Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.
With that said, good morning church, good morning to everybody watching us on the stream or listening to us online.
Of course, welcome to our sanctuary. It's great to have everybody here.
In the past month or so, myself, Pastor Mark, when we've been up here, we've made brief comments going towards election season, the stuff that's going on, that kind of stuff.
There's a huge divide across our nation. There's a big divide amongst people.
People are quick to jump from one side to the next.
What's that? Oh, okay. I guess we need to turn me up a little bit more because my voice is still a little raspy.
Okay, how's that? Is that better? That's better? Okay, thank you.
Basically, there's a divide. People are quick to jump to one side, the other, or just say, oh, I'm not involved at all.
It's very much turned into the game of red and blue, as you can see here behind me.
That's what we're going to be talking about is the church and politics today.
Suffice to say, things are getting very heated.
People are very passionate about their politics, if only they were as passionate about their faith.
As Christians, though, we need to tread very carefully in this arena, in this battlefield.
It is a battlefield. It truly is.
We need to make sure that we're not getting caught up in the snares that the enemy has set for us.
There are quite a few snares that are out there.
I've said it before and I've said it again. I'm not going to stand up here.
I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. That's not my place.
Rather, we're going to be looking at what we need to do from the kingdom perspective as Christians.
That's where we need to be looking from.
Jesus is who we need to be leaning into for that guidance as we go into this season.
It's something that a lot of us forget about in this area of our lives.
People get out there and those emotions start running.
What happens is they get caught up in that and they're led into sin.
Jesus came to us. He came. He died on the cross. He rose again.
When he came, he brought the kingdom of God with him.
Of course, with Jesus coming and his sacrifice for us, he brought hope.
Unfortunately, that hope isn't something that really gets pulled into politics other than there's a tagline.
We need to be aware of that because it transcends the earthly kingdom.
Definitely hold on because this is a hot topic and we're going to dive right into it.
I'm going to have everybody go ahead and open up your Bible or your Bible app, whatever it is that you're using, to Luke 17.
It's Luke 17. I cheated. I already got mine open up here.
That's right. Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater, right?
Tis the season. You have pumpkin spice ready?
Oh, get it ready. Gotcha. Okay. Maybe after this.
Luke 17, specifically when we're in Luke 17, we're going to be looking at verses 20 through 37.
Let's go ahead and go all the way down to Luke 17. We're going to start off in verses 20 and 21.
The word says, oh, I should probably flip this over.
When he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said,
The kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, see here or see there, for indeed the kingdom of God is within you.
So as we look at the role of the believer in our political systems, in our current political system here,
specifically in the U.S., it's critical that we look at what Jesus teaches about the kingdom.
Here the Pharisees, they've asked, where is it? When's it coming?
They hadn't realized that with Jesus and his arrival that the kingdom had come with them. It was already here.
The thing is, they're looking for the tangible. They're looking for what they can see, what they can touch,
what they can feel and smell and hear. They want that physical little something that's right there.
Let's see if I can find the right button here. Here we go.
We look at what Jesus said right here, right? The kingdom of God is within you. See this.
It is a commentary on Luke. Matthew Henry puts it this way.
They asked when the kingdom of God should come, forming a notion of it as a temporal kingdom,
which should advance the Jewish nation above all the nations of the earth.
They were impatient to hear some tidings of its approach.
So like I said, the thing is, God's kingdom is not all that. It's not like the earthly kingdom.
It's not supposed to be like the earthly kingdom.
Because you look at what's happened with the earthly kingdom. It's been ravaged, right?
It just seems like it's getting worse all the time. Pollution, wars.
We're chopping things down. We're burning things. We're putting other things up.
We're feeding things into systems and ecosystems that shouldn't be there, oils and chemicals and this, that and the other.
The earthly is being destroyed. The heavenly is different.
The kingdom of God is different. The things that we see going on here won't happen there.
You know, God's kingdom, it's not held down by geographical boundaries or imaginary lines on a map that says it starts and ends here, right?
There's not walls that are put up saying, oh no, we're over here and it's over there.
It's not like, you know, it's not like, you know, let me put it this way, God didn't create things to go and say, okay, I put all this over there.
I'm just going to hold this little piece over here for myself. Right?
That's not what he had in mind. It wasn't, hey, I'm going to just do all this. I'm just going to keep this little piece. Right?
It doesn't work that way because it's all God's.
And it comes to his kingdom. The way it progresses is because it's within us.
When we go out into the world and when we talk to people, when we fellowship and we tell people about Christ and the love of Christ and the hope that he brings and what he's done for us,
because then they can see it because they see Christ in us.
You know, this isn't this isn't what the Pharisees were looking for and they didn't understand it because of such is very much, oh, it's going to happen.
And it's going to just be in a blink of an eye. And I'm going to be standing in the middle of it. Right.
Or I'm going to be able to load up all my stuff on a donkey or a cart and travel so many miles.
It's going to be that way. And we're going to be a smack dab in the middle of it.
They didn't understand this notion of the spiritual because when we look at the Pharisees, we have to remember they're very legalistic is very much.
You have to say this. You have to do this.
It has to be at this time. Right.
And you have to be one of God's people or else it's not going to pertain to you. Right.
Like those walls we were talking about last week, they had these barriers in place and their mentality followed with it.
So they didn't understand what was being said, what was being told to them because they didn't understand what was in their own scrolls.
You know, we're no different, especially in the political arena.
We get caught up in the red versus blue. We hear the advertisements.
They tell us go and vote straight down the line. Vote red. Vote blue. Right.
We have, you know, we forget we have to remember that the lamb should be at the forefront of everything that we do.
You know, instead of getting caught up in this noise of, hey, this is your guy.
This is the guy who's going to take care of all of it. He's going to solve all these problems that have been going on for decades.
Right. And that's how they pose it. Right.
It's like we have this and it's because of all this stuff from this guy and this party, you know, or hey, this guy started it.
He's in the same party and he's going to continue that work and this and his ideas and this is going to get better. Right.
But how much of that actually happens? It's like used car sales. Right.
It's like come on down Sunday, Sunday, Sunday and buy this garbage or buy this beauty. Stay away from this.
But go over to that. Right. And it's how the ads put it.
You know, they make all this noise and, you know, building up this guy, but then slandering this guy and tearing them down.
And as we're seeing more and more so, it's not necessarily the truth that they're using.
They make things up or they twist things. Sounds familiar, right?
Isn't that the tool the devil? Isn't that what the devil uses? Right.
Because anything that's less than 100 percent truth is a lie.
It doesn't matter how much truth is in there, just the fact that there's that twist and there's that lie in there.
Guess what? It's a lie. It's wrong. Something isn't correct there.
You know, we, we, we ourselves, we get caught up, you know, as the parties play that game of politicians.
And they try to manipulate us to go this way or that way or to vote for this or to vote for that and approve this and approve that.
But then when it comes to them and their missteps, where's the accountability?
It takes something major for anybody to even try to be held accountable for anything by anybody.
You know, and it happens because we've given them the power to do this.
For so long, we say, hey, we want to, yeah, you just keep on, yeah, yeah, you do that.
Yeah. And all those yeah, yes, where we don't even get through the full sentence.
And it builds up to this point where they now have the power.
Politicians are forgotten. They're supposed to work for us, not the other way around.
You know, people want the powers to be to take care of them.
And unfortunately, in doing this, these political, these politicians and these political candidates, they've been turned into idols.
They've been put on a pedestal that they don't belong on, that they're better than the average person, that they sit higher than the average person,
that they can take care of all this stuff and everybody starts looking to them instead of looking to him.
We've placed them on that pedestal. It's our fault. And it's on us to correct it.
And we have the power to correct it. We do, whether we believe it or not.
It takes the numbers, which is why as believers we have to come together and we have to work with each other and teach one another.
And then from there we go out and we teach the next person and the next person so that our voice starts to be heard again.
You know, our society, like I said, we've placed our faith in these people instead of our faith in him.
We need to realize that when it comes to the kingdom, it is with us as believers. It's within us.
We see it right here. The kingdom of God is within you.
And it begins with the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember the Holy Spirit is within us. That's a gift to us.
That's God in us working, transforming us, building us, teaching us, talking with us. Right?
And that's where it starts. Working in our lives. And then from working in our lives to working in our relationships, our families, our friends, our fellowships and out into the world.
And that is how the kingdom spreads. It transforms us through the paths in our lives. And we have to resist looking into the various institutions that are out there to take care of us.
We need to look to Jesus instead of looking to political programs. Right? And that's what they are, programs or political speeches, because sometimes they don't make it much further than the speech. Right?
We need to look beyond these things for the evidence of God at work in our world.
Because yes, while God can and will use these things, that is not his only tool. Because our faith should be in him, not the various tools that he can use, whether he chooses to use them or not.
You know, when we look for the evidence of God working in the world, we should be looking at people's hearts and how God has impacted them in their lives and their hearts.
Because that is what will speak to people. That is what people are able to see. And that's why people respond differently to one person to the next.
John chapter 13 verse 35 says it like this. Jesus said, by this all will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another.
If you have love for one another.
And I know I say this all the time. Love is an action. It's not words. It's what we do. It's how we do it. It's how we talk to each other.
The things that we do for each other. How we pray for and with one another.
Which beckons the questions that we all need to ask ourselves. Do we belong to Christ? Do we belong to the government? Do we belong to Jesus or the world?
Because that really is the question that we are looking at when we look at this game of red versus blue.
We have to decide. It goes back to that whole thing of being lukewarm. I'm sorry, being hot or cold. Not being lukewarm. We have to choose.
We go back into our reading in Luke 17. We'll pick back up in verses 22 through 25. So Luke 17 verses 22 through 25 the word says.
Then he said to the disciples. The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man.
And you will not see it. And they will say to you, look here or look there. Do not go after them or follow them.
For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven.
So also the Son of Man will be in his day.
But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
So the kingdom is with Jesus and thereby with us through the Holy Spirit.
We're not going to physically see the kingdom. Right? Not the way other people perceive it. Not the way other people want it.
Not yet. It's not for us to see yet.
There's some things that need to happen before we even get to that point. And that's what Jesus was saying here.
The disciples didn't even quite realize everything that he was saying here.
Good to see you. Jesus laid out what was happening.
Things that needed to come to pass. Jesus laid it out. The Pharisees did not want to hear it.
This isn't what they wanted to hear. So they reacted in such a fashion.
You know, they wanted to know about this long sad after kingdom.
They wanted to see it again. You know, like I said earlier, they wanted to know where it was.
They wanted to be able to enter into it. They wanted to be able to walk in it and see God and talk to God.
They felt entitled. That's a big issue today, isn't it? It's a big sin. It's entitlement.
You know, they believed that the kingdom belonged to them and to the Jews alone.
And it's no different than the people who fall into the snares of the Naaman and Kleibendock doctrines that are out there.
Because that comes from most, you know, when people start saying this and that and all that and I declare this.
Most of the time what's happening is coming from a place of selfishness.
It's not coming from a place of holiness. It's not coming from a place of, hey, God's will be done.
It's my will be done. Right? And that's not what it's supposed to be. Even in the example of prayer.
What was the example that Jesus gave us? Right? Your will be done on earth as in heaven, not mine.
We need to remember this. You know, Jesus also made it clear he was going to have to suffer and ultimately die on the cross.
Right? It says right here, verse 25, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Boy was he. Boy did he and boy was he.
You know, for all the pain and suffering that we have today, thankfully we don't have to worry about that, do we?
Not like it was back in that day.
You know, other things are going to come to pass. And that way when the kingdom does come to be seen, it's going to be unmistakable.
Matthew chapter 24, verses 22 through 28. Jesus tells us. So Matthew 24, verses 22 through 28.
Jesus tells us, if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.
But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.
At that time, if anyone says to you, look, here is the Messiah.
Or there he is, do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive.
If possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.
So if anyone tells you, there he is out in the wilderness, do not go out.
Here he is in the inner rooms. Do not believe it.
For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will the coming of the Son of man.
Wherever there is a carcass, the vultures will gather.
Depending on your translation, as you can see up here, it might say eagles as well.
Either way, birds of prey.
I think for me personally, I like the translations that say vultures a little bit more because I think it speaks a little truer to the word.
Because eagles, well yes, they might scoop down and pick up a carcass here and there.
For the most part, not really. They are scooping down and they are taking home dinner.
If you have never seen it, it is pretty cool. It can be pretty graphic.
A little bit more so than vultures, where vultures are, it is going to be a little lazier.
They are okay with roadkill. So is the enemy.
The kingdom is with Jesus, thereby the Holy Spirit.
We are not going to physically see the kingdom as others have perceived it.
With this, we see a warning of false teachers.
When it comes to false teachers, we see them more and more so today, don't we?
Even in the news, a lot of places do a pretty good job of trying to slip things under the carpet.
But let's face it, for decades now, we have seen prominent people, people that everybody has come to see as great people of faith, men and women of the cloth, both.
They come up here and later on are found out to be used car salesmen.
Just recently, we had a pastor, was it Texas, I want to say it was, who had to step down and came to find out that he had an affair with a young woman years ago.
I don't know if it was a young woman or a young man, but there has been a lot of things going on.
These things happen more and more so.
Money laundering or mishandling, different things, different pastors that get into fights, they are pushed out by one board of trustees, but then picked up by another because this other church doesn't necessarily know where they are at.
They don't look too deep. They are like, hey, this guy had quite the following, let's bring him on.
Mark Driscoll, a lot of controversy follows him wherever he goes.
I'm not saying he doesn't have good things to say, but for everything good, he also has something bad it seems like.
We need to question people and what is going on and where they are at, especially when they start getting to these places where there is a lot of people and a lot of money.
It's not to say they don't start off well. Unfortunately, a lot of these guys don't end well though.
People are building these things up to impress other people, to impress the masses and get people to go, wow, this is great.
But God, when he looks down, he is not seeing this tinsel and flare.
He is not seeing all these little sparkly, beautiful things, things that we think look good.
He is seeing through all that to the garbage and he is seeing the sin and all the ugliness that comes with it.
Because that is what is at the heart of it all, right?
It doesn't matter how many good people are there.
When you have something in place and it is coming from a place of sin and selfishness and human wants and not God's will,
it is already tarnished and that is what God sees.
Darkness and corruption of sin, tainting the world, tainting houses, a growing cancer that needs to be cut out.
Ultimately, when Jesus returns, it will be cut out. It will be gone, right?
The goats will be separated from the sheep.
Coming back to politicians and our political candidates, people running for various offices even,
whether it is sheriff or DA or whatever, because we forget we have people in these offices as well, right?
Even at the lowest levels, they stand up there and people like to basically preach.
They talk about how good they are, how wonderful they are.
This is a stand-up dude. You need to vote for him, right?
Maybe milk certain things and exaggerate them a little bit like, oh yeah, they grew up in hardship.
Did they? I don't know.
But we take things at that word and that value that splashed in front of us instead of actually looking into it, researching it.
We need to do a little research. That falls on us as part of our duty.
You know, I can say it comes back to them being put on that pedestal. This is the guy they can take care of at all.
They're the one that's going to stand up for the common man. This is the person who's going to create jobs, right?
And lower the deficits and deal with our taxes and all this stuff. Build the economy up and so on and so forth.
And then what's the first thing? You could be at work, you could be sitting at friends.
Unfortunately, you could even be in a fellowship.
I've been in many over the years where I've heard this exact same thing said.
And it comes to a candidate that somebody doesn't believe in, somebody doesn't support.
What's the word that they like to throw out right away?
What's that? Not always, but that's a good one.
You didn't hear he said racist. That's a good one, but that's not quite it.
Lately that has been a trend though. I'll give you that one for sure.
No, Antichrist. This dude is the Antichrist. He's going to kill us. He's going to kill our economy.
He's going to be the end of our country. He's going to be the downfall of us all.
Everybody wants to take the candidate that they don't support, compare them to the worst people that the world has ever seen.
People like Hitler, right? And they call him the Antichrist.
I could throw out other names, but I think Hitler kind of sums it all up because that was a bad dude.
That's a real bad dude, right? Kind of says it all right there, that Antichrist.
It doesn't matter what they actually know about them, whether they've actually done any research,
looked into their background, where they're from, how they were raised, how they've actually voted in the past,
what their actions actually say, and the bills that they've tried or have not tried to get passed,
what they have said versus what they've done or not done.
You know, instead, we end up with this pool of the walking dead, putting faith in man instead of the Almighty,
putting faith in programs instead of the Word, and we end up with more career politicians
who don't care about anything other than their image, right? Their wallet, their own ambitions.
Not to say all of them are like that, but we have more than our fair share in this country alone, in this state alone.
Probably be fair to say, in this city, right? And we need to remember, this isn't new.
This is exactly the same as Jerusalem's leaders. Jerusalem had the same problems with their leadership,
they had the same problems with false teachers, their programs to entertain the masses,
twisting the truth into lies to better nobody but themselves and their own selfish needs.
And yet, when we have this power, we see these kinds of things being done, and we know,
hey, we're quick to forgive them for that misdemeanor, it's okay, instead of holding them accountable.
We're quick to put them back at that level of greatness and usher them back in that place of being an idol.
They all become false gods. It's really what they are.
Because they have these promises for things that they can't even deliver.
You know, they want to set up there like a bunch of petty gods.
Like, you know, we think of like Greek and Roman mythology and all that kind of stuff, right?
Petty gods at war with each other all the time, manipulating this, manipulating that.
This person's voting this way, so this person's going to vote that way just in spite of them.
Not necessarily because of what we want, what we're telling them, what we want voted on.
Remember, these are the people who are supposed to serve us, not themselves and not the elite few, but us.
And when it comes to the return of Jesus, man, I love what it says here.
Lightning, like a bolt of lightning.
We're actually just talking about this in our Bible study on Wednesday, weren't we, with the flash of lightning.
In the book of Revelation, and also as we're going through the book of Psalms, it's all throughout.
It's all throughout.
But it is, you know, it's like a bolt of lightning.
And what happens when lightning strikes?
You know, Christ is going to be like a bolt, you know, a bolt of lightning.
His power, his presence is going to be known by all.
Just like when lightning strikes.
When lightning strikes, you can be inside and not even see it.
You're like, whoa, because you hear the thunder or you catch a bit of flash coming off of something, right?
When lightning's out, we know it.
It's not just silence sitting in the background.
There's always something that lets us know what's going on.
And when Jesus returns, there's not going to be any doubt whatsoever that it's him.
Which is why when people are saying, oh, look, here he is, here he is, here he is, look, look, right, right.
We can ignore all that nonsense because we know it's nonsense.
Jesus has already told us that.
Because when he comes, there will be no doubt.
Everyone will see, everybody will know.
Stevie Wonder will know that Christ has returned.
Because everybody in some way, shape, or form is going to witness it for themselves.
And it will eliminate any question of who he is.
When this happens, everybody's going to know that they're in the presence of God.
Man, that's going to be glorious, isn't it?
For us as believers and then for the nonbelievers when they see, hey, guess what's come to pass?
Talk about a reckoning, right?
I'm going to go back into the bulk of the last part of our reading here.
Luke 17 verses 26 through 36.
I know it's a lot here.
So 26 through 36.
And the word says, and as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man.
They ate, they drank, they married wives.
They married men and married women.
And the flood came and destroyed them all.
Likewise, as it is, was also in the days of Lot.
They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built.
But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven.
And destroyed them all.
Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
In that day, he who is on the housetop with his goods, depending on your translation, might say possessions, are in the house.
Let him not come down and take them away.
And likewise, the one who was in the field, let him not turn back.
Remember Lot's wife.
Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it.
And whoever loses his life will preserve it.
I tell you that in that night there will be two men, or depending on your translation, people in one bed.
The one will be taken and the other will be left.
Two women will be grinding together and the one will be taken and the other left.
Two men will be in the field.
The one will be taken and the other left.
So refresh your memory a little bit here.
When Lot was leaving, basically fleeing for his life, right?
When the angel said, hey, run.
He's with his wife.
They were told, do not look back.
Give up your old life and run to the new.
Not look back and hold on to what is lost or the old.
His wife stopped and looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt.
She had to pay the piper because she didn't listen.
And we're being told when the day comes, it will be no different for the rest of the world.
Jesus is basically warning us against false security.
Let's face it, we have all this stuff in our lives.
These things that we place value on.
And some of us have a lot more than others.
But we all still have these things in our lives.
Some of these things are things that we feel like we just can't live without.
Is that the case? No.
Because guess what happens when we're called home, we're not taking it with us.
It's a fact. Bible tells us all right.
When we turn back to dust, we're going to be just as naked as we were the day that we came out.
Everything else is left behind.
You know, politicians, they feed on this fear as well.
They do.
They promise policies, structures, policies, excuse me, reforms and programs.
And then they end up slipping right back into that same cycle of voting each other down so that things don't happen.
And the circle perpetuates year and year, decade after decade.
There's some things that they've literally been fighting for decades for and still haven't changed, right?
It's very much an us versus them mentality that's been perpetuated.
And it keeps the divide amongst the people.
Because when people are too busy bickering, arguing and fighting and complaining amongst themselves,
they are too busy to see what's actually happening up on Capitol Hill.
We have to give up the materialism and we have to give up that individualism that tries to claim control.
That skepticism that says everyone is out to get us or this party is out to get us or this candidate is out to get us.
We have to give up our own selfishness.
Our selfishness is a big part of why we buy into this stuff.
The same way when Jesus comes, we're not going to be able to turn back.
Because if we do, we don't get a second chance.
We turn into that pillar of salt, right?
Just like Lot's wife.
We don't get a chance to say to change our minds or to weigh things out.
The time is now.
When Jesus returns and that kingdom is brought out and the kingdom is at hand,
we either go straight to him or we perish.
Right?
We're condemned to hell.
Away from the kingdom.
We'll see the gates.
We'll know what's there.
But we will never get to enter it if we don't just go straight to Christ.
He's our beacon.
He's our light.
He's that signal saying, over here.
Unfortunately, everybody's looking for a street of lights like Las Vegas.
And they're following the sin.
You know, we need to decide if we believe in him and trust in Christ fully.
You know, if we're ready to cut ourselves off from the rest of this worldly stuff.
You know, or if we're going to follow the world and risk perishing.
When Christ returns, we have to be more committed to him than to ourselves.
And the fact is, he's already come.
He's already walked this earth.
He's already gone to the cross.
He's gone to the grave.
He's come again, and he's blessed.
He's also come and blessed us, right?
Sent the Holy Spirit.
So he's with us.
So it's not like he's actually truly left.
He's still here with us.
We know he's with us.
So really, we need to commit to him now.
Going into our final verse, Luke 17, 20 through 21.
And they answered and said to him, Where, Lord?
And he said to them, Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
I said, depending on your translation, it might say vultures.
Jesus is really saying, you know, hey, one sign or a couple signs saying that the end is near,
doesn't really mean that.
Doesn't mean you shouldn't be watching, but it's not crucial.
But when you start seeing many signs, many vultures circling, right,
because they know something's about to happen, that's when we need to be like, hey, guess what?
The time's here.
The time's at hand.
And the enemy's going to be hard at work trying to round up the dead,
trying to pull people away from the light and away from Christ.
He wants the dead pulled away like a vulture so that he and his fallen can pick those bones clean.
That's what vultures do, right?
They devour the dead.
They rip them apart.
See, when it comes to the church, when it comes to you and me, when it comes to believers,
Jesus didn't come to start a revolution like they expected him to.
Instead, he used the governing laws of the time and is still using our governing laws now,
because most of our laws, when you look into them in their origination, are based on laws of the past.
Many of them actually come from biblical points, biblical commands, right?
When Jesus came, he used those laws.
Remember, he even said, I did not come to do away with the law.
We need to remember that the church doesn't fall to any specific political party.
We're not red, we're not blue, we're not donkey, we're not an elephant.
The church doesn't belong to one party or another, nor does it fall completely away from it either.
Because government, true government, is supposed to be service-based.
It is supposed to look out for its people, its people's well-being, the economy,
how people are living, their safety, right?
Unfortunately, like we've already said, we've seen a lot of corruption come into it.
A lot of corruption has come into it.
And it's not party-based.
As much as people want to say, oh, my party is this and my party is that,
there's enough blame to go around on both sides, all sides really,
because there are the independent parties as well.
Because it's all run by people.
None of us is perfect, none of us is going to do things perfect,
and unfortunately, we get selfish, greedy, nasty people in places that they shouldn't be,
and it brings that ugliness with it.
And then we start seeing scandals.
So we need to evaluate each candidate.
We need to actually look into them, their past, right?
Because the past says a lot about somebody.
It doesn't necessarily say who they are, but it gives us an idea of how they look at things, right?
I as a veteran, Brian as a veteran,
we're going to look at things a little bit differently than Pastor Mike,
because he doesn't come from the same background, right?
Because you don't come from the same background, right?
You come from a different background, so you have a slightly different perspective than we do.
Same with Tess as a teacher.
She looks at things differently.
And Mom over here is a nurse.
You know, Doug is a machinist.
Everybody has a different perspective, things that have worked in them,
but then of course, we can see the change in people's lives and their hearts
because of how Christ has worked within them,
which is why we need to look at how people's actions have been over the years.
Have they changed or have they not?
How have they voted in the past versus how they vote now?
Because these things don't happen overnight.
There's always a trail of evidence.
We need to look to see if their values truly fall in line with Christian values,
with Kingdom values.
We need to see who out of these imperfect people falls most in line,
and that's the candidate that we need to look away from.
We need to be ready to break away, and I implore everybody at this point,
it is the time to break away from the idiotic norms that are out there.
Right?
The various tools that have been put in place trying to guide us that are unbiblical.
And ask ourselves, do my politics guide my faith, or does my faith guide my politics?
Am I ready to break away from what the world says I should follow,
and the polarization that comes with that so that I can engage in true fellowship
and true discipleship with believers and nonbelievers alike?
And when it comes time to vote, we need to be engaged.
We need to go out, and we need to exercise that duty and look to Jesus as our political guide
to walk us through and show us who we need to be voting for, who is best for that role,
because that is how we're going to be able to participate based on Christian principles,
on Kingdom values and ideals.
The Kingdom that came with Jesus, it's within us as its borders spread through us,
and the hope that comes with it through Jesus and coming to know Christ.
As believers, it's on all of us to be proactive in furthering this Kingdom as well.
And we do that by telling others of Christ and what he's done for us,
what he's doing with us, and the things that we've seen.
You don't need the Bible to do that.
Because when we talk to people, when people are asking, where's your faith?
That's what they want to know about.
They don't necessarily want to know what's in the text because they don't care,
because it has no value, until they can see the value in it,
and that value comes from each and every one of us.
We have to share his teachings so that they can come to know him,
so that they can be ready for his return.
So they can be born again as a new creation in Jesus and raised to life again.
So I encourage everybody to meditate on this as we continue through the election season,
and to go to Lord in prayer regularly for guidance,
especially as it comes close to voting day, because it's going to come up really quick.
We need to find the people who best align with these values.
Don't get hung up on the mirrors in the smoke, and there's plenty of them out there.
Let us all be ambassadors of Christ and do our part in serving the kingdom.
Now, before I pray, after the prayer, hold tight,
because we're going to move into something a little different today.
I have a little something to speak on. I think everybody's going to appreciate it.
I think you're all going to like it.
Those of you who are streaming, stay with us as well.
It won't take too long, I promise. Let us pray.
Lord, we thank you for today. We thank you for our fellowship.
We thank you for the blessings of this day.
We thank you for the hard subjects that you've placed before us as we know you use them,
not only to shape our character, but to further your kingdom.
And to remind us that we are dependent on you as our ultimate provider.
We know that you'll keep your word, and you'll instruct us and counsel us in our lives
during the season, especially as tempers flare and emotions run unchecked.
That you'll temper us as you guide us.
That you'll use us to bring your voice of reason to an otherwise chaotic world.
That you'll move us to vote for each individual candidate in accordance with your will and not our own.
That we not be led by emotion.
That you'll help each of us to remain in a position of love as we reach out to our neighbors
and point the way to you, your kingdom, and to your glory.
We pray all this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
All right. Now, today, we're still going to have Communion.
We're going to do a little bit out of our norm, because today, not only is it Communion,
but it's actually World Communion Day.
All right. It's a day when the church all around the world, regardless of denomination,
is encouraged to participate in Communion, right, to partake.
And it's done for a couple of reasons, as you can see up on the slide here.
One, of course, foremost, I think everybody's familiar with,
is to participate in a meaningful and sacred meal with Christ, right?
It's a remembrance of Him and what He's done for us.
Secondly, this day has been pushed out there for all of us to take into account
how Communion is celebrated in different parts of the world.
Now, you think about it, today, here shortly we're going to pass it out.
We're going to have a small cup of juice and a little wafer, a little piece of bread in there, right?
You know, and in the past, here in this own fellowship, we've made do with other things, right?
Broken up crackers and that sort of thing,
which is actually a really good visual for how things are done in other places,
other parts of the world, and other denominations.
You know, you think about it, people use different types of crackers,
different types of bread, Nigerian bread, Irish sourdough, potato bread, all these different things.
There's some places they go out and they actually have like a loaf of bread or loaves,
you know, and they're pulling it apart and giving a piece to people, right?
Even the juice, you know, a lot of us have, you know,
cranberry or grape, some places use a red wine, right?
Not everybody has that option.
Sometimes you have to make do with what you have.
I can remember a time in the Marine Corps, we didn't have these, we didn't even have a chaplain.
So we ripped open an MRE, we broke up the crackers in the MRE,
and we used a juice mix, you know, like an instant juice mix in there,
you know, poured that in a canteen with some water, and we used that for the drink.
Those were our community emblems right there.
We just passed a canteen around, everybody took a little swing, right?
I'd grow some people out there, but that's what we did, that's how we handled it.
You know, you use what you can.
You know, and I say, no, there's places in the other world, we take it for granted.
We get to do this right here, we get to do it in the open, we could do it here,
we could do it at the dinner table, we could do it at the park,
we could do it just right out here in the street, doesn't matter, we have that option here.
Other parts of the world don't have this option.
Just like when they meet together to worship, right?
They have to do it in hiding.
Risk their lives otherwise, right?
They're still at that introductory point, starting to introduce Christ to those areas,
that hasn't been affected yet, so it's a very dangerous place for them to be.
So we have to be mindful of those brothers and sisters of Christ that are out there in these areas.
You know, not only that, but there's some people, unfortunately because of their schedule,
they don't get to be here with us physically.
Our first responders out there in the field, placing their lives on the line.
You know, maybe when they get to home, they get to come back and stream this or listen online,
you know, or another service somewhere else,
and they're using emblems that they have there in their own house to do the same.
Right?
So these are things that we need to keep in mind.
So at this moment, we're going to go ahead, we're going to start passing around the community and emblems.
While we're doing this, I'd like everybody to take a moment, reflect, and search yourself.
You go ahead and start passing around, Pastor Mike, thank you.
Search yourself, because this is a time that we should all take to reflect,
spend some time in prayer, acknowledging our sins, asking the Lord to point out our various misdeeds, sins,
places where we've fallen short of the goal.
Take that moment to pray, speak with the Father,
confess your sins to Him and ask Him for forgiveness.
Amen.
All right.
We'll keep that playing in the background.
Everybody has community items in their hands now.
All right.
We're going to start with this cup, the bread's on the bottom.
First Corinthians chapter 11, verses 23 through 25, the Bible says,
for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you,
that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed, took the bread.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, excuse me, take, eat.
This is my body, which is broken for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
Let's take the bread together.
In the same manner, he also took up the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant and my blood.
This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
Let's take the cup together.
And let us pray.
Lord, we thank you not only for the blessing of communion,
but your sacrifice for us and the hope that you've given us with it.
We pray for the safety and well-being of our brothers and sisters in Christ,
especially those in dangerous places, those placing their lives on the line for others.
We know we've all fallen short.
We've all made poor choices and have caused offense not only against one another, but against you.
We repent of these trespasses and we ask for your forgiveness.
And we ask for forgiveness from one another as well.
And those places where we struggle, we ask that you help us to come through, to show your glory.
We pray all this in the precious name of Jesus Christ and all these people said, amen and amen.
Remember, you are all loved and you are all blessed.
So leave this place and go and be the church.
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
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We look forward to hearing from you all. God bless.