I’m having a nice quiet vacation, so I thought I’d take a few minutes to jot down some thoughts arising from Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration (Lectureship).

One of the recurring themes of the various sessions I attended challenged churches to consider their mission.  The various speakers questioned whether churches do a good job of engaging their community/neighbours.  Maybe we’ve become better at serving ourselves than others.

One of the reasons for this introversion is our understanding of our mission.  Sometimes churches become more concerned about maintaining their perceived purity than connecting with those God places around them.  Another way of saying this is that “we lose sight of our mission.”

Over my church life I’ve most often heard the church’s mission described in terms of the Great Commission in Matt. 28:18-20, & Mark 16:15-16.  One of the presenters suggested that Lk 10:1-24 provides an alternative (better?) model for us.  While the Matt & Mark passages give more detail as to the message, the Luke passage provides some guidance regarding methods and mindset.

These passages all share the instruction for Jesus’ followers to GO.  I wonder if at times we don’t interpret this as “go to church each week” rather than “go and purposely engage the world with the Good News of Jesus.“  I don’t think this necessarily refers to doorknocking campaign.  I guess I’ll talk more about methodology later, but here’s an interesting article.  Although it primarily discusses church giving, it also describes one church’s efforts to serve its community.

For at least 10 Wednesdays this summer, the Morning Star Church is contributing free popcorn and sodas to people attending the concerts in Highland Park.  The 400-member church pays for the snacks, feeding up to 1,500.

Other passages that describe the evangelistic mission of the church include Acts 1:7-8.  Can you think of other passages of Scripture that describe the mission of the church.  I really think this will make an interesting list.  Please leave a comment with your suggestion.

One speaker that I really appreciated on this topic was Mark Love from the Resource Center for Missional Leadership at Rochester College.  If this topic interests you I think you’ll enjoy the website.

• Read Luke 15 here.
• If you missed Sunday’s sermon (28 June) you can listen to it here.

This week’s sermon was really summary of the previous 3 weeks’ lessons.  My main point was to demonstrate that all these steps are related.

1. Examine our lives for sin and repent when necessary.
2. Trust our uncertainty to God.
3. Develop Contentment.
4. Accept Stewardship.
5. Live Generously.

While I’ve spent each week talking about just one or two of these points, none of them are isolated points.  Developing contentment with what God’s already given us makes accepting the concept of stewardship easier.  And when we accept stewardship we’ll find it easier to live generously.

The other big event this Sunday was the commissioning of our new Financial Counseling Ministry Team.  These 5 members have been trained by Crown Financial Ministries to provide one-on-one counseling to people who are struggling financially.  This is a terrific ministry that teaches people to budget, control expenses, and get out of debt.  It’s ultimate goal is to help people get to a point where they can live generously.

I’m going to be attending the Lipscomb Celebration this week and then taking a week’s vacation, so I probably won’t post for the next couple of weeks.  Although there’s always the possibility I’ll be so fired up after the Celebration that I’ll have lots of ideas to share.  So come back soon and see what’s going on.

• Read Matthew 25:14-30 here.
• If you missed Sunday’s sermon (21 June) you can listen to it here.

As we continue this series on lessons God wants us to learn from economic recession we look at how our Christian faith gives us a different perspective on our situation.  The biggest change in perspective involves the term “stewardship”.  As the parable in Matthew 25 illustrates, God blesses us in a lot of ways, but he expects us to use these blessings for the benefit of his kingdom.

When we don’t have God in our lives our jobs, our retirement accounts, our investments, etc. exist to make our lives more comfortable or enjoyable.  When we don’t acknowledge God’s role in our lives we naturally regard anything we achieve as a result of our skills and efforts.  (Strangely, when our lives stink we seem to naturally blame anyone except ourselves!)

Accepting the concept of stewardship loosens our grip on our possessions.  We possess them, but we’re holding them for someone else, God.  So when economic hardship bites, we’re not so much concerned with what we lose, but how we’re using what we have.

Stewardship also helps us prepare for times of belt tightening.  When we consider that we’re spending God’s money not ours, we’re more likely to forego frivolous spending.  And the less we spend, the more we can save.  We then find ourselves in a better position to get through tight times with less stress.  We also find ourselves in a better position to demonstrate God’s love and mercy through our generous living.

Is stewardship a Godly principle you’ve applied in your life?  If so, what practical changes has it made?  Also, I don’t really like the term “steward” as I can’t think of another context where we use it.  Can you think of another word that conveys the same meaning that more people might understand without a lengthy explanation?

• Read Hebrews 13:1-7 here.
• If you missed Sunday’s sermon (14 June) you can listen to it here.

As we continue this series on “God’s Stimulus Plan” my attention was drawn to a verse from Hebrews.  I’ve heard this verse quoted a lot, but not always in its context.  God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” so we can say with confidence “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6

This verse might be quoted to child being bullied at school, or to a woman who’s just discovered her husband’s having an affair.  Someone might remind a youth group leaving on an overnight hike of this verse, or elders making a difficult decision for the church could find comfort in these words.

However in Hebrews these words follow the instruction that Christians are not to love money, but rather are to live lives of contentment.  Perhaps we underestimate the difficulty inherent in trying to live contentedly.  These wonderful words of reassurance from God are quoted by the author of Hebrews in encouraging us to develop an attitude of contentment.  I would paraphrase the verses this way,

“Be content. Steer clear of loving money.  Don’t worry or be afraid, you can do this.  God’s always with you. He’ll help you because his healing is greater than any hurt another person can give you.”

I am convinced that if more people around the world had an attitude of contentment we’d never experience an economic recession.  Of course, some manufacturers would go out of business because people wouldn’t be buying as much, but I believe we would have a healthier society overall.

Does it surprise you to find this reassurance used in this context?  Why do you think we have such difficulty living lives of contentment? Have you found that being a Christian makes contentment easier? Please leave a comment I’d love to see your thoughts.

• Read 2 Chronicles 20 here.
• If you missed Sunday’s sermon (7 June) you can listen to it here.

This week we started a new sermon series for the month of June that asks the question, “Does God have a Stimulus Plan?”  We might also phrase it, “How will God respond to our economic recession?”  Yet another way of asking the question is, “How does God want ME to respond to our economic recession?”

Unlike the Old Testament prophets, who were given specific messages by God, I’m very reluctant to connect national economic suffering with particular moral issues.  I don’t believe that there is necessarily a cause and effect relationship between suffering and sin.  BUT, in light of so many Scriptural examples (eg. Judges 6:1) where God sends national suffering as punishment, I believe that it is prudent for us each to examine our lives for sin.  A national recession could prompt a national repentence, not because it’s judgment, but because it encourages a self-examination of our lives and relationship with God.

In preparing this sermon I think I found a new favorite Bible passage.  2 Chronicles 20 contains a wonderful story of the faith of Jehoshaphat, a Godly king of Judah.  When confronted by “a vast army” he brings all the people together and prays a prayer of complete dependence on God.  Let me highlight a couple of verses,

If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.

Our God, will you not judge them?  For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:9, 12)

That’s a great example of faith, and a prayer I can relate to.  I can definitely think of times in my life when all I’ve been able to pray is “I don’t know what to do, except to trust you, God.”

But Jehoshaphat also put his words into action.  As his army marched out to confront the enemy “he appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.“  I struggle to imagine this scene.  Going to battle against a vast army, with no practical reason to think they’ll be coming home again, but singing praise and thanks to God for his everlasting love.  I can think of no greater example of faith.

Do you have a favorite example of faith that you’d like to share with us?  Do you find these examples encouraging in difficult times or do they just seem surreal and distant from your situation?  Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

• If you missed Sunday’s lessons by Alexander Tullis , you can listen to Part I here, and Part II here.  You can also listen to my comments here.
• Read more about our reasoning for HARMONY Sunday here.

I felt as though HARMONY Sunday went very well and was a successful launch to an annual event designed to help us examine who God has called us to be as a multicultural congregation.

I was recently reminded, through some of my reading, that “when a church commits to grow, it commits to change”.  My church is different because I’m a part of it.  So as other people join it, the church continues to change.  For some people this is a challenging thought.  If we believe that the church is supposed to fit a divine pattern then nothing should change it; the change seems human and wrong.  Yet a brief survey of Paul’s letters demonstrates that different churches contain different cultures.

The Corinthian church seems to have had a high proportion of non-Jew converts, so they had a lot of problems with morality and questions about how they should live within a pagan culture.  In contrast Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches addresses a lot of questions that Jewish Christians would have had regarding their relationship to the Mosaic law.

I imagine that if I walked into the Corinthian church meeting, it would have a very different atmosphere to that of the Galatian churches.  The predominantly Jewish church would probably conduct itself much like a synagogue meeting, (tending to be formal, men and women sitting separately, lots of Scripture reading), while the non-Jewish Christians would have very little to compare a church service to and would probably have less structure.  The issue in 1 Cor. 11 of the meal taking over Lord’s Supper may reflect the cultural customs of the young church as much as anything.

I never get the feeling that Paul wants every congregation to look exactly the same.  He just deals with each church where it’s at.  He calls each to live for God and bring glory to His name, but that’s not the same as requiring them to look identical.

Culture should never take the place of truth, but it will inevitably impact how we share and express God’s truth.  I would love to hear examples from people who’ve seen different cultures enrich a church.  Do you see any particular challenges for multicultural churches?  Have you seen any imaginative approaches to including people from different cultures within one church?

Coincidentally the Christian Chronicle landed on my desk the Saturday before HARMONY Sunday and it featured several articles on multicultural churches.  You can read these articles here and here and here.

Finally, if you have any thoughts about HARMONY Sunday 2009 or ideas for 2010 please share them.  New ideas and improvements are welcome.

Rather than list songs this week, I thought I’d put together a starter list of Scriptures relevant to a multicultural church. Feel free to add your suggestions.

• Acts 2:5-12 “Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.“
• Romans 12:3-5 “In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.“
• Romans 12:13-21 “Live in harmony with one another…Do not think you are superior.“
• 1 Corinthians 10:14:17 “We who are many, are one body.”
• 1 Corinthians 10:32 “Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God.“
• Ephesians 2:10-22 “In him you too are being built together…“
• 1 Peter 3:8 “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.“

I CONFESS, I’ve been slack for several weeks and haven’t posted.  I shall now attempt to redeem myself and catch up 3 weeks in one.  Stay tuned for several postings in the next few days.

• Read Matthew 6:19-34 here.
• If you missed Sunday’s sermon (24 May), you can listen to it here.

I was asked to present this lesson at the Camp Hunt Family Weekend on Saturday, so I shortened it to preach Sunday morning.

When I was in High School I took a course with the interesting name of “Christian Living”.  It simply involved reading and writing about various christian books.  One of those I had to read was How to Win Over Worry.  It’s basic premise throughout the book was that “Worry is a sin.”  I disagreed with this statement then, and I still do today.

Although in Matt 6:34 Jesus commands, “…do not worry about tomorrow…” we cannot use that statement in isolation to label worry a sin.  The key word in this verse is the first word, “Therefore” which points us back to earlier teaching in the passage.  Worry is only a symptom of a more serious issue.

The “therefore” points us back to v24 and asks the question, “Who are you serving?”  If you’re serving God there’s no need to worry.  If on the other hand you’re serving Money you better be worrying, because money won’t solve your problems and you’re not serving God!

If we tell people to obey Jesus and stop worrying we’re just treating the symptom.  The deeper question is who are you serving with your life.  If you’re serving God, you can trust Him to provide for you.

Perhaps a key point in this discussion involves our understanding of worry.  In my sermon I defined it as “not trusting God”.  How do you define worry?  Can worry actually be a positive factor in our lives at times?  Have you heard this idea that “worry is a sin”?  What do you think?

Songs & Scripture

I think we have quite a few songs that are relevant to this topic.  Please share some that come to mind for you.

• Living By Faith (SFP)
• I Know Who Holds Tomorrow (SFP)
• He Knows Just What I Need (SFP)
• Because He Lives
• He Holds the Key to All Unknown (Sankey’s Sacred Songs & Solos)
• Hide Me Away, O Lord (words and lyrics by Keith Lancaster, 1995)

• Read Hosea 11 here.
• If you missed Sunday’s sermon (17 May), you can listen to it here.

I believe that all of history is connected and serves a purpose for God. I linked to Hosea 11 at the top of the page because this chapter demonstrates how historical events impact God.  God is not just an impassive observer of life on Earth.  God’s dealings with Israel in the 700’s BC were influenced by the events of the Exodus 700 years earlier.  And the events of the Exodus were prophesied to Abraham (Gen 15:13-14) another 500 years earlier.  One thing leads to another, and God’s in control.

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke both contain lists of genealogies in their first few chapters.  These lists contain a lot of names we know nothing about, but they do have a point.  They remind us that God spent thousands of years preparing for the arrival of Jesus.  Jesus’ birth was not just an afterthought.  His earthly ancestors connect Jesus to every major event of history recorded in the Bible all the way back to Creation.

In a similar way we are connected to the great examples of faith described in Scripture.  We have a special blessing because we look back at these faithful followers of God through the lens of the cross.  In Hebrews 11:39-40, we read

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Their faith is rewarded when it is passed on to us.  Likewise, we have a responsibility to pass on the torch of faith to others. Our life has a purpose.

In his book Epic, John Eldredge presents history as a story written by God, with each of us having a role, a purpose.  It begins and ends in a perfect, peaceful garden, but in between it’s a classic battle of good and evil, of love and sacrifice.  Christians recognize that we have a role to play in this story.  We’re part of the struggle against evil, representing God in the world.  We believe that the final script has already been written and God wins!

In contrast many people reject the idea that God controls the span of history.  Eldredge quotes (p9) Neil Postman who gives a striking summary of the alternative worldview.

In the end, science does not provide the answers most of us require.  It’s story of our origins and our end is, to say the least, unsatisfactory.  To the question, “How did it all begin?”, science answers “Probably by an accident.”  To the question, “How will it all end?”, science answers, “Probably by an accident.”  And to many people, the accidental life is not worth living. (Science and the Story That We Need)

The Bible has many ways of reminding us that God has a purpose for our lives.  Do you have a favorite verse that reminds you of this? Please leave a comment and share your verse with us.

• Read Psalm 136 here, and Psalm 139 here.
• If you missed Sunday’s sermon (10 May), you can listen to it here.

Although the Bible contains lengthy sections of legal code, poetry, prophecy, and advice to churches overall, the Bible tells a consistent story of God’s relationship with humanity.  This is not to suggest that the Bible is a fairytale, but it does tell a story.

I believe that we often overlook the forest for the trees, THE story for the stories.  We often treat stories such as Joshua defeating Jericho, or David defeating Goliath, or Jesus walking on water as wonderful stories in their own right, which they are, but we forget the role they play in telling the bigger story, God’s story.  Why was Joshua fighting Jericho?  How was this event connected to Moses and Abraham?  Why was David fighting Goliath?  How was this event connected to Joshua?

If you were to consider the entire Bible as a storybook, I wonder how you would summarize the story?  Would you just start and end with Jesus?  Would you include Creation?  How about the Exodus, the life of David, or the destruction of Jerusalem?  Would you discuss any of Paul’s letters, or tackle Revelation?

This isn’t just a theoretical exercise.  How we understand the Bible story will be a factor in how we can share the Gospel and bring others to Christ.  If we don’t understand the big picture we’ll have a difficult time sharing it with others.

I’m seeking your input on this question, “What are the 10 key events that MUST be included in summarizing the Bible story?” or if that’s giving you a head ache, just let me know, “Do you think it’s difficult to summarize the Bible story?  Is it easier to remember the individual stories?”

Songs & Scripture:

Naturally, I’m looking for songs that tell the Story of God.  Maybe that’s too much for one song, but let me know if you can think of some more.

• I Love to Tell the Story
• Why Did My Savior Come to Earth?  (This song doesn’t mention the OT, but tells of Jesus’ birth, death & return.)
• Our God, He Is Alive
• I Believe in Jesus (Howard – SFP)
• My Redeemer Lives (Nicole C. Mullins on her 2000 self titled album connects Creation with the Resurrection)

I was attending my graduation out of town last weekend and didn’t preach, so I don’t have a regular post.  So I thought I’d use the week off to draw attention to a couple of features on the blog.

COMMENTS:

The effectiveness of this blog increases enormously when people leave a comment.  At the end of every blog post you’ll see a short statement of how many comments have been left.  Just click on that text to read the comments and/or leave your own.  If you agree or disagree with something I say, please leave a comment.  Comments are like votes and help other readers come to a decision about what’s said.  Questions are of special value.  If something’s not clear, or if something I said in my blog or sermon raised more questions, then ask them.  I almost always answer questions promptly or another visitor may have a good answer for your question.

MY BOOKS:

The section of the right-hand column labelled, “My Books” contains a link to my Amazon store.  This might interest you for a couple of reasons.  First, most of the books I list in the store are books I’ve read, so you can see the authors influencing me.  Second, if your looking to study a topic I’m preaching on you can buy one of books from this site and about 5% of the sale price will go to the Lawson Road Building Fund.

WHERE IN THE WORLD:

Right at the bottom of the right-hand column you’ll see a little world map.  If you click on the map it will take you to a bigger map showing the locations of people visiting this blog.  (I believe it uses visitors ISP addresses to create the map).  They come from all over the world including countries like: Ireland, Kenya, and even Saudi Arabia!  Since I find it interesting, maybe you will too.