Perpetua's Priority: Family Matters, but God's Family Matters More

The Plea of a Father

“Daughter have pity on my grey head—have pity on me your father, if I deserve to be called your father, if I have favored you above all your brothers, if I have raised you to reach this prime of your  life. Do not abandon me to the reproach of men, think of your brothers, think of your mother and your aunt, think of your child, who will not be able to live while you are gone.  Give up your pride! You will destroy all of us! None of us will ever be able to speak freely again if anything happens to you.”

Those were the words of Perpetua’s biological father as he pleaded with his daughter to recant her newly received faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Forced with the gut-wrenching decision of choosing between her biological family and God, she boldly chose God. The result of her decision, or what she saw as her reward, was martyrdom in the year 202 at the hands of the Roman Empire. The emperor, Septimius Severus, had passed down a verdict that outlawed conversion to Christianity. Insurrection to this law was punishable by death.

The Plea of The Heavenly Father
Perpetua, having embraced the faith and life of a Christian, despite her natural father’s appeal for her life, chose God’s family over her natural family. I think it would be fair to say that it was not that her family did not matter to her or that she did not want to honor her father. Rather, it meant that her spiritual family and her heavenly Father mattered more.   

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”  (Lk 14:26)

Perpetua died bravely for Christ in the Roman coliseum. She was first attacked by a ferocious cow. In the process of being hit and thrown by the wild beast, Perpetua’s hair came down. She asked if she could retie it, for loose hair was a sign of mourning and for her the day was a day of rejoicing—for Christ’s sake. Bloodied and broken, she bid farewell with a kiss of peace and died by the sword.  
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you . . . . Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt 5:11-12)

Perpetua, by sacrificial life example, prioritized her spiritual family over her natural family. She honored her heavenly Father and Jesus as preeminent over the priorities in this world—even the concept of “family first.” Her actions revealed that she understood and submitted fully to the teachings of Jesus. Put in simpler terms, she got it! For Jesus taught that family does matter,[i] but God’s family matters most.

“‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mk 3:31-35)

Who matters more to you, your natural family or God’s family?

Endnote: Examples of Jesus Upholding the Value of the Natural Family

            - His honoring the family by honoring the God’s the Father’s law (Ex 20:12; Lk 2:51)  

             -His teaching/upholding the law about honoring parents (Mk 7:9-13)

            - His teaching about the value of marriage (Mark 10:6)

            - His love and care for children (Mark 9:36-37)

            - His care for His mother (Jn 19:26-27)

            - His post resurrection visit with his brother (1 Cor 15:7)

            - Final Note: like Perpetua, the brothers of Jesus got it. Both James and Jude open their letters to the church by referring to themselves as slaves to Jesus their Lord (Jas 1:1; Jude 1). It’s not that their natural family connection did not matter (half brothers of Jesus); it’s that their spiritual family mattered more (Jesus is their God)—thus the latter is all they referenced.

God loves our families more than we ever could. Let’s love our families best by loving Him first and then doing family His way—the way that matters most!

* Perpetua was 22 when she was martyed. She left behind an infant son.

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[i]

Jesus: Crazy or the Christ?

            Mark 3:20-30: Exegetical Sermon Outline

 

I.   The Context

- Great works (5)

- Great crowds (9, 20)

- Great Expansion (14)

- Great hostility (6, 22)

II.  The Charge

a. The Family: “He’s out of His mind” (21)

b. The Scribes: “He is possessed by Satan” (22)

III.  The Confrontation

a.      Come Here (23)

b.      The Pithy, Proverbial, Picturesque Rebuke (23-26)

c.       The Declareplanation (27)

IV.  The Compassionate Conclusion 

A.      A Promise of Hope (28)

B.     A Promise of Hopelessness (29-30)

 

         Jesus is Sane, Jesus is Stronger,


           Jesus is Savior, Jesus is God

 

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to” (C.S Lewis).  

Zinger Sunday: Sanctity of Life Sermon Notes

Water’s Edge Community Church had the privilege of hosting Toby DeBause, president of the Crises Pregnancy Center of Tidewater Virginia on Sunday, February 10, 2012. Below are some notes I recorded during his message along with His zinger for Water’s Edge.

God Does a Miraculous Work When He Crafts a Baby in Secret

“My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written. The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none” (Ps 139:15-16).

“When God does something in secret you best leave it alone” (Pastor from Tidewater).

The Culture Has Empowered Itself to Question Its Creator—Woe!

“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your works has not handles’ (Isa 45:9)?

Our culture has questioned God’s authority 54,500,000 times since the decision of Roe versus Wade.

Abortion Statistics

National: 54.5 abortions per year, 3,288 per day, and/or 1 per every 26 seconds.

Local: 1 out of 6 babies are aborted in Mecklenburg County. 35% of children are born out of wedlock in Virginia compared to 60% being born out of wedlock in Mecklenburg County.

Abortion Support

Why would a woman not get an abortion? “The media affirms it, the law condones it, and the church is silent about it” (DeBause).

The Church Is Called and Empowered to Intervene On Behalf of the Least of These

“Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me” (Matt 25:45).

“I do not know of anyone who is more “less than” than a baby on its way to an abortion clinic” (DeBause).

“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work” (Prov 24:11-12).

A Word of Comfort for Those Who Have Experienced an Abortion

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:1-2).

1 out of 7 people has been impacted by abortion. Healing is available to everyone via the grace and forgiveness of God offered through the person and work of Christ.

The Zinger Challenge: Start a Crises Pregnancy Ministry 

For the sake of our most defenseless neighbor, to help educate women and men about God’s truth and ways (Ps 139)—for many simply do not know—and for the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Col 1:28)!

What Say You Water’s Edge?

High Altitude Preaching: Benefits to Doing a Fly Over Sermon



In Preach: Theology Meets Practice, Dever and Gilbert discuss the value of preaching from a high altitude. High altitude preaching is when the preacher crafts the sermon from a broader vantage point—a sweeping overview that captures the major themes of a given book in one or two messages. Here are some of the benefits of preaching from a bird’s-eye view:

1.      It enables the audience to experience the beauty of the spiritual forest (overarching themes and thrust of the entire book)—not merely the minute details of the trees (gritty insights from each verse, paragraph, or chapter).

2.       It helps the audience to better understand the meta-narrative (big picture) of a particular book, Testament, or the entire Bible—how all the parts fit together into a unified whole.

3.      It helps the audience to see more clearly where they have come from and where they are headed.

4.      It enables a congregation to be taught from a larger selection of biblical genre in the course of a given year.

5.      It provides a fresh approach to the audience by which to learn God’s Word—especially if they are routinely exposed to low altitude preaching. Like my preaching professor used to always say, “Variety is the spice of life,” so—as the Spirit leads—add some spice to your preaching by giving the congregation a sweeping overview of a book of the Bible.      

The benefits of high altitude preaching are by no means meant to compete with low altitude messages. Most of us preachers are naturally, and probably by our training, bent toward a low altitude approach—the tackling of a paragraph, a few sentences, or a self-contained story. This is a healthy and necessary method to mining and heralding all the riches found in God’s Word; this is why preaching giants like Martin Lloyd Jones spent thirteen years preaching through Romans.  

"High altitude preaching is when the preacher crafts the sermon from a broader vantage point"

So even though most of us will rightfully choose to fly low with our preaching, hanging on the truth of every word (Matt 5:18), it can also be right to provide a combination of both altitudes—high and low. Both are beneficial in teaching your congregation the Scriptures. So I encourage you to try a biblical flyover from time to time. Two great resources for getting started are Dever’s The Message of the OldTestament: Promises Made and The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept. Both works provide excellent “high altitude” sermons (66 in all) that will not only help you see the big picture of each biblical book but are also packed with great insights for heralding at a lower altitude.

Gospel Tombstone

 John Berridge (1716-1793)

 “Here lie the remains of John Berridge late vicar of Everton and an itinerant servant of Jesus Christ. Who loved his Master and his work and after running on His ‘Errands’ many years was called up to wait on Him above.

 Reader art thou born again?

No salvation without new birth.

I was born in sin February 1716

Remained ignorant of my fallen state till 1730

Lived proudly on faith and works for salvation till 1754

Admitted to Everton vicarage 1755

Fled to Jesus alone for refuge 1756

(emphasis added!!!)

Fell asleep in Christ, 22 January, 1793.”

Congressman Culberson Welcomes Guest Chaplain Dr. Bohannon

9Marks Ministry: Elder Guide

If your church polity operates with elders or you are considering this biblical form of leadership then I encourage you to check out this resource from 9marks. The user guide has two parts, both of which provide helpful articles on a variety of elder related topics.

http://www.9marks.org/journal/lay-elders-users-guide-part-1