Lewes Presbyterian Church Podcast

A reluctant Prophet
God of second chances
A spiritual mulligan
 

The Goal of a Christian life
Number one reason people stop going to Church
Our sacrifice to the Lord
Scripture Series: JONAH SERIES
Scripture Title: Fish Prayers
Pastor Greg Wiest
Scripture Reading: Jonah‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ ” And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”
Sermon Summary:
Our passage today is about Jonah being stuck in the belly of a whale. He was in pitch black, in the depths of the sea, the sound of water filling his ears and seaweed wrapped around his head. It must have been terrifying. God’s discipline had achieved what God intended. And Jonah cried out to the Lord and threw himself at God’s mercy. God disciplines those whom He loves. The Lord will have His way in our lives. When you or I are disobedient to the Lord, we can find ourselves in a dark place emotionally and spiritually. We are out of fellowship with the Lord and we are unable to hear His voice. There is a heaviness of the soul when we live in disobedience.
What do we do when we fail in our disobedience to Christ? When we go down the wrong path and end up in trouble. If we confess our sin, God promises to forgive us and restore us. Like Jonah, we need to turn our attention back to God. We do this through worship, through Bible reading, through Christian music and prayer. Each of us should commit to His Lordship over our lives. This includes our thought lives, how we handle possessions, our relationships with others and the calling that God has called us to serve Him. John 14:15 says, “If you love me, keep my commands.” One of the signs that our love for Christ is growing is our growing obedience to Him and His Lordship over our lives.
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The City of Blood
The Palace of Nineveh
Michael Packard diving for Lobsters June 11, 2021 off Cape Cod.
Jonah
Scripture Series: JONAH
Scripture Title: Running from God
Pastor Greg Wiest
Scripture reading: Jonah‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭16‬ ‭ “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.”
Sermon Summary:
Jonah was a prophet whose job was preaching against evil and wickedness. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because Israelite prophets rarely preached outside of Israel and Nineveh was over 700 miles away. Also, the Assyrians were enemies of evil and best known for their cruelty and viciousness against the people that they made war against. So instead of heading for Nineveh, Jonah took a boat to Tarshish, which is a town on the Spanish coast. He was getting as far away from God and Israel and from Nineveh as he could.
So Jonah rebelled and tried to run. As Jonah found out, no one can run from God. He is present everywhere. If you are God’s son or daughter, God will only allow you to rebel so much before He disciplines you. God disciplines those He loves. When we try to defy God’s will in our life, the going can get very rough. When we rebel against the Lord and go in a direction that he does not desire for us, he’ll set up road blocks or make the way so difficult that we turn back the the way that God wanted us to go to begin with. God opens the doors that He wants us to go through and He will often close a door He does not want us to go through. And like Jonah, one of the hardest things God will ask us to do is to preach the Gospel of Christ to our enemies or people we would never associate with. Jesus says to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. God still loves people caught up in acts of evil. God wants them to come to faith in Christ and follow Him.
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Life after Life
Live without fear
Alive in the Spirit
The dead in Christ
After the Resurrection
Scripture Series: 1 Corinthians Series
Scripture Title: Resurrection
Pastor Greg Wiest
Scripture reading: ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭35‬-‭55‬ ‭NIV‬‬
“But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?””
Sermon Summary:
In our passage today, we are told that at the end of this age, God is going to bring all of us back to life who put their faith in Jesus Christ. When Christ returns, the dead in Christ will rise from the grave. Jesus accomplished life after death for us by dying on the cross for our sins and then defeating death by rising from the grave. All of us were born as sinners. All of us have rebelled against God and have disobeyed him. Apart from Jesus, we are enemies of God. The end result of being enemies of God is death. Physical death and then spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in hell. God does not desire that anyone go to hell. His desire is that all are saved. But we must choose to accept his forgiveness through Christ’s death on the cross. We must receive him by believing in Him and confessing Him as Lord and Savior through prayer. God does not make it hard to have life after death. He invites everyone to put their faith in Him. For those who believe, death is not the end. It’s just the beginning. When we die, our spirits leave our bodies and we are immediately in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ returns, our bodies that have died will come back to life and our spirits will be reunited with perfect resurrected bodies down here on earth. We will rule with Christ for eternity over the renewed earth.
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Gift of Prophesy
Cultural Christians
Born again Christians
Scripture Series: 1 Corinthians Series
Scripture Title: Speaking in Tongues
Pastor Greg Wiest
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬ “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified. Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”
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Unconditional Love
Church of Corinth
Love Never Fails
Scripture Series: 1 Corinthians Series
Scripture Title: Love
Pastor Greg Wiest
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬-‭13‬
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
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For the Common Good
Wisdom and Knowledge
Discernment
Encouragement
Scripture Series: 1 Corinthians Series
Scripture Title: Spiritual Gifts
Pastor Greg Wiest
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭14‬ ‭ “Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
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The only sin God won't forgive
The Mission of Jesus Christ
Being a Servant
Unifiers
Sermon Series: 1 Corinthian Series
Sermon Title: On the Lord's Supper
Pastor Greg Wiest
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭17‬-‭28‬
“In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.”
Sermon Summary:
    In our passage today, St. Paul is disciplining the Corinthian Church for their lack of unity with one another. Their disunity was so bad that Paul said their meeting together did more harm than good. When there is disunity and fighting among ourselves, the enemy loves it. It paralyzes us to the point where we are no longer carrying out the mission of the church which is to make disciples. Unity in Christ needs to be a top priority in church. Unity begins at home. Husbands and wives should walk together and not be at war with one another. Love each other deeply from the heart. Forgive and be patient. Be at peace with friends, co-workers and extended family. Brothers and Sisters in Christ should work to be kind to each other and get along. Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers. We fight division and find unity by loving one another as Christ has loved you. Be willing to be offended from time to time and to forgive the offender. Put others first above yourselves. Jesus gave us the model of servant leadership. Don’t pick fights that are unnecessary and don’t stir up trouble. Work at being at peace with others and try to understand those you may disagree with.
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By Rev. Suzi Goodenough
Women in Leadership
Equality of Men and Women
Ruth in the lineage of Christ
Scripture Title: Created Equal - Called Together
Scripture Readings:
Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭26‬-‭27‬ ‭ “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” ‭‭
Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ “The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”
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Meek is Strength under Control.
The Training Effect
God's Holiness
Esau and Edom 
Father's Day
Daniel 7
Psalm78
Scripture Title: The Arena of Faith
Guest preacher: Rev. Al Oliver
Scripture Reading: Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭17‬ ‭
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.”
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