First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (February 23, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor 
 
Daniel 6:10-18; 2 Timothy 4:16-18
 
The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is one of the best-known and best-loved stories in all the Bible.  Needless to say, little children love it and Sunday school teachers love to tell it.  The story has encouraged the people of God for thousands of years.  As you can tell, the story is filled with unexpected twists and turns, but God’s faithfulness to His people is evident all the way through. 
 
Before we jump in, let’s remember two important facts.  First, Daniel is now an aged man.  He came to Babylon as a teenager.  All his adult life has been spent serving in the courts of various pagan rulers.  Now Daniel is a little bit over 80 years old.  Second, He is now serving under a new king named Darius who rules over a new kingdom, the Medo-Persian Empire.  The names have changed but the spiritual challenge is the same.  Will Daniel remain faithful when the pressure is on?
 
The King’s Decree As Daniel chapter six opens, Daniel is once again about to be promoted to high office.  Apparently, King Darius recognized Daniel as a man of integrity and wanted to make him second in command over the entire kingdom. That’s when the intrigue begins.
 
At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.  Finally, these men said in Daniel 6:4-5, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”  This is what his enemies discovered when they examined his life: He was faithful in his duties.  He was faultless in his character.  He was fervent in his prayers. 
 
Daniel’s One “Flaw”
But Daniel did have one “flaw”; his daily prayer life.  He prayed every day at the same time in the same way so that his enemies realized this was where they could catch him.  So Daniel’s enemies asked King Darius to pass a 30-day law forbidding anyone to pray except to Darius himself. 
 
Darius signed the law, knowing that it could not be repealed, not even by himself.  He had no idea that Daniel was the intended target.  Meanwhile the satraps are chortling together.  They knew Daniel would break the law.  That is, they knew Daniel would keep on praying just as he had always done.  Daniel was a victim of his own integrity.  He was predictably faithful to God.  If he had been a flaky believer, this evil plot would never have worked.  
 
Daniel’s DevotionSo what do you do when you discover that your enemies have passed a law aimed at one person, and you are that person?  In fact, how you respond at that point tells a great deal about your character.  Daniel 6:10 states, “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem.  Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”
 
“Just as he had done before.”  For over 80 years Daniel had prayed three times a day.  I did the math and asked myself, “How many times would Daniel have prayed if he prayed three times a day for 85 years?”  The answer comes out to over 90,000 prayers. No wonder he simply went back to his room and started praying.  An 85-year habit is hard to break.  For him, prayer was like breathing. He wasn’t about to stop praying just because he is being threatened.  
 
King Darius now realizes he has been tricked.  He likes Daniel and immediately begins seeking loopholes to prevent him being thrown to the lions.  But even the king could not repeal his own law because that would make him look weak and ineffective.  No, the law must stand, and Daniel must go to the lion’s den.  But Darius is rooting for the old man. In Daniel 6:16 he wishes Daniel well with these words, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”  What a testimony this is to the reality of Daniels faith.  Even unbelievers recognize true faith in God, and they respect it.
 
Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den, which was a pit dug into the ground with an entrance from the side for the lions and with a huge boulder placed over the top so there could be no escape.  It was a crude and very effective form of capital punishment.  No one ever got out alive.  And certainly not an aged man over 80 years old.  Daniel was as good as dead the moment they threw him in or so they thought.  As we know from the story, God did it and He saved Daniel.
 
Lessons for Modern-Day Daniels
As I conclude, let’s wrap up this study by highlighting two important lessons for modern-day Daniels who find themselves facing the lions every day.  First: It is possible to live a pure and holy life in the midst of a thoroughly pagan world.  Daniel’s story demonstrates that if you make up your mind (or “purpose in your heart") to serve God, to live faithfully, you can do it even in the very center of paganism, in Babylon.  There is always a way to compromise for those who want to compromise.  And there is always a way to obey God for those who want to obey and follow God. 
 
Daniel managed to survive and thrive in a spiritually hostile environment.  In some parts of the world, standing up for Christ means suffering and death.  In the United States of America, it means ostracism, ridicule, scorn, being left out and perhaps being passed over.  It often leads to tension at home and on the job.  Be ready to fight the good fight and to stand your ground. 
 
Second: Let’s remember that when we face our lions, we are not alone.  If God delivered Daniel from the lion’s den, he can surely deliver us.  Generations of Christians have taken strength from this story because in the end, the hero isn’t Daniel, it’s actually Daniel’s God.  That same God is same today and yesterday and forever.  He is sovereign over the lions who surround us.  Take heart and trust in God.  Writing from his prison cell in Rome, Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4, “At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me … But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength … I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.  The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom.”
 
But I also want you to know that God always delivers in His own time and in His own way.  Does God always deliver His people?  Yes, indeed, but not always in the way we expect.  Not all our prayers are answered in the way we pray them.  Paul himself was executed in Rome shortly after he wrote those words in 2 Timothy 4.  Yet, he realized the nearness of God’s presence and that He rescued him, in God’s own way, from the Lion’s mouth.  Friends, in the end, we must rest secure that God makes no mistakes and (as King Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way) “everything he does is right” (Daniel 4:37).  Glory be to His name.  Amen.

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (February 16, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor 
 
Daniel 1:1-17; 1 Peter 2:9-12
 
Daniel 1:8 is the heart of the Book of Daniel.  In fact, it is impossible to understand the message of the Book of Daniel if we overlook Daniel 1:8. It’s a key verse and should be looked at as the foundation upon which the events of this Book are built.  Daniel 1:8, says, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.”  The King James Version says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart…”  Another translation says, “But Daniel made up his mind...”  Everything else in the Book of Daniel flows from this.
 
Life is a series of choices.  As mighty oaks from small acorns grow, we make our decisions and guess what, our decisions turn around and make us.  You and I know that we are who we are today, because of decisions and choices we made years ago.  Most of the time we don’t realize how important our choices can be.  Where will I go to college?  What will I major in?  Who will be my best friends?  What career will I choose?  What music will I listen to? 
 
And sooner or later, we will face the most important decision of all: Will I decide to follow Jesus?  In Luke 27:22 Pontius Pilate had to face the same question: “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.  We are the product of our decisions.
 
Choices and Decisions ~ Which way to go?  As we come to our Old Testament Scripture this morning, we find Daniel, the teenager, facing a crisis in Babylon.  The decision he is about to make will radically change his whole life.  And when you read about it, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. But it turns out to be very big indeed.
 
Some Historical Background
Just to give you a short background: Daniel and his friends are in Babylon, having been torn away from their families in Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar and the mighty Babylonian army.  Because these young men come from noble backgrounds, the king orders them special training to enter his service.  Remember, these are God-fearing Jewish teenagers, ripped out of everything they have known, now being trained to work for a pagan king.
 
The training aimed to assimilate the boys into their new society.  The king makes sure they get the best education Babylon can offer. For three years they will be immersed in Babylonian knowledge, culture, history, language, and religion.  Their Jewish names are changed in favor of new Babylonian names.  At the end of that time they will enter the king’s service and be assured of high-level government positions.  It was a sophisticated form of brainwashing aimed at making them forget their past and form a new allegiance to the king and his pagan way of life.
 
Everything appears to be going smoothly until one teenager decides he is not going to go along with the program.  “But Daniel resolved (purposed in his heart) not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.”  In other words, Daniel fixed his eyes on His God in the land of captivity.  This is the crucial event of his life.  Although we might not see it today as a big deal, but what Daniel did, shaped the next 60 years of his life.
 
First: Daniel Knew No Excuses
Daniel could’ve come with many good excuses to go with the current, yet, the more we look at Daniel’s life, the more we see a man who knew no excuses.  We can always find an excuse when you don’t want to do right.  But Daniel didn’t need an excuse.  He had already decided to do the right thing no matter what happened.  Though exiled and powerless, He purposed in his heart to live for the Lord.  He couldn’t decide for anyone else, but he decided for himself what he would and would not do.  And that changed everything.  I don’t know if he tried to convince anyone else or not.  Daniel made up his mind, and his three closest friends decided to join him. 
 
I want you to notice this: The Babylonians could change everything—his diet, his location, his education, his language, even his name—but they couldn’t change his heart.  Why?  Because his heart belonged to God.  When your heart truly belongs to God, you can go anywhere and face any situation and you’ll be okay.  You can even live in Babylon and do just fine because your body is in Babylon but your heart is in heaven.  So the question for all of us is, Where is your heart?  Does it truly belong to God? Or is your heart fixed on the things of this earth?
 
Second: Daniel’s Faithfulness is Rewarded
This episode of Daniel’s story comes to an end on a very positive note.  In Daniel 1:18-19 we read, “At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.  The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.”  We discover in these verses that God always honors those who honor Him.  In this case, the reward came very quickly.  Often times it takes much longer than that.  And sometimes, our reward doesn’t come until we get to heaven.
 
I know God is faithful and he will reward our faith and faithfulness.  However, this doesn’t mean that every time we stand up for our convictions, we will be immediately rewarded.  This passage proves that sometimes it does happen that way, but other times, we won’t see our reward until we see Jesus face to face.  We ought to remember that God’s timing and ours are often quite different. 
 
Friends, as I conclude, and before we leave this marvelous story, let me leave with you two short things to ponder this week.  First: remember that the world continually tries to reprogram us into a different way of thinking.  It happened to Daniel and his three friends through a course of systematic brainwashing aimed at separating these young men from their past.  It involved a new location, a new education, a new diet, a new culture, a new language, and ultimately, new names.  Twenty-six centuries have come and gone and nothing has changed.  The world still attempts to separate us from our spiritual heritage.
 
Second: any renewal, any spiritual awakening, is born in our lives when you purpose, when you resolve in your heart to follow Jesus no matter what.  Hebrews 11:33 reminds us to glance at the example of people like Daniel.  But we must not stop there.  We must fix our eyes on Jesus who, though righteous, experienced the ultimate exile on the cross. He was forsaken to bring us in, and abandoned so God might welcome us.  Only by trusting and treasuring Him can we be holy in our times of suffering and exile.  Only through Him can we conduct ourselves honorably in this world that cares less about Jesus.  At the end of the day, we either resolved or reluctant.  Amen.

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (February 09, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor 
 
“The Lord of the Harvest!”
1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Mathew 9:35-38
 
As you may know, every year, on the second Sunday in February, our congregation gets together for our Annual Meeting.  This is a time for us as a congregation to reflect on God’s work in us and through us.  The various Church boards and committees submit their Annual Reports as we give thanks to God for the opportunity to serve God and our community.  It’s our harvest time.
 
Over the last few weeks, I thought a lot about what to preach today on our Annual Meeting Sunday.  The more I thought about it, the more I found myself drawn to some Scripture passages that address the topic of spiritual harvest; passages like Matthew 9, Galatians 6, and 1 Corinthians 3.  Two principles that I would like to share with the congregation on this Annual Meeting Sunday.  We can apply these two principles in our personal lives as well as our life together as a congregation.
 
First: Harvest Requires Patience and Persistence
I love the words of Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Anyone who has ever farmed for a living knows exactly what this verse means.  It’s one thing to plant a few tomatoes in your back yard; it’s something else to plant 3,000 acres of wheat.  Full-time farming is a year-round task. You start early and you work late, 52 weeks a year.  There is no end of the jobs to be done.  Even during winter months, there is equipment to maintain and preparation to be made for the upcoming planting season.  You don’t get a harvest by accident and you can’t treat it as a weekend hobby.  If you want the harvest, you’ve got to work when you feel like giving up.
 
Persistence or determination is especially true in the spiritual realm.  Because we live in a fallen world and deal constantly with fallen people, it’s easy to grow weary and say, “What’s the use?”  Do you feel like quitting?  It’s always too soon to quit.  Let us keep on sowing even if through our tears and with a weary heart.  In the end we will rejoice when the harvest finally comes in.
 
Here is all God asks of us: Don’t give up!  Don’t stop!  Don’t grow weary!  Keep on going. When you get knocked down by discouragement, don’t stay down.  Get up and get back in the game for the glory of God.  Great victories await those with great endurance.
 
There will be a wonderful harvest to come.  That harvest will partly come in this life and much of it will come when we finally get to heaven.  Who knows?  Perhaps you will look down from heaven and find out that you changed someone’s life because of a simple act of kindness.
 
Second: We Must Seize the Opportunity Before It Disappears
In Galatians 6:10, Paul writes to the Galatians “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”  The word “opportunity” in Greek is “καιρὸν”.  It comes from the Greek word kairos, which is sometimes translated “time.”  However, it’s not a word that means the passing of the hours one by one.  This is chronos.  Chronos is the measurement of time.  It’s clock time.  It’s the answer to the question “What time is it?”  But kairos, is more interesting.  It refers to those moments in life when a door of opportunity opens before us and we have a choice to make. Will we go through that door or will we hesitate until it closes?
 
We all have opportunities to do good if we will take them when they come.  Every day there are moments when we can say a word of encouragement.  There are times when we can get extend a helping hand to someone in need.  Will we have the time or will our personal schedule keep us from listening and helping?  
 
But no door stays open forever.  Opportunities come and then they go. A sculptor once showed his studio to a friend who spotted a very strange statue.  It was the figure of a man with hair completely covering his face and wings on each foot. “What is the name of that statue?” he asked. The sculptor replied, “His name is Opportunity.” “Why is his face hidden?” “Because people seldom know when opportunity comes to them.” “Why are there wings on his feet?” “Because he is soon gone, and when opportunity departs, it cannot be overtaken.”
 
There are so many opportunities to the serve the Lord.  It may involve teaching Sunday School, setting up the place for an event, cleaning up after words, praying for someone, visiting the sick, sharing the Christian message with someone, giving meals to the hungry, counseling the confused, saving a failing marriage, or giving money to someone in need.  The list is endless because opportunities are endless.
 
As I conclude, let me tell you a story that captures what I am saying.  A Pastor was standing in line at a local grocery store.  In front of him was a boy about eight or nine years old.  The boy was looking over the display of candy bars.  When he picked a big Hershey bar and laid it on the counter, the cashier rang it up and told him how much it was.  The boy reached in his pocket and pulled out a bunch of pennies, nickels, and a single dime and plopped them on the counter.  The cashier gave him one of those looks and started counting.  Then he looked up and said, “You’re 12 cents short. You need another 12 cents.”  The boy’s shoulders drooped, his face dropped, and he went from grin to groan in less than a second.  “Just as the cashier started to tell the boy to put the candy bar back, the Pastor reached in his pocket and put 12 cents on the counter.  The boy’s face lit up like Christmas. He said, “Thanks, mister.”  And he took off, but then he turned around and came back. “He held up the candy bar and asked, “Hey, mister, you wanna bite?”  The Pastor said, “No thanks, you eat it.” 
 
Then the boy looked at the Pastor real careful, like he was studying him, and asked, “How come? How come you did that?”  Before he could answer, he got a look of recognition on his face. “Oh, I know you, you’re that preacher.  Jesus made you do it, didn't He?”  “Yes, He did,” the Pastor said.  Then the boy commented, “I sure like Jesus, and I’m glad Jesus makes nice people like you. Bye, mister.”  Then he was gone.
 
With God’s love and 12 cents, this Pastor was able to touch a little boy’s life and bring glory to God simply by obeying Christ’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Friends, there is a world out there that needs to know that Jesus is real.  They need to know that Jesus makes people different.  They need to know Jesus in a more tangible way.  “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  And as we labor together, remember this: you are not called to be successful but to be faithful.  Amen.

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (February 2, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor 
 
“Stepping Forward!”
Exodus 14:5-18; Matthew 14:22-32
 
The Apostle Peter is an interesting character.   He is a man of extremes.  He is the guy Jesus says he will build the church on the solid confession of his faith, and he is the guy who will deny Jesus three times in Jesus’ greatest hour of need.  Sometimes we see Peter full of faith; other times, we see him full of doubt.  Peter was always the one willing to ask hard questions.  He was always the one exploring what it means to really be a disciple; and there’s no time where that is more apparent than in our Scripture today.
 
In our Scripture today, we encounter Peter walking on the water and a few minutes later, he sinks.  Before I share with you this morning a couple observations, it might be helpful for us to explore the setting of the story in Matthew chapter 14:22-32.
 
The Setting
In the gospel lesson, the disciples had just witnessed the feeding of the multitude, where they saw that their limited resources could be sufficient when used in faith.  After the feeding, Jesus told them to get in their boat to go to the other side of the lake while Jesus remained there alone, to pray.  So there were the disciples, out in the water, being “beaten by the waves.”  They were terrified.  
 
We pick up Matthew’s story in Matthew 14:25-27 as he says, “And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea.  But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
 
We can understand their fear, can’t we?  They’ve been rowing and rowing and rowing and getting nowhere.  And they can’t seem to make it to shore.  It’s 4 or 4:30 in the morning.  They are dead tired.  Every muscle aches. The wind howls around them.  Rain pelts them from every angle.  They are cold and tired and waterlogged.  Plus they are grumpy and hungry and frustrated.  Suddenly someone sees a figure walking across the water.  I think in that situation I would say exactly what they said, “It’s a ghost.” My first thought would not be, “Here comes Jesus. He’s decided to walk on the water in the middle of this storm.”
 
At all rates, Peter needed proof that it was Jesus.  Matthew 14:28-29 states, “Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.”  I want you to notice that the fact that Peter stepped out shows that he had more faith than the other disciples on the boat!  Two observations for us this morning:
 
First: Faith is a Risky Adventure
American author and lecturer, Helen Keller (1880-1968), once said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”  Born blind, deaf, and unable to speak, she somehow found a way out of the darkness and into the world around her.  Her story is one of the great miracles of the twentieth century.  Millions of people have drawn inspiration from her example.  
 
“Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”  The life of faith is a risky adventure.  Go back to the Bible and take a look at the men and women who did great things for God.  Almost without exception, they were risk-takers who weren’t afraid to lay it all on the line for God.  Consider these examples: Noah built an ark on a dry land.  Abraham left his hometown, Ur of the Chaldees, to go to the Promised Land.  Moses led the people of God out of Egypt.  The Exodus was a risky invitation.  Joshua marched around the walls of Jericho and it fell.  David fought and defeated giant Goliath.  Elijah faced down the prophets of Baal.  Esther risked everything to save her people.  Daniel refused to defile himself with the king’s food.  Nehemiah led the Jews to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
 
Like Peter, all those people throughout the centuries, stepped forward.  The life of faith is inherently a life of risk.  If you are unwilling to take a chance, you can never discover what living by faith is all about.  If you have to have all the answers before you make a decision, if you’re afraid to take a step unless you know things will work out to your advantage, faith will always be a mystery to you.  
 
Second: Faith is Simply Concentration on Jesus
Faith can be simply defined as “concentration on Jesus.”  Matthew 14:30 tells us that everything goes fine until Peter notices the storm all around him.  At this point, he became frightened and began to sink.  Everything goes well until Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and concentrates on the storm.  Remember, the storm has never stopped.  During all this commotion, the rain has been coming down in sheets.  The wind was there all along.  The storm has been raging for hours.  What really makes the difference whether our eyes are fixed on Jesus or not.
 
Let me say it again. The wind always blows around us. The mighty storm comes sooner or later.  We have no choice or control over when the storm comes. Today the sun may be shining; tomorrow we may find ourselves toiling against the wind and rain, tossed about by adversity.  Life can turn on a dime.  We all know that.  What happened to Peter can happen to any of us. For a brief moment, he forgets about Jesus and remembers who he is and where he is.  He is Peter, a Galilean fisherman who belongs back in the boat.  In that instant he looks down at his feet and sees nothing but water underneath.  His mind comes to a quick conclusion: “I’m not supposed to be walking on water.  This is impossible.”  When Peter lost his concentration on Jesus, he began to sink.
 
But this story doesn’t end with Peter sinking.  When Peter began to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me” and Jesus does.  Jesus comes through where Peter could not.  Peter couldn’t stay focused.  He couldn’t complete his own hopes and dreams to be with Jesus without Jesus helping him. 
 
Friends, yes, faith is a risky adventure.  If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.  Faith is a concentration on Jesus.  If we’re not going to focus, to concentrate, on Jesus, we’re going to keep sinking.  And as we focus on Jesus, we follow His footsteps.  In other words, we step forward.   Jesus invited Peter to “step forward.”  In Exodus 14:15, the Lord did the same thing with the Israelites.  “Tell the people of Israel to go forward,” God said.  God is calling us today to move on; to take the risk; and to never loose sight of Jesus, and when we do, He will reach out His hand and get us as He did with Peter.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.  Amen!