Who belongs to who?

Minor confessions lead to major change.

This summer’s sermon series is The Minors.  We are taking a journey through the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament.  These men spoke faithful words into desperate times. 

Desperate times caused by disobedient people.  There is no greater weakness in the human condition than our inability or unwillingness to acknowledge the desperation is most often caused by our own decisions.  Ultimately this was the spiritual condition that the Minor Prophets spoke into.

God’s People had committed idolatry (worshiping false gods) over and over again.  They continued to return to this sin because they believed they could get what they wanted from these gods.

God had established a covenant with his people spoke of in 2 Chronicles 7:12-22.  God reminds the Nation of Israel they are “his people called by His name.” 

We belong to God.  The spiritual condition that leads to idolatry is one we all struggle with…control.  We do not want to belong to God.  We want a god that belongs to us.  This way we are in control of right and wrong and good and bad.

Returning to God from a place of personal pride and idolatry requires humility, prayer, relational restoration, and repentance.  God promises that he will hear us and that he will heal us both personally and corporately…if we will return to Him.

What minor confession, today, will prevent a major catastrophe tomorrow?
Who will you confess to and with?  To God?  With brothers and sisters in Christ?

Will you find accountability and hope in Christ and His Church?

Monday Insight 5.20.13

Parents just don’t understand!

These are the lyrics of a popular song from my teen years.  So many young people feel this way.  Parents often feel this way.  They think they understand.  I mean after all they have been there before, but it has been a long time and times have changed.

Today I want to give you a little encouragement and challenging on Biblical parenting from Ephesians 6:1-4

The call of parenting is to bring up.

You are not raising a child.  You have a child.  You are raising an adult.

We must bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Instruction is the principles from our lips.
Training is the practices of our lives.

There is nothing more exasperating for a child than to have parents that the principles of their lips do match the practices of their lives.  If you profess to follow Christ but do not practice the commandments of Christ, it confuses, discourages, and exasperates your children.

So, there is a great question I want you to ponder.

If your children obey every word you say this week, what will they do that honors Jesus Christ other than obey you?

Ending the Silence

I have been in blog silence for some time now.  No particular reason, but many non-particular ones.  We started writing a weekly follow up for our sermons that goes out via email so some of what I was writing here is now found there.  I should probably just blog it, but I haven’t.  I have been uber-busy with our church.  Blogging is one of the things I feel is easy to set aside for more urgent tasks at hand.  Plus I have had both of my parents fighting some health issues this Spring so that has taken some extra time.
 But there is one other reason…I only want to write words that matter…I don’t want to write to words to matter.  I feel the same way about preaching.  I want to speak words that matter…I don’t want to matter because I speak words.  I have not felt I had the time to do that, so I have chosen not to say something weakly because I do not have time to give it strength.  But if you stay silent long enough there is strength in what has built up inside you.
 So here are 10 things to catch up a little as I jump back in.  Some of the points are from my sermons, some for right here, and some from others I have learned from.
 1.     Your family is not picture perfect.  It’s priceless.
Too many people throw away a priceless family over a lousy year’s worth of snapshots.  It’s priceless…fight for it.2.     Conflict boils down to 2 heart issues a.  I am not getting what I want
 b.  You are not doing what I want.
Check your heart in conflict.3.     Conflict happens.  Marriages end not because of what we conflict over but how we conflict.
 Speak truth…but speak it in love.4.     Marriage is not an accidental snapshot of the Gospel…it is a designed portrait of Christ’s love for the Church and the love of the Church for Christ.
The vision I have for Wendy and I is that a hurting world and a confused church would see the love of Christ for the Church and the love of the Church for Christ in our relationship.5.     Servant leadership inspires loving submission.  Loving submission inspires leaders to serve. It is not either/or it is both/and.6.    Parenting is a great calling.  “Bring up” your children is not about making kids happy but about building honorable adults.
If you don’t plan for the destination you will never get there.7.     If decisions that are supposed to be hard are easy, your heart is hard.
Love adds great weight to all hard truths.8.    Making hard decisions benefits everyone involved…in the end.
The hard decision you are making today is about tomorrow…hope.9.     You cannot teach what you do not know and you cannot lead where you will not go.Pastor and parents, what are you saying do that you’re not doing?10.   Humility is humiliating.
The church that is THE CHURCH is a group of people that can confess the humiliating to one another and not be humiliated but be held up, held accountable, and headed forward.  Too many thoughts for one blog, but it got me back in the game and back on the page.

Storylines

You have a storyline.  It is beautiful, powerful, and personal.  Personal, however, does not mean private.  Followers of Jesus have the call and command to share the good news we have in Jesus with the world around us.  What better way to do that than by sharing the story of your redemption.

The following questions and thoughts come out of our Storylines series.  This is a simple tool to help you write out your storyline so that you can share with others the majesty of Jesus...your Redeemer.

Conflict:  

What was the conflict in your life that caused you to realize your desperation for God?

Where were you in life?  What was happening in your life?  Why did you realize, "I need a Redeemer?"

Climax:  

What happened to cause you to put your trust in God?  Have you done this?

What was the event WHO was involved?  WHO is the WHO in the storyline of your redemption?  WHO did God use to help you come to him?

Conclusion:  

What has God done in your life since?  What is He doing now?

Redemption is momentary the process of redemption is eternal.  How has your life changed and how is it changing?  What God is doing NOW speaks volumes.

I challenge you to write it out and make it brief.  A 3-minute version of your storyline, speaking the power and promise of your Savior.  People need to hear the Good News.  You have it.  You are a result of it.  Tell somebody your story today.

Fast Forward

 “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”…Matthew 6:33

As we approach the Easter season- a time filled with unique spiritual opportunity, as many in our community consider the Person and work of Jesus- we want to challenge you to seize this opportunity to fast forward in your life and faith, to fast from several items (even good things!) for the purpose of moving forward in both the righteousness and Kingdom of God. 

It is our hope and prayer that as you implement the ideas outlined below, God will use these challenging experiences to both draw you closer to Himself (i.e. seek His righteousness) and impact others with the Good News of Jesus (i.e. advance His Kingdom).  We challenge you to take on at least one of these concepts each week between now and Easter.  Feel free to add more ideas of your own that you feel would be beneficial to you in your personal journey of faith, and to others in your circles of influence.  Allow God to lead and direct you as He desires in this season.  The most important thing you can do is listen to Him as He speaks, and follow Him forward in obedience when He does. 

All that to say, here are some thoughts on fasting forward in this season…

-        Fast from…a meal

-        to seek His righteousness…by nourishing yourself on God’s Word in Psalm 42 and by asking Him to make you more satisfied and delighted in Him than you are in physical food and drink

-        to advance His Kingdom…by inviting someone who doesn’t know Jesus to go to lunch with you, and taking that opportunity to share with them the hope you have in Him

-        Fast from…a TV show that you enjoy watching

-        to seek His righteousness…by focusing your attention on God’s Word in Philippians 4:4-9 and by asking Him to reveal to you how your entertainment choices impact your thoughts, attitudes, and actions

-        to advance His Kingdom…by taking the time that you would normally watch that show to spend intentional time with your spouse, and by deciding together to pray for and intentionally encourage a couple who you know is going through a difficult time in their marriage

-        Fast from…a sporting event that you enjoy watching (March Madness, anyone?)

-        to seek His righteousness…by nourishing yourself on God’s Word in Colossians 3:1-4, 15-17 and by asking Him to set your hope in His triumphant death and resurrection rather than in your favorite team’s latest victory

-        to advance His Kingdom…by taking the time that you would normally watch that event to spend intentional time with your kids, and by setting up a play date with a family that doesn’t know Jesus

-        Fast from…reading your favorite book, magazine, etc

-        to seek His righteousness…by nourishing yourself on God’s Word in Ephesians 2 and by asking Him to make you more compelled by the grand story of the Gospel than your favorite earthly stories

-        to advance His Kingdom…by writing down your own story of salvation and transformation, and by taking the opportunity to share it with someone who doesn’t know Jesus (note- we will provide you with a tool to help you do this during our upcoming Storylines series)

-        Fast from…an unnecessary purchase (e.g. clothing, household item, entertainment item)

-        to seek His righteousness…by nourishing yourself on God’s Word in 1 Timothy 6:17-19 and by asking Him to reveal to you those areas in your life where you find your identity and security in possessions rather than Him

-        to advance His Kingdom…by taking the money you would spend on that item and using it to meet a tangible need (i.e. clothing) in someone else’s life

-        Fast from…using Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media

-        to seek His righteousness…by nourishing yourself on God’s Word in 1 John 4:7-21 and by asking Him to enable you to love others selflessly and sacrificially, just as He has loved you in Jesus

-        to advance His Kingdom…by taking a (primarily) online relationship with someone who doesn’t know Jesus to a deeper level by inviting them to have a face to face conversation over coffee, ice cream, etc (your choice!)

-        Fast from…listening to music

-        to seek His righteousness…by nourishing yourself on God’s Word in Psalm 150 and asking Him to give you a constant spirit of worship, and by revealing to you how you can worship Him in everyday ways

-        to advance His Kingdom…by purchasing a Christian music album (you choose the artist!) on iTunes for a friend who doesn’t know Jesus

-        Fast from…eating out as a couple or family

-        to seek His righteousness…by nourishing yourself on God’s Word in Isaiah 58 and by asking Him to give you a heart of “true fasting” toward the poor, oppressed, and forgotten, as is described in this passage

-        to advance His Kingdom…by taking the money you would normally spend on that meal, movie, etc and sending a less fortunate couple or family out for an evening (note- offer to keep their kids too, if they have that need)

We pray these ideas will provide you with some helpful “food for thought” (no pun intended J) as you consider how to best “seek first” God and His Kingdom in this Easter season and beyond.  We can’t wait to see what God has in store for us individually and collectively as we seek Him in faith and obedience!