Anchorage Baptist Temple, Anchorage, AK
Service Date: Sunday, May 17, 2020
View Date: Wednesday, May, 20, 2020
View Method: Facebook Live
Why am I watching a service from a church in Anchorage, Alaska?
Well, I do crazy things sometime. That would be one answer, but I thought it would be interesting to view a sermon from a church from each state in the United States.
And, yes, while Alabama comes before Alaska, the 49th state was on my mind first.
As I was getting ready to watch the service this evening, I noticed a couple of things through this church's Facebook page and website.
First, given my interest in promoting Texas private and parochial high school athletics, Anchorage Baptist Temple owns Anchorage Christian Schools.
Its pastor, Ron Hoffman, and his wife, Crystal, both attended ACS, but Ron went on to study at and graduate from Liberty University in 1991. Liberty, of course, is where my daughter graduated from.
He opened his message by stating that there congregation was able to provide a meal for the nurses at Anchorage Regional Hospital as well as helping out at the VA hospital on east side of Anchorage and then shared the excitement of the graduation ceremonies at ACS.
He said that they were in Phase 2 of reopening and were needing to get to Phase 3 for their church to be able to meet again. (And as I finished up the sermon, I saw on their Facebook page that they were meeting this coming Sunday, May 24 for a Memorial Day service in their congregation.)
He shared that they were in a series of sermons titled, "Encounters with Christ", and this was "Walking on the Road to Nowhere."
I had to chuckle a little bit as it was close to the former Alaska governor's "Bridge to Nowhere" when Sarah Palin held the office.
His illustration was the there are often times in his life - and in ours - that he just needs to get out and get away from everyone. He wondered if Jesus meets us where we are and he said that he believes that He does.
And he said he thinks that He really does use times like we're in today.
In referencing Luke 24:15, he said that Jesus drew near the disciples after his resurrection and went with them and he said that while he believes that Jesus is always there with us that He doesn't always make it crystal clear or obvious.
And he illustrated from verse 16 that the disciples didn't know that they were walking with Jesus.
He spoke about how that Jesus never gives us a trial that we can't handle and shared I Corinthians 10:13 that He will provide a way of escape to be able to endure it.
And from verse 17, he said that Jesus wants us to share with Him where we find ourselves. He shared from personal experience that when he is having a conversation with God that "as my words are coming out how I'm feeling ... Jesus gives me the answer."
He believed that in the scripture that Jesus was looking to see how broad our view of life is. He said that he thinks that we sometime look at just our life and not the whole picture.
Referencing COVID-19, he said that "this is going to change everything" and that there's "no going back to 100%" and that it would be "years, years, years to go away if it ever does."
And that God's work with this is to show man it is not about man, but rather where He is going to go.
He said that the disciples behavior in Luke 24:19-21 was that, even though they were followers, they proved that they had the right facts and knowledge of the truth, but not the faith to be believe it. He related that to us today that when we're in a trial, we need to remove ourselves from that situation.
We know God's there with us, but we lack the faith because He believes that we lack the understanding. And that we've bought into the lies that Satan has created in the culture of satisfaction, leaving us very impatient people who are selfish and self-centered.
As they continued in verses 22 and 23, Pastor Hoffman said that the truth was right before them, but they missed it. He said that if we would declare that God is control, He would be glorified and that we would present ourselves differently in our circumstances.
He suggested that we need to open our eyes and see generations from now and ask what is the impact of what is happening in your life and how does it play out for your church, your family and so on.
He said that the current COVID-19 crisis should present a new opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and that we should look for opportunity to encourage somebody as we're a part of the body of Christ.
As the Pastor spoke earlier about his praying - or as simple as talking to God - and how God would sometimes show him the answer through the dialogue, the disciples realized in the scripture in verses 30-31 the "a ha" moment when Jesus took their bread, blessed, brake it and gave it to them that their eyes were opened - and he vanished.
Pastor Hoffman wrapped things up by asking us all, "How many people will we pick up along the way? Not about the journey, the destination, the moment, but how many will we pick up along the way?"
He implored to everyone to think about their journey. Were they on a journey to nowhere? Or where they onboard in the direction they were going because they had a "Jesus encounter"?
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