jesus name. Amen. We had a rather emotional council meeting last night. It’s the last time that that council will be seated around the table. We’re going to have five well probably three new council members new secretary. That’s the way we do things. You have a three-year term. You must take a one-year sabbatical. You’re never really cast aside ever, but you have to take a one-year sabbatical and then you come back. You can come back if you wish so that the council that was constituted last evening is responsible for all of this responsible for the insurance fiasco when we we had to find masons and all these different you know craftsmen tradesmen to help take care of the church. They did a lot of stuff a lot and they’re just magnificent people and looking forward to working with the couple of them moving into the future, but there’s going to be new next time we sit down as a council. We will have had the spring meeting and the new voting and we will sit down together for the first time as a as the new reconstitution of the council. So there you go. Lots of loud noises, lots of big trucks these guys construction workers have like the biggest pickup trucks you’ve ever seen. It’s a competition. There’s no doubt it’s a competition like construction workers have the biggest pickup trucks. It’s one big pickup and they’re here on another big pickup. Of course the boss man has this gigantic thing that I mean it can haul around front end loaders. It’s been fun. They’ve got so many different weird machines and cool little things that drive around and do what they oh my gosh. Now they have an electric jackhammer. They’ve been using an electric jackhammer for the fine to get along the edges of everything and they had the church door open and they were doing the that’s very loud. Gracie doesn’t like that very much, but praise God we live in such an amazing home like giant brick home. You can actually not really hear it in there. So we’re there we are there we are go ahead and like and share the video or do whatever you do with it. Get the word out here, but we’re going to take a look at Luke 17. One little point that I want to make today that I have gone over this scripture many many times and made this point as often because I think the point to be made is very important. I think this little pericope remember what a pericope is. It’s just a little picture. It’s a little story that gives you a little picture and in that picture is a strong image a strong message in the story and in the picture and so it’s the the the ten men healed of leprosy. I’ve preached this before I’ve made this point before and I want to make it again because it’s a simple point and oftentimes the things that Jesus hits you in the face with are the simplest things. Of course last on Tuesday, we talked about how he is master and we are servant it. I can’t rewrite scripture. He says that as holy God should I praise you for worshiping me. You are so full of yourself. This is me now talking this you are so full of yourself praising me thinking that you are so awesome and praising me your church is so awesome. Your music is so awesome. You’re speaking is so awesome. I’m in second Corinthians right now in a Bible reading and Paul saying I know I don’t speak very well, but I tell you the truth plainly. But we get so full of ourselves thinking you know God just loves the way I am I should be praised by him now we talk about being blessed by the Lord and we talk about blessing him with our worship and praise. That’s a whole different ball game. Than being prideful right and saying look at me look at me even to the Lord himself look at me look at me better not go down that road better not go down that road. So that was the lesson on Tuesday right now today. It’s very simple lesson as well. It’s a short piece of scripture in Luke seventeen. Excuse me I go over it again in the church town weekly so you’ll read more of my thoughts on this in the weekly as Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem. He reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. Alright, so you got you got the ethnic Jewish area and then you have the mixed mixed blood very much despised Sumerians right and they’re they’re not ethnically pure in terms of their Jewish heritage. Therefore they must be left outside. They must not be included all of those things. You know several stories about Samaritans and the good Samaritan and all of those different things. As he entered a village there right on the border. Ten lepers stood at a distance off in the margins and crying out Jesus master have mercy on us now the fascinating thing about this as we see Jesus entering in we see the lepers at a distance cuz they’re they’re they by law have to remain so many feet. If I don’t think they use the measurement of feet, but so far away from from healthy people right, they had to keep their distance and they’re yelling at Jesus cuz they’re they know who he is. They’ve heard of him. Jesus master did he not just say did he not just tell us the parable of the master and the servant have mercy on us. Jesus looked at them and said go show yourselves to the priests and as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. This is very unique among miracles very unique because Jesus is always doing something declaring something touching someone writing in the dirt making mud and putting it on a person’s different thing or people are reaching up and touching him like the woman with the with the with the blood issue that we you know all he does is simply look at them and say go go show the priests and on the way that they were they were cleaned. He he performed that miracle just by thinking about it. That is unique among miracles, so that’s like point one. You don’t think God is sovereign. One of them one of them when he saw that he was healed like on the way back to the preacher like oh my goodness look what’s happening to me. He sees what he he came back to Jesus shouting praise God. He fell to the ground at Jesus feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was of course of Samaritan and so we’re using the image the teaching of the outsider the one who is not caught up in the religion of the day. The one who sees Jesus for who he is master right master Lord of the universe, not just Lord of the manner or Lord of the land. He is Lord capital L Holy God. So this person who is unblinded by the many man made structures of the day sees Jesus for who he is and he comes back and then Jesus hits us all now. He says this to this man, but he knows that he is saying it to all of us in 2025. Jesus asked didn’t I heal ten men. Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner and Jesus said to the man stand up and go your faith has healed you and now there’s a difference. There’s a slight difference there right because he looked at the ten men. He said go and on their way they were they were healed. They didn’t mention anything about their faith. They knew who he was they knew he could perform miracles, but did they have faith in him as God? Did they have faith in God? We don’t know that’s not the point. The point is this one man who saw with his spiritual eyes who healed him came running back and worshiped him and Jesus, of course is teaching us all in 2025. Didn’t I heal ten men? How come only one worships me? And he doesn’t again it it it clicks in very well with the first teaching of master servant cuz Jesus doesn’t say. Oh, you’re so wonderful for coming back to me. I praise you for recognizing who I am now the servant who was healed by God comes back and does what he should and in the previous parable, we say you know we learn should the servant be rewarded for simply doing what is expected of him. So we don’t see Jesus going. Oh, a guy came back and gave me credit. Oh, it makes me feel so good. You are so awesome and wonderful. No the facts are simply laid out there. The Samaritan whose eyes were open came back and worshiped him praised him and worshiped him. And Jesus says, remember it’s on the border between the pure Jews and the non pure Jews didn’t I heal ten. Where are the other nine? The question is very clear. The preaching point is very clear and I make it at least two or three times a year because it needs to be made. Are you the one or are you one of the nine? And if you are the one and you throw yourself at the feet of Jesus, do you expect praise for that? Do you expect Jesus to say, Oh, I’m so glad you’re worshiping me my ego needs it whatever. Not the case. That’s not the case. You’re not going to receive praise and worship from him. It’s the other way around. So there’s a lot embedded in this little pericope that you could just pick apart pick apart pick apart. But the big message is are you the one or are or are you one of the nine? Do you punch your ticket on Sunday and then walk away? But but but you are faithful. You come back the next Sunday. I go to church. I’m all about the religion. Cool. That is a that is a solid foundation. But what we teach here and where what every church should be teaching is what happens the other 166 and a half hours during the week. It’s like we said there are 10,080 minutes in a week. Churches may be 90 of them. What are you doing with the other 9,950 what are you doing with them? Are you praising and worshiping God not just when you’re in that environment so to speak you praising and worshiping God all the time you wake up in the morning. Do you think of him? Do you pray to him? Do you give glory to him for the day whether it’s rain or shine or whatever do you do those things? And when you do them, do you expect to be recognized him by him for the great worshiper you are? Nope, you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t expect a pat on the back for simply doing what is required of you. I used to teach my football players all that all the time like if I you know good job. Good job. Good job. Yeah. You did that correctly, but if you want me to have this praise on you for simply doing something you’ve been coached to do for two years, then you’re kind of emotionally immature and what I want out on the field are people who are very secure and who they are and what they’re doing. Same kind of difference. I taught my kids that good job. Good job. There’s always time for positive reinforcement. I know any kind of reinforcement any kind of it reinforcement is positive reinforcement, but there’s always time for reinforcement of job well done. But expecting me to lavish praise and buy gifts for and do all no because they’re doing what was expected of them to do as our children. So the concept is alive and well. Maybe we saw I mean we saw through the 90s and into this into the 2000s a change of that no no no we must lavish praise and worship upon our children for doing the simplest of tasks making a good choice. Whatever that’s not what we what we learn in Scripture and that’s the message for today. Are you the one or are you one of the nine? You’ll read that again in the Church Town Weekly. That’s part of what I draw out God’s sovereignty and those sorts of things and there’s a lot of good information in the weekly as well regarding the church and her calendar and goings on. So I hope that you enjoy that and that’s about it. I have a beehive of activity going on around here. And good Lord willing in the river don’t rise. This will be the last day of the beehive of activity. Do you know how hard it is to prepare? I’m not but you know how hard it is to prepare for Sunday morning in the middle of a construction zone. It’s a little weird. It’s been weird for a few weeks right exactly. You’re not getting the trophy for being a follower of Christ. You’re saved. You are saved. Your soul is saved. There is salvation through Christ, but no you want more. You gotta have more. You gotta have more. I need Jesus and I need my salvation and and that’s human nature. We have to be very intentional about saying thank you. Thank you. What what you did is enough. The power within me is enough. Tell me where to go. Tell me what to do. You’re exactly right Rosie exactly right. So you can hear the noises going on around us. It is fun. I’m gonna go out and look at the big machines and have fun with the fellas. They won’t let me drive anything party poopers. They won’t let me operate the jackhammer. Really seriously. They won’t let me. You know it’s just whatever but Father God, we pray that your word will go wherever you want it to go. We know it will because you’re sovereign. We pray that it penetrates the hearts and minds of souls here and around the world wherever you send it Lord that your kingdom may grow one profession of faith in Christ at a time. We pray for your church this weekend. Lord may she shine brightly as a beacon of light and hope in this dark world. May your servants humbly bow to you. And pray to you here I am Lord. Here I am in Jesus name, Amen. Hey kiddos. It is Thursday Sunday is coming and I’ll see you in church.
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