August 29th, 2010

Prayer

Slide One:  "Why Am I A Christian?"

          This summer has been an interesting one for me. I have been in dialogue with some leaders in our Annual Conference about what it means to be an effective pastor and what it means to be an effective church. They are starting to form a written description to use on how to judge someone's ministry and they asked for dialogue when we were at Annual Conference. As we have been exchanging emails I am beginning to realize that maybe they didn't really want dialogue, they just wanted people to agree with them.

This summer has also been interesting in all the things we have been able to accomplish as a church body in reaching out and touching so many lives when people were in need. This doesn't even include preparing for and serving at Ragbrai and for the Gospel Jubilee.

          As I have been thinking about all these things it has caused me to stop and reflect on the ministries we are doing together and the work I am doing as a pastor. Monday night I spent about three hours in prayer asking just one question. "Why Am I A Christian?"

I was asking this question, as we start a new church year, wanting to know from the Lord if what I am doing as a pastor and what we are doing as a church family is really living out the kind of life Christ would want us to be living.

           "Why am I a Christian?" Some of the first answers that come to mind are the standard ones I hear a lot of Christians say.

Slide Two:  I want to get to heaven.

Slide Two A: I want to live a better life.

Slide Two B: I want to help others.

These are all great answers, but as I thought about them they seemed to miss the depth of what I was looking for.

"Why am I a Christian?" Maybe phrasing the question another way will help.

Slide Three: "Is the life, death and resurrection of Christ making a difference in my life?"  

I don't know about you, but I feel like my faith is being challenged all the time these days. In the world we live it right now it is becoming harder and harder to truly walk with the Lord and to live the kind of life Christ would want us to.

Slide Four: Could it be we have watered down what it means to live for Christ so much that we have lost the ability to understand the power of the Lord working within our lives?

Slide Five: Could it be we have become so tolerant of every view point that comes along we have forgotten the importance of sharing about the live saving and life changing grace we are offered by Christ?

Slide Six: Could it be we have become so use to the sin of the world that spills into our lives each and everyday that we don't even cringe anymore when we realize how much we have given into it?

          When I was asking, "Why am I a Christian," I was really asking,

Slide Seven: "Is Christ still making a difference in my life and in turn am I making a difference in other people's lives for Christ?"

          As I was asking this question in my prayer time one verse of scripture kept coming to my mind.

Slide Eight: Psalm 46:10 (New International Version), "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

          I went to sleep that night with this scripture passage on my mind. The next day several people came into my office seeking guidance and help for several different things. On Tuesday night as I was reflecting on all that had taken place throughout the day, I began to see how the Lord was showing me that as a Christian and as a part of this Body of Christ, we are making a difference in the world.

Slide Nine: In many ways I had to "be still," to see how God was using me and using the ministries we are doing to help so many people, in so many different ways.

          What God also helped me to see is that this message is not just for me, but for many of you. Are you at a point in your life where you are so busy you don't see how the Lord wants to work through you if you will let Him? Have you noticed that maybe your Christian walk has been placed so far down on your list of priorities that maybe you are asking, "Why am I even a Christian?"

          If you are at this point in your life listen to this verse of scripture once more from Psalm 46:10.

Slide Ten: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

          We serve a God who will be exalted among the nations. We serve a God who will be exalted in the earth. So why at times are we scared to live as fully for Him as we can? We serve a God who wants to touch us in such powerful life changing ways, but so often we get ourselves so busy with the things of the world we miss what we are being offered.

Slide Eleven: What really hit me as I have been praying throughout this week is in order to get closer to the Lord we need to slow down.

"Be still, and know that I am God." This is just the opposite of what the world tells us to do. But, when we take time to allow God to touch our lives many things begin to change.

 Listen to these words from Ephesians 5: 15 - 20. This comes from The New Living Translation. The heading in my Bibles says, "Living by the Spirit's Power."

Slide Twelve: "So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I am learning in my life I can know what he Lord wants me to do. When I say this I don't mean God will leave me a post it note on the mirror in the morning with a list of things to do and people to see. What I am learning is that if I will slow down and take time to enter into a relationship with the Lord, I will know how to live out the different moments in my life. What I am also finding out is that living for the Lord is not as hard as we often try to make it.

"Why am I a Christian?"  Here are a few reasons:

Through the power of the Holy Spirit and God's word guiding me I can make wiser choices.

Through having my eyes opened by the power of the Holy Spirit I can enjoy every moment of life more fully.

As I go through my days I can know in my heart of hearts what the Lord is calling me to do and as I follow through I can be touched with a peace that passes human understanding.

As I walk with the Lord I can be filled with great joy and have a song in my heart which praises God as I see Him at work in the world all around me.

Because of this I can live a life of thankfulness to the Lord for all He is doing in my life.

That is just from five small verses in the whole bible of what I have to gain if I live for the Lord. That is why I am a Christian and that is why I want to share my faith in the Lord with everyone I know. What about you?

In a few moments we are going to be sharing in Communion. In this sharing we are reminded of the love Christ has for us. We are reminded of all we are being offered if we will live in that love. We are also being reminded of how we can touch the lives of others sharing Christ's love with them and drawing them into God's family.

In so many ways we are starting a new year right now. Our schedules are being set for the next several months and we need to be asking, are we allowing time for the Lord in them? Actually I worded that wrong.

This is what we need to be asking,

Slide Thirteen: "Are we going to allow God to guide our lives to live as fully for Him as we can each and everyday?"

If we are not going to live as fully for Christ as we can each and everyday, then the question we need to be asking is the one we started with, "Why am I a Christian?"

Slide Fourteen: Because so many of you are living out your faith in so many ways, w e are truly touching and changing many lives, in this church,  in this community and around the world.

As we come to share in communion today let us praise the Lord for the ways He is allowing us to be a part of doing His will and let us praise the Lord for the many blessings we see in our lives everyday as we faithfully serve Him.

Slide Fifteen: "Why am I a Christian?"

Let us come before our Lord in prayer.

August 22nd, 2010

Slide ONE:  "Experiencing God Winks!"

          This past week I have been reading through a book called When God Winks at You. It is a great book of stories about coincidences, or as the author likes to call them, God Winks. As I read through the book it helped me to think about all the God Winks that have taken place in my life. Have you ever thought about the way God touches our lives at times and we may not even realize the full extent of that blessing until much later?

          When I first became a Christian I was excited about seeing the Lord at work in my life. In the first few years of growing in my Christian walk several things were taking place.  First off, I was hungry for God's word. Hardly a day would go by when I wouldn't read at least a few chapters of the Bible. In my first five years as a Christian I know I read through the entire Bible at least five times from cover to cover.

Slide TWO:  When we read God's word all the time it is easy to see how it is so alive and how applies directly to our lives.

At the same time I was in constant prayer. In those days when we were running our own business I worked twelve hour shifts, 6 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday. During most of the time I was driving around Omaha, I averaged 32,000 miles a year and never left the city limits.

During those days I would just talk to the Lord as if He was riding in the car with me.

Slide Three:  When we are in constant prayer, we know at times beyond the shadow of a doubt God is right there beside us. 

There was no doubt in my mind the Lord was watching over me and I was living so close to the Lord I could just feel His presence with me. As I read through the book When God Winks at You, I thought about all the times God's presence was so real in so many ways. The times I would just miss being in an accident. Or the times I would respond so calmly when a car would catch on fire. When you are starting 50 to 60 cars a day in the winter many would backfire out the carburetor. When they would backfire they often caught the linings under the hood on fire. If you remained calm you could just pat them out with your coat sleeve and gloves. It was actually a good thing when this happened because it burned off the excess gasoline and the car would usually start the next time.

Story about the TV newscaster riding with me.

          As we preparing to go to college and trying to decide which one to go to, I probably had one of the most amazing God winks of my life. One Sunday afternoon I was helping to shingle the roof of the Youth House our church owned. As I was working on the roof a young man walked by who was also thinking about going into the ministry.

As he walked by I yelled out and said, "Hi Brent." He looked up at me and said, "I am thinking about going to the University of Dubuque," then walked on in deep thought without saying another word. When I got home I told Doris about what he said and we decided to look into that school and it was the perfect fit for us.

          As we worked our way through college we had some very hard times which we have shared, but we also had a great number of God winks through those years. It was amazing to see how God gave me the strength and energy to work full time and go to school full time. I also used my spare time wisely to do a lot of things with the boys. They still talk about all the fun things we did together.

          Story about how God blessed us with Marcy, and the swimming lesson.

          As we worked our way into seminary God continued to watch over us and it was amazing. We were blessed with Liz and then we were blessed with a student church. A lot of students refer to seminary, as cemetery, because it is a place were if you are not on guard your faith and trust in God can go to die. As you learned to analyze scripture, the methods of counseling and the history of the church, it can sap the joy and spontaneity of the Holy Spirit right out of you. Just when I was starting to fade, God placed us in our student church and the people of that church helped refresh and renew the power of the Holy Spirit at work within me once more.

Slide FOUR: As I was reading through this book, it really hit home with me the powerful God Winks that touch so many of our lives and often we overlook them or just brush them off.

We can get so focused on things to do; we miss God touching our lives in so many powerful ways.

          In many ways it was so refreshing to be reminded of the little but powerful ways the Lord lets us know he is walking with us each day. As I was reading through this book I realized in a lot of ways I had not been letting the joy of serving the Lord touch me as deeply as I use to. In some ways after twenty years in ministry I have gotten into a rut and have taken so many of the God Winks in my life for granted. But, I know God is awakening that excitement of seeing him at work in my life once more.

Slide FIVE: The other story line the book brings out is how sometimes God will use us to be the God Winks in other peoples lives.

When this happens sometimes we will know right away, but other times we may never find out until maybe when we get to heaven.

          In prayer time on Tuesday morning we talked about the different ministries all of you are a part of through this church. We talked about how we are helping people at times when they may need a meal.

Or maybe when they come here at 4:00pm on Monday and don't leave until the last minute, maybe we are being a safe haven for some of them, if only for a few hours each week. So many of the people devastated by the flood would be in tears as they picked up food and cloths, just getting a little back from all they had lost and being so thankful for it. I believe in those moments we were being allowed to be God Winks in other peoples lives.

Slide SIX: As I was thinking about all the ministries God is allowing us to be a part of it really hit me how we are being used by the Lord to touch lives in times of some people's greatest hour of need. For me this is so humbling to see how the Lord will use us if we will allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

          Today I want to close by giving you a homework assignment. I know this is two weeks in a row we have tried something a little different, but I think this will be a blessing for those who will take part.

          This is one of those easy homework assignments where you get to do most of it in class. As we prepare for this assignment we need to first of all enter into a time of prayer.

Slide SEVEN: In prayer ask God to help you to recall a God Wink in your life.

It can be one where you received a God Wink or one where God used you to give the Wink for him.

As you recall that time begin to write it down:

Slide EIGHT:  What led to the God Wink?

Slide EIGHT B:  Was it a prayer you prayed?

Slide EIGHT C:  Was it a coming to a clearer understanding to something you had been struggling with?

Slide NINE: How did God speak to you?

Slide NINE B:  Was it through a sign of some kind?

Slide NINE C:  Did God wink at you through a person bringing a special word or touch at the right moment?

Slide TEN:  Is there a scripture that goes with the God Wink?

          Take a few moments and just let the thoughts flow and then try to describe them in words.

           Now here is what I sense God calling us to do with our God Winks. If you are willing, would you finish up your God Wink this week and bring it back to church with you next Sunday or email it to me at revroghen@yahoo.com. Will you allow us to place it in a devotional book that we will but together to use this Advent and Christmas Season?

          With all the bad things that seem to be talking place in our world today, I think this would be a great way to see how the Lord is moving in our midst. I know it will help us to be aware in new and refreshing ways to see how God is touching us and how the Lord is using us to touch others.

          Wouldn't it be great through Advent and Christmas to read how God is alive and working right here in our midst?

Slide ELEVEN:  Wouldn't it be great to see how God is blessing us when we have received a God Wink? Wouldn't it be great to see how the ministries of our church, which so many of you are helping with, are touching others with God Winks?

          I was so uplifted reading a book about God Winks in people's lives that I didn't even know. Imagine how uplifting it will be to read about the God Winks happening right here in our midst.

          I hope you will take the time to write down a God Wink in your life, to help us to see so clearly how the Lord is moving in our lives so strongly.

          Let us come before our Lord in prayer.

Slide TWELVE:  "Experiencing God Winks!"

 

 

August 15th, 2010

Prayer

Slide One:  "Lessons on How to Share Your Faith"

Today we are going to look at step twelve of Twelve Steps to Growing in Your Christian Walk. This step is very important not only in walking away from the sin in our lives, but in helping others to overcome the sin in there lives also.

Slide Two:  Listen to what this step is: "Having a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to all who are living in sin, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

First of all let me give you some of the definitions of what a spiritual awakening may look like as we work through this step. These definitions come for the Twelve Traditions book of Alcoholic Anonymous.

Slide Three:  "A person has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being." When we have worked our way through these steps we will become aware of a whole new way to live our lives. We will be given the gift of freedom to begin to walk away from the sin or sins that may have had a hold on our life for some time.

Slide Four:  Another definition is, "We have been set on a path that tells us we are really going somewhere."'

When we are lost in living in sin, we often loss focus on all of life going on around us.

That sin can control our lives so strongly that we forget the many blessings God has placed in our life. We forget the others things we could be doing to live the more abundant life we have been promised in Christ. As we walk away from that sin a whole new world continues to open up to us and we realize it has been there all along, we have just been blinded by the sin controlling us.

Slide Five: "We have been transformed because we have laid hold of a source of strength, which in one way or another we have denied ourselves."

As I have been working through these steps I have been seeing success in one area of my life and failure in another area of my life. I have laid hold of the source of strength in the area of finances and through the help of the Lord and through the help of people to support me in this area I am getting my finances in order. This is opening up so many blessings.

 In the area of living a healthier lifestyle I am still in a battle. I am not giving up though.  I have taken step one and admitted I am powerless over this area.  This is the area I want to focus on and work through these twelve steps once more. I want to invite you to join me, if this is an area of struggle for you. I want to work with others to find ways to make lifestyle changes that will take hold and help me for the rest of my life. If you are interested in this more information will be coming out soon or just let me know. I am learning this is the only way I will be able to overcome this sin in my life.

I really like this next definition of what a spiritual awakening includes.

Slide Six:  "We find ourselves in possession of a degree of honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, peace of mind, and love of which we thought ourselves quite incapable."

If you are willing to go through these twelve steps, if you are willing to be honest with yourself, with others and with God, you will experience all of the things listed here and so much more. Even in the area were I am having trouble getting started in living the healthier lifestyle the Lord is offering me, I am more aware of what is still holding me back and what I have to gain if I will allow the Lord and others to help me work through this.

I want to share one more statement of what a spiritual awakening can be. Slide Seven:  "We have received a gift, at least in some small part, as we have made ourselves ready to receive it."

These twelve steps can free us from the sin or sins in our life. They can give us the opportunity to walk away from the destructive things that may be destroying our lives and the lives of those around us, but we have to be willing to live them out. What I am finding is that the Lord is offering this opportunity to us at all times. Through being awakened spiritually we can see the sins in our lives and we can see the ways to walk away from them.

Slide Eight:          The question becomes, "Will we?"

As I have said a few times throughout this series if the Lord is calling you to walk away from a sin in your life and you want to form an accountably group to help you walk through these twelve steps with a focus on that one area, please let me know. If you are struggling in the area of knowing you need to live a healthier lifestyle and you want to join me as we go through these steps once more, please let me know and we will try to find a time for a support group that will work for those who want to have victory in this part of there lives.

Today as we come to the end of this series I want to help you to be able to learn how to share your faith. As I said at the beginning, one part of this step is reaching out to others lost in sin and helping them to know they can be freed from it. In order to do this we need to be able to approach people to let them know how the love, grace and mercy of the Lord is open to them. What I have learned through my years as pastor is the number one struggle of sharing your faith is how to get started in the conversation. So what I would like to do for a few moments is give you a way to begin to share your faith. Through this you may be able to touch another person's life and help them to grow closer to the Lord.

First of all, as we start; just relax. This will not be painful.

On your outline are a few steps to help you start a conversation.

Slide Nine: Write down one way God is touching your life right now, maybe through an answered prayer.

Maybe it is by helping you to walk away from a sin that had been controlling your life and now you have freedom in that area. Maybe a study or book you just read that has really opened your eyes up in your faith journey. Maybe a wonderful sermon series you have heard this summer. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now begin to pray about the person you believe God is calling you to share this with.

Slide Nine B: Write down the first name that comes to mind.

_________________________________________________________________

Slide Nine C: Now as we listen to a song, just spend some time in prayer, begin to envision the conversation with the person and how you would approach them and share with them. _____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now the fun part, pair up with one or two people right here.

Slide Ten:   Share your name.

Share your story of how God is touching your life.

Share the first name of the person you sense God calling you to reach out to.

Share how you envisioned starting this conversation.

 Now listen to this last step of our Twelve Steps to Growing in Your Christian Faith, once more,

Slide Eleven: "Having a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to all who are living in sin, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

If you want to grow in your faith, one of the key ways of doing this is through sharing it with others.

Slide Twelve: One of the only ways you will share it with others, is if your faith walk is alive and real.

We have just finished a twelve part series in which you have been given the opportunity to look at your life and to find ways to grow in your walk with Christ. It is my hope and prayer that you have been open to looking at this series and using it to help you to overcome a sin in your life that has had control over you for some time. It is my hope and prayer throughout this series that these twelve steps can give you a foundation to continue to grow in your Christian faith beyond your wildest imagination.

For it is when we are growing in our faith, when we are excited about how the Lord is moving in our life that we share our faith with others.

Slide Thirteenth:  This is when we will have an impact on the world for Christ and we will become the remnant God is calling out to.

I want to close by sharing one bible story with you.  This story comes from chapter four of the Gospel of John, chapter 4. In the story Jesus is talking to a woman at a well when the disciples are in town buying food. He tells her about her life and the fact that he knows she is living in sin. Just as Jesus knows when we are living in sin.

Jesus then tells her she can be forgiven of her sins and she can come to drink from the well of living water.  Listen to how Jesus describes to her this living water He is offering to her and to all of us.

Slide Fourteenth: "But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life." John 4:14.

What is amazing in the story is what isn't written, but what takes place. The disciples had just gone into and came out of the village to get some food where the woman lives. They were so focused on what they were doing they apparently never even shared with anyone in the village that the living Christ was just outside of town. Now this woman who is in many ways despised by the community because of her lifestyle goes back to that same village and begins to share with excitement about what Christ has taught her. She shares with such enthusiasm and passion many of the people from the village go out to see if what she is saying is true.

When they realize who He is they invite Christ to spend time in there village and many hear and believe the message of salvation.

There are many other things going on in this story of why the disciples did not share about Christ being with them, but the point is when the woman was touched by Christ, her excitement became contagious and she just couldn't help but share about it with everyone she ran into. This ended up making an impact on the whole village. Now if one woman who had been living in sin and is despised by the community can make such an impact for Christ in this world, imagine what we could do.

Fifteenth Slide: Think about what you are being offered through these Twelve Steps to Growing in your Faith Walk. A spiritual awakening that will not only impact your life for Christ, but could impact the lives of so many others.

This wonderful gift is right before you.

Sixteenth Slide: "Lessons on How to Share Your Faith"

Let us come before our Lord in prayer.

 

"Lessons on How to Share Your Faith"

Listen to what this step is: "Having a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to all who are living in sin, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

"A person has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being."

Another definition is, "We have been set on a path that tells us we are really going somewhere."'

            "We have been transformed because we have laid hold of a source of strength, which in one way or another we have denied ourselves."

I really like this next definition of what a spiritual awakening includes. "We find ourselves in possession of a degree of honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, peace of mind, and love of which we thought ourselves quite incapable."

 "We have received a gift, at least in some small part, as we have made ourselves ready to receive it."

The question becomes, "Will we?"

What I have learned through my years as pastor is the number one struggle of sharing your faith is how to get started in the conversation. So what I would like to do for a few moments is give you a way to begin to share your faith.

Write down one way God is touching your life right now. _________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Write down the first name that comes to mind. __________________________________

Now begin to envision the conversation with the person and how you would approach them and share with them. ________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Share your name.

Share your story of how God is touching your life.

Share the first name of the person you sense God calling you to reach out to.

Share how you envisioned starting this conversation.

Now listen to this last step of our Twelve Steps to Growing in Your Christian Faith, once more, "Having a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to all who are living in sin, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

One of the only ways you will share it with others, is if your faith walk is alive and real.

For it is when we are growing in our faith, when we are excited about how the Lord is moving in our life that we share our faith with others.

This is when we will have an impact on the world for Christ and we will become the remnant God is calling out to.

 "But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life." John 4:14.

This ended up making an impact on the whole village.

Think about what you are being offered through these Twelve Steps to Growing in your Faith Walk. A spiritual awakening that will not only impact your life for Christ, but could impact the lives of so many others.

 

 

 

Sunday July 18th, 2010

Prayer

Slide one: "Seeking Forgiveness and Gaining Peace."

Step eight in the twelve steps to growing in our Christian faith can be a challenging one.  Listen to this step as described in the twelve step program for Alcoholics Anonymous.

Slide Two: "Made a list of all persons we have harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all." When you first look at this step it may seem overwhelming, so I want to spend a few minutes bringing it back into perspective as we look at this step in line with all the others.

Remember as we go through these twelve steps to growing in our faith, we are trying to overcome the sins in our life so we can draw closer to living as the Lord would want us to live. We are doing this so we can become the remnant in these troubling times that God will use to help to draw others back to living in His love, grace and mercy.

As we go through these steps we are encouraged to look at one or two of the sins the Lord is calling us to walk away from, right now.

Slide Three: It is these sins we are talking about that may have led you to hurting others as you have been living them out in your life.

 

The two things the Lord has been having me look at as I have been walking through these twelve steps are continued control in the area of my finances and in the area of living a healthier life style. In the area of finances I have been making great progress and I have seen where I have hurt others by my carelessness in that area. In the area of living a healthier life style, this is still an hourly fight.

When I sat down to begin to make this list of people I have harmed because of my living in sin in these two areas at first it was hard for mainly two reasons. The first reason is often when we are living in sin, we think we are hiding it and no one knows. Therefore we don't think we are harming anyone else by our actions. The second reason is we often don't think about how our sin is affecting the lives of those around us because we have tried to justify to ourselves why we keep living in it.

For many years in our married life, Doris and I have lived from paycheck to paycheck, with no safety net. If either one of us had missed a month of work we would have been behind on bills. This always bothered Doris more then it did me and I had a hard time understanding why. Then a few years back I finally realized what she had experienced growing up and why this affected her so much.

I asked her permission to share this. When she was growing up her family struggled with paying there bills, as her father was an alcoholic.

She remembers as a child all the harassing calls from the bill collectors and how this weighed so heavy on her mother and on all the kids. She did not want to have to go through that again and she never wanted our children to have to deal with those calls. By not managing our finances as well as I could have I added stress to her life and made her relive some painful memories without understanding what I was doing.  When this finally sank in, I knew we needed to get our finances in control. We have now built a little emergency fund to give us a peace of mind. This has not only helped us, but we have been able to help our children better handle there finances as they start out in life on their own.

When I look at those I have harmed because I am not leading the healthiest lifestyle I could be, Irealize  just how much I have harmed others. One of the times I can laugh at now, but really hit me between the eyes when I first heard it, happened several years ago. One of our parishioners had been talking to Jacob and he has asked if we went camping much, Jacob who tends to answer with what is on his mind, said we use to go a lot until dad got fat, now we don't go as much. I realized then how many things I had slowed down on doing or even stopped just because of being out of shape.

Slide Four: The sad part about it, which happens to many people living in sin, is that we will not stop the sin even when we know the harm we are causing to ourselves and to others. That is why I say I am still in an hourly battle with this sin. Each meal, each snack, each Mountain Dew, I have to realize it is a battle.

As I sat down to make this list of those I have harmed as I live in this sin, I can see the importance of getting it under control, but I know it will not be easy. I pray  the Lord will give me strength to continue to work on it before I hit rock bottom and ruin my health beyond repair.

Slide Five: I don't know about you, but with almost every sin in my life, it took several tries before I finally overcome them.

I fought the battle with drinking alcohol for several years before I had my last drink. I fought the battle with pornography over and over, until it almost cost me my marriage before I walked way from it.

Slide Six: Now in so many of the areas that use to be struggles, God has given me the grace and mercy to not even be tempted by them, or He has shown me how to be on guard to not let them back in my life.

When we are willing to take step eight, it helps lead to healing and peace in so many ways.

Slide Seven:  Listen to these words from James 5:16. "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

 When we go to those we have harmed because of living in sin and we ask for forgiveness we are confessing our sins. This is the first step in the healing process.

When we go to our brothers and sisters we have harmed because of the sin we have been living in, when we humbly ask for forgiveness for the harm we have brought to them it will also bring us back into a right relationship with our Lord and Savior.

Slide Eight: Listen to these words from 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

As we move into this step, we do need to be ready in case the person we are going to will not forgive us at that moment. All we can do is ask and lay the sin at the feet of Jesus. We may have to show them we are truly repenting, especially if we have failed to walk away from that sin in the past. We have to be ready to move forward no matter what there reaction is. We have to be ready to walk away from that sin to show them we are striving to change our life in that area. As we take this step we hope they will work with us, but we must be willing to continue to move forward even if they do not.

 

Slide Nine: Another healing thing I have found as I battle with sin in my life is that I am quicker to forgive those who sin against me, especially if they are repenting and asking for forgiveness.

I also try to be more patient if they should slip and fall at times.

Slide Ten: To "Make a list of all persons we have harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all," is a huge step in walking away from the sin in our lives. It is a huge step in bringing healing to those we have harmed, it is a hug step in bringing peace of mind knowing we are striving to follow God's will in that part of our life.

But there is one more reason we should do this.

Slide Eleven:  Offering the beginning of the healing process to those around us today is so important because we don't if tomorrow we will have the chance.

If you know you have harmed someone because of living out the sin in your life, will you repent of that sin? Will you strive to walk away from that sin through the power of the Holy Spirit being at work within you? As you move forward in the process will you go to that person and ask for forgiveness for the harm you have done to them?

Slide Twelve: I know from experience if you are willing to take these twelve steps to growing in your faith you will have so much to gain.

As you repent of your sin, as you seek forgiveness from those you have harmed, as you strive to live as fully for the Lord as you can, you will truly gain a peace that passes all human understanding. You will know what it means to be forgiven by God and by others.

This and so much more is offered to you today and everyday. I would encourage you to open your heart, mind and soul to living more fully for the Lord and coming to know what it is like to know and experience God's forgiving wonderful grace and then to share that grace with everyone you know. Please don't wait to take this step.

Slide Thirteen: Step Eight "Made a list of all persons we have harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

Let us come before our Lord in prayer.

 

Sunday July 4th Services will include:

            "Sharing from the Guatemala Trip"

If you would like to view some wonderful short videos of the trip you may go to:

www.caminosdeeperanza.com     ENJOY!! We did!!

 

Sunday June 27th, 2010

               The Musical Trio "Jewels" Performed

               (Pastor Roger Henry and group were away on the mission trip to Guatemala).

Sunday June 13th, 2010

Prayer

First Slide: "We're Entirely Ready to Have God Remove all these Defects of Character."

          For the last two months we have been walking through the first five steps of a twelve step program to help us to grow in our Christian walks. As we have walked through these steps I have repeatedly said I think we need to do this for mainly one reason. I believe with all that is happening in our world today, the only way things will get better is through a remnant of God's people rising up.

          First of all let me explain what my understanding of what a remnant of God's people looks like.

Second Slide - a They are a group of people who stay focused on the Lord even when the world around them turns their back on the things of God and lives more and more in sinful ways.

Second Slide - b They are a group of people who strive to live by Biblical standards, morals and values, even when these are considered outdated.

Second Slide - c They are a group of people who hold together in the tough times to keep there focus on the Lord even as the world around them tells them how ignorant, stupid and weak minded they are, even to the point of persecution.

Second Slide - d They are a group of people who are so filled with the power of the Holy Spirit that even in the midst of the battle they know what it means to live in the godly peace, joy and love of our Lord because they are able to see things from an eternal prospective instead of a worldly one.

Second Slide - e This will be the group of people who will be a light for the Lord in these darkening days ahead of us.

My hope and prayer is that if you are willing to go through these Twelve Steps to Growing in your Christian Walk, you will come to know in your heart, mind and soul what it means to be the remnant the Lord is looking for in these troubling times.

          Our Current Studies Sunday School class looked at a pattern that has taken place in nations that have fallen from God's grace. We, as a nation, are following this same pattern in so many ways. This comes from the book, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon.

          Listen to these steps and see how we are following right along in these destructive ways:

Third Slide - a  1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home as the foundation for human society.

Third Slide - b 2. Higher and higher taxes and public (government) spending.

Third Slide - c 3. The craze for pleasure and sports, with the increase of violence and brutality in sports.

Fourth Slide - d 4. The building of great armaments when the real enemy was within: the decay of individual responsibility.

Fourth Slide - e 5. The decay of religion: faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, religion losing its power to guide the people.

Every time I read these five statements, I shudder. You can see our nation falling into each one of these things so clearly. What makes it even harder to address these problems is that when these things become so acceptable in a society you are ridiculed if you point out how destructive they have become.

I have come to realize, I prayed the worst prayer I could have ever prayed several years ago. The year that we did the Kingdom Assignment I, as you may recall, I did a complete fast for twenty one days leading up to that Easter Sunday. All during the time of prayer in that fast I asked one question of God.

Fifth Slide: I asked God to help me to see what was going on in the world.

The positive part of the prayer is that I have felt closer to the Lord then I ever have before. I have felt a contentment knowing the Lord is with me. But, I have also felt my heart breaking as I have watched what has been taking place in our world. I have seen the rise in sin that has been so overwhelming in our nation and around the world and how we are now living out the consequences of that corporate sin. We are watching the destruction of the world's economy. We are watching the shaping up of what could be the next and maybe the last world war. We are watching as our nation is being taken over and we are not even standing up and defending ourselves.

Sixth Slide: We have let things get so bad, I don't think there is another way to turn it around except through becoming a remnant that will hold true to the Lord even in the midst of all that is happening.

The nation of Israel throughout its history went through several times of being taken over by other nations. The people would be taken into captivity and they would be forced to try to blend in with the new culture they had become a part of. Each time this happened there was always a remnant that stayed true to the Lord and continued to follow the Lord with all there heart, soul, mind and strength. Often they were persecuted and many were even put to death. But through it all they remained faithful to God. While in captivity they would cry out to God in prayer, they would beg for forgiveness for the sins of their nation. Many times throughout history God would hear their prayer and restore their nation.

Seventh Slide: He would bring back the remnant that had remained faithful to Him and they would be the ones to start over again.

I believe in my heart it is not too late for our nation, but we need to turn back to God now! We need to become the remnant that cries out to the Lord for repentance for the sins of our nation.

We need to be the ones who will stay true to living for the Lord even as the rest of the world around us seems to be living in more and more sin. This will only begin when we are willing to take a good, hard look at our lives and walk away from all the sin we are living in.

We have already moved through five steps in growing in our Christian faith. These steps are being saved on our Website if you would like to go back and look at the ones you missed, but today I want to focus on step six.

Eighth Slide: "We're Entirely Ready to Have God Remove all these Defects of Character."

In order to be the remnant God is looking for we must do all we can to live as God would want us to live.

          Listen to some of the scriptures passages that talk about living for God.

Ninth Slide: Philippians 3:12 NIV [Pressing on Toward the Goal] Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Tenth Slide: 2 Samuel 22:31 NIV "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him."

Eleventh Slide: James 1:25 NIV "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does."

Twelfth Slide: 1 John 4:18 NIV "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

          When you look at these scriptures the first thing you may say to yourself is this is hopeless, we can never be prefect in this life. That would be a completely true statement, WE can never be perfect in this life, but through the power of the Holy Spirit working within us we are able to move in that direction. John Wesley the founder of Methodism asks this question,

Thirteenth Slide:  "Are you going onto perfection?"

Are you striving each day to live the kind of life God would want you to live? When we come to this step in growing in our faith we are asking God to help us to take that next step in growing into being the remnant He is looking for.

          Notice what step six says once more,

Fourteenth Slide: "We're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Do you have a desire; even more then that; do you have a passion to be all that God is calling you to be? Are you entirely ready to do whatever it takes to grow closer to the Lord and living the kind of life the Lord wants you to have?

          I know I have mentioned this before, but it is so important to see what we have to gain if we are striving to live the fullest life Christ wants us to have.

Fifteenth Slide: Are you seeing all the blessings you have to gain if you will walk away from the sin in your life and live each moment more fully for the Lord?

A few weeks ago I quoted some words from a song call, Live Like You Were Dying. These words lift up so clearly some of the wonderful things we have to gain if we are living for Christ.

Sixteenth Slide: "Love deeper, speak sweeter, give forgiveness I'd been denying, finally be the husband, that most the time I wasn't, become a friend, a friend would like to have, read the good book, and take a good long hard look at what I'd do if I could do it all again."

          Right in the middle of all the uncertainty that is taking place in our world, right in the middle of are busy schedules that sometime seem so packed beyond belief, God is saying I have something better for you.

Seventeenth Slide: It is almost as if God is saying, stop, take a deep breath, relax, come walk with me and let me show you what a joyful, peaceful, loving life can look like.

          In this step God is continuing to help us to take a look at our lives and to continue to take the steps that will free us to walk with Him in such deeper and more meaningful ways.

        So let me ask you this once more,

Eighteenth Slide: "Are you entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

I want to close with a powerful quote that reminds us of why we should give up following the ways of the world and focus our whole lives on following the ways of Christ. This is from the book, The Imitation of Christ," by Thomas a' Kempis. 

Nineteenth Slide: "Why, then, do you fear to take up the cross when through it you can win a kingdom? In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection from enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is highest virtue, in the cross is perfect holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of everlasting life but in the cross."

Twentieth Slide:  It is in the cross we are made perfect in God's sight through Christ.

When we realize this and begin to live it out in our lives, this is when we come to God and through the power of the Holy Spirit, "we become entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Twenty First Slide: Are you ready for this step in your life, if not, how long will you wait to accept the wonderful and complete blessings God is offering you?

Don't you want to be a part of the remnant that will help to lead our nation back to living for the Lord?

As we come to share in communion today, I invite your to take some time to be in prayer, asking the Lord to help you to see the sin that may be in your life and then to walk away from that sin, to be able to live in the full and complete blessings He wants you to have.

Let us come before our lord in prayer.

 

"We're Entirely Ready to Have God Remove all these Defects of Character."

They are a group of people who are so filled with the power of the Holy Spirit that even in the midst of the battle they know what it means to live in the godly peace, joy and love of our Lord because they are able to see things from an eternal prospective instead of a worldly one.

This will be the group of people who will be a light for the Lord in these darkening days ahead of us.

This comes from the book, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon.

            Listen to these steps and see how we are following right along in these destructive ways:

1.      The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home as the foundation for human society.

2.      Higher and higher taxes and public (government) spending.

3.      The craze for pleasure and sports, with the increase of violence and brutality in sports.

4.      The building of great armaments when the real enemy was within: the decay of individual responsibility.

5.      The decay of religion: faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, religion losing its power to guide the people.

I asked God to help me to see what was going on in the world.

We have let things get so bad, I don't think there is another way to turn it around except through becoming a remnant that will hold true to the Lord even in the midst of all that is happening.

He would bring back the remnant that had remained faithful to Him and they would be the ones to start over again.

This will only begin when we are willing to take a good, hard look at our lives and walk away from all the sin we are living in.

           "We're Entirely Ready to Have God Remove all these Defects of Character." In order to be the remnant God is looking for we must do all we can to live as God would want us to live.

            Philippians 3:12 NIV [Pressing on Toward the Goal] Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

2 Samuel 22:31 NIV "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him."

James 1:25 NIV "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does."

1 John 4:18 NIV "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

            John Wesley the founder of Methodism asks this question, "Are you going onto perfection?"

            "We're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Do you have a desire; even more then that; do you have a passion to be all that God is calling you to be?

             

            "Love deeper, speak sweeter, give forgiveness I'd been denying, finally be the husband, that most the time I wasn't, become a friend, a friend would like to have, read the good book, and take a good long hard look at what I'd do if I could do it all again."

            It is almost as if God is saying, stop, take a deep breath, relax, come walk with me and let me show you what a joyful, peaceful, loving life can look like.

            So let me ask you this once more "Are you entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

This is from the book, The Imitation of Christ," by Thomas a' Kempis. 

"Why, then, do you fear to take up the cross when through it you can win a kingdom? In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection from enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is highest virtue, in the cross is perfect holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of everlasting life but in the cross."

It is in the cross we are made perfect in God's sight through Christ.

 

 

Sunday June 6, 2010

            Doris Henry shared the message

 

Sunday May 30, 2010

Prayer

First Slide: "Who's Your Three O'clock in the Morning Christian Friend?"

          Have you ever noticed how Satan works in our life when we have given into sin? Have you ever noticed how places where sin takes place usually are hidden in shadowy ways? Bars are dark, casinos keep the lights down low, when you watch something on TV or the Internet you shouldn't be, you turn the sound down and keep looking over your shoulder to see if anyone will catch you, or at least that is what I have heard about all these things.

          It is so important that we confess our sins, to God and to others. Look at these two scripture passages.

Second Slide:  I John 1: 8 - 9 "If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But, if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts."

Third Slide: James 5: 16 "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."

Here are some reasons why it is important to confess our sins.

Fourth Slide: Usually if we are living in sin we isolate ourselves because we know we are doing something we shouldn't be doing and we hope no one will find out.

As we isolate ourselves we begin to think we are the only ones living this way. When we are caught up in the sin it begins to control our lives and we begin to just focus on it, this in turn even brings more isolation.

          We have a world full of blessings God wants to fill our lives with and yet so often we focus on the temptations that are not good for us. We let sin begin to control our lives and soon we become isolated and focused on living in a way we know is not pleasing to God and to those around us.

          I don't know about you, but when I have allowed sin to slip into my life, I find I read the Bible less, I pray less and I really lose focus on all the other blessings around me and I defiantly try to hide from God mostly out of embarrassment. What is even harder in our world today is that even though many sins seem to be more acceptable, when we enter into them they still draw us into isolation as we try to hide them because we know in our heart they are wrong.

I was listening to a talk show the other day and they were interviewing a man who had started a website which encouraged married couples to have affairs. The theme or tag line for the sight was, "Life is short; have an affair."

The man who started the site was now a millionaire, as in the first few months over six hundred thousand people had signed up. When the man was asked if he was using the sight, he said no, as he was brought up in a Christian home, with Christian values and he knew it wasn't right to cheat on his wife. He just started the sight to help others who were struggling in their marriage. He shared that he thought this was a good way to help couples. His reasoning was, when one had an affair and they got caught, it would bring the relationship struggles out into the open and in many cases this would in turn strengthen the marriage. With this kind of reasoning, do we have to wonder why our world is in the shape it is.  

           This shows in our world today, we can justify almost any sin. But we all know, even if we can justify it, we still struggle when we are living in sin. So how do we break free? How do we move from focusing on the sin or sins controlling our lives to living in the freedom and blessings the Lord wants us to have?

          It begins by taking these Twelve Steps to Growing in our Christian Walks. Fifth Slide: Step five is this, "Admitting to God, to our selves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."

Until we admit there is sin in our life we will never deal with it. Until we open up to God, to ourselves and to others about how we are living we will never walk away from the sin that is controlling us.

          This step did not begin with Alcoholics Anonymous. It has been around since humans started walking this earth. The first Christian gatherings brought people together in community. It strengthen them so they were able to admit to their sin and then to work together to walk away from them. John Wesley knew the power of accountability. In fact most of us would not be considered members of this church if we still followed Wesley's rules of being held accountable. To be a card carrying Methodist Society Member you had to do three things.

Sixth Slide: You had to attend worship every week. You had to tithe, to give one tenth of your income to the work of the Lord. You also had to be a member of a Covenant Group. This meant you had to meet weekly to talk about where you were at in your spiritual walk. One of the key questions, you were to discuss at each meeting was this,

Seventh Slide: "How are things with your soul?"

If there was sin in your life, then you were to repent of the sin before God and the group and then get help in overcoming that sin. Wesley's main focus as a pastor was to help people to "flee from the wrath of God that is to come."

          As people look back at history one of the key elements for the growth of the Methodist Societies and later the Methodist Churches were these groups where they held one anther accountable in Christian love.

The only way we are ever going to grow in our walk with the Lord is through being held accountable by God, by ourselves and through a loving, caring, Christian community.

          It should not be surprising to see how as we have moved more and more into living sinful lives as a culture, while at the same time we have moved to thinking we have a right to live anyone we want to live and we should not be held accountable for our actions.

Eighth Slide: The hardest part of this step can be finding an accountability group that will hold you accountable in love.

A group that wants what is best for you and will be honest enough to tell you if you are living in sin. Not with a judgmental attitude, but because they care for you and they see the destruction that could come into your life if you stay on the path you are on.

          I hope and pray all of you can find that three o'clock in the morning Christian friend. AA members need to know they have three o'clock in the morning friend. They need to know if they are starting down the wrong path someone will be there for them. Yet, it seems in the greatest challenges of our lives many of us do not have a three o'clock in the morning Christian friend.

          This often happens for several reasons.

We don't want to be held accountable in our lives. We don't want to admit the mistakes we have made, we don't want to admit the sin we have allowed into our lives and we defiantly don't want to have to tell someone if we are thinking of sinning. We also don't want anyone to tell us how we should be living.

          As a society we have tried to blur the lines of right and wrong so much, that we don't want to call sin, sin anymore. We have tried to be so acceptable of all  lifestyle choices that we have now said anyway you want to live is ok, as long as you don't hurt anyone. The things we will not admit is that  there are Biblical moral standards and values we are given to live by and when we turn from them our society struggles. And if we are choosing to live in sin we are hurting those around us in some way whether we will admit it or not.

          We can play games all day long of what is right and what is wrong, of what is sin and what is not sin, but I firmly believe we all know in our hearts if we are striving to follow the Lord what behaviors in our life hurt the Body of Christ and what behaviors glorify the Body of Christ.

          Did you know why Wesley said to abstain from things that could bring harm to the body and soul? Wesley said do not drink alcohol, not because one drink could hurt us, but because one person may see us, follow our example and it could lead them to a life of struggle.

He says to be careful of what we do, because others may see it and fall into a life of sin, following our example. Wesley firmly believes we are to be our brother's keeper.

          In step five of growing in our Christian walk we are invited to, "Admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs." This comes after we acknowledge we need Christ to help us overcome the sin in our lives, this comes after we admit there is a higher power that can help restore us to sanity, and this comes after we are willing to follow God's will and not our own. This step comes after we "Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

Ninth Slide: This is when we know we have sin in our lives that is controlling us and we need to turn from it to live in the true blessings the Lord wants us to have.

          If you were to look at the people around you today, is there one of them you trust enough to open up to and ask for help to walk away from the sin in your life? Can you honestly and openly come before the Lord and that person and say, "This is where I am trapped, this is where I have sold out to Satan and I need to break free, but I cannot do it on my own?"

          As I shared last week, I can now see all the blessings I am cheating myself out of because of the sins I have allowed too creep into my life.

I am seeing in so many ways how much better life could be, if I will just follow through and walk away from the sin that has a hold on me. In many of these areas I have found an accountability partner and I am getting help in turning from these sins.  I am beginning to see the true blessings of what will happen on the other side when I turn away from the sin I am trapped in and I strive to live for God more fully.

Tenth Slide: It is my prayer that if you are working through these steps, you too can see the true blessings God wants to pour into your life, if you will just turn from the sin that has a hold on you.

          I want to close today by sharing a prayer from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. This prayer actually goes with step three which is, "Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." But, I believe it fits here as well.

Eleventh Slide: "God I offer myself to thee - to build with me and to do with me as thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power. Thy Love and Thy Way of Life. May I do Thy will always!

 

 

          If you can see the sin in your life, if you can sense the blessings you could have if you walk away from that sin, if you know you need to be taking these Twelve Steps to Grow in Your Christian Walk and you want more of what God has to offer, I invite you to join me in this prayer, right now.

          Now I invite you to take this step we are  offered, to find a Christian accountability partner and to take step five today.

Twelfth Slide:  "Admitting to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."

          As I have worked through this series, I have heard  some feedback that some feel these steps are not for them. They feel the sin in their lives is not bad enough that they really need to take these steps. If that is the case for you, I would invite you to maybe just listen and file these messages away in your mind. I can't speak for you, but I have learned in my life, what the Bible says about our sinful nature is very true. I know if left to my own vices, more then likely I will choose the path of following my sinful desires. Often I will make excuses for it; until it finally becomes so bad I have to deal with it. By then the problem is often so huge it seems I will never gain victory in that area. This is when I can go back to the beginning of these steps and start with number one.

          What I am learning to do instead is to try to come to God and open my life up to him more often.

To try to name the sins in my life and deal with them as baby sins, instead of letting them become full grown. This has helped me in so many ways. It has brought me into a closer relationship with the Lord. It has helped me to spot and then walk away from sins before they get a hold of me. And in turn it has showered my life with so many God given blessings.

          It is my prayer that if you choose to walk through these steps with us and if you see places where you need to walk away from sin in your life, I hope you will use these steps to come to know God's love and grace at a deeper level then you ever have before.

Thirteenth Step: Think of these steps as starting a new plan to live an even greater life for our Lord.

To know we can be freed from the sins in our life and free to walk in the full blessings the Lord wants us to have.

Fourteenth Slide: We have so much to gain and so little to lose.

Fifteenth Slide: "Who's Your Three O'clock in the Morning Christian Friend?"

          Let us come before our Lord in prayer.

 

 

Sunday May 23rd, 2010

Prayer

Slide One: "Live Like We Were Dying."

Over the last few weeks we have been going through a series on Twelve Steps to Growing in Your Faith. Here is a quick review of the steps we have taken to bring us this far, in case you have missed one.

Slide Two: Step One: "To admit that we are powerless against sin and that our lives are unmanageable without the power of Christ working within us."

Slide Three: Step Two: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

Slide Four: Step Three? "Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Slide Five: And now Step Four: "Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

Slide Six: Listen to these words from Jesus, they can be found in Luke 14: 25 - 35. Small print Bible, page 799 and 800, large print bible page 1273 - 1274.

 "Great crowds were following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, "If you want to be my follower, you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters?yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.  And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me.

But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of funds, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ?There's the person who started that building and ran out of money before it was finished!'

?Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and discussing whether his army of 10,000 is strong enough to defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching who are against him? If he is not able, then while the enemy is still far away, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace. So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me.

?Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for fertilizer. It is thrown away. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!"

Slide Seven: To make a searching and fearless moral inventory of our lives means we must be willing to count the cost of what it takes to walk with Christ.

Then we need to ask ourselves if we are willing to follow through to be able to live the kind of life Christ is offering to us.

When was the last time you asked yourself why you do the things you do?

As I have worked  my way through this series the Lord has helped me to look at several areas of my life and to see ways I can grow even closer to Him by making some simple, but yet powerful changes. In many ways this series has been in the making for several years. I think it took hold about three years ago when Doris and I began to seriously look at our financial situation.

When we sat down and took an honest and open inventory of how we were using the money the Lord had blessed us with, we began to see the ways we could use these blessings in such powerful ways, instead of the ways we had been wasting them.

As I worked to take the inventory in that one area of my life then God helped me to see other areas where I could make changes to draw closer to Him and to bring more blessings into my life.

What I began to realize through this process is that I was actually cheating myself out of so many things God was offering to me, because I just did not take the time to see what I was doing in that area of my life.

The sad thing I am realizing as I go through these steps is that often we will not take an inventory of ourselves until something has gone terribly wrong. What I am finding out is that if we are willing to work through these steps today, we can gain a better life without having to wait for something bad to happen to give us a wake up call.

These inventories can also take place when good things happen that change our lifestyles, so either way it seems something has to shake up our lives before we realize what we may be missing out on by not living more fully for Christ.

Slide Eight: I hope through this series you will want to just take a look at your life and to see the ways you can be open to living in the true blessings of following the Lord without having to wait for something to happen.

Do you ever wonder why Christ tells us to count the cost before we decide to live for Him? I think there is a very clear reason for this. If we try to follow Christ with just a small part of our lives we will never fully understand what it means to fully live for the Lord and to know just how great the Christian life can be. In fact we may become frustrated because we hear about the "rules" of Christianity, but we don't experience the life changing love and grace. Therefore in the frustration we may fall away from the Lord.

There is a song called "Live, Like You Were Dying." Listen to the words of the chorus, it tells what the man did when he found out he only had short time to live. "I went skydiving, I went rocky mountain climbing, I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu, and I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter, and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying. And he said, someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying. He said, I was finally the husband, that most the time I wasn't, and I became a friend, a friend would like to have.

And all of a sudden goin' fishin' wasn't such an imposition, and I went three times that year I lost my dad, Well, I finally read the good book, And I took a good long hard look at what I'd do if I could do it all again."

Now, I don't know if riding a bull would be on the top of my list, if I only had a short time to live, but listen again to the other things we could all be doing to live a fuller life for Christ.

Slide Nine: "Love deeper, speak sweeter, give forgiveness I'd been denying, finally be the husband, that most the time I wasn't, become a friend, a friend would like to have, read the good book, and take a good long hard look at what I'd do if I could do it all again."

Through taking these twelve steps to growing in our Christian walks we get the chance to live like we were dying. We get the chance to see what God is offering us. We get the chance to just pause and to know whatever sin is in our life, we can walk away from it, and as we walk away from it, we will walk into the blessings the Lord wants us to have.

This step needs to come with a warning:

Slide Ten:  When we are willing to openly and honestly, "Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves," there will be some pain.

When we look at the things we have done, the people we may have hurt, the sins we have allowed to creep into our lives it will not always be a pretty picture.

In some ways it is like walking into a home after flood waters have been in there. The old has to be stripped away and cleaned out before the new begins to be rebuilt. There will be pain and hard work as you scrape the mold off that has begun to take hold. There will be sadness as things you have come to cherish and never dreamed you could live without are tossed on the junk pile to be taken away forever.

After the pain, comes the time of hard work to replace what has been taken away. If you have ever remolded or cleaned up after a flood you know how hard it is in this transition stage. The old is being stripped away, but the new has not replaced it yet. It is hard to let go of the past, because you don't know what the new will bring. It is hard to walk away from things you know, even if they are destructive, because they are familiar and you are not sure if you will ever be able to live a new life without them.

Slide Eleven: Even as the new takes shape, there is a time of adjusting to it; of living in it long enough that it becomes a part of who you are.

When we "Make a searching and fearful moral inventory of ourselves," we have in many ways invited the Lord to clean out the old and to replace it with the new. This is when we begin to count the cost, and we have to decide if we really want to be a child of God in name only, or in how we truly live it out in our lives.

This is when we let the remodeling begin to take place as the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and gives us the strength and power to make the changes we need to make.

Maybe a better example for most of us as Christians is when we clean the house. If we have been walking with the Lord, we may not have deep seated sin in our lives. Maybe our house has just become cluttered, with things out of place. Maybe we have just gotten a little disorganized or off focus of how much better life could be because we have become comfortable with the way we are. Maybe we have filled our schedules so full with doing things we have missed out on the wonderful blessing right in front of us.

We know we are really blessed and we like the way we are living, so we don't think there is anything better. This is where I was with my finances. This is where I was with my weight. This is even where I was in many of my relationships.

Slide Twelve: I was so content I didn't see there could be something better.

But, as I took inventory in each one of these areas I realized there could even be more blessings then I already had. I could use my finances to do more for building God's kingdom, I could get in shape to be ready to do more in life then watch TV.

I could have an even deeper, more meaningful relationship with those around me. And because I was already walking with the Lord, the adjustments, although they are still hard, and take work, I know they can happen.

You see when the house is messy and getting worse, at first we may not notice the destruction beginning to take place. We may not see the mold growing underneath the junk, we may not notice the smell, we may not see the paint peeling off the wall, and we may not see the love we are missing from those living under the same roof with us. If left alone all of these things will just get worse. But if we are willing to stop, if we are willing to "Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves," then we will see even more of the blessings God wants to give us, if we will just take the time to live in them.

So what I want to ask you today, is this,

Slide Thirteen: "Will you count the cost, to see if you are willing to sell all you have to follow Christ?"

Are you be willing to give up the things the world says you need to make your life complete to be able to live in the things the Lord wants to bless you with to make this life and the life to come even better?

I am finding out it takes work to live as Christ wants us to live. It takes being honest with ourselves and being willing to admit there are some changes we need to be making.

I am also finding out we miss so many blessings God wants to touch our lives with if we will not take a look at our lives and make the changes to draw closer to the true and living Lord.

 I have taken a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself, and

Slide Fourteen: I have seen some areas of strength I can build on,

Slide Fifteen: I have seen some areas of weakness I need to work on.

Slide Sixteen:  I have seen some areas of sin I need to walk away from.

Slide Seventeen: I have also come to realize if I will follow through, as the Holy Spirit guides me and strengthens me, my life will be so much better.

I know you will find this very same thing, if you will walk through these steps.

God says to us, "Here is a room full of gifts I want to fill your life with." The question becomes, "Will we open the gifts and allow them to become part of who we are?"

Slide Eighteen: Will you live like you were dying and enjoy the blessings God wants you to have in this life and in the life to come?

Let us come before our Lord in prayer.

 

Sunday May 16th, 2010 

Slide One:        "My Will or God's Will?"

Slide Two: Hebrews 13: 20 - 22 "And now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus, equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, all that is pleasing to Him. Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting covenant, signed with His blood. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

          A few weeks ago we started a series on Twelve Steps to Grow in your Christian Walk. I am going to try to stay in town on Sundays for a few weeks to help us get a little further along.         

Slide Three: Remember Step one, "To admit we are powerless over sin and that our lives have become unmanageable without the power of Christ at work within us." Step two comes after we are willing to admit step one and honestly and openly look at the sin in our lives.

Slide Four: Step two is this, "Come to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."  Sanity in this case, is being defined as, "soundness of mind."

          And today we are going to look at step three, which is,

Slide Five: "Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

          How we look at this statement really depends on what our perception is about God. I have been reading the book called Start Somewhere, this statement is made by the author.

Slide Six: "Perceptions Determines Reception. The way I perceive God determines the way I receive any communication from Him?"

          If you perceive God as a killjoy then you are expecting your life as a Christian to be full of drudgery and misery. The moment you want to have any fun, you will be judge and punished. I know that is an over exaggeration in some ways, but I also know a lot of people who are afraid of giving up living in worldly pleasure because they believe living the Christian life is boring and no fun at all.

          Others perceive God as a kind old man who really doesn't know what's going on, they think they can live anyway they want to and still get God's blessings, so they might fool themselves into thinking living in sin is just fine.

          So how do you perceive God?

I see the Lord as someone who wants what is best for me and who is always challenging me to live a better life. I see God as someone who will help me to see the best way to live to get the most out of this life and to be prepared for the next one. At the same time I see God as one who will let me live, as I chose to live.

I picture God like a loving parent who goes through great pain, when he sees me make choices that can bring harm into my life.  I also picture him as the loving parent who celebrates and works with me when I try to live a better life being open to the guidance from Him.

Slide Seven: When I know God wants what is best for me, than I have to ask, "Why would I not want to follow God's will for my life?"

          Following God's will for our life is not a one time decision and then we are off to the races living completely like God would want us to. It is really a minute by minute choice. In some ways it comes down to taking a few moments to pause and to look at the things we are doing and simply asking does this help me to grow in my walk with the Lord? We should be asking,

 Slide Eight:  Does the decision I am about to make and live out, help me, or hurt me?

          Think of how many little choices we make each day that affects our lives in bigger ways. I am trying real hard to get in better shape before I go on the mission trip to Guatemala. So each day I have choices to make that will help me or hurt me in this process. If the people who work at Casey's these past few weeks were looking out the window they probably were about ready to call the police to come and haul me away.

Several times I have pulled into the parking lot out of habit to go in to buy a pop or a snack. Several times I sat in the car for a few minuets talking to myself about whether I really needed that pop or snack; several times I drove off praising God for helping me to make the right decision. If they saw me praising God and talking to myself they probably thought I had lost it for sure.

Another battle has been trying to exercise. Each day I have to make the choice of getting up and working out or sitting in front of the TV. I know if I do not follow through, when I get to Guatemala and have to walk more than I have in a long time, I will suffer and it will hinder my group and the work I could be doing. So each night I have pulled myself out of the chair and I have done some kind of exercise.

          Do you see how these are day by day choices? For some it may even be smaller amounts of time, to walk away from an addiction you may have to ask God for help every time that urge strikes so you can walk away from it. Only you and God know what the battle is and it will be different for each and every one of us.

          This is the step where we need to be able to pray The Prayer of Serenity. Will you join me in praying this together?

Slide Nine: "The Prayer of Serenity: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done."

          There are a few challenges in this step. This is the first step in many ways that leads to action on our parts. The first two steps focused on  getting our minds right, they were getting us focused on knowing we need the Lord and in trusting the Lord would give us strength to live more fully for Him.

This is the step where the action begins to take place. Someone in the class on Sunday night explained this step the best. "It is one thing to say I give my will to following the Lord; it is another thing to actually live it out in my life."

          Here are just a few things we could encounter in this step.

Slide Ten: Having to make a commitment.

Slide Eleven: Having to form a routine or structure

Slide Twelve: Surrendering to disciplineSlide Thirteen: Expecting discomfort. Slide Fourteen: Fear of Success

Slide Fifteen: Drawing closer to the Lord then we ever dreamed we could.

          I started this series with one thought in mind. I believe God is looking for a remnant. He is looking for a group of people who will draw closer to Him and help others to come to know His love and grace. If you are watching the things all that is taking place in the world, we seem to be headed for some mighty struggles. We may be even close to the return of Christ in all His glory.

It is in times like this we will either draw closer to our Lord or push Him away. It is in times like this a remnant will lead us back to living as God wants us to live or we will continue to be led further down the path of sin and despair. To be the remnant God always calls out to in these times takes a giant step on our part. In means putting our words into action, it means taking this step in drawing closer to the Lord. It means we need to:

 Slide Sixteen: "Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

          As I have worked on this series I have read through a book called The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a' Kempis. The whole focus of the book is on leading a life like Christ would want us to live. I want to close with a quote today that I think helps to sum up this giant step in our walk with the Lord.

Slide Seventeen: "If men used as much care in uprooting vices and implanting virtues as they do in discussing problems, there would not be so much evil and scandal in the world, or so much laxity in religious organizations.

Slide Eighteen:  On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived." (IC page 4)

Slide Nineteen:    So the question for today is, "Your Will or God's Will?"

          Let us come before our Lord in prayer.

 

 

Sunday May 9th, 2010

Message by Joesph Meredith as Pastor Roger Henry was away.

 

 

Sunday April 4th, 2010

Prayer

Slide One: Interested or Committed?

          Today I want to start sharing the first of twelve steps to help us to continue to grow in our walk with the Lord. We will look at these different steps over the next several months and it is my hope that by the end we will have made a deeper commitment of what it means to fully live our lives for Christ.

          I have written this series with guidance from the Twelve Step Program that is used for Alcoholics Anonymous. As I read through the steps for the program I realized in many ways a lot of us, as Christians, including myself, have never really made the commitment to follow Christ as if our lives depended on it.

Second Slide: In my personal devotions I recently read through a book called Start Somewhere.

It is the story of a man who had lost over two hundred pounds and has kept it off for several years. One of the chapters had the title of this message and it fit so perfectly with this first step, it is called, Interested or Committed?

The reason he asked this question is because He looked at all the times he started diets, he looked at all the times he started an exercise program and he began to realize he quit most of them within a few weeks because he was not committed to them, they just sounded interesting.

When I look at different areas of my walk with the Lord I realize there are certain areas where I am committed, but there are just as many areas where I only have an interest in what the Lord has to say about that part of my life.

What I have found in my life, especially as I look at it through the eyes of the twelve step program is that I often do not want to admit I am powerless and in need of God's most amazing grace to be at work within me. I don't want to admit there are sins that control my life and I allow them to, in fact I enjoy living in them. I don't want to think about giving complete control of my life to God because I believe I can handle, my life, by myself.

In the book Start Somewhere even when the man was pushing 450 pounds he was able to convince himself he didn't have a problem with food, he could look in the mirror and tell himself he still looked good.

Third Side: How many times do we live with sin in our lives and try to convince ourselves we have it under control?

We tell ourselves we could just walk away from it, if we really wanted to. We even try to convince ourselves the sin really isn't hurting us, just a little sin is ok. Then one donut leads to twelve, one beer leads to ten, one look at pornography leads to hours of sitting in front of the computer. Then we wonder why we have health problems, why we have drinking problems and why so many marriages are failing in our nation.

Lately with all the technology and music we have been using in our services, the Lord has helped me to begin to work a few weeks ahead so others can help enhance our worship services as we plan things together. As I work ahead on these different sermon series God has been opening different things up to me through dreams and through books that have been handed to me by different people.

This whole series we are stating today began with a dream, actually several dreams.

Fourth Slide: I firmly believe God is looking for a remnant that will stay strong in there walk with the Lord, as things get worse in our world.

First of all I want to clarify why I think things are going to get worse in the world. The main reason I believe this, is because the Bible says so. I would encourage you to read Matthew, chapter 24, and the book of Revelation if you want to see how these things were foretold by Christ. This world is headed toward ultimate self destruction because of our sinful nature. We can believe in the Bible and prepare ourselves to know this is going to happen or we can stick our heads in the sand and just pretend it is not all that bad.

The good news is, we don't have to panic as we see these things happening.

 I have been watching all that is taking place around the world and in our own nation, and I have been filled with the greatest peace from the power of the Holy Spirit that I have ever felt  in my life.

Fifth Slide: I know God is in control and if I am willing to fully live for God, I can trust He will watch over me.

It has been said, "We are no longer a Christian nation." I find I am in complete agreement with that statement. This statement can be looked at in at least two ways. From a worldly perspective it means we have grown so diverse in our beliefs that Christian values and morals are no longer what mainly guide us as a nation. When we have officially sanctioned Satanism and Wiccans (the practice of witchcraft) as religions, and placed them in the same categories as Christians, we have moved away from being a Christian nation.

In many Christian churches today people are being taught they can live in all kinds of sin and God approves. People are being taught the Bible is a nice old book but it no longer applies to our life. People are being told Christ is nice but he is not the only way to salvation. Once again we should not be surprised at any of this because the Bible says these things will happen.

These are just a few of the reasons why I believe God is calling for a remnant to be prepared.  

Last week we celebrated Easter. The church was full and many of those people who came had an interest in walking with the Lord. They come to check in now and then, just to make sure everything is OK in case they need the church, some day. Except for the occasional wedding, funeral, or maybe showing up on Easter or Christmas, God is just an interest to them but not all that much a part of their lives. But, many of you here today have committed your lives to following the Lord.

Sixth Slide: You have a passion to grow in your faith.

Seventh Slide: You attend Bible studies to help you take that next step in your walk with the Lord.

Eight Slide: Many of you have found ways to serve the Lord through serving others.

Ninth Slide: Many of you spend time with the Lord each day and you are shaping your life as God guides you to live for Him through the power of the Holy Spirit.

But are you prepared in your heart, your soul and your mind to be the remnant that will follow the Lord no matter what takes place in this world?

This will only happen when you are willing to take the first step in living as fully for Christ as we can. The first step is this,

Tenth Slide:  "To admit that we are powerless against sin and that our lives are unmanageable without the power of Christ working within us."

Until we admit we are powerless against sin, we will keep losing the battle and giving into the temptations that are all around us. We cannot live for Christ through our own power.

The only way to begin the process of becoming the remnant Christ is looking for is to admit we need Christ in our lives.

Eleventh Slide: This means complete surrender of our will to Him, in each and every area of our lives.

This means we move from being interested in the things of Christ, to being committed to the things of Christ, to knowing we cannot live a day without fully relying on the power of the Holy Spirit living within us.

In the gospel of Luke chapter 14, Jesus shares what it means to follow Him. I believe He sums it up in verse 33,

Twelfth Slide: "So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me." Giving up everything for Christ means to allow ourselves to be emptied of our old sinful nature so we can be totally filled with our new spiritual nature. This will only happen when we admit we are powerless to fight sin on our own and we need Christ at the center of our lives.

Unfortunately this often does not happen until we hit rock bottom.

But, we do not have to get to that point to start living for Christ. Admitting you need Christ in all areas of your life will be one of the hardest steps in our Christian walk. As Christians we sometimes think we are walking with the Lord, when in reality we just have an interest in it.

Thirteenth Slide: If you have truly given your life to Christ, prayer should become a greater part of your life.

Fourteenth Slide: Reading the Bible should be something you want to do and not just a duty.

Fifteenth Slide: Recognizing changes that need to be made should be more apparent as the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to the sins that hold of you.

Sixteenth Slide: Then committing your life to Christ, being filled with the power of the Holy Sprit helps you to make those changes that need to be made.

In some areas of our life this is a slow process, for all of us this needs to be a life long pattern. I think about it in this way. God helps me to walk away from one sin and I see the benefit of it. As I see the next sin, I have more of a desire to walk away from it because I know in the long run I will be better off. As God helps me to remove sin by sin through the power of the Holy Spirit at work within me, I can see I am drawing closer to living as the Lord wants me to live. This brings greater joy, peace and true Godly happiness into my life.

Although at times it seems like I am always working on something, I know what greater things await me if I will follow through. John Wesley calls this going onto perfection.

Seventeenth Slide: This is when we become the remnant that God will use to share his love and grace with those who are lost in hurting in the world as things get worse.

But none of this will take place until we admit that we are powerless against sin and that our lives are unmanageable without the power of Christ working within us. 

Eighteenth Slide: Are you willing to admit you need Christ in all areas of your life? Are you ready to move from being interested in how to live for Christ, to being committed to live for Christ in all areas of your life? Do you want to be a part of the remnant that God will use to help those who are lost and hurting in this world to come to know about His loving grace and mercy?

If you have said yes, will you take the first step in the process?

Nineteenth Slide: Will you admit that you are powerless against sin and that your life is unmanageable without the power of Christ working within you?

If you can take this first step, I can guarantee your life will ultimately change for the better. I can also guarantee your next life will be much better.

If you want to take a deeper look at how to move forward in growing in your faith journey, every Sunday night from 6:30 - 8:00 pm we will be gathering to talk about these different steps, we will set goals as individuals, and we will pray for one another so we will be ready to be the remnant the Lord is looking for.

 Will you admit that you are powerless against sin and that your life is unmanageable without the power of Christ working within you? This is the first step in taking a giant leap forward in your walk with the Lord?

Will you take it?

Let us come before our lord in prayer.

 

Interested or Committed?

           

Today I want to start sharing the first of twelve steps to help us to continue to grow in our walk with the Lord.

 

            I have written this series with guidance from the Twelve Step Program that is used for Alcoholics Anonymous.

 

            In my personal devotions I recently read through a book called Start Somewhere.

 

How many times do we live with sin in our lives and try to convince ourselves we have it under control?

 

As I have been working ahead on these different sermon series God has been opening different things up to me through dreams and through books that have been handed to me by different people.

 

I firmly believe God is looking for a remnant that will stay strong in there walk with the Lord, as things get worse in our world.

 

I would encourage you to read Matthew, chapter 24, and the book of Revelation if you want to see how these things were foretold by Christ.

 

The good news is, we don't have to panic as we see these things happening. As I have been watching all that is taking place around the world and in our own nation, I have been filled with the greatest peace from the power of the Holy Spirit then I ever have had in my life.

 

It has been said, "We are no longer a Christian nation."

 

These are just a few of the reasons why I believe God is calling for a remnant to be prepared.  

 

You have a passion to grow in your faith.

 

But are you prepared in your heart, your soul and your mind to be the remnant that will follow the Lord no matter what takes place in this world?

 

The first step is this, "To admit that we are powerless against sin and that our lives are unmanageable without the power of Christ working within us."

 

This means we move from being interested in the things of Christ, to being committed to the things of Christ, to knowing we cannot live a day without fully relying on the power of the Holy Spirit living within us.

Luke 14: 33, "So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me."

Admitting you need Christ in all areas of your life will be one of the hardest steps in our Christian walk.

 

Seeing changes that need to be made should be happening more and more as the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to the sins you are walking in. Then committing your life to Christ, being filled with the power of the Holy Sprit helps you to make those changes that need to be made.

 

Are you willing to admit you need Christ in all areas of your life? Are you ready to move from being interested in how to live for Christ, to being committed in how to live for Christ in all areas of your life?

 

Will you admit that you are powerless against sin and that your life is unmanageable without the power of Christ working within you?

 

 

 

Easter Sunday April 4th, 2010

Prayer

First Slide: Praising the Lord through Living a Life of Significance

          Throughout this Lenten season we have been looking at different ways we can praise the Lord as we live from day to day. We celebrated how we could praise the Lord through prayer, how we could praise the Lord through scripture, and how we could praise the Lord through the sacraments. Toby Woldoski shared with us how we could praise the Lord through music, and then we looked at how we could praise the Lord through our senses. 

Last Sunday we heard and watched as so many people helped us to praise the Lord through sharing their talents, as the children and the choir shared such a blessing with us and the men cooked a great breakfast.. Today I want us to look at one way we can wrap all of these together by praising the Lord through living a life of Significance.

Today, on this Easter Sunday I want to start by asking a question,

Second Slide: "If you were to look at your life right now, if you were to take a close look at your walk with the Lord, what would you say stands between you and a even more significant relationship with God?"

          I want to touch on seven ways we can grow into living a life of significance for the Lord.

Third Slide: The first is living a life of sacrifice.  

Sacrifice is the practice of giving up something you treasure, for a higher purpose. But the motivation for this kind of giving should not be out of guilt; it should be out of love. When we look at our lives I am guessing each one of us in here has placed something between us and our relationship with the Lord at times, for some it may be a material possession that is easy to see, for others it may be something internal that you are hanging onto.

          It is human nature, as we fight the fallen sinful person within us to place things between us and a closer relationship with the Lord. The only way to break free is to remove the bearer, whatever it may be. Maybe you could name something right now that is holding you back from a closer walk with the Lord, as I said maybe a material possession, or maybe a relationship that is keeping you from growing closer with the Lord. Could it be bitterness or anger over something that may have happened years ago, but still holds you in captivity?

          One way to grow in a relationship with the Lord is being willing to let go, to sacrifice whatever it is that is keeping you from taking that next step in your faith journey. To let go of this thing, so you will be able to sense the love and grace of God at work within you in a new and fresh way.

          When you are willing to look at the things that separate you from a closer walk with the Lord then the next step in leading a more significant life for God is Fourth Slide: "? complete surrender to His will."

Surrender, is a scary word isn't it? Surrender means allowing God to guide you, it means stepping out of your comfort zone. When I look back on my life I can clearly see when I was able to surrender an area to God, I found blessings beyond belief that followed. When Doris and I were walking away from the bar scene, I was sure my life was over and I would never have fun again. I had grown so accustom to thinking drinking and partying was the only way to live I was sure that praying and reading the Bible would be such a boring thing to do.

You need to remember I was living so far away from the Lord at that time I had no clue what it meant to live for Christ. I had a close friend who actually asked me if I could still play basketball, if I became a Christian. My friends and I all thought living as a Christian meant having no more fun. Then the Lord began to show me what the world really look liked when I lived for Him. I have come to realize how I had been living life with such a narrow focus, with huge blinders on. Then as I surrendered my life to the Lord a whole new and wonderful world has just continued to be opened up to me.

 

When we are willing to see the things we need to sacrifice to grow closer to the Lord, when we are willing to surrender them at the foot of the cross,

Fifth Slide: "? the next step in growing into a life of significance is submission."

This is probably one of the hardest steps in living a life of significance for the Lord. How many of us know exactly what we need to be doing in some area of our life, to be living more fully for the Lord? We know it, but we will not submit ourselves to the Lord's will in that area?

Think about the areas of our life we suffer in just because we refuse to submit that part of our lives to living as the Lord would want us to. I have read in several studies that if people would eat right and exercise, if they would stop the bad habits many of us have, we could close half or more of the hospitals in our nation. I have read in several studies and seen it work out in my own life that if people would just live within their means we would have no debt as a nation.

And the if people would just tithe to the church and the church in turn took care of those in true need, we would not have to have one government program. Just think of how much our tax payments would be cut, if we just went back to the biblical principles of how to care for one another. Just think of how all of our life would be so much better if we would just submit all aspects of our lives to living as Christ calls us to live.

This leads to the fourth sign of living a life of significance for the Lord and Sixth Slide:  "? that is living a life of simplicity."

 Simplicity is finding meaning and enjoyment in the most important things of life. Simplicity means to focus on how to love others instead of filling our lives full of things to do. Simplicity is when we find ways to spend time with the Lord in prayer and in living out his word. Simplicity is when we see what is important in life and we allow ourselves to just relax and enjoy the little moments that touch our lives each day.

When we are able to do this we easily move into the fifth step of living a life of significance,

Seventh Slide: "?which is servanthood."  

We have been leaning in our marriage class on Sunday evenings the greatest way to show your love for those around you is through serving them. When we begin to place the needs of others ahead of our own needs, we began to receive blessings beyond belief from God. I cannot think of a mission trip I have been on, where I have not gained back so much more then I ever gave. I cannot think of a time when I have placed another's needs before my own, where I have not felt God's peace welling up inside of me.

 

When we are willing to serve others out of love for the Lord and not of a duty we think we have to complete, it is then God's Spirit will often empower us to go beyond what we ever thought we could do and we will feel such a renewing of God's love within our lives.

This leads to an unusual step in living a life of significance for the Lord and Eight Slide: "?that is in allowing ourselves to be surprised."

 Listen to these words from

Ninth Slide: Ephesians 3: 20 - 21, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever Amen!"

When one Christian commits there life to following Christ with all there heart, soul, mind and strength we can see throughout history how the Lord has used that person to make a difference in so many peoples lives.

Now imagine what would happen if 100 people, all from one church would commit to do the same. Imagine the power of God's Spirit overflowing the walls of this church and going out into the community and then into the world impacting lives. We have the opportunity through serving the Lord to live in constant surprise of what He will do in and through us.

This leads to the last step, which as you hear it, you can tell in many ways it is also the first step in leading a life of significance for the Lord,

Tenth Slide: "? and that is silence."

 This is a time to come before the Lord and to listen to that still small voice.

This message has been heading toward a question. The question is this,

Eleventh Slide:  "Do you want to live even more of a life of significance for the Lord then you are right now?"

Do you want to live the fullest life God is offering to you as you go through your days on this earth? Only you can answer that question, but we can work together to build that life of significance if you want to step up to a challenge.

In a few moments we are going to share in Communion, as you come forth to share you are going to be given an opportunity to share in a time of silent prayer. You can pray in your seats or you can come to the altar for prayer, kneeling at the foot of the cross. As you spend time in prayer I encourage you to ask God to help you to decide if you want to lead even more of a life of significance for the Lord then you are right now?

As you pray in silence, listen to the voice of the Lord as He speaks to you. If you are sensing a desire to want to live more of a life of significance for the Lord, then ask God to help you to take that first step today. Let that first step be to say yes, I want to do more of what the Lord is calling me to do. If you want to take that next step in your faith journey I invite you to do four things before you leave this church, this morning.

Twelfth Slide: First of all spend some time in prayer.

Allow yourself to be touched by the Holy Spirit.

Thirteenth Slide: Then as the Spirit moves you come to share in communion.

As you share, remember all the Lord has done for you. Give thanks to God for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, knowing you have been offered a new life through Christ. If you have felt a calling by the Lord to live an even greater life of significance for Him, stepping out in a new way in your faith journey,

Fourteenth Slide: "? then commit to join us in taking part in the Kingdom Assignment Two."

If you chose to join us in this new adventure for the Lord you are invited to pick up this book. In this book are the seven steps I just lifted up to you. They are seven steps to help us to grow in living a more significant life for the Lord. One of the steps in the Kingdom Assignment II is being willing to find a way

Fifteenth Slide: "? to raise $100 to help the poor and those in need among us."

All of us who chose to take part in this Kingdom Assignment will gather at a later date to pray and be guided by the Lord in how we are to use the money that has been raised.

I have had the privilege of reading through and putting this Kingdom Assignment into practice for the last several months and I can tell you from my experience and the experiences of those recorded in the book, living out our lives by taking the next step in our faith journey is the most challenging and rewarding thing we can every do.

At this time we are going to prepare to come before our Lord in prayer, we are going to have time just to be in silence before our Lord, asking Him to guide us today. Then as the Spirit moves you, you are invited to come and share in communion and if you feel a nudging from the Holy Spirit, you are invited to pick up a copy of this book, and to sign up to be a part of the Kingdom Assignment II. You are invited to allow God to show you what it is like to take that next step in your faith journey and to live an even greater life of significance for Him.

Sixteenth Slide: Will this be an Easter Sunday you will look back upon and know the Lord has touched your life in a deeper way? Praising the Lord through Living a Life of Significance, what a powerful gift we are being offered!

Let us come before our Lord in prayer.

 

 

Praising the Lord through Living a Life of Significance

 

            Today I want us to look at one way we can wrap all of these together by praising the Lord through living a life of Significance.

 

I want to start by asking a question, "If you were to look at your life right now, if you were to take a close look at your walk with the Lord, what would you say stands between you and a even more significant relationship with God?"

 

The first is living a life of sacrifice.

 

            When you are willing to look at the things that separate you from a closer walk with the Lord then the next step in leading a more significant life for God is complete surrender to His will.

 

When we are willing to see the things we need to sacrifice to grow closer to the Lord, when we are willing to surrender them at the foot of the cross, the next step in growing into a life of significance is submission.

 

This leads to the fourth sign of living a life of significance for the Lord and that is simplicity.

 

When we are able to do this we easily move into the fifth step of living a life of significance, which is servanthood.

 

This leads to an unusual step in living a life of significance for the Lord and that is in allowing ourselves to be surprised.

 

This leads to the last step, which as you hear it, you can tell in many ways it is also the first step in leading a life of significance for the Lord, and that is silence.

 

As you pray in silence, listen to the voice of the Lord as He speaks to you. If you are sensing a desire to want to live more of a life of significance for the Lord, then ask God to help you to take that first step today.

 

First of all spend some time in prayer

 

Then as the Spirit moves you come to share in communion. A

 

If you have felt a calling by the Lord to live an even greater life of significance for Him, stepping out in a new way in your faith journey, then commit to join us in taking part in the Kingdom Assignment Two.

 

One of the steps in the Kingdom Assignment II is being willing to find a way to raise $100 to help the poor and those in need among us.

 Praising the Lord through Living a Life of Significance, what a powerful gift we are being offered!

 

 

 

 

Sunday March 21st, 2010

Sermon

Slide One: Praising the Lord through our Senses

          Have you ever noticed how much of our health we take for granted until something goes wrong? I have gout and when it acts up it hurts to walk. Sometimes it hits in the ankle and sometimes in the knee. Whenever this acts up I always find myself dreading just standing up and then starting to walk. I make sure once I am up I can get as much done as I can before I sit down again. Knowing for me, the most painful time is starting to walk, after sitting for awhile.

          Or has there ever been a time when something happened and you lose the use of a certain ability for a time and you realize how much you had taken it for granted. When I was in high school I was playing basketball and my cousin poked me in the eye. I could feel the finger going into my eye to the first knuckle. For almost a week I had trouble seeing out of that eye, things I had read so easily were blurry, I had headaches and it just made it hard to concentrate on anything. The funny thing looking back on it is that after my cousin poked me in the eye he was screaming and hollering because of how gross it was to feel his finger go that far into my eye. You would have thought he cut off his finger the way he was carrying on. I tease him about that every once in awhile.

          I have shared these things to get us thinking about the ways we can use our senses to praise God and to draw closer to Him and how often we forget to do this until something happens.    

          A dear older woman in the first church we served talked about her gift to music. She shared that her gift to music was that she listened when others sang or played an instrument. She then said, just think, if it wasn't for me listening, the people sharing their talents would be wasting their time. She understood the gift of the senses God has given us to enjoy the things in this world.

Slide Two:  I firmly believe one way we honor and praise the Lord is through using every one of our senses we have been blessed with to enjoy the beauty that God has surrounded us with.

          As I have shared before I have been able to see the beauty of God's creation in many ways. I have had the privilege to stand on the shore of the ocean and listen to the power of the waves. I have had the blessing of standing on mountaintops and just looking down at the valleys stretching for miles. When we were in Africa our missionary took us to one of the highest dunes in the desert, it was at dusk, and we were able to watch as the sun began to go down and it looked like it was just melting into the miles and miles of sand.

          Then when I read different passages in the Bible about heaven, it makes me wonder just how beautiful it will be when we are there.

Listen to these words from Psalm 50: 2.

Slide Three:  "From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance."

As God calls the people before Him on judgment day we will see what perfect beauty really is. The beauty of the Lord is looked at in a different way in Romans 10: 15, Listen to these words.

Slide Four:  "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news."

This scripture in Romans is a quote from the book of Isaiah, when the prophet reminds the people in Chapter 52 of that book, that it is Christ who will bring freedom to the Israelites once again.

          To put this into perspective think about what would happen if you were in bondage, if you were being held captive against your will, if you had lost all hope and you found yourself lying facedown on the floor, in a cold, dark, prison cell? You are in despair, completely drained of all hope, than the cell door is opened and someone is standing in front of you and they announce that they have been working for you and now you had been granted freedom? Wouldn't you just want to grasp those feet and hold onto them, wouldn't you just lay there in tears realizing what a wonderful gift you have been given.

So weak, so defeated, sapped of all your energy, and then hearing the words, your sins have been forgiven, I paid for them; you are free to go. Imagine all of your senses on edge, could these words be true.

          As I was thinking about how we can praise God with all of our senses the passage of scripture that came to mind was about the woman who anoints Jesus feet with oil. Listen to this passage of scripture from Luke 7: 36 - 38.

Slide Five: "One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to come to his home for a meal, so Jesus accepted the invitation and sat down to eat. A certain immoral woman heard he was there and brought a beautiful jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she keep kissing his feet and putting perfume on them."

The Pharisee could not believe Jesus was letting this immoral woman touch him. The religious leader had judged this woman and left her for dead in her sins. But she trusted that Christ could forgive her, she came to him before her sins were forgiven trusting in his grace. She was so overwhelmed at Jesus' presence she could do nothing, but weep and cling to his feet, washing them with her tears and drying them with her hair and then anointing then with perfume, she did this in thankfulness for all that Christ was offering her. Then listen to verses 48 & 50, Slide Six:        "Then Jesus said to the women, ?Your sins are forgiven." And he also says, "Your faith has saved you, go in peace."

Think about this for a few moments. The Pharisee saw Jesus, but only approached him from a thinking perspective. He judged who Jesus was instead of seeing what Jesus was offering him. The women allowed her senses to be open to who Christ was, she could sense the healing grace Jesus was offering to her, as she drew closer to His healing grace, in thankfulness all she could do was drop to her knees and let her emotions flow out in loving action.

When they left they house that day, the women knew she was forgiven of all her sins, she knew with all of her senses she was a forgiven sinner through the grace and mercy of Christ. The Pharisee appears to have come away from the encounter even more of a sinner then before, because he was unable to sense the power of Christ at work right before him. 

          Could it be that at times we miss the grace of our Lord at work right in front of us, because we try to process what is happening with our minds instead of our emotions?

Slide Seven:         Could it be we miss sensing the Holy Spirit at work in our midst because we will not let our guard down enough to be overwhelmed by Christ's amazing grace?   

          I know the deepest impact the Holy Spirit has had on my life has been in the moments when I have allowed myself to just let go and let God move within me.

I think the biggest reason we sometimes do not let go and let God move within us, is that we may lose control and we may be overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord welling up from within our very souls.

Slide Eight:  When we allow our senses to begin to open up to the Spirit of the Lord moving within our midst it often changes our lives and takes us out of our comfort zone.

When we look at the story of the woman who was a sinner and the religious leader's encounters with Christ we can see so clearly how one walked away a different person and one walked away even more bitter. The woman was freed of her sins and her life would never be the same again. The Pharisee may have been one who watched Jesus be hung on the cross and stood there thinking he deserved what He got for hanging around with the people he did.

Slide Nine: One of the hardest things about allowing God to move within our lives through our senses is the moments of vulnerability.

To realize we are sinners in need of God's wonderful grace. To realize how often we have judged someone and condemned them to hell, only to find out we are the ones who were wrong and in need of God's grace. When we allow the Holy Spirit to touch us through our senses the whole world seems different and every encounter we have can be used for serving Christ in some way.

          When we sense God's grace and love moving within us through our senses, we begin to realize our enemies are not as bad as we thought they were, our anger and bitterness begins to melt away, our love for others begins to grow and we can see how the struggles we are in, can be overcome through the power of the Holy Spirit working within us.

This is when we begin to sense the fruit of the Spirit taking root in our lives and maturing. We grow in our understanding of what true Godly joy, peace and patience can be. We come to understand how gentleness, kindness and self control can become more then just words as we begin to live more fully for others then for ourselves.

Does this mean our world will become perfect and all our problems will be solved? No, what it means is that we will see more clearly how allowing the Holy Spirit to touch us through our senses will just help us to move through the things in our life in a more Godly way.

          So I want to invite you as we move to the end of the Lenten Season to allow yourselves to let the Holy Spirit touché your senses in deeper way then maybe you have in awhile, to open your life up to Christ in new ways.

Slide Ten:   To take the time to enjoy the beauty all around you and just as important to take the time to enjoy the beauty of God at work within you.

          We are  offered such a wonderful gift from God. To be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and to have our senses become alive through that power. To begin to see the world through the eyes of Christ, which leads to living out our lives more fully as Christ would want us to. To know our sins are forgiven and our future with the Lord is secure which in tune gives us even more peace and joy. All of this is offered to us as a gift, a gift that has to be opened, in order to enjoy.

Slide Eleven:        Praising the Lord through our senses, are you doing this as fully as you could be?

If your answer is no, can I ask, what you are waiting for?

          Let us come before our Lord in prayer. 

 

"Praising the Lord through our Senses"

 

            Have you ever noticed how much of our health we take for granted until something goes wrong?

 

            I firmly believe one way we honor and praise the Lord is through using every one of our senses we have been blessed with to enjoy the beauty that God has surrounded us with.

 

Psalm 50: 2 "From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance."

 

 Romans 10: 15 "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news."

 

So weak, so defeated, sapped of all your energy, and then hearing the words, your sins have been forgiven, I paid for them; you are free to go. Imagine all of your senses on edge, could these words be true.

           

Luke 7: 36 - 38 "One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to come to his home for a meal, so Jesus accepted the invitation and sat down to eat. A certain immoral woman heard he was there and brought a beautiful jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she keep kissing his feet and putting perfume on them."

 

Luke 7: 48 & 50 "Then Jesus said to the women, ?Your sins are forgiven."  "Your faith has saved you, go in peace."

 

 The women allowed her senses to be open to who Christ was, she could sense the healing grace Jesus was offering to her, as she drew closer to His healing grace, in thankfulness all she could do was drop to her knees and let her emotions flow out in loving action.

 

            Could it be we miss sensing the Holy Spirit at work in our midst because we will not let our guard down enough to be overwhelmed by Christ's amazing grace?        

             

 When we allow our senses to begin to open up to the Spirit of the Lord moving within our midst it often changes our lives and takes us out of our comfort zone.

 

            One of the hardest things about allowing God to move within our lives through our senses is the moments of vulnerability.

 

            To take the time to enjoy the beauty all around you and just as important to take the time to enjoy the beauty of God at work within you.

 

            We are being offered such a wonderful gift by God. To be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and to have our senses become alive through that power.

 

Praising the Lord through our senses, are you doing this as fully as you could be?