mission statement

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky

mission statement

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 JDV

Deuteronomy 6:6 These words that I am commanding you today are to be in your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you are lying down and when you are getting up.

Deuteronomy 6:8 Tie them as a sign onto your hand and let them be a symbol between your eyes.

Deuteronomy 6:9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.

mission statement

Lots of congregations today have mission statements. These mission statements help define what the congregation does, and help them decide when they are faced with options. They are usually not too detailed, but focus on the things the congregation feels are most important.

The ten words were not designed to be mere prohibitions. They served as a mission statement for the Israelites. The Mosaic mission required that they demonstrate God’s holiness and goodness to the nations around them. These ten words gave them the guidance they needed to do that.

Our mission today is also to witness to the nations. The commands of Christ help us to stay on target with that objective.

Lord, thank you for words to guide us in doing the mission you called us to.

Posted in guidance, missions | Tagged | 1 Comment

focusing on God alone

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
sign arrow direction travel

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

focusing on God alone

Deuteronomy 6:3 Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahveh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Listen, Israel: Yahveh our God, Yahveh is one.

Deuteronomy 6:5 Care about Yahveh your God with all your heart, with all your throat, and with all your strength.

focusing on God alone

We can so easily compartmentalize our lives so we go in a thousand directions. God wants us to focus on him. He is one. In the context of the Mosaic covenant, the problem was idols. God wanted an entire community focused on him alone. Imagine what we could do if we congregated together and focused on God alone.

Lord, you alone deserve our focus.

Posted in commitment, worship | 1 Comment

long lives

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
woman standing near yellow petaled flower

Photo by Edu Carvalho on Pexels.com

 

long lives

Deuteronomy 5:32-6:2

Deuteronomy 5:32 “Be careful to do as Yahveh your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left.

Deuteronomy 5:33 Follow the whole instruction Yahveh your God has commanded you, so that you may stay alive, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.

Deuteronomy 6:1 “This is the command– the prescriptions and rules – Yahveh your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and take possession of.

Deuteronomy 6:2 Do this so that you may fear Yahveh your God all the days of your life by watching all his prescriptions1 and commands I am commanding you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life.

long lives

The greatest benefit guaranteed under the Mosaic covenant was a long life. Under the covenant with Christ we are promised a resurrection to permanent life. But the saints of old believed in a resurrection too. They will also be raised by Christ and live eternally with us.

We don’t know how long this life will be, but there are certain things we can do to lessen our chances of going to the grave early. Our Father has always wanted that. He is not pleased when his children die. No father is. He wants our long lives to demonstrate and witness to his goodness.

Lord, show us how to live long, healthy and holy lives.

1חֻקָּה

Posted in dependence upon God, discipleship | Tagged | 1 Comment

the burden of prescience

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
photo of person holding crystal ball

Photo by Bogdan Dirică on Pexels.com

 

the burden of prescience

Deuteronomy 5:28-31

Deuteronomy 5:28 “Yahveh heard your words when you spoke to me. He said to me, ‘I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they have said is right.

Deuteronomy 5:29 If only they had such a heart to fear me and watch all my commands always, so that they and their children would permanently1 prosper.

Deuteronomy 5:30 Go and tell them: Return to your tents.

Deuteronomy 5:31 But you stand here with me, and I will tell you every command – the prescriptions and rules – you are to teach them, so that they may follow them in the land I am giving them to take possession of.’

the burden of prescience

God expresses his broken heart with those words “if only.” He knows that they will not be obedient always, so their prosperity will not be permanent.

Some people think it would be great to know the future, but imagine knowing everything. God knows everyone who will be with him in eternity, but he also knows everyone who will not.

It is best for us that we remain ignorant of such things.

Thank you Lord for not burdening us with knowledge of the future.

1עוֹלָם

Posted in future, knowledge | Tagged | 1 Comment

helping those who are not yet strong

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
high angle photo of woman on ladder

Photo by Samantha Garrote on Pexels.com

 

helping those who are not yet strong

Deuteronomy 5:25-27

Deuteronomy 5:25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of Yahveh our God any longer.

Deuteronomy 5:26 For who out of everyone in skin1 has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and stayed alive?

Deuteronomy 5:27 Go near and listen to everything Yahveh our God says. Then you can tell us everything Yahveh our God tells you; we will listen and obey.’

helping those who are not yet strong

The Israelites were afraid to approach God, and they were right to be afraid. Moses could not understand their fear, but God did. He planned for Moses to intercede for them all along.

It is only right for those who are stronger in the faith to help along those who are not yet strong. By helping others with their relationship with God, we are bringing them to their source of strength and growth.

Lord, show us who we can help today.

1בָּשָׂר

Posted in discipleship, leadership | Tagged | 1 Comment

he added nothing to them

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
person holding white ipad

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

 

he added nothing to them

Deuteronomy 5:22 “Yahveh spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire collected assembly from the fire, cloud, and total darkness on the mountain; he added nothing to them. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

Deuteronomy 5:23 All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.

Deuteronomy 5:24 You said, ‘Notice,1 Yahveh our God has shown us his impressive appearance2 and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak with a human, and he stays alive.

he added nothing to them

After God spoke the covenant commands to the Israelites on Mt. Sinai, he added nothing to them. These ten words summarized his desire for them, so they included all of the specific, prescriptions, rules, and prohibitions.

They are simple words which are not hard to understand, yet they challenged each one who heard them. They lay bare the people’s selfish hearts and impure motives.

These words summarize the sanctification plan under the Mosaic covenant, and following them was essential for the Mosaic mission: witnessing to God’s righteousness among the nations.

Lord, thank you for giving us words we can live by in the teachings of Christ.

1הן

2כּבוֹד

Posted in discipleship, missions, obedience | Tagged | 1 Comment

preying pagans

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
belief bible book business

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

preying pagans

Deuteronomy 5:19-21

Deuteronomy 5:19 Do not steal.

Deuteronomy 5:20 Do not give dishonest testimony against your neighbor.

Deuteronomy 5:21 Do not crave1 your neighbor’s wife or desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

preying pagans

The Mosaic mission was designed to create a community which glorified God by caring for one another. The pagan nations around it were steeped in selfishness, which led to rampant theft, fraud and greed. They preyed on each other instead of praying for each other. These commands envision a different community in which the individual put other people’s needs and wants ahead of his own.

Lord, get us out of the preying business, and into the caring and praying business.

1חמד

Posted in love, obedience | Tagged | 1 Comment

respecting life and family

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
affection baby baby girl beautiful

Photo by J carter on Pexels.com

 

respecting life and family

Deuteronomy 5:16-18

Deuteronomy 5:16 Honor your father and your mother, as Yahveh your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and so that you may prosper in the land Yahveh your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:17 Do not murder.

Deuteronomy 5:18 Do not commit adultery.

respecting life and family

A trademark of the Israelite community was the care for others. Parents were to be respected and cared for when the roles reversed because of age. The life and dignity of others was to be held sacred. Murder and adultery would be a heinous breech of that respect. Lives and marriages were intended to be long and uninterrupted.

The family relationships envisioned in these commands would reveal the glory of God to the nations, and bring shame upon them for their selfish idolatry based on looking out for number one. In the Israelite community, God came first, then others, then me.

Lord, may our families show off your glory.

Posted in abortion, family | Tagged | 1 Comment

his name and his day

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
black calendar close up composition

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

his name and his day

Deuteronomy 5:11-15

Deuteronomy 5:11 Do not misuse the name of Yahveh your God, because Yahveh will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.

Deuteronomy 5:12 Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it sacred1 like Yahveh your God has commanded you.

Deuteronomy 5:13 You are to labor six days and do all your work,

Deuteronomy 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahveh your God. Do not do any work– you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the guest who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.

Deuteronomy 5:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahveh your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why Yahveh your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

his name and his day

The Mosaic mission required respect and submission to both the Lord’s name and his day. To abuse either was to disavow allegiance to him. Anyone in the possessed land had the same requirement, including foreign guests and foreign slaves.

Note that the Sabbath keeping was because God had freed the Israelites from daily toil as slaves in Egypt. It was a memorial to that deliverance.

Lord, show us how to demonstrate our allegiance to you, and celebrate your deliverance.

1קָדַשׁ

Posted in loyalty, Sabbath, Sabbath keeping, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

fine print in the idolatry contract

Posted on November 30, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
brown lord ganesha figurine

Photo by Sharath Babu on Pexels.com

 

fine print in the idolatry contract

Deuteronomy 5:7-10

Deuteronomy 5:7 Do not have other gods besides me.

Deuteronomy 5:8 Do not make an idol for yourself in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the land below or in the water under the land.

Deuteronomy 5:9 Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them, because I, Yahveh your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ violation1 to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

Deuteronomy 5:10 but showing faithful care to a thousand generations of those who care about me and watch my commands.

fine print in the idolatry contract

The Israelites who were called to the mission were the intended recipients of this command. We benefit from the command today as we recognize a universal moral obligation to be monotheistic.

So, why would the Israelites be tempted to make and serve idols? Popular opinion said that the idols could get you what the big God in the sky would not. Paganism promoted idolatry for practical purposes.

Today, idols still exist all over the world for the same reason. People think the idols will get them what they want.

The fine print in the idolatry contract is that God punishes those who serve man-made idols— to the fourth generation!

Lord, we pledge complete allegiance to you.

1עָוֹן

Posted in idolatry, wrath of God | Tagged | 1 Comment