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11/30/14 We Are One In The Lord
An important question we will look at in a few minutes: Is this a hill worth dying on?
Musical Artists Clash Over a Tiny Musical Piece
In October, 2011, The New York Times ran an article about two musical giants whose longtime relationship unraveled over a tiny piece of music. Helene Grimaud, a brilliant and magnetic pianist, and Claudio Abbado, a revered conductor, have performed together at least a dozen times since 1995. They were supposed to perform in Switzerland and London, but organizers cancelled their concerts due to “artistic differences.”
There was only one issue at the heart of their conflict—a 1 minute and 20 second cadenza from Mozart’s concerto No. 23 in A. (The article defines a cadenza as “unaccompanied flights in a concerto that play on its themes and show off a virtuoso’s mettle.”) The conductor Abbado prefers Mozart’s original cadenza, but the pianist Grimaud feels that Mozart’s original work is “not the most inspired.” Instead, she prefers another cadenza for No. 23 based on the later work of an Italian pianist named Busoni.
Ms. Grimaud said it was her prerogative to choose the cadenza. Anything else would have been “a sellout.” But Mr. Addabo contends that it’s his “territory.” According to another colleague, Mr. Addabo “is very strong and probably, like most conductors, used to dominating the artistic process.” Neither side was willing to compromise. An official for one of the cancelled concerts said, “[Their musical relationship] was just somehow sort of dead. I guess they didn’t relate to one another.”
Matt Woodley, Managing Editor, PreachingToday.com; source: Daniel J. Wakin, “Titans Clash Over a Mere Cadenza,” The New York Times (10-31-11)
Let’s keep this story in mind and go back to the question we mentioned before: Is this a hill worth dying on? I have a friend that I have been in many committee meetings with and this is one of his statements. As we would be discussing an issue he would say “This is not a hill I’m willing to die on”. The concept of the statement is that this issue, whatever it is, is not so important that I am willing to pay a major price to try to win. The issue simply is not eternal or worth the conflict.
Think about the two musicians in the story we just heard. What were they talking about? One minute and twenty seconds out of a whole concert. And, because of their stubbornness, maybe it was pride or arrogance, they had to cancel some concerts. What did that cost to do that? How much loss was there to many people? I wonder if they even cared. I wonder if they felt a sense of victory and accomplishment when the concerts were cancelled because “I didn’t give in” and/or “I know I was right”.
John 13:34-35 NKJV
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
Unfortunately, Christians have not always gotten along with each other. Someone penned these words:
To dwell above with saints we love,
That will be grace and glory.
To live below with saints we know;
Now, that’s another story!
Let’s break down the verses we read:
Commandment: This is not a suggestion, it would be really nice if you would do this thing. Pleeeeeeeeese????
Love one another: Love must be not just vertical reaching up to God, but horizontal reaching out to one another. The definition of love I like: love is the accurate estimate and adequate supply of another person’s needs. Love is outward, love is giving. Love is not selfish and demanding.
As I have loved you: How did Jesus love us?
Philippians 2:1-8 NLT
1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
This is the amazing sacrificial love we see from Jesus.
By this all will know that you are My disciples: How does the world know what a real Christian is? This is the sign, love for one another.
If you have love for one another: when the world sees Christians acting in a loving and caring manner, then they know we are the real article.
Again note, we are commanded to love one another in a unique, Christlike way. We don’t always have to agree on everything to love and get along.
Along with genuine love, true believers will live a life of obedience to the Lord and submission to God’s Word.
John 8:31 NIV
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
Matthew 7:21 NIV
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Along this line of believing and obeying God’s Word is the message Paul wrote to the church in the book of Galatians. He said that if anyone preaches any other gospel other than what has been preached, let him be eternally condemned. God will not allow people to add to, take away or change the meaning of the message of the Bible.
Please note that false doctrine usually comes incrementally. Like most sin, people get trapped by making small steps towards it. False doctrine comes in with good-sounding proclamation wrapped in attractive-sounding words. It seems so sensible and includes a portion of truth.
With what is happening in the world today, with the persecution of believers spreading across the world in every country, God’s family must stand together. Those who stand for Jesus and resist popular and ungodly beliefs and behaviors
are worthy of love and support. We can do this without compromising Biblical beliefs.
This thought of compromise is critical to our daily Christian walk. We CANNOT compromise God’s holiness, His purity and separation from evil for the sake of unity. That is not the real thing.
Matthew 22:37-40 NIV
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
*****The very important application of this for us at this time. We are in the process of making a very important decision. Approaching my 25th anniversary here at Cornerstone, I have believed it was time to make a transition. This fellowship has been working this year to find God’s leading for this next step. The transition team has worked hard and done an excellent job in seeking God’s leading for this process. They have selected a candidate to come next week. They have prepared an opportunity for all to meet the Mike Channing family on Saturday evening. Next Sunday they will be here and the membership will vote on them.
A few very critical thoughts to consider:
□ The transition team selected the candidate.
□ It is up to the membership to vote.
□ Everyone of us must seek God’s direction in the vote. This is not a contest, it is seeking God’s direction.
□ We must keep God’s love central in our hearts, believing that God will direct us and be thankful for the outcome.
□ We must work together to build God’s kingdom in the future.
□ We are all on the same side, we are on the Lord’s side.
Let me share a story, a good example of what NOT to be.
Division Among “Chunnel” Builders
When it came to building the tunnel under the English Channel connecting England with France (later called the “Chunnel”), the French had the perfect word for it: bicephele, two-headed. There were two mammoth firms built from scratch to complete the project: one charged with finance and operation, the other responsible for building it. Each of these companies was also two-headed: equally French and British.
No one was allowed to take charge. Leadership, more times than not, was reduced to the management of conflict. Said a high-ranking executive, “The project…created a lot of tension because it [was] not geared to solving problems; it [was] geared to placing blame.” The English yelled at the French, and the French yelled at the English. Said another executive, “There were nervous breakdowns galore.”
The problems were primarily from a lack of shared standards. The two countries had a different word for everything. The French had their accounting system, so did the English. The French ran on 380 volts, and the British ran on 420. Instruction manuals were bilingual. There were even two different standards used to measure sea level.
“When you have people coming from two different nations,” said one of the engineers, “each believes that only their regulations are right.”
Robert Lewis with Rob Wilkins, The Church of Irresistible Influence (Zondervan, 2001), pp. 205-206
Reading this, it is amazing that the thing was ever built. What could have been avoided if they could have really worked together?
DISCUSSION
What happens when Christians really do seek to understand and then apply the command to love one another?
What if they find it hard to do, to love another believer?
How does this actually loving one another affect our local church?
How should Christians react when things don’t go the way they want them to go?
What can you learn and apply from the chunnel story?
As we sing, let us really pray this.
Bind us together, Lord, Bind us together
With cords that cannot be broken.
Bind us together, Lord,
Bind us together,
Bind us together with love.
There is only one God,
There is only one King;
There is only one Body,
That is why we sing:
11/16/14 Year of Equipping To Serve
A WINNING ATTITUDE
We have spent this year talking about being equipped to do God’s work. When a topic like this comes up, it is easy to quickly dismiss it with the thought that “I don’t really have any talents that will make a difference”. We live in a world of the superstar. We live in a world where the big show, the overly-talented person is the only one who can get anything done. “I’m a nobody” thinking impacts the world. It impacts the church.
What can we do for God? How can we do anything for God? Can we do anything for God?
Here’s an amazing study that goes against everything our culture seems to promote: Too Much Talent Hurts Sports Teams
When it comes to winning games, most pro sports teams go after talented players. Everyone wants a team of stars. But a new research study published in Psychological Science argues that too many talented players can actually hurt the team;s overall performance. The research study is titled “The Too-Much Talent Effect.”
When the researchers analyzed professional sports, especially basketball and soccer, they discovered that talented players helped teams win—but only up to a point. Teams loaded with star players found that the too-much talent effect actually hurt the team’s chances of winning. Teams with the greatest proportion of elite athletes performed worse than those with more moderate proportions of top level players. Star-studded basketball teams had less assists and rebounds than teams with more average players. The researchers concluded, “When teams need to come together, more talent can tear them apart.”
An article summarizing the study observed:
Why is too much talent a bad thing? Think teamwork. In many endeavors, success requires [team effort] towards a goal that is beyond the capability of any one individual … When a team roster is flooded with individual talent, pursuit of personal star-status may prevent the attainment of team goals. The basketball player chasing a point record, for example, may cost the team by taking risky shots instead of passing to a teammate.
Matt Woodley, Editor, Preaching Today.com; sources: Roderick I. Swaab, “The Too-Much Talent Effect,” Psychological Science (6-27-14); Cindi May, “The Surprising Problem of Too Much Talent,” Scientific American (10-14-14)
That is some amazing information. Working together gets the job done.
The Christian life is not about who we are, it is who we are in Christ. The Christian life is about who Jesus makes us to be. The Christian life is about living in and working in God’s power. The victory the church experiences comes only through the power of God working through us. Teamwork, working in a spirit of unity to accomplish God’s plan for us will get the job done much quicker than if we have a few superstars.
Colossians 3:1-17 NLT
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
What are we to do?
Set your mind fully on the things of God.
Let HIM affect your attitudes in life.
Keep the eternal and heavenly perspective as you live the character of Christ.
Remember that as we live in God’s power we will make an impact.
We are a team for the Lord. We are a team as HE is the Captain. We are a team and the world will know Jesus as we live and work in HIS power.
Lessons learned by Coach Tony Dungy
When I arrived in Tampa, the talent was there. It was the culture that had to change. The coaches and myself in Minnesota knew that if we could get the Bucs down early, they would give up, and we could win easily. But if they started well, they would be competitive with us to the end. It seemed that the team had cultivated a fragile mind-set that had infected their play for years. They always expected something to go wrong, and it usually did.
When I arrived in Tampa, I began meeting with players who lived there — trying to understand from them what needed to be fixed. Although all the issues were relatively minor, they contributed to the team’s second class, defeatist, excuse laden mentality. I began to sell the philosophy that we are responsible for what happens to us, not anyone or anything else. No excuses, no explanations. This is how we changed the culture.
At the same time, I started to address some of the issues the players were bringing to my attention. I realized that, by addressing minor issues, we could bring about a major culture shift. The Bucs’ previous owner had been known for his frugality and, in order to save a few dollars, the team often stayed in inconvenient locations when they were on the road. When I came on board, we began to stay downtown at Marriotts, Wyndhams, and Ritz-Carltons. It was a small change but part of a bigger shift I wanted us to make.
One of the things I couldn’t change was the location of our training camp at the University of Tampa. The University of Tampa had been founded more than sixty years earlier in a hotel Henry Plant had built in the late 1800s along the banks of the Hillsborough River. Originally intended as a getaway for vacationing northerners, it has since been turned into a very pretty school. As a training camp, however, it had seen too many lousy Bucs teams wander through its halls and grounds. I wanted a new, fresh place to train, someplace without any connection to losing. But we simply didn’t have another feasible option.
I thought of my dad’s advice to focus on the job, not the surroundings, and decided to embrace the situation rather than try and change it. I told the guys we didn’t want to leave the University of Tampa. We wanted our team to become tough, so we wanted camp to be tough. We wanted the grass on the field to give out during the first thunderstorm. We wanted the dorm rooms to be spartan. It was a mind-set shift, and the guys accepted it. No excuses, no explanations.
As for One Buc, I knew it needed countless improvements — a team meeting room, offices separate from meeting rooms, a room big enough to house all of the weights so some weren’t out on the patio, a third practice field, and so on. But as I told the guys, the Pittsburgh Steelers practiced every day on a sixty-yard Astroturf field…and had won four Super Bowls. No excuses, no explanations.
At a team meeting, I ran through a laundry list of excuses our players could easily hang a poor season on if they chose to:
We have a new coaching staff.
We have to learn a new system on both offense and defense.
We have sub-par facilities.
We have a young quarterback.
We never get the benefit of the doubt from officials.
We have distractions over a stadium and we might move cities.
We never win in the cold.
Those were all great excuses, and we could have used any and all of them. However, our goal was to win football games, and excuses were not an option. Instead, I told them we expected several things of them:
Be a pro.
Act like a champion.
Respond to adversity; don’t react.
Be on time. Being late means it’s not important to you or you can’t be relied upon.
Execute. Do what you’re supposed to do when you’re supposed to do it. Not almost. All the way. Not most of the time. All of the time.
Take ownership.
Whatever it takes. No excuses. No explanations. That’s what began to change a losing culture to a winning one.
http://www.allprodad.com/dungy/turning-a-losing-culture-into-a-winning-one/?utm_campaign=LosingCulture&utm_source=EMAIL&utm_medium=11.04.2014&utm_term=Body&utm_content=PlayOfTheDay
Where did we start today?
A WINNING ATTITUDE
God has not called us to be superstars. He has called us to be faithful to HIM and work together.
Colossians 3:1 NLT
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
NKJV
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
The Message
1 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides.
DISCUSSION
Review the main points of this message.
What encourages you from what we have talked about?
Are there any attitude changes that are needed?
What should we expect to happen here in Western Wisconsin and here at Cornerstone?
PRAYER
Sing together:
Oh, Lord, Send the Power Just Now
11/9/14 YEAR OF EQUIPPING TO SERVE
The Take-Away From Our Fall Emphasis on Missions
Where is Brittany Maynard today?
Some thoughts from Jim Denison (edited)
Brittany Maynard described how she learned that she had terminal brain cancer and her decision to move to Oregon so that she could take advantage of its ‘Death with Dignity’ law to end her life. Brittany ended her own life recently at her home in Portland. She was 29 years old. She left this message on Facebook:
“Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me . . . but would have taken so much more. The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type. . . . Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!”
It would be hard to find a person who lived a more active life than Brittany did. She traveled to Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, and Tanzania. She climbed Kilimanjaro a month before her wedding, took ice climbing courses in Ecuador and was an avid scuba diver. She taught in orphanages in Nepal and spent a summer working in Costa Rica.
However, I can find nothing about her religious beliefs. In describing her decision to end her life, she invited those who love her to “come say goodbye as I pass into whatever’s next.” It’s hard to know what she believed about Jesus or salvation.
Nonetheless, I would guess that most in our culture think Brittany is in heaven, since our culture is convinced that all good people go there. Eighty-nine percent of Americans believe in heaven; 85 percent of them believe they’ll go there. Three in four, including two-thirds of Protestants, do not believe that access to heaven is limited to Christians.
But opinion doesn’t change reality. What humans think about heaven and hell is mere speculation unless our beliefs are based on something besides belief. . . . . . .
The difference between Jesus and all other religious authorities is the resurrection. There is abundant evidence that Jesus lived, was condemned and crucified by the Romans, and was seen alive by his followers and worshiped as Lord. Apart from the resurrection there is no compelling explanation for his empty tomb, the changed lives of his disciples, or the impact of his movement on the Roman Empire.
If he is raised from the dead, he must be God. If he is God, his word must be true. And he clearly states in his word, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Peter agreed: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Why does this issue matter?
I worry about the apparent loss of evangelistic passion among many in Western Christianity today. . . . .
I’m convinced that one reason for our lack of evangelistic effectiveness is that many of us have lost sight of hell. We’ve adopted our culture’s distaste for eternal perdition, ignoring or even rejecting the biblical facts about those who reject our Lord. But Jesus said more about hell than heaven. He warned us that “the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction”. The apostles paid the ultimate price to get the only hope of salvation to their dying world.
It seems so unkind to even consider the possibility that a beautiful, suffering young woman like Brittany might be in hell. I deeply & sincerely hope she is in heaven with our Lord. However, there’s nothing I can do to influence her commitment to Jesus today. But every person I meet this day is another Brittany. We are all dying. And we have only today to be ready for eternity.
William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once took a group of volunteers through an extensive evangelism training course lasting many weeks. When it was done he said to them, “I’m sorry our training took so long. If I could take you to hell for five minutes, none of what I’ve taught you would be necessary.”
Who is your Brittany Maynard today?
http://www.denisonforum.org/morality/1224-where-is-brittany-maynard-today
Some thoughts:
God is the Judge and is the only one who can answer the question of where she is today.
It is extremely sad that people think the best solution is suicide.
Many of these laws are sugar-coated with a positive sounding name to hide what is really going on.
Even in the worst of medical conditions, taking your life is never the answer.
Questions about what we can take away from our missions convention –
□ Why put all this emphasis on missions?
□ Why put the emphasis on reaching people with the message of Jesus?
□ Why would some of the most gifted people risk life and limb and go to places that are not attractive places to be?
□ Why would they work so hard to raise their support and then come back every four years to replace the support they lost and increase it due to inflation?
The answer is found in a series of verses. There are many more we could look at, but look at these.
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 NKJV
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:1 NKJV
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 10:9-10, 13 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
II Corinthians 5:17, 21 NKJV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Revelation 20:15 NKJV
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
The Take-Away: because people are lost in their sin, we are accountable before God to reach people for Jesus. Without HIM, they are lost in their sins. People around here without a personal relationship with Jesus are just as lost as someone in Africa.
We have just shown the need of Jesus through the verses we looked at. And now this very challenging question.
Romans 10:14-15 NLT
14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
We can never force or trick a person into believing in Jesus. We must give them the good news, pray that they will receive the tugging of God in their hearts and respond to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
So many people don’t realize they are lost. Listen to this strange but true story. Man Discovers He Was a Missing Child
Imagine one day discovering that you were a lost, missing child.
Marx Barnes—now named Steve Carter—born in 1977, had no inkling he was a lost, missing child until January 2011, when he did a search on missingkids.com. He found himself staring at a composite image created to show what Marx would look like as an adult.
“I got chills,” Carter said.
A DNA test ultimately confirmed his identity.
Marx went missing at 6-months-old on June 21, 1977, when his mother placed him in a stroller and went for a walk on one of the Hawaiian Islands. Through a strange series of events, Marx’s mother was placed in a psychiatric hospital, while Marx was placed in protective care, ultimately becoming a ward of the state. Marx was placed in an orphanage only 30 miles from where he lived with his parents. As an adult, Carter “never had any strong desire to locate his family.”
By contrast, his half sister had only one desire in life: to find out what happened to her brother. It was her efforts—convincing officials to reactivate the investigation—that led to the composite image Carter discovered online. An official from the Missing Child Center in Hawaii said, “If it wasn’t for her, it would still be a cold case.”
Joey Bartolomeo, “Alive, 34 Years After He Went Missing,” People (4-30-12)
Here is a critical issue for us to grasp: most people don’t realize they are spiritually lost. It takes the work of God to speak to their hearts for them to realize their need of Jesus. I believe most people believe something is missing, but they don’t recognize the need as Jesus.
John 16:7-8 NKJV
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
John 6:44 NKJV
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Chicago Man Discovers His Real Name
The headline in the Chicago Tribune was poignant: “Living a Life Unknown.” The subhead said, “Dozens of John, Jane Does turn up yearly at Illinois police stations and hospitals. Most are identified. These 5 weren’t.”
Despite all the efforts of social services and police, no one seems to know a woman who calls herself Seven. She says she is 71 and that she’s gone by that name since 1976. She’s been in state care since 2003 and has dementia. Even her smiling picture on the front page of a Chicago paper is not likely to help.
Sometimes an identity is discovered. A man they named Carlos has been a ward of the state since 1998, longer than any of the other John Does in Illinois. According to the Tribune, “He doesn’t speak and likely had a stroke that caused brain damage. He uses a wheelchair and wears a medical helmet to prevent injuries. His only reaction to people is a wide smile and a giddy giggle.”
On November 29, 2011, the staff at the facility where Carlos lives discovered his identity and that it was his 53rd birthday. According to the story, “That day, caretaker Azucena Herrera went to Carlos and uttered the name Crispin Mareno. The usually giggly man fell silent after hearing his real name for the first time in at least 13 years. Then tears ran down his cheek.”
Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois; source: Becky Schlikerman, "Living a Life Unknown," Chicago Tribune (2-21-12)
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound . . . I once was lost but now am found, t’was blind but now I see.
DISCUSSION
The tern take-away refers to what a person can take with them to make a difference in their life after they partake in an event. What are the take-aways you see from our missions convention and the emphasis on missions? The personal impact?
What are the take-aways as we look to the next year and our involvement in working for Jesus? (This is both personal and corporate involvement.)
William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once took a group of volunteers through an extensive evangelism training course lasting many weeks. When it was done he said to them, “I’m sorry our training took so long. If I could take you to hell for five minutes, none of what I’ve taught you would be necessary.”
PRAYER
10/19/14 YEAR OF EQUIPPING TO SERVE
Christianity - LIVE IT!! Alive - Not Dull!!
Unity in the Holy Spirit
Pit Crew Works as a Team
In 1950, Indy car pit crews consisted of four men—including the driver! No one was allowed to get near the car except this small crew of specialists. A routine pit stop to replace two tires and fill the tank back then took more than 60 seconds. Today, a crew consists of 11 members—excluding the driver. Six are permitted direct contact with the car. Five serve as behind-the-wall assistants. A full service pit stop that replaces all four tires, adjusts the wings, and tops off the tank now takes less than eight seconds! Formula 1 pit crews are even bigger—sometimes involving over 20 people who all have their role to play. When everyone understands his role, and when everyone on the pit crew does his job with purpose and passion, the team can complete the same job in under three seconds.
When the work of the church is carried out by a small handful of people progress is slow and sometimes awkward. But when every member knows and fills his or her role, the difference can be amazing to behold. This is what we have been talking about this year, equipping to serve. We are aiming to increase the size of the pit crew.
Gregory Hollifield, Collierville, Tennessee; source: YouTube, “Formula 1 Pit Stops 1950 & Today” (Posted 4-12-14)
Let me share another story. Not sure that this is true, but you will get the point.
Older Rabbi Teaches Young Rabbi about Conflict
A young rabbi found a serious problem in his new congregation. During the Friday service, half the congregation stood for the prayers and half remained seated, and each side shouted at the other, insisting that theirs was the true tradition. Nothing the rabbi said or did helped solve the impasse. Finally, in desperation, the young rabbi sought out the synagogue’s 99-year-old founder.
He met the old rabbi in the nursing home and poured out his troubles. “So tell me,” he pleaded, “was it the tradition for the congregation to stand during the prayers?”
“No,” answered the old rabbi.
“Ah,” responded the younger man, “then it was the tradition to sit during the prayers.”
“No,” answered the old rabbi.
“Well,” the young rabbi responded, “what we have is complete chaos! Half the people stand and shout and the other half sit and scream.”
“Ah,” said the old rabbi, “that was the tradition.”
As retold by P. J. Alindogan, The Potter’s Jar blog, "Communicate and Relate" (9-4-11)
Wow!! Wouldn’t that be exciting to go to worship God each week and have a split where everyone is shouting at the other people about how wrong they are. Sounds like a great place to be. NOT!!! God has called us to work together, to unity in His body. God has called us to build HIS kingdom.
God has given us an amazing life to live as we serve Him. God makes us alive. God gives us a life that is the best. And, part of that life is the unity that we have in Jesus and the power of His Spirit. As we live in unity, we have the best existence possible. God delivers us from complete chaos.
Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We will be most effective in our Christian service as we work hard to maintain spiritual unity. This passage says there is one Lord, who is Jesus. Since HE is Lord, and not any of us, we must work to keep HIM the Lord and that will help us keep spiritual unity.
The unity in the Holy Spirit will never be created by any human effort. Genuine spiritual unity comes through accepting the truth of the Bile and making Jesus the Lord of our lives. Believers are given direction to maintain spiritual unity: 1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
This unity doesn’t mean that we always have intellectual agreement on every issue. We can have opinions. God calls us to have unity of love and purpose. We love God and our purpose is to build HIS kingdom. We keep unity through loyalty to the truth and living in obedience to the leading of the Spirit. We keep unity in learning how to agree and disagree. We learn to deal with issues and allow others to have an opinion. This does not mean we compromise on doctrine. We cannot accomplish this in our own efforts.
Galatians 3:3 NIV
3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
Ministry to one another helps keep the necessary unity of the body of Christ. We stay united as we keep our focus on the Lord’s work.
Galatians 6:10 NIV
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
There is one Lord and Savior. His name is Jesus. This declaration is foundational to being a Christian. We don’t need any other power or savior to be forgiven of sin.
Ephesians 4:11-14 NIV
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
We started out today with the story of the pit crews in racing. The more they have developed, the faster they have become. We heard: A full service pit stop that replaces all four tires, adjusts the wings, and tops off the tank now takes less than eight seconds! It takes longer than that for you to put your car in park and turn off the key and open the door when you go to get gas. That is a picture of working together. They work together because they have a common goal, get the car back on the track. Our common goal is to do God’s work.
One of the primary purposes why Jesus gives gifted leaders to the church is to prepare the believers for the Lord’s work. For a long time churches have missed the point: ministers were never given to do all the work of ministry, but many believers felt the pastor was there to be involved in everything. But, they were given to the church to equip believers to do ministry themselves, both inside and outside of the church. What we must do is equip and release people to ministry. We all must find some way to be active for the Lord.
As we are active and all on the same team, we will have unity in the body. The more we study the Bible and get active in God’s work, the more we will mature spiritually. The more we mature the more we will avoid doctrinal junk. This means we need to be faithful to participate in Bible study and fellowship. We must do all we can to become closer to each other spiritually. We must examine our priorities.
Involvement makes anything alive and exciting. So, the Christian life is not dull when you are involved. This year as we have been talking about equipping, we have been challenging us to think of how we are to be involved in God’s work.
Some questions, topics we have talked about.
Are you seeking God to hear from Him how you are to be involved in His work?
What kind of interests do you have?
Why do we all need to be involved? Why do we need a larger pit crew? How must we see the world around us? We need involvement because the world is lost in sin. Sin that will lead them to eternal punishment.
John 14:6 NIV
6 Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Listen, and make this your prayer.
LOOKING THROUGH HIS EYES
Let me see this world, dear Lord,
as though I were looking through your eyes.
A world of men who don’t want you,
Lord, but a world for which You died.
Let me kneel with you in the garden.
Blur my eyes with tears of agony.
For if once, I could see this world the way You see,
I just know I’d serve you more faithfully.
Let me see this world, dear Lord,
through Your eyes when men mock your Holy Name.
When they beat You and spat upon You, Lord,
Let me love them as You loved them just the same.
Let me stand high above my petty problems,
And grieve for men, hell-bound eternally:
For if once I could see this world the way You see
I just know I’d serve you more faithfully.
PRAYER
10/12/14 YEAR OF EQUIPPING TO SERVE
Trusting God - Two Faithful Spies
Let’s let our thinking take us back to the year 1600. That is 20 years before the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth. Let’s talk about things that they would say are impossible. What kind of things do you think they would say could never be done?
How many common, everyday things do we have today that did not exist back in 1600? So many things and experiences we take as routine seemed impossible back then. (The Pilgrims took 65 days to reach Cape Cod. Today you can do that trip in about six hours.)
There are so many things that seem impossible, yet God wants us to know that with him all things are possible. This is especially true in the spiritual battle that we continually face. I am sure that many Christians in our country are feeling very discouraged at the things that are happening these days. I want to take us to an exciting story in the Bible that shows that nothing is impossible with God. It shows us that God expects us to fully trust him and not let doubt and situations that seem impossible prevent us from stepping out in faith and seeing God do amazing things.
After the endless time of suffering as slaves, God miraculously brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt. He was leading them to the promised land. They reached the point where they should take it over. God told Moses to send some men to check it out.
Numbers 13 NIV
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” 3 So at the LORD’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath.
23 When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.
25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”
32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.
33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Numbers 14 NIV
1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”
13 Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16 ‘The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.’ 17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
20 The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. ‘21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, ‘22 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-- 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. ‘24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”
26 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: 29 In this desert your bodies will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But you--your bodies will fall in this desert. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. 34 For forty years--one year for each of the forty days you explored the land--you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die.”
36 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it-- 37 these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.39 When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly.
40 Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. “We have sinned,” they said. “We will go up to the place the LORD promised.”
41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! 42 Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, 43 for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”
44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD's covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
Joshua 14:6-12 NIV
6 Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’
10 “Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
Ten spies brought a bad report. It is too hard. The enemy is too strong. They let FEAR take over. Their unbelief showed that they had rejected God’s faithfulness to take them to where they were. Their hearts were not in tune with God. These ten spies didn’t trust God and His amazing promises about the future.
They lacked faith that God would help them win the victory. This was the opposite of the hope and confidence that Joshua and Caleb had in God. These two men saw the same enemy, but they came back excited at what they believed God would do for them.
Joshua and Caleb did something most people are afraid to do. They opposed the majority opinion. We live in an age where people live and die by the latest opinion poll. Somehow they think that if the majority of people think something is true, then it must be true. Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful spies, based their account on a solid commitment to God and confidence in His promises to their nation. They refused to consent to the decision of Israel, no matter what the cost.
What can we learn?
Don’t assume that a majority opinion is always right.
Build your foundation on the Bible, not popular opinion.
Be willing to go against the majority when they are rejecting God’s Word.
What we see here is unbelief and rebellion. They had very short memories of God’s faithfulness. They lost their ability to trust God in every situation. Faith includes actions. What does God say? What does God want from us? Faith hears and applies what God says.
So, what is the application of all of this for us today?
Responses.???
Some thoughts -- feel free to respond:
As the Scriptures say, there is nothing new under the sun. We still face impossible situations.
We must still trust God when everything around us says this is impossible. The enemy is good at intimidation.
God calls us all to be faithful to him. We must not get caught up in the pressure to be successful according to secular standards.
God is never perplexed or stymied by what we think is impossible.
Because Joshua and Caleb trusted God and were faithful to him, they saw God’s help and intervention in their lives in supernatural ways.
What are the “impossible” things we need to trust God for?
PRAYERS
9/21/14 YEAR OF EQUIPPING TO SERVE
Christianity - LIVE IT!! Alive - Not Dull!!
What do believers in Jesus have that no other group has?
Theologian Michael Horton on the Gospel
The gospel is not good instructions, not a good idea, and not good advice. The gospel is an announcement of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.
Michael Horton, Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California. Michael Horton, “Christ at the Center,” Christianity Today magazine (November 2009), p. 48
Let me share from a recent writing by Lee Strobel from:
Investigating Faith with Lee Strobel, September 17, 2014
Q. There are so many religions out there. How can we be sure that Christianity is the right one?
A. No doubt about it – people believe all kinds of religious ideas, and most people are sincere in their beliefs. We should treat them with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15 NKJV 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;), and do all we can to protect their rights – as well as our own – to practice religion freely.
I also know that people can be sincere, but sincerely wrong. In fact, it’s impossible that all religions could be right, since they contradict each other on so many fundamental points. For example, look at what these religions teach about God:
• Buddhism historically denies that God exists (atheism).
• Hinduism teaches that everything is part of an all-pervasive, impersonal god (pantheism).
• Christianity teaches that there is one God who is personal and who created everything (theism).
As one person put it to me, if all these religions are true, then God must be schizophrenic – because he doesn’t even know who he is, but tells one group one thing about himself while telling others something completely different.
Well, God is not schizophrenic – so we’re forced to choose between belief systems. How should we do this? Should we base our decision on our traditions, or on what some authority figure tells us to believe, or perhaps on what we feel in our hearts? Those are dangerous ways to decide.
My contention, and the approach I’ve used throughout my writings, is that we should choose our beliefs based on where logic and the evidence point (while asking God for guidance). And it’s with that approach that I’ve concluded Christianity – over any other worldview – squares with the facts of science philosophy, and history.
My own experience has borne this out. Psalm 34:8 invites us, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Well, as one who has been tasting and seeing for more than three decades – and experiencing those blessings – I can testify that the psalmist was right: the Lord is real, and he is good.
“I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” – Isaiah 48:17
Q. Isn’t it elitist to say that people must be followers of Jesus in order to get into heaven?
A. It can certainly sound that way – and unfortunately some Christians project an air of arrogance and exclusivity in how they live out their faith and then communicate it to others. But authentic Christianity is anything but arrogant or exclusive. Let me illustrate.
Imagine two country clubs. The first has a strict set of rules and only allows people in who have earned their membership. They have to accomplish something, obtain superior wisdom, or fulfill a long list of demands and requirements in order to qualify for acceptance. And despite their best efforts, lots of people just won’t make the grade and will therefore be excluded. In effect, this is what other religious systems are like.
The second country club throws its doors wide open and says, “Anybody who wants membership is invited inside. Rich or poor, black or white, regardless of your ethnic heritage or where you live, we would love to include you. Entry will be based not on your qualifications or efforts but only on accepting this invitation. Jesus already paid for your membership. So we’ll leave the matter up to you. You decide. But we will never turn you away if you sincerely and humbly seek admittance.” That’s what Christianity is like.
Which country club is being snobbish? Christians aren’t being exclusive; they’re being inclusive. They’re not being haughty; they’re being hospitable. They’re not pretending to be better or more accomplished than anyone else. Instead, they admit their own weakness and invite others who feel weak or needy to join them in order to find the help that they’ve found through Christ.
Preacher D. T. Niles summed up genuine Christianity well when he explained that we are simply “one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”
Says Revelation 22:17: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”
Lee Strobel
The enemy hates Jesus and does all it can to prevent the message from getting out. The forces of evil are liars and deceivers. We must keep our focus on what the Bible really says and let that make the difference in our lives.
Our question of the day as we continue to look at the ALIVE life Jesus gives us. What do believers in Jesus have that no other group has?
The book of Philippians is a good example of what believers have. The theme of the book is JOY. It was written by Paul when he was in PRISON for his proclaiming the message of Jesus. The message of this letter is thanks for their generous gift. He also assures the church of the triumph of God’s purpose in his imprisonment. He encouraged the Philippian church to press on to grow close to Jesus.
Philippians 1:21 NKJV
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
The Living Bible says: For to me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying – well, that’s better yet!
What is real living all about? Fame and money? Easy life? Pleasure? After many harrowing and exciting experiences, Paul came to the conclusion that Jesus makes life worth living. Doing whatever he could for Jesus make every day beneficial. Then, when it is all done we get the best retirement plan anyone could imagine.
This letter contains a very clear picture of who Jesus is and what He did for every person in the world.
Philippians 2:5-11 NKJV
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus’ mind was one of total selflessness, service and sacrifice. He put the needs of others first. How did Jesus do this?
Jesus left unparalleled glory in heaven and limited Himself to the humble place of a servant. His sacrifice gave the human race the only chance for freedom from eternal death. Jesus paid for the gift of eternal life for all who accept his forgiveness and make Him their Lord and Savior.
Who did this for us? The Eternal Creator did this for us, His highest creation. Jesus literally emptied Himself by laying aside the privilege of being God. He left the glory of heaven. He took on the problems of being a human. It ended up with His death on the cross.
Because of this Jesus is fully worthy of all the worship. Every knee, even those who claim He doesn’t exist, will some day worship Him.
Paul established his priorities in life. Having had many experiences he came to the conclusion that the most important pursuit in life is Jesus. He was describing his pedigree that was one to be envied. Then he said:
Philippians 3:7-8 NKJV
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
Having lived for many years, Paul learned what was important. Nothing on this earth was eternal. He had lost most earthly things and was living in confinement. What mattered most was that he knew Jesus. The rest of the things of the world were just trash.
What is a more satisfying way to live? Rejoicing or complaining? As he was coming close to the end of his letter, Paul gave a powerful word of encouragement.
Philippians 4:4-7 NKJV
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The theme of this letter is JOY. Christianity reflects the inner peace and delight of having God. Joy is deep in our hearts, founded on God’s immeasurable love for us. He gives us peace and hope. Joy is a part of the salvation Jesus gives us. It grows in our lives as we grow in Jesus.
How much genuine joy do you see in the lives of those who have not made Jesus their Lord? It is something that is generally lacking.
Yes, we are in a battle. And, yes, the deception continues. We know that the solution to life is found in the power of Jesus in our lives. Don’t quit talking about Jesus even though there are many voices telling you to shut up.
Movie Receives PG Rating for Christian Themes
Facing the Giants is an evangelistic movie made by Alex and Stephen Kendrick that tells the story of a football coach’s spiritual life. The movie has no drugs, no sex, and no profanity. Consequently, the filmmakers believed it would receive a G rating if ever reviewed by the Motion Picture Association of America.
However, after the movie was picked up by a distributor called Provident Films and scheduled for limited release in the fall of 2006, the MPAA rated Facing the Giants PG, meaning that children need “parental guidance” to see it. The reason for the MPAA’s decision? Too much Christianity.
The movie is filled with miracles, prayer, and even a presentation of the gospel. When asked about the decision, Kris Fuhr, vice president of marketing at Provident Films, said the panel “decided that the movie was heavily laden with messages from one religion, and that this might offend people from other religions. It’s important that they used the word proselytizing when they talked about giving this movie a PG.”
Christianity may become the next sex and violence. The day may come when a movie will get an R for religion.
Gene Edward Veith, “R for Religion,” World (6-24-06), p. 11
There are the attacks against Christianity. Here is an illustration of the power of the Christian life, making it the envy of an atheist.
Atheist Admires Christian Service After Hurricane Katrina
“It ought to be possible to live a Christian life without being a Christian,” laments Roy Hattersley, a columnist for the U.K. Guardian. An outspoken atheist, Hattersley came to this conclusion after watching the Salvation Army lead several other faith-based organizations in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina.
“Notable by their absence,” he says, were “teams from rationalist societies, free thinkers’ clubs, and atheists’ associations—the sort of people who scoff at religion’s intellectual absurdity.” According to Hattersley, it is an unavoidable conclusion that Christians “are the people most likely to take the risks and make the sacrifices involved in helping others.”
Hattersley also notes that this pattern of behavior goes beyond disaster relief:
Civilized people do not believe that drug addiction and male prostitution offend against divine ordinance. But those who do are the men and women most willing to change the fetid bandages, replace the sodden sleeping bags, and—probably most difficult of all—argue, without a trace of impatience, that the time has come for some serious medical treatment.
“The only possible conclusion,” says Hattersley, “is that faith comes with a packet of moral imperatives that, while they do not condition the attitude of all believers, influence enough of them to make [Christians] morally superior to atheists like me.”
Roy Hattersley, “Faith Does Breed Charity,” Guardian.co.uk(9-12-05)
I read things like this an am reminded of the reality of what it means to be a true follower of Jesus. What we have in Jesus is amazing. And, this is all about HIM. It is not us but what He makes us. JESUS is the One that makes the difference. HE is what, WHO we have that no one else has.
DISCUSSION
What are the main points of this message?
How do we apply them in daily life?
PRAYER
Lord, help us live and display the difference it makes when we really live for YOU.
9/14/14 YEAR OF EQUIPPING TO SERVE
LIVE IT!! Alive - Not Dull!!
What is the Church?
Believers in Jesus live in a power world. God does things that can’t be explained any way other than the supernatural intervention that goes far beyond anything we can grasp. Can you say MIRACLES??? Listen to this true story.
It was Christmas in 1968. Missionary Ron Hittenberger looked through the Christmas cards he and his wife, Carolyn, had received. One caught his eye. “What happened to you last February? One day I was returning from work and the Lord impressed me to pray for you. I felt that you were in mortal danger.”
Ron turned the card. It came from a man in Arizona. The Hittenbergers had been to his church for a service. Ron had not met the man nor corresponded with him. But he certainly remembered what had happened the preceding February!
Along with Pastor Theagene, Ron had gone to minister in a remote region of southwest Haiti. They had started very early and traveled on horseback for hours to reach a mountain village in time for a service. When the arrived, the mud and thatch church was full of people, many of whom had walked for hours to attend.
After the service, a pastor from another village asked Ron to travel two hours farther into the mountains for a service at his church. Because of the town’s remote location, this pastor seldom received visits. They knew they could not disappoint him by refusing his request.
When they reached the church, they found it filled with people. Many of them had walked over some of Haiti’s roughest terrain to be in the service. They ministered there and God gave a gracious outpouring of His Spirit.
It was very late in the afternoon when the two men started for Belle Rivere, the town where they planned to stay for the night. Soon the sun faded into pitch-black darkness. They cautiosly picked their way along a rock-strewn trail at the edge of a ravine some 500 feet below.
Without warning, Ron’s horse suddenly took off running. Ron desperately tried to rein him in, but it was impossible. He could only cling to the saddle and cry out “Jesus, Jesus!!”.
For nearly two hours the horse ran full speed through the darkness down the dangerous trail. Pastor Theagene hurried to keep up but was unable to do anything to help. Finally the men reached Belle Rivere and the horses stopped. They were exhausted and trembling, but safe. This, they knew, was a miracle.
The extent of the miracle was not clear until Ron read the message on the Christmas card. Impressed by the Holy Spirit that Ron was in danger, a man far away in Arizona had fallen on his knees and prayed for nearly two hours – the very same time that Ron’s horse had been racing madly through the night.
We can find countless stories like this that show:
□ the concern of God for His people
□ the power of prayer
□ the importance of listening to God’s voice
□ living with and for Jesus is living in the miraculous, the supernatural
As we continue to talk about our life in Jesus, that we must LIVE IT, that we are alive and not dull, we want to look at the living fellowship that is what we call the church.
In a discussion with His disciples, Jesus was asking them who people said He was. And, a followup question, who do YOU say that I am. This is making the question personal. Peter’s response - Matthew 16:16 NIV
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said in verse 18 . . . and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus said He would build his church on Himself and the bold confession of His disciples. They declared that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus used a play on words. For Peter He used a term meaning a small stone. Describing Himself He used a term meaning a massive rock. He said He would build His church on this solid foundation.
Jesus is the Rock, the steady and solid foundation of the church. 1 Corinthians 3:11 NIV says 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
The foundation of the church is only Jesus. No human could ever hold that position. Jesus is the foundation and He is the head of the church.
We need this solid foundation for the church because there is a strong and wicked battle to destroy it. Jesus gives us a great word of encouragement here. The gates of Hell will not prevail against it, will not overcome it. The powers of death, Satan and all his evil forces that oppose Jesus and His kingdom will not overcome the church.
A very important picture for us to get here. This leads to a question: are gates an offensive or defensive weapon?
They are defensive. They keep an enemy out but are never used for an attack. The church is not in a defensive position, as if we are simply surviving under the attack of the enemy. These verses describe the church being on the offense, actively coming against the strong spiritual walls of Satan’s kingdom. The gates of areas under evil control will not hold back or stand up against the church as it reaches out to people to rescue them for Jesus.
Yes, the battle is strong. But something even more important, God is stronger. This is why we must be:
seeking God
focusing on living in and using God’s power against the enemy
This is why we cannot become spiritually lazy.
We must demonstrate God’s power over the forces of evil. We must recognize the evil powers and expect to overcome them with God’s power.
What is the church? Believers are the “called-out ones”. One of the early terms used was followers of Jesus were people of “The Way”. So, Christians are called out of the world and are walking in the way that Jesus taught. Separate!! Different!! The church is not an organization, it is people. People who have made Jesus their Lord and Savior.
1 Corinthians 1:2 NIV
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours:
We are in the process of being made holy. We are being separated from the world and separated unto Jesus. He is working in us. We are saved and God continues the process of spiritual growth in our lives.
II Corinthians 6:16-17 NLT
16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
What agreement is there with evil? None!! God calls for His people to separate themselves from active participation in sin. The church is called out of the world to proclaim Jesus as Lord and defeat the forces of evil. This is who we are.
We are to live in God’s power. Living in God’s power is not dull and boring, but awesome. It is not just a once in a while thing, but a continual growing life with Jesus. It is not just for some other place, it is for HERE.
God’s power and Word equip the saints to live the life God wants us to live. Let me share a story about one of my father’s good friends, Calvin Olson. He has passed away now. He spoke here many years ago.
In 1971, missionaries Calvin and Marian Olson were living in Dhaka, East Pakistan, holding nightly prayer meetings for a group of Christians. Tension between East and West Pakistan was strained, and war seemed inevitable.
One evening in March, some believers reported having a vision of East Pakistan going up in flames. A prophetic message warned that a time of intense turmoil was coming, followed by a time of unprecedented opportunity for the church.
A few days later, Calvin and Marian were awakened by the sounds of police dragging wooden roadblocks into place. Soon a deluge of automatic gunfire announced the beginning of war. In minutes the city of Dhaka was ablaze.
As the battle raged, soldiers indiscriminately killed everything in sight. Calvin and Marian often wept with the people who came to them. The death, suffering and mourning were overwhelming. Yet they were determined to stay.
When the Indian army joined East Pakistan forces, the war quickly drew to a close. East Pakistan became an independent nation, later to be named Bangladesh. Change became the order of the day as the government shifted from martial law to a secular state. About this time God set a plan in motion to provide land for a church in Dhaka.
The caretaker of an empty lot next to the Olsons’ home was seriously ill with bleeding ulcers. Doctors gave him no hope of recovery. He had heard Christians praying regularly during services at the Olsons’ home. Desperate, he sent word to Calvin, asking him to come.
Calvin was reluctant. What if I pray and the man is not healed? He wondered. Surely this would serve only to discredit the work. But if the man was healed, the result would make a major impact on the area.
Cautiously, Calvin and another Christian man went to pray. The dying man lay on a board bed, his family gathered around him Suddenly, the power of God came upon Calvin. Taking the dying man by the hand, he said, “In the name of Jesus, get up!”
Immediately the man stood. A few minutes later he was eating spicy curry, a dish that would have killed him only a few minutes earlier. When the man returned to work the next day, his boss asked, “What happened to you?”
The man told him of the Christians’ prayers and how the power of Jesus had healed him. The boss insisted on meeting Calvin and hearing more about the gospel. The Olsons then learned that the man Calvin prayed for was the personal driver for the president of Bangladesh!
Eventually, the Olsons asked the president for first option to buy land next to their home should he choose to sell it. Their request was granted.
Through a series of miracles, all permits were approved and supplies purchased to complete the building. Today Dhaka AG stands as the largest Pentecostal church in the nation.
Living in and expecting the miraculous supernatural power of God. This is the church. Let’s talk about this.
QUESTIONS
A question often asked is this: why do we hear the stories of miracles in other places and yet seldom hear of them around here?
What will it take for the church in this area to be a powerful force for the Lord?
What will it cost? (Don’t just think money) The question of cost will help us answer the first question about why do we hear the stories from other places of God’s power.
How will western Wisconsin be impacted when the power and presence of Jesus is actively and consistently felt?
PRAYER
Please respond with the answer to the question of how we should pray right now.
