Pastor Dave Dummit taught from the book of Jude today, launching our next series Summer Mixtape. The book of Jude is named after its author, and he is writing to a group of Christians who were going through some very difficult and uncertain times. Jude is trying to encourage them to stay the course and remind them that God loves them, is with them, and will keep them. He never promises it will get easier and, in fact, is challenging them to hold fast to their faith amidst the struggles.
1. Watch out for posers
Pastor Dave began with verse three, where Jude is saying watch out because there are people in your midst who are abusing the grace of God. Jude is warning the church that there are people among them who will hold up a Bible and claim to follow Jesus, but in reality, they are leading you in the wrong direction.
Pastor Dave went on to share that Jude reflects back on Isreal's history to show where in the past Isreal had been led astray. And unfortunately, still today, this is happening among Christians. Pastor Dave shared the story of a magazine publishing an article giving directions on how to climb the tallest mountain in Great Britain. The problem was, if you followed it to the tee, you'd end up walking right off a cliff. His point is this: we must be careful as to which experts we follow because some of them are posers and will lead us right off a cliff.
2. Build yourselves up in the faith
Pastor Dave continued that Jude challenged the readers in verse 20 to build themselves up in the faith. As followers of Jesus, we should be growing and taking responsibility for this growth. It's not the job of anyone else but ourselves. Pastor Dave continued that verse three says to contend for your faith. That means fighting. There are times, perhaps many, when we must fight for our faith.
Pastor Dave then went on and encouraged us to have a steady rhythm in our lives of reading the Bible, journaling, and gathering with a small group. These are practical ways to contend for our faith.
3. Follow Jesus, who is able to keep you from falling
Finally, Jude ends with a doxology that says, "Now to him that is able to keep you from falling" (Jude 1:24, KJV). Pastor Dave shared a story about rock climbing with a friend that was quite skilled as well as a few inches taller than him. As his friend climbed the rock wall, he made marks to show Pastor Dave where to place his hands and feet as he came up after him. Due to their height differences, there were times Pastor Dave simply couldn't reach them. His friend, at the top of the rock wall, could pull him up by the rope that tied the two of them together, just enough, that Dave could reach the holds his friend marked out for him.
Pastor Dave's point was this, as things around us seem to be changing at a rapid pace, wars and pandemics rage, and economic uncertainty seems to plague us, God has made the way before us. Jesus has shown us how to live and promises to help us through the difficult seasons of life. There are times the way will seem difficult, but God will not only lift us through but also catch us if we fall.
