​ 2412 Griffith Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90011  

Phone: (213)-677-2784  Email: info@secondbaptistchurchla.org

Second Baptist Church LA

Inspirational messages for Sunday June 14 through Saturday June 20, 2020


Sunday June 14, 2020

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:  6  “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”  7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Matthew 2:1-12   

Introduction

Life is filled with unexpected interruptions.  They come with their own announcements arresting our attention with the possibility of what is being offered as an opportunity of grand proportions to discover the secret of living, which is to go beyond the narrow confines of your beginning to the fulfillment of your possibility.  The bible has a variety of persons discovering interruptions that are attributed to God unexpectedly interrupting their lives.  The story of faith presented in scripture is about God interrupting our expectations with the unexpected by providing an opportunity through the interruption to engage and elicit our involvement in what God is doing to save us from the destruction we cause ourselves while fulfilling the promise that God is with us. 

The passage in Matthew paints a picture of persons whose experience depicts the saga of every life.  What these persons in the passage do, we all do as we manage the varied aspects of life and living.  To sum it up categorically this is a picture about dreaming and hoping / longing and searching / cautioning and redirecting / finding and celebrating  / leaving and rejoicing. 

This story depicts that familiar picture associated with the nativity of Jesus.  Wise persons led by a star come from afar to worship Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  The details are rather sketchy.  We are not told a lot.  Drawn by a star that captured their attention all we know is that wise men came from the east of Jerusalem inquiring about the birth of a King.  However, they ended up in the wrong place.  But even in the wrong place they got the right information.  For it was there that those who knew just what they were looking to find informed them of the location of their quest.  There were those who were familiar with the prediction that a ruler would come from Bethlehem of Judea.  (Micah 5:2)  These wise men followed the directions they are given and came to the house where Jesus was.  They rejoiced when they saw the star and went into the house and worshipped Jesus.  What we know is that these wise persons were led to where they came to locate what they sought.  They did not return the way they came. 

Consider one or more unexpected interruptions of your life that provided an opportunity to be awakened to the reality of the presence of the Lord in your life.  

 
Monday June 15, 2020


Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

There are circumstances, events and instances in life that capture our attention.  They are like signs that cause us to want to explore what's happening as they elicit our desire to be involved as a participant.  It has been said that our attention is captured by a variety of instances, some positive, some negative and some just common occurrences.  Something positive could be viewed as advice, a spoken word or an unexpected blessing.  Something negative could be the pandemic crisis caused by Covid19, police brutality, income and racial disparity.   Something common place could be apathy (lack of concern), mixed feelings and uncertainty. 

Covid-19 took the world by surprise and captured our attention causing us to reorganize our lives in unfathomable ways.  We had to realign our allegiances, reassess our commitments, refresh our memories and redirect our focus.  We are experiences seismic shifts is attitudes, culturally, economically, politically, religiously, etc.  There is no part of our experience which has not been affected.   

Most recently, the death of George Floyd has captured the attention of the world with a video that went viral.  Imagine, so many people being outraged that they protest "the police brutality that disproportionately falls on black communities.” There has been a seismic shift in public opinion about the racial disparity connected to police brutality.

Consider the one or more instances or occurrences that were like signs arresting your attention to the extent that you decided to see for yourself what the sign means.   



Tuesday June 16, 2020

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:  6  “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”  Matthew 2:3-6

There will always be those who have a sense of entitlement or privilege due to their position in life who will be troubled by what is considered a threat to their authority, control and dominance.   There is a allegiance that challenges the authority of all other allegiances in a persons' life which demands their searching at all cost for what is alluring them to the ultimate influence that determines their loyalty.   

History is full of facts that have shaped the faith of persons that led them to pursue beyond the painful, prejudicial predicaments that are damaging, harmful and injurious.    People are protesting systemic racial injustice and police.   Unfortunately, law enforcement’s history of enforcing laws “explicitly designed to subjugate black people,” beginning with capturing escaped slaves, as well as the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation after Emancipation, leading up to the War on Drugs, “broken windows” policing and “stop-and-frisk” policies that

disproportionately targeted people of color.  All of that continues to this day in the structural

fabric of our culture and society.  There are those who see the disparity as a sign that their allegiance is to a higher authority that preserves life rather than kills children and adults with economic disparities codified in laws and rules in systematic codes that disenfranchises while enfranchising those who are in control and in power seeking to maintain their entitlement and privilege.  

Imagine a sign from on high calling you to be a part of recognizing another authority to whom you are loyal rather than controlling selfish authority that demeans, demoralizes, and denigrates with a sense of entitlement and privilege. 

Consider who deserves your ultimate allegiance, commitment and loyalty as you journey through life's challenging choices, conditions and circumstances. 
 

Wednesday June 17, 2020

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”  Matthew 2:7-8

You may get directions from a person in charge who has an ulterior motive.  You have to be discerning and discriminating about whether a person is an honest individual with integrity or a selfish individual who will do and say anything to get what he/she wants. 

This story is also a token of man's seeking.  There is purpose in the journey itself; that is why Jesus was not born in the town where the wise men lived.  God safeguards our freedom; gives signs, but we may stay or journey.  The journey provides also that hazard which every true man covets.  The journey always seems to be against common sense; the practical people condemn it, and later live by borrowing its courage.  The journey is always blocked both by nature's barriers and by the Herod-systems of the world.  But it leads to life for all who venture.  We need information from a higher source, conversation from a purer source, and insights from an authentic source to inspire our involvement from a genuine source.   

Consider what source inspires your involvement and participation in your life, community, nation and world. 

Thursday June 18, 2020

9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." Matthew 2:9-10


Finding and celebrating is a thrill that comes after a long quest of searching, after waiting equally as long for what you seek to be made available.   When the times are "out of joint" it appears that we are spiraling out of control carried haphazardly to who knows where with our lives being destructively disrupted, robbed of regimens and routines and sabotaged by sinister situations.   When facing such uncertainty, people search for clarity for their confusion, direction for their difficulty and faith for their frustration. 

The beckoning of God is a sign that is put above our reach in the mystery and majesty of the sky and in our longing, for our prime need is not for the anyone more than a savior.  This yearning is wider than anyone person.  Astrology in its searching of the sky is but a confession of the need, which can be met only from beyond. 

Look up beyond the immediate moment to the reality that a sign is given that cannot be destroyed or diminished but will beacon you to continue to search until you find what the sign suggests, what you need is available to get beyond the insidiousness that is so injurious.  The star is symbolic of the moral barometer about behavior of the One the Lord sends to remind us how we can manage the messes created by malevolent leaders who are self serving. 

Consider what it means to find a sign that causes you to rejoice with great joy after searching to get beyond the moments of malicious, selfish leadership.

Friday June 19, 2020


11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh."  Matthew 2:11

The whole notion of the freedom God gives is to focus allegiance, devotion, gratitude, loyalty, praise and reverence in the right direction.  After all, worship is about a right acceptance of the source of life and liberty.  We can only be free as we focus our allegiance, devotion, gratitude and reverence in the right direction.  Otherwise we are enslaved by false allegiances, devotion, gratitude and reverence.  

These individuals went home another way because God warned them in a dream.  They did not want to be an accomplice in what they knew would cause harm to others.  Have you ever thought about Christ as God’s warning about being compliant?  Sometimes, the right thing to do is to be defiant.  These wise persons were willing to defy Herod.  Maybe there is that which we should defy in order to depict and reflect Jesus the Christ.  We are admonished to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so we may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).  Our ultimate faith and trust is in what God has done in Christ to make us aware of the reality of God's presence and our potential as those made in God's image. 

Consider what it means not to be an accomplice by being compliant with what is morally reprehensible.  

 
Saturday June 20, 2020

 
12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." Matthew 2:12  

We come like the wise persons of old the long way around, side tracked, detoured, distracted making our way.  However, once we arrive we go home another way because we recognize that we can have a brand new day. 

 

The wise men came one-way but went home another way.  Sometime the path you take to get to where you have come is not necessarily the path you need to take when you return to where you have been.  Remember the wise persons did not find the object of their search when they went to Jerusalem.  They only found out there how to get to where they needed to be.  So why retrace those steps.  How often do we need to change directions in order to avoid danger? 

 

As time evolves there are always those who want it to devolve into what it was as oppose to progressing toward what it is becoming.  What the wise persons found changed their lives.  They were willing to make a long journey, avoid being an accomplice and change the direction of their lives.  When I think of the change we need in life something that seemingly is becoming quite popular in our society came to mind.  It is called for a makeover.  An opportunity is provided for a person who does for everyone else to have something done for them.  We can all use a little bit of a makeover, however together we think we are.  You see God in Christ not only warns us about changing our life but also provides for the makeover me all require.  If any person is in Christ that person is a new creature, old thing pass away and all things become new.  Jesus came that we might have life and have life more abundantly.  Jesus came to provide an unmistakable example of how to live a life of significance.  Jesus came to redeem us, to reclaim us while providing an opportunity for having a makeover.  .

 

The state of democracy and politics in America is very much in flux. America is experiencing one of the most contentious and in many people’s opinions, resoundingly negative periods in the history of American politics. 

 
Consider what it means to be made over in Christ as a believer as a courageous persons whose choices are determined by devotion to the Lord.