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Dory's Reflection

5/24/2017

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Picture

Stories are told in many different ways. I can find stories on cave walls, 4k televisions, radio broadcasts, gigantic film screens, podcasts, novels, blogs,and the list goes on. There is no limit to the amount of stories we are willing to consume. Usually, this is because we want to be entertained. Oftentimes we view these stories through a
lens of entertainment. We want to shut off the world for a little while, or a long-while if you’re binging 12 seasons of your favorite show on Netflix, and just drift into the world of this wonderful story. Beyond entertainment, we have a deep connection to story from extremely early on. When you ask a child to get a book to read before bed, they are going to bring about 15 books to you. When one ends they are going to ask for another. Why do we LOVE story so much? Why is it that a 5 year old brings back 15 books when they were asked to get one? Why are we willing to spend hours binging on TV shows and movie marathons?

Periodically, for the last 3 years, Katie and I  have hosted movie nights with the youth. We eat snacks and turn on a movie. However, we don’t just watch a movie. Our goal is to show the students that every story that has ever been told reflects the Gospel in some way. Some films will intentionally reflect the Gospel. Others will do so unintentionally, but without question all will. This is what ultimately draws the human heart to stories. They reflect the deepest longing that we have; which is to be reunited with the God who created us. This doesn’t mean that christians should just watch anything and everything. Everyone should use discernment and wisdom in determining what content you will expose yourself to. What it does mean is that we can change the lens that we view stories through. No longer are they just tools for entertainment, but now they are tools for talking about the Gospel and in the process worshiping the God who put that great story in motion.

We are in the process of remodeling many areas of the church. The most visible of those areas is the children’s ministry. What you might not know, though, is that we also are hoping to remodel the youth room upstairs. Our goal is to essentially create a movie theater coffee house. Our goal is to use this space to do what I’ve mentioned above. Obviously, this is not without cost. On Sunday morning you will see several “left-over” CommUNITY Church t-shirts hanging in the main hallway. There will be a basket that you can place a donation in and take a shirt. There will also be a list of things that will be needed for the youth room. Please look at this list. If you have any of the things listed (even if they are old) and would like to donate them then please see me. I also want to use this blog to give you an example of the types of conversations that we might have ( and have had) when hosting a movie night using the great animated film, Finding Dory.

We first met Dory back in the early 2000s when a young curious, overly-confident fish named Nemo swam into theaters and enjoyed a 7-year reign as the king of Pixar box office smashes. It was knocked off it's throne in 2010 with the release of Toy Story 3.  However, thanks to Dory's memory lapses, Nemo can say that he once again has a role in the top-earning Pixar movie of all time. Finding Dory now sits atop the list, earning nearly $500 million in North America alone. Aside from having the most lol-worthy sequence in Pixar history, this movie resonates on a very real level with the viewer. Dory, who has short-term memory issues, begins to remember details about being separated from her mom and dad. These memories motivate Dory to set out in an attempt to locate them so that she can be reunited with her parents. Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo, tells the story of a forgetful fish that retraces her life journey to find the family that she has long since lost but will always remember. Reuniting with family is a story that's been told in many different ways over the years, but still can have a deep connection with viewers when done well. Look no further than the countless viral videos that show soldiers coming home from active-duty. It's no secret that we long for reunification, even when its not possible. We could easily go into how that desire reveals a need deep within us that ultimately points us to Christ, but I would rather focus on a different aspect of this film.

The 3 R's
After Dory has been searching for quite awhile she finds herself drawn to a voice. She swims to the surface to hear the voice of Sigourney Weaver speaking over an intercom system of an aquarium. Dory gets scooped up and taken into the aquarium where fish are RESCUED, REHABILITATED, and RELEASED. This becomes a major focus of the film from the time it is introduced. Actually, it plays a huge part in that "most lol-worthy sequence." that I mentioned before.  This is a place that takes in broken fish that are unable to live to their potential, then helps them get better, then releases them to the life  they were always intended to live.  If we look closely, these 3 R's reflect the story of the Gospel with the 3 S's.
​

SAVE
The Gospel tells us that we are broken people who are unable to live up to our full potential because of SIN. At one time, however brief, we had a perfect relationship with our creator, but due to our disobedience that relationship has been broken. Sin takes many forms but is basically man looking to himself for fulfillment. This encompasses not just our thoughts but our actions too. Because of this disease, sin, we are on a path of eternal separation from our loving creator. We needed to be RESCUED. So God set in motion a plan the would result in man being reunited with him. The first step was to SAVE them through sending his Son (Jesus) to live and die on our behalf.
"For the wages of sin is death." - Romans 6:23.  
​

4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  Ephesians 2:4-5
SANCTIFY
After being saved (Rescued) comes being sanctified (Rehabilitated). As I mentioned before, we have a sickness, sin, that keeps us from living the life we were always intended. After recognizing that Jesus is the rescuer that lived and died on our behalf, and choosing to follow and submit to him, we begin to be sanctified.  There are many people that believe the work is done once we've been rescued. Something that Finding Dory obviously disagrees with. At the point of rescue our status is set. God always sees us complete in Christ, but rescue is only the beginning of a grand work of God that will progressively mold us into the image of Jesus. We become progressively more like him.  Just like in Dory we are not responsible for own process of growth. Dory and the other sea creatures must trust their rescuers with the task of making the rehabilitation a reality.  In the same way we must trust our rescuer with the task of sanctification. We must trust that he will complete the work that he also started in us.
"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you
​will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6
SPLENDOR
When the time is right the fish and other sea creatures are released to the life that they were always meant to live. They live free from whatever was holding them back. There will come a day when we experience something very similar.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
We will live completely separate from the very thing that holds us back from the life that we were meant for. Death shall be no more. If death is no more then sin shall be no more.
God himself RESCUES, REHABILITATES, and RELEASES.
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Intentional and Gospel-Centered Disciple Making

4/27/2017

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Have you ever said or done something that was intended to be helpful and maybe even seemed helpful at first, but after a little bit of time passed you realized that it was actually less helpful and maybe even more detrimental to whatever your goal was? There is a quote that you have probably heard, at least if you are a christian, that fits that description. It goes like this…
“Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.”
The intent in this saying is that christians should live in a way that reflects the Gospel that we claim to believe. That, in and of itself, is true. This saying is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, however, there is actually no record of him or his followers ever saying this. For more on that specific topic you can check out these articles.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/factchecker-misquoting-francis-of-assisi
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/preach-the-gospel-and-since-its-necessary-use-words/

Even if the intent behind using this statement is good, it has stopped people from actually preaching the Gospel more than it has encouraged them to do so. This, for many christians, has become an excuse for not verbally sharing the Gospel. Every person who has ever verbally shared the Gospel with another person was nervous and, at least initially, uncomfortable with doing so. Sayings like this one, give us the ability to avoid the discomfort by telling ourselves “words aren’t necessary right now. Instead, I’ll just live it out in front of them.”  Here is the problem: my actions are not the gospel. At best, my actions are a reflection of the Gospel. Helping the poor is a good thing, but I am not preaching the Gospel when I help the poor. Being nice to people is a good thing, but I am not preaching the Gospel by being nice. Am I living out the implications of the Gospel? Definitely. Am I preaching the Gospel? Definitely not. We are going  to get a little further into this idea, then I will share a list of ways you can make disciples. There are two things that all components of disciple making must be

  1. All disciple making will be  INTENTIONAL.

There are likely times when another person notices that you live differently than most other people in the world. Your interests are a little different. The way you talk is a little different. They may notice that you seem to be happy or at least at peace most of the time. Much of the time, things like this can be unintentional. This may very well peak someone’s interest about “Why” you live the way that you do, which then presents an opportunity to share about Jesus. However rare this might be, it could happen just because you are living the way you live. I don’t want to discount this or say that God won’t use this, but this is not a big part of what Jesus meant when he gave The Great Commission. It’s important to note that he didn’t just say “live your lives and when somebody comes to you asking questions, then share the Gospel with them.” If we look at the Great Commision (Matthew 28:18-20) there are a few keywords that show this. These keywords are Go, make, baptize, teach. Each of these words indicate some type of intentional effort on our part. He didn’t say hold back and live. He didn’t say sit back and watch. He says GO. Make the effort to leave what you would normally do, your comfortable way of life. GO MAKE disciples. Take an active role. Don’t just sit back and watch. BAPTIZE and TEACH. Disciple Making is always intentional.

  1. All disciple making will be GOSPEL-CENTERED .

In a previous session we talked about how evangelism is a necessary component of discipleship. The only way to evangelize is to share the Gospel. We can’t evangelize passively. It only happens when we use words to share the Good News of Jesus. We typically say the word “Gospel’ means “good news’. That’s not wrong but the phrase “good news” has kind of lost some of it’s meaning. Many evangelists will use the phrase “Have you heard the Good News?”. It’s probably more associated with an image of a sleazy televangelist than it is the true Gospel. It doesn’t carry the weight that it once did. But if you look at the historical context and literal meaning of the word ‘Gospel’ then it regains some of it’s weight.  
“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…”
-Mark 1:1
Gospel =εὐαγγελίζω= euaggelion=  News that brings great Joy
Source: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2098&t=ESV

When most people, christians and nonchristians, hear the word Gospel, they automatically assume spiritual implications. We most often think of non-tangible or invisible things. When we think in this way we actually lose most of the meaning. The word “Gospel” actually was not a spiritual term to those in the 1st and 2nd century. This is where context matters. There are 2 events in history that serve as great examples.

  1. The Battle of Marathon: This battle took place in 490 B.C. when Persia invaded Greece. In this battle Greece was the underdog. However, they pulled out the victory. Once the victory was won, they sent “evangelists” from place to place to announce the news of their victory. These evangelists were sent out to announce or proclaim the news of victory and this news would bring great joy to the hearers.

  1. Caesar Augustus
This one is even more eye-opening because what Mark says in Mark 1:1 is actually almost word for word what was written on an inscription regarding Caesar Augustus. The inscription reads “The beginning of the Gospel of Caesar Augustus.” For the Romans, this was indicating the life altering news that Caesar Augustus was on the throne ruling (Mark was writing to a Roman audience).

In both of these cases the word Gospel means “News of a tangible, visible, life-altering event that will bring joy. So when we say Gospel-centered, we are saying that everything hinges on the life altering event of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection. This is news of a tangible event in history that brings great joy (Timothy Keller goes much deeper into this idea in his book Jesus the King.)

In order for discipleship to be Gospel-centered this news must be announced or proclaimed with words. Our actions can and should reflect this news, but it is only preached when proclaimed. The very meaning and context of the word “Gospel” shows us this. Making disciples is always intentional and it’s always Gospel-centered.

To close all of this out, I would like to give you a list of potential ways of engaging in discipleship. This list will transition from a formal approach to a more informal approach with each example. However, informal does not mean unintentional.

1. Formal Bible Study
This is most often associated with what a pastor would do, but we shouldn’t expect that only pastors are leading formal study of the Bible. E4 which meets Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights (see Pastor Darrel for more info) fits right into this category. Sermons and other times of teaching fit in this category.

2. Biblical Counseling
Again, this is most often associated with what pastors do, but this is not limited to pastors. Biblical counseling is all about using the Bible to help someone overcome a specific struggle or set of struggles in their life. Some examples could be addictions, anger problems, or even marriage struggles. There is a clear distinction between who is counseling (counselor) and who is receiving counsel (counselee).  The goal is to help the counselee redirect their hearts to Jesus in a specific area of their life. We have several individuals in our church that have gone through at least one track of a Biblical Counseling training. We would love to be a church full of counselors. So, if you have any interest at all in this area then see one of the pastors.

3. Mentoring
This could be viewed as similar to Biblical Counseling in many ways, but it is much less formal. This is simply choosing a specific person or group of people and investing time in showing them how to grow in their relationship with Jesus. Typically, you would meet or talk weekly about what’s going on in your lives and the goal would be to challenge and encourage whoever you are mentoring to grow in their faith. There are several examples of this in scripture. One example can be found in Paul and Timothy. Paul challenged and encouraged Timothy so that Timothy would grow into a man of faith that would then invest in others.

“...and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2

4. Invite In
There are many people who believe they don’t have the time to engage in discipleship. They don’t have the time to lead a Bible study, counsel, or mentor someone. Making disciples becomes something to do later in life when we aren’t so busy. If that describes you then this is for you. This method of discipleship doesn’t require you to add a single thing to your schedule. Identify the things that you already do to honor, serve and grow close to the Lord and invite someone to take part in it with you. This isn’t at all formal but it must be intentional. Your goal is still to help someone else grow closer to Jesus. So, do you have a strong marriage with Jesus at the center? Who could you invite to your house to see how you engage with and serve your spouse. How could you communicate the importance of Jesus in your marriage? Do you like to read? Can you invite someone to read and discuss a Gospel-centered book with you? Do you attend church? Is there someone you could invite and then take to lunch to talk about what they experienced? There are literally countless options. The only two things necessary are a love of Jesus and a willingness to be intentional with others.

If you are interested in digging further check into these resources
http://gcdiscipleship.com/2013/05/17/what-do-we-mean-when-we-say-the-gospel/

https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-King-Understanding-Life-Death/dp/1594486662/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493246592&sr=8-1&keywords=jesus+the+king

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Informal-Mentoring-Intentional-Disciple/dp/0997886102/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493246621&sr=1-2&keywords=With

https://www.amazon.com/What-Gospel-9Marks-Greg-Gilbert/dp/1433515008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493246692&sr=1-1&keywords=what+is+the+gospel

https://www.amazon.com/Christ-Centered-Biblical-Counseling-Changing-Changeless/dp/0736951458/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493247741&sr=1-1&keywords=Christ+Centered+biblical+counseling

https://www.amazon.com/Discipling-Others-Building-Healthy-Churches/dp/1433551225/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493247860&sr=1-1&keywords=Discipling
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How to Make Disciples

4/25/2017

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“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
​Go, therefore, and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.”

Matthew 28:18-20
  1. What is a disciple?
  2. How to make Disciples Part 1
  3. How to make Disciples Part 2
  4. Practical Disciple Making in everyday life

Review
Evangelism  is a necessary component of making disciples.


Teaching  is also a necessary component of making disciples


            Teach  to  obey.

Based on last week we already know that the first step here is evangelism and conversion. Jesus isn’t commanding his disciples to teach people who have yet to be converted to obey everything he has commanded. Well, in one sense he is(you could consider evangelism to be teaching to believe), but the expectation is that conversion will come before obedience. Jesus first says to baptize, which implies conversion, THEN he says teach to obey. This is something that is really easy to get backwards, particularly in America. The moral/behavioral aspects of Christianity often take center stage in American christianity. These are the do’s and don’ts. This is not where Jesus intended the focus of interaction with non-believers to be. There are countless hot-button issues that Christians often confront non-christians about, expecting that this person, who doesn’t believe in a God, let alone Jesus, should live according to what the bible teaches. This is a ridiculous expectation. Why should anybody want to live according to the Bible if their heart hasn’t first been captured by Jesus? In these instances our goal is changed behavior not changed hearts. If we continue with this approach then the best case scenario is that we are left with a bunch of “behavioral christians” that are going to spend eternity apart from Jesus. We must always remember that a changed heart precedes changed behavior and because of this our primary focus must be on the changed heart. So first comes conversion/baptism then comes teaching to obey.
This teaching to “obey all that Jesus commanded” can seem like a tall task at first. Jesus taught quite a bit about how to live and how to honor him. So we need a starting point. In order to get there we need to ask a simple question.
What has Jesus commanded?
The starting point...
“Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
​---Mark 12:28-31
Jesus commanded that we LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS



This a great starting point for figuring out what to teach people. If we are to teach others to obey all that Jesus commanded, then we need to know what Jesus commanded. The most basic summary of all that Jesus has commanded is found in that verse. Love God. Love others. In order to get deeper into specifics we need to ask 2 more questions.

2 questions we need to ask.

  1. How do we love GOD?
  2. How do we love OTHERS?

Jesus commands that we love God and Love others. The reason ‘Love GOD’ is followed by ‘Love Others’ is because the result of “Loving God’ is loving others. If we Love God the way that Jesus describes then our love for others will grow and become more and more prominent. We need to always remember that these are not two separate, stand-alone commandments but rather they are essentially one commandment or at least inseparable.  So, since Loving God will produce the Love of others, then in one sense that answers question #2. How do I love others? By loving God. Which then brings us back again to question #1 How do we Love God.

To LOVE is to KNOW and to KNOW is to LOVE

What this means is that the only outcome of truly knowing God is loving God. And the deeper we know him, the deeper we love him. The deeper we love him the more we desire to know him. There is a direct relationship between knowing God and Loving God.

John 17:3
1 John 4:6-7

Just like there is a relationship between knowing God and loving God there is also a relationship between loving God and being known by God

Galatians 4:9
1 Corinthians 8:3

And a relationship between loving God and being Loved by God…
1 John 4:19

So what does all this come down to? If there is such a strong relationship between knowing and loving God then I must ask yet another question. How do I know God? That question brings us right back to where we ended the last time. The answer to that question is the Gospel. This again takes us right back to Jesus. Evangelism is all about Jesus. Teaching to obey is all about Jesus. It’s all about Jesus! So, how do we know God? We know God by trusting in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection which made a way for people to know God, be known by God, love God, and obey God.

Just like baptism must be preceded by conversion, obedience must be preceded by love.

John 14:15   “ If you love me, you will keep my commandments”

This love will always be centered on the Gospel. Thus, when teaching others to obey, we need to always direct them to the Gospel in every situation.
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Disciple Making

4/18/2017

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(Excerpt from week 2 of Pastor Nik’s Discipleship class.
The next and final  week of the class will be the Sunday after Easter (4/23) at 9:00am.)
Evangelism vs Discipleship

There is an ongoing conflict among churches and pastors that puts evangelism in one corner and discipleship in the other. Typically when people think of evangelism they think of conversations or events that may result in non believers turning into believers. This is true. Typically when people think of discipleship they think of helping people grow and mature in their faith. This is only partially true. There are churches, often known as “seeker” churches, that cater everything they do toward attracting non believers or “seekers”. I attended a mega-church in Ohio for a few months (I only lived there for 4 months) that would be classified as a “seeker” church. Everything they do; decorations, welcome crew, coffee/drink bar, music (including recognizable secular songs), production, sermon length/depth, etc; was catered toward nonbelievers. Their goal was to provide a place that non christians would feel welcome with the hope that those that came would meet Jesus while they were there. There are other churches, that don’t really have a name, that focus everything they do on what is typically known as discipleship. They sing the old fashioned hymns because of the deep truth that’s contained in them. They have sermons that go deeper into the word (maybe even the original hebrew and greek!). The goal of these churches is to provide a place that believers can grow and deepen their already existing faith in Jesus. What is the focus of each of these churches? On the surface it seems that these churches are focused on two different missions. You may have even identified which of those two churches you would prefer to attend as you read. The first one is focused on evangelism, whereas the second is focused on discipleship. RIght? Well, kind of.

In actuality, both of these churches are focused on the same thing. They are both focused on making disciples or discipleship, or at least one aspect of discipleship.
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son,
​and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.”

Matthew 28:18-20
As an act of making disciples, we are instructed to BAPTIZE people.

The command to “baptize” implies the act of EVANGELISM followed by CONVERSION.

This passage is known as The Great Commission. When Jesus tells his disciples to “make disciples”, he is giving them a mission that will consume the rest of their lives. The overarching command to followers of Jesus is to “make disciples.” After giving the overarching mission, Jesus gives two components of that mission. In this post we will look at the first one.
“...baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit…”
The command to “baptize” implies the preceding act of evangelism that resulted in conversion. Baptism can’t happen without conversion. Conversion likely won’t happen without evangelism. Evangelism is the act of telling others about Jesus and what he has done for us (the Gospel).
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?
​And how are they to hear without someone preaching…”

Romans 10:13-14
The point here is that without someone taking the message of the gospel to those who don’t believe they will not be saved. If they are not saved they will not be baptized, thus we have failed the call to make disciples. The command to baptize indicates that evangelism is a necessary component of discipleship. They cannot be separated from one another.

A great example of this comes in Acts 8:26-40. This passage gives an account of a believer, Phillip, taking an opportunity to preach the gospel to an unbeliever.
Phillip is one of the believers who have been scattered throughout the region due to what Saul was doing to the church. However, being scattered did not mean being “shut up.” or “lying low”. Acts 8:1 says that “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” there’s very little emphasis here and is easily overlooked by the events that follow. The fact that is easily overlooked, though, almost adds to how mind blowing it is. Think of it this way. These believers were moving about, finding new places to live and settle and others were going from place to place, yet wherever they went, they went about preaching. Wherever they went the gospel went with them. Maybe this is just a passing statement because it really should go without saying that wherever a believer goes the gospel goes with them. Wherever I go as a believer the gospel, the message of salvation, should be  prominent on my mind and on my mouth. This is what is driving Phillip as he goes from place to place. He is allowing the Holy Spirit guide him and he is following in obedience to share this message with those he encounters. As he is going about he encounters an Ethiopian Eunuch that happens to be reading Isaiah, but has absolutely no understanding of what he is reading. Phillip takes the opportunity to tell the Ethiopian how this all connects to Jesus (The Gospel). We don’t know all of the details of the conversation, but we do know that Philip preached the Gospel to the Ethiopian and the Ethiopian responded positively. The culmination of this entire interaction comes when the Ethiopian is baptized. Philip preached the gospel. The Ethiopian believed and was baptized. Evangelism lead to conversion which lead to baptism.

Evangelism is a necessary component of discipleship. They are not two competing ideas. They are inseparable from one another. Here are a couple additional take aways for us as we try to follow Jesus’s command to “make disciples.”

  1. Like Phillip, be open to opportunities
  2. Like Phillip, be prepared with the Gospel.
  3. Take a few minutes to write down some names of people that you could share the gospel with. What has prevented you from doing so up to this point? Pray for opportunities and be ready when opportunity arrives.

If you feel like you need a better understanding of what the Gospel is; check out this (https://www.amazon.com/What-Gospel-9Marks-Greg-Gilbert/dp/1433515008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491998822&sr=8-1&keywords=what+is+the+gospel) book by Greg Gilbert called What is the Gospel?
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Becoming a Disciple

3/23/2017

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Each Sunday, at 9am, we offer a class called E4.
​Below is a section from the current series on being a disciple of Christ.
What is a DISCIPLE?

A disciple is a normal, everyday person
“They were ordinary people like you and me. They had jobs, families, hobbies, and social lives.
​As they went about their business on the day Jesus called them, none of them would have expected his life to change so quickly and completely”
-Francis Chan, Multiply p. 15
There is a perception, by many, that to be a disciple means that you must be a pastor or some other type of “professional” christian. In order to be a disciple you must go to seminary or a private christian school. This in fact is not the case. You do NOT have to be a “professional” christian, though you do have to profess Christ, but rather a disciple, on the outside, might not seem anything other than normal.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were all trade or blue-collar workers. They were rough, strong and probably had calloused hands that they used to make a living. Our church is full of those who make a living with their hands. The truth is these workers aren’t so normal anymore. The number of people willing to do these jobs is in decline. The perceived lack of intelligence and the general lack of recognition for people in these jobs are largely to blame (even though they can be some of the most secure, best paying jobs). In the world, often times, these blue collar workers are overlooked, but Jesus clearly did not overlook you. Jesus himself called out to a group of blue-collar workers saying; “Follow me”. In saying this Jesus is offering these men unlimited access to himself. They might not know it in the moment but Jesus is offering them not just a first class seat on the greatest journey ever, but also a vital and active job on the greatest building project the world has ever seen.   Mark 1:16-34 (See also: Matt 4:18-22; Luke 5:1-11)

Matthew was a white-collar worker.

Sleezy. Underhanded. Will do anything to get ahead. Lazy. Just in it for the money. Greedy. All of these words and phrases have been used to describe “white-collar” workers. For Matthew, it's likely all of these were true. Matthew was a tax collector. Tax collectors were especially maligned during the time that Jesus walked the Earth. It's no secret people hate paying money to the government. In addition to this, tax collectors were Jews working for the oppressive Roman empire. Sleezy? Check. Also, tax collectors were known for skimming some money off the top. Greedy? Check.
​

Yet, Jesus encounters Matthew in the midst of what he did on a daily basis and says, “follow me.” This is not an endorsement of unethical business practices but it is a call for a broken man to experience all of life walking with Jesus. (Matthew 9:9)

Jesus calls all of his disciples to go out into the world and make disciples. It's not just the trained, the educated, the religious, the eloquent, the strong, or the influential. It is all of his disciples. When we see the differences among the disciples that Jesus initially called to follow him; we see that literally anybody could become a disciple of Jesus. Peter was the blue-collar worker that used his hands to make a living, that about 3 years later lead thousands to faith in Jesus with one speech. Matthew was the greedy tax collector that went on to write an account of Jesus’s life and ministry that is the first book of the New Testament. They were normal men that Jesus called while they were doing what they normally do.

Each of us go into the world to do what we normally do. Are you a trade worker? Are you a business man? Stay at home mom? Whatever it is that you normally do, Jesus calls out to you right there. Jesus meets you exactly where you are in life. Will you then respond like Matthew and Peter? Will you dedicate yourself to introducing others to Jesus right where they are? Will you use your common normalcy to help others to grow in faith and trust in Jesus and take part, like the original disciples, in the greatest building project known to man? Jesus's church.
“Being a disciple of Christ, in other words, does not begin with something we do.
​It begins with something Christ
did.”
-
Mark Dever Discipling, p. 14
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The End of Youth Group (as we know it)

1/18/2017

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I have been the Youth Pastor of CommUNITY Church since March of 2014. Over the course of these almost 3 years we have had, for the most part, a typical youth group; especially when you consider the size of our church.  We have consistently gathered together on Sunday nights from 6-8 pm. We try to play some fun games followed by a Bible study that we hope in some way will increase each teenagers love for the Lord, which will then increase their love of the bible, which will then increase their commitment to it, which will then increase their ability to apply it.  There have been times that have felt like great successes and there have been times that have felt like we were failing these youth on every level.  We’ve had nights when 20-30 teens show up for a “bigger event”; like when we played Organized Mass Chaos, yet there have been nights when nobody shows up because in our society teens are busier than their parents.  In those times I’ve wondered if anything we are doing is working. Is this valuable? I ask myself; “Why are they choosing all of these other activities over coming to youth group?” The other leaders and I have even asked that question to the youth group. That very question reveals a serious problem with Youth Groups. Again, the question I’ve been asking has been “Why aren’t they coming?”. Why is that the go to question?  I will come back to that later.

The goal of our Youth Group from the very beginning has been to help these youth develop a deep faith that endures throughout their entire lives.  Too often, kids attend a church (and even youth group) only because they come from Christian families. They might identify themselves as Christians and they may even pray a “repeat-after-me prayer” asking Jesus into their hearts, but all too often they will turn from the church and their faith as soon as they leave home.  Some return. Many don’t.  Many people will claim that this is just a rite of passage.  This is just a normal part of growing into an independent adult. However, if we believe the Bible then we should actually take this very seriously.  Let me be clear that I’m not condemning those who question or doubt or even leave a church. We as a church want to be sure to affirm that having and asking questions is a good thing. That’s why we do Post-Script every Sunday after our service. We encourage and welcome questions and those who question.  However, here is why we should take this seriously. 1 John 2:19 says

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.”

If the trend is for teens in youth group to abandon faith in Christ once they leave youth group then what does that say about the effectiveness of youth group? Let’s imagine for a second that WetPaint had a huge lock-in and 60-70 teens show up.  Let’s say 20 prayed a prayer to receive Christ as their Lord and savior. Those same 20 start attending youth group every week and start inviting their friends to youth group and before we know it 60 kids are coming to a worship service for teens every week. We would all immediately rejoice and call that a huge success. In one sense maybe that’s right. There would be a large number of youth hearing the gospel and maybe even a large number of youth “getting saved”. The thought of that should excite any believer. The problem is that this image is the standard for youth group. This image is the goal of any youth group. This image also becomes the idol of many youth pastors. That’s not even a knock on youth pastors. If we truly believe what John says above, then calling this a success is extremely premature.  It allows us to have the appearance of being an alive and vital ministry when the truth is that we are dead (Rev 3:1).  The trend shows that youth, even those who appear to have real faith, leave.  John says, “If they were of us, they would have continued with us.” Again, I ask what does this say about the effectiveness of youth groups if the trend is for youth to “go out from us.” 

Of course there are those that God saves through a Youth Group. Honestly, that’s a big part of my story and why I’ve wanted to be a Youth Pastor. However,  was I saved because of Youth Group or did a perfect, sovereign God use imperfect people in a broken system to reveal himself to me? In addition, my family (even extended family) played the most significant role in me coming to know Christ. My coming to know Christ in youth group was largely the culmination of the prayer, teaching and consistent faith of my family combined with the prayer and teaching of my church and youth pastor. I was blessed to be a part of a family that taught about Jesus at home, a church that taught about Jesus, a youth group that taught about Jesus and have several older Christians sacrifice time and energy to help me walk with Jesus, even some who did not get paid to do so. 

So, what is all of this leading to? Let’s go back to the question I default to to when the youth group doesn’t seem to be growing in numbers. The question I ask when they choose other activities over coming to youth group. “Why do you choose other things over youth group?” or "Why don’t you come and invite your friends?” When I ask those questions I am implying that each teen should prioritize youth group over other life activities, like sporting events, dance competitions, or performance. Sometimes that’s not just implied but said directly. The intention is that if they prioritize coming to youth group they will then be equipped to go and share Jesus with their peers that are also involved in those same events. On the surface, this sounds great, but if we really think about it, isn’t that a little redundant? That’s exactly what church is about. Believers gather together to worship Jesus through preaching and singing so that they are equipped to go out into the community to be his witnesses in the world. The youth group model is to recreate what the church already does by excluding everyone but teenagers. What ends up being created is a different church that is missing one of the greatest aspects of the church. Paul lays it out this way in the book of Titus.

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.” Titus 2:1-6

This boils down to older Christians teaching younger Christians how to live a life for the Lord. Older women teach younger women. Older men teach younger men. Here is the battle. Youth Group is not the same as Youth Ministry. We’ve traded away ministering to youth in favor of attempting to grow attendance in a youth group. Maybe this is why the vast majority of youth leave the faith.  The church needs youth ministry, but it does not need youth group. Youth need to be ministered to but they do not need to attend youth group. Unfortunately, we’ve made those one in the same. So instead of asking “Why aren’t you coming to youth group?”   Maybe the question I should have been asking is “How are you sharing Christ with your teammates, your family, your dance squad, your baseball coaches?” And “How can I help you live out your faith even when you choose not to come to youth group?" Maybe we shouldn’t have a youth group at all, but instead a church wide youth ministry that follows the Biblical pattern of the older teaching the younger.  Many Christians have bought the lie that adolescence is a holding place between being a child and being an adult. Therefore, even if we don’t notice, we’ve bought the lie that adolescents aren’t capable of doing anything other than just inviting friends to youth group to hear the gospel. We say men’s and women’s ministry is only for those 18 and up. Because somehow moving from 17 to 18 years old transforms someone from  boy to man or  girl to  woman. Are those arbitrary age numbers ever included in what the Bible says a man or woman should be? Not at all. Going back to Titus 2 again it says, Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled sound in faith, in love and in steadfastness. Older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Do not get hung up on the world “older” here. The reason that Paul is addressing the older men and women specifically is because they are to teach the younger men and women to fulfill those qualities even while they are young. Never does the Bible say that only older people are to live for the Lord. Never does it say that only older people are to set an example of faith to the world. As a matter of fact it says the exact opposite. Paul writes in a different place

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” --1 Timothy 4:12

Age is no excuse. If the Holy Spirit dwells within a teenage believer then that teenage believer has everything that is needed to set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. But are we as a church body helping them to realize that or are we holding them back?

Another picture of this can be found in Jesus’s mother, Mary, and his earthly father, Joseph. Both were likely under 18 years old when they were first entrusted with the task of parenting God in the flesh. The Bible calls Joseph a “just man” (Matthew 1) despite his young age. It says that Mary “found favor with God" (Luke 1). Even though they were young, God gave them a part in his plan to save the world. If God would himself do this, why would we think it should be any different for today’s teenagers? If God has called even teenagers to walk with him and contribute to his plan to save the world through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross then shouldn’t we all take part in encouraging, mentoring, and walking with them as we both walk with the Lord? 

In light of all that was mentioned above, the youth ministry at commUNITY Church is not ending. However, it is changing. Here are some of the key things the youth, families, and even everyone that attends commUNITY needs to know about how our approach is changing:

  1. The majority of our time will be spent in small groups and following the pattern indicated in Titus.
    • Males will meet with me Saturday evenings from 6-8pm, (Their idea not mine).
    • Females will meet with Katie Sloan (my wife ;)) Sunday afternoons from 4-6pm (Also, their idea)
  2. What happens to Sunday night gatherings?
    • We will meet as a large group together on alternating weeks.
    • Example: Sunday 1/22 we will not be meeting; Sunday 1/29 we will meet from 6-8pm, Sunday 2/5 no youth, Sunday 2/12 Yes youth.
  3. We want you to be involved
    • Prayer: We need our church to be committed to praying for each of the teens as they grow in the Lord or begin to inquire about him for the first time. We need to pray that God would give them such a great passion that any amount of popularity, acceptance, or reputation pales in comparison to the joy and satisfaction that they get from knowing and serving Jesus.
    • Serve: If you, regardless of age, want to be a part of what God will do through the life and faith of these teens then please contact me. Maybe you think you can help in some of the following areas
      • Games and fun: Can you plan games and/or fun activities that will get the blood flowing and help everyone to enjoy each other’s company?
      • Food: Do you have the ability to prepare meals for anywhere from 10-25 or more people. Do you have a passion for serving this way?
      • Mentoring: Do you want follow the pattern set in Titus and teach younger christians how to live in a way that honors the Lord?
      • Other?: Is God placing something on your heart that might be leading you into investing in teens at commUNITY?

The services areas mentioned above are by no means exhaustive, but are just meant to help you think about some ways that you might be able to jump in and be a part of a Church-Wide youth ministry. 

TO PARENTS: If you will provide me with your email address. I will send out weekly summaries of what we’ve studied from the Bible. This is not just to keep you informed, but to keep the conversation going so that you (if you aren’t already) can engage with you son or daughter about the Word of God. 

If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me. ​
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You Are Not Who You Voted For

11/10/2016

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Division. Outrage. Protest. Hate. Fear. Anger. Broken. Disjointed. Chaotic.  All these and more are words that describe the current climate in the United States of America. This election season more than any other has drawn a hard line in the sand between two polarizing sides. On one side we have the “uneducated”, “bigoted”, “racist”,”deplorable”, “bullies” that voted for Donald Trump (as described by those who voted for Hillary). On the other we have the “entitled”, “liberal fanatic”, “crazy”, “hand-out wanting”, “immoral”, “losers” that voted for Hillary Clinton (as described by Donald Trump supporters). Then there is a minority in the middle that voted for Gary Johnson, Evan McMullin, or Jill Stein, knowing that their candidate likely was not going to pull out the victory. I’m sure several insults have been hurled their way too. We’ve been divided right down the middle on political issues and obviously there is no room for the other side. The predominant feeling of the day is that if you voted for Trump you are simply an extension of the same negative qualities that may or may not be accurate descriptions of him. Likewise, if you voted for Hillary then you must be the embodiment of all of the negative qualities that may or may not be accurate descriptions of her.  If you voted for Trump then you are a racist, bigot, who hates women. If you voted for Clinton then you are a unethical criminal who believes you are above the law. You see the cause of this bleak outlook is not simply the disagreement between two sides of a political argument. It is because as a society and as a Church we have bought into the lie that “You are who you voted for…”
A little over a week ago we were provided with a much needed break from all the negativity surrounding the election in the form of the Chicago Cubs winning their first World Series
title in 108 years in maybe the greatest most dramatic baseball game to ever be played. In the aftermath, social media was flooded with mostly celebration. To my knowledge there were no Indians fans or players expressing hate or anger at the Chicago Cubs for winning the series nor were there any players calling foul because of the rain delay that obviously played a big role in the cubs victory. Without that rain delay, the Indians may very well be Worldseries champions. However, even more than the rain delay it’s what happened among Cubs players during the delay. The Cubs had lost all momentum. They were seemingly falling apart just as they had many times since 1908. Then Jason Heyward, Cubs Right Fielder, called the players together with an incredibly simple message. “Remember who you are.”  Given the identity crisis described above, I want to echo this same message to the Church and especially CommUNITY Church. Remember who you are! You are not who you voted for. So, who are you? Who are we?

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

Do you see who you are. This has nothing to do with politics. This has nothing to do with who you voted for. Because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished you are a “chosen race.” You are a “royal priesthood.” You are a “holy nation.” You are a people for his(Jesus) own possession.” This is all so that we may “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.” Do we see that we are a people united by one thing and one thing alone. Jesus Christ. It is him who has died for sinful people. It is him who defeated death by his resurrection and it is him who for his glory unites those who are otherwise divided.  At a time when things are potentially more divided than ever, the church in the United States has been granted an opportunity to display the unity that is described in the above passage. We have an opportunity, regardless of who we individually voted for in an election, to display the glory of God to the world THIS weekend.

To those who consider yourself part of CommUNITY Church,

Will you gather together with us as one body united in Christ to proclaim the excellencies of the one who has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.” Will you gather together, regardless of who you or anyone else voted for, and lift your hands and voices in praise to the one who has eternally united us. I am pleading with you, this Sunday at 10:15 let us do nothing more and nothing less than display the glory of God. It’s why we exist. This is who we are.

To other Christians,

Will you gather with a local body of believers and unite with them to bring praise and glory to Jesus who has loved you beyond anything you can ever imagine.

Let’s not miss this opportunity to be who we are. You are not who you voted for.
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The Light Switch

4/6/2016

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There is an incredible phenomenon that happens several times per day in the daily routine of close to every person in the world. We take it for granted and in most cases we look at it as nothing more than an insignificant split-second action.Yet without out it we would potentially be covered in bruises, clothing wouldn’t match, finding things would be nearly impossible, children might live in constant fear(at least a few hours a day), and there would be a significant spike in the number of broken toes. Life would be chaos. So, what is it that prevents this chaos?

Every time I walk into a dark room; I flip a switch and a light turns on. This mundane, insignificant task prevents so much chaos and disorder in my life. I sometimes have trouble matching clothing and have a tendency to run into things in a bright and shiny room. I don’t even want to think about what my clothing choices might be like if I couldn’t see anything. Maybe at one point this action of turning on a light was a more significant moment. What child hasn’t stood right next to a light switch toggling between off and on?  

Cast Away, the Tom Hanks film from 2000, gives a great example of an adult experiencing this child-like amazement with a light switch. Tom Hanks’s character had been stranded on an island for a very long time following an airplane crash. When he finally makes his return, it is a spectacular moment. It’s the story of a man who was stripped of all modern conveniences returning to a world dependent upon those modern conveniences. Once he returns he is naturally amazed even with the simplest things. There is one scene in which he is doing nothing more than sitting next to a light switch toggling between off and on. OFF, dark. ON, light. OFF, dark. ON, light. The film does a great job of reminding us of how we take modern convenience for granted. But more than that; is there something more to this fascination with light filling a dark room? 

The Bible says that

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep…And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3.
There was chaos. Nothingness. Emptiness. God brought order to chaos by turning ON light. Obviously, God doesn’t use a switch. He simply speaks and the light is no longer absent. Darkness is the absence of light. This why we use the language that we do to describe our light switches. OFF, dark. ON, light. If the light is on; it overtakes the darkness. Darkness does not overtake light. That sounds familiar…
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” --John 1:5
John is talking about Jesus. Jesus is the light that stepped into darkness and overcomes it. Even the most insignificant aspects of our lives reflect not only God’s created order but also God’s provision of redemption through Jesus. 

We, without Christ, are consumed by darkness. We are hopeless. We are full of chaos, emptiness, and nothingness. In an effort to provide our own solutions to these things we are constantly searching for somewhere to find satisfaction. And we are prone to look to anything and everything except to the one thing that actually provides it. The truth is even those with Christ experience this pull. We also live, at times, with the temptation to walk in darkness, pretending like we can navigate our own way through it. The hymn “Come Thou Fount” has the lyric “Prone to wander Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.” The result is chaos, feeling empty, joylessness and nothingness. More importantly the result is broken fellowship with God.  We compound the problem by hiding our sin, in hopes that it will go away without anyone ever knowing.  So what is the solution to this? Elsewhere in the Bible; John says,
“...God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” ---1 John 1:5-7
If we “walk in the light”, John says, “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” The blood of Jesus was spilled on a cross. His perfect life credited to me while my sin  was credited to him. His blood spilled on the cross has the power to cleanse me of all sin and as I walk with him he will provide the joy, satisfaction, and fullness that I’ve always longed for. And he will do this even while he exposes the mess that is my heart. As he exposes this mess, as I see more of my sin, more of my unrighteousness, I will also see more of his grace toward me. I will see more clearly the cost that was paid on the cross and my joy and satisfaction will increase even more. Here are a few things you can do to “walk in the light.”

  1. Read the Bible: The Word of God will convict your heart through the power of the Holy Spirit revealing the sin in your life. Light will be shined on your darkness
  2. Pray: Ask God to reveal sin to you. Ask God to help you turn from it and grow in Him.
  3. Share your sins with other believers: Secrecy is darkness. Other believers are a gift to you. 

Finally, maybe next time you walk into a dark room, you will flip on a light switch only to reveal a mess that couldn’t be seen in the dark. Remember the one who shines the light into the darkness has the power to clean up the mess. Just as you now can see your messy room and can begin to put things in order; God who shines the light into darkness has the power to clean the mess in you and put everything in order.
 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philipians 1:6
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A sacred arrangement

4/10/2015

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My first job was as a cashier at a local pharmacy owned by a man that went to the same church as my family.  I worked there right up until the time I left home for Ball State University. In total, I was employed there for almost two years. There were two pharmacists that worked somewhat of a rotating schedule. There was one pharmacist that I worked with more often, and the truth is that I enjoyed working with him more.  We would talk non-stop about the important things in life; you know…The Indiana Pacers and The Chicago Cubs. He would also impose his opinion that Larry Bird was the greatest basketball player of all-time because he had more points and rebounds than Magic Johnson and more rebounds and assists than Michael Jordan. We had endless sports trivia contests and every once in a while we talked about…MARRIAGE. Seem out of place? I thought so too. When I say we “talked” about marriage, what I actually mean is that this Pharmacist repeatedly made the following comment. “Nik,” he would say; “Don’t ever get married.” This, along with several jokes about how having a wife costs too much money, was common place for nearly two years.

What I learned about this man over time is that he had been married three times, each ending in a painful divorce. He regretted ever getting married, and each and every comment was an example of how this man in his late 60s had lost hope in marriage. “Nik,” he would say; “Don’t ever get married.”

It seems like there is a growing number of people who are beginning to express this same type of sentiment towards marriage. Marriage is at the center of many national debates. While these debates are raging there is a growing number of married and single people watching the debates play out. In addition they are seeing everything from adultery to people simply falling in and out of love and even domestic violence. Some are experiencing these things right now in their marriages, while others are watching it happen. Slowly, we are losing hope in the concept/institution of marriage.  If you feel this way, whether you are currently married, divorced, or single, I want to provide some insight that might allow you to realign your beliefs about marriage with the originally intended design.
Marriage is not intended to be a cure for loneliness:
We often make the mistake of believing that marriage comes from a desire to not be lonely, or is a result of our innate desire to be loved by another human being. The result is that we search for someone that can cure our loneliness and love us how we long to be loved. The problem is that no man or women can cure my loneliness and neither can any man or woman ever hope to love me the way that I long to be loved. We read in Genesis that God created the earth, the animals, and man. Man was placed in the garden to work and keep it ( Genesis 2:15).  Then in Genesis 2:18 God says... “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”  It’s important to note that it wasn’t Adam running to God and saying “ I’m so lonely, will you give me somebody to spend my time with? ” OR “ I need to be loved, can you give me somebody to love me.”  It was God who decided that man needed a helper not man. Adam was completely loved and not at all lonely. He already had a perfect relationship with his creator and it was God that gave Adam the blessing of a helper. Marriage was initiated by the will of God not by the loneliness of Adam. This does not mean that we should never experience loneliness. However, what it does mean is that if you are lonely, a spouse will never fix that problem. If you believe that your spouse is the cure for loneliness then you will grow to despise him/her when you realize they aren’t. It is only in a relationship with God that your loneliness can begin to be taken away. When Adam and Eve sinned all relationships were broken, including marriage.  Check out this video for more on this subject 
Our hope is not in marriage but marriage is a picture of our hope.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul says this about marriage; “The mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church.”(Ephesians 5:32). This comes after Paul commands wives to submit to and love their husbands and husbands to submit to and love their wives. In order for this to actually work it takes complete denial of self. This is why viewing marriage as way to fill a need within yourself makes absolutely no sense. In order to submit and love you must deny yourself. Jesus completely denied himself for the sake of his bride; the Church.  This is our hope. Jesus Christ leaving His comfort and stepping down into a broken fallen world inhabited by hopeless sinners so that He could restore them to their Creator. This is the Gospel and this is what Marriage represents. Marriage is a temporary condition with the purpose of giving us a glimpse of the eternal hope that is offered in Jesus. Whether you are married, have been married, want to be married, or don’t want to be married your hope rests completely in what Jesus has done. He alone has loved you the way you long to be loved.
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The (not) Walking Dead

2/5/2015

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“They thought they were bringing a paralyzed man, but they were really bringing a dead man.”
                                                                                                           - Ben Herring

 I had the opportunity to preach for the first time at commUNITY Church this past Sunday morning. If you were there you know that the message was from Mark 2:1-12. Jesus is in a home packed with people, preaching the word to them. Then while he was preaching, four men carried a paralytic with the purpose of bringing him to the one person (Jesus Christ) that could heal his condition. In the moment that everyone expected Jesus to heal this paralyzed man and tell him to get up and walk, Jesus looks at the man and says… “Son, your sins are forgiven…”
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We have a tendency to define people by whatever physical or mental ailment is visible in their life.  Think about all of the labels that we place on people that are just simply based on our view of what’s wrong with them. Labels like, depressed, blind, autistic, amputee, quadriplegic, mentally ill and paralyzed. The four men that come bringing this paralyzed man are coming with the expectation that Jesus will simply heal the physical ailment, but instead Jesus reveals a much deeper issue. He forgives the man of his sins. Every human being, at the core of who we are, is dead in sin. All of these other issues are simply symptoms of a world in which sin and death are the accepted choice over life. If there were no sin, there would be no sickness. If there were no sin, there would be no mental illness. If there were no sin, there would be no paralysis. If there were no sin, there would be no death.  Your response to this could be; but Nik, there is sickness. There is mental illness. There is paralysis. There is death. How do I live in a way that these things don’t define me? How do I not define others by them? That is the very reason that Jesus was sent to us to pay for our sin. Jesus has the authority to completely demolish the death that comes from sin, and anyone who looks to Jesus and receives the forgiveness that he has freely offered has been completely changed at their core. This means that even if I am never healed of cancer, autism, depression, or paralysis; I am no longer dead in my sins.  I am alive in Christ. I can turn my attention from my circumstances to the absolutely ground-breaking truth that in Christ  I have eternal life. In his grace he may very well choose to heal me, just as he did the paralyzed man, but even if he chooses not to; whatever ailment I experience has absolutely no hold on me. I can go on celebrating, worshiping, growing, serving and loving. As dead people who have been freely given life we have the privilege of inviting others to have this same identity change. We get to be ‘fishers of men’ as Jesus puts it.

If you would,  please read and reflect on Ephesians 2:4-10

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

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    Nik

    Elder / Student Pastor

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