WHY BE PART OF THE CHURCH:

“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, and according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:10, 11 (NIV)

I came across an interesting website some time ago called Churchshoppers.com, it’s not even a working website today.  It intrigued me at the time so I saved it and here's what it said:
"Finding the right home church is one of the most important decisions you will make for you and your family. Where other services provide you with an address and phone number, Churchshoppers matches you to possible churches based on compatibility in the most important areas of life – denominations, preaching style, music style, children’s and Youth ministry!"

Obviously the website didn’t work to well. I am concerned as your pastor about this whole consumer church mentality that places all the emphasis on what a church can do for me. Now I’m all for having fun and doing things in a service that makes the worship or message explode in your heart. Because the Holy Spirit empowers what we do; but should these be the most important areas of church life “denominations, preaching style, music style, [and] children’s and Youth ministry.”

We shouldn’t be all that surprised at this “me-first” approach to church. It seems that, especially in our culture, the gospel is far too often presented as though it was designed for our personal benefit and enjoyment.  

I don’t mean this to be harsh, but this is my thought after 30 years of ministry: have we been deceived into thinking that Jesus died on the cross so we can have a happy, peaceful life. “Just come to Jesus and you can have a perfect family and a nice house in the suburbs so you can drive your brand new SUV to your fulfilling job.” So it’s just natural that the same kind of mindset has permeated our attitudes about why we’re part of the church.

Our focus should never be on us and our happiness. Our focus should be completely on this great God who has chosen in His infinite wisdom to bless us with all these spiritual blessings.

I’m going to blow your mind; it’s not always about monetary blessings. Does he bless us monetarily, yes, but is it more than that? We get this amazing privilege to participate in God’s work of redemption and to share in all these blessings, but God has not just done all this for our own personal enjoyment, although that is certainly a byproduct.

God has gifted us with His grace so that together with the other members of His family we can participate in the process of paying it forward into the lives of others. That’s what we did yesterday @2^nd harvest for Serve Day. Paying it forward helping other people as the church of Christ. Paul has only used the word “church” once up to this point in his letter, the concept of the church has clearly been in view throughout what he has written.

“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, and according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:10, 11 (NIV)

This passage is difficult for two reasons:
• We have to deal with the idea of the manifold wisdom of God being made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms; that’s a concept that’s not real easy to get our minds around.
• The more difficult issue, though, is how do I take this passage and explain it in a way that we can actually take and use it in our lives.

He gives us three compelling reasons why all of us need to be part of this body he calls the church. These principles are an antidote to the whole concept of the “consumer church.

Tomorrow: WHY BE PART OF THE CHURCH:

God has Given us Revelation so We can Search Deeper

“…the unsearchable riches of Christ…”

Notice that Paul writes that he has been called to preach the “unsearchable riches of Christ.” The word translated “unsearchable” indicates something that is impossible of being understood by the human mind.

There are two ways that we can react to the concept that the riches of Christ are unsearchable. Some people have a fatalistic attitude. They reason that since we can never fully understand the things of God they might as well just give up and not try to dig any deeper. Paul took a different approach, however. We can see that even more clearly if we go to another of his letters. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote about knowing Christ:

“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” Philippians 3:8 (NIV)

Paul rejoiced in the fact that Jesus had revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus one day. He considered the revelation of Jesus Christ to be of greater worth than anything else in his life. He goes on to say:
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…” Philippians 3:10 (NIV)

Even though Paul had just written about the greatness of knowing Christ, there is a sense in which his life work is to seek to know Him even more. When I put those verses together with our passage from Ephesians what Paul seems to be saying is that the fact that his knowledge of Jesus is limited, his motivation to dig deeper and to learn everything he can is greater. Paul acknowledges that the riches of Christ are not fully understandable to us as humans, but he is going to use all the tools he has available to learn and understand all that he possibly can.

Proverbs 25:2 reinforces this principle:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”  
On one hand, God gets glory because he chooses to conceal some things about Himself, His purposes and His ways. Essentially that’s what makes Him God. If we could figure out everything about God, he would no longer be God. On the other hand, there is a sense in which man gets glory through the process of seeking to better understand those unsearchable riches. God uses that process of seeking to know Him better to enrich our relationship with Him.

So what is your life work? It’s probably not protecting the rights of animals or visiting a Taco Bell in each of the 50 states in the U.S. But God has given each of His children a unique ministry and he gifts us with His grace so we can overcome our failures and He equips us with His power to overcome our weaknesses. And then He reveals Himself to me so I can search even deeper into who He is. You are loved!

God has Given Us Power to Overcome Our Weaknesses

“…by the working of his power…”

We make so many excuses for not serving God:
• I’m too old
• I’m too young
• I’m too tired
• I’m not smart enough
• I don’t know enough
• I don’t have enough money
• I don’t have enough time
• I don’t have the abilities I need

What you are basically telling God is I just want to do my own thing. I know God you have all this for me but God to bad.

Paul certainly had all kinds of excuses he could have used when God called him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles:
• I’m a Jew, what do I know about the Gentiles?
• I don’t know enough about Jesus – why don’t you use one of the disciples?
• I’m too old – send someone younger.
• No one will listen to me
• I have this thorn in the flesh

But Paul made it really clear that in spite of all his weaknesses God had equipped him with God’s power in order to carry out God’s plan for his life. The Holy Spirit is inside you right now to do great things. Paul’s weaknesses became a platform for God to demonstrate His strength. It was the Holy Spirit inside Paul that God used to empower him in his gifts. Paul even prayed to remove the obstacle, whatever it was:

“But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

Isn’t it amazing how often God calls His people to do something that they are seemingly unequipped to accomplish? He picked a murderer with a speech impediment to lead His people out of Egypt. He picked a young, small boy who wasn’t even big enough to wear armor to slay a giant and to later become the greatest king of Israel. He picked a young, unmarried teenager to become the mother of His Son. And He entrusted the entire future of the gospel to a group of uneducated, common fisherman and tax collectors.

God can even take someone with very little religious background to be the pastor of this church. I’m still amazed at that! The only reason that I can share this message is because God has equipped me. There is certainly nothing in my own life that makes me worthy to do what I’m doing right now.

God actually delights in equipping us with His power in those areas of our greatest weakness because then He is the one who gets the glory. Rather than viewing our weaknesses as something that can keep us from serving God. We need to look at them as opportunities for God to pour His power into our lives. Ask Him for more, He won't let you down. You are loved!

God has Given Us Grace to Overcome Our Failures

…according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me……though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given…

Paul is not the person that anyone would have expected for God to choose to be the primary communicator of the gospel to the Gentiles and to future generations through the letters he wrote.

Paul certainly didn’t feel like he was worthy of that distinction. He knew how completely he had failed God in the past. In fact, Paul is so sure of his unworthiness that he once again creates a new word to express that idea. When he writes that he is the “very least” of all God’s saints, he uses a compound word that emphasizes his unworthiness. Literally, it would be translated something like “leastest”. The NIV translation says “less than the least” . As Paul shared in his letter to Timothy, he had once been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man – not the kind of person we would expect for God to use in such a mighty way. But, God, completely apart from any merit on Paul’s part, gifted Paul with His grace in order to overcome those past failures.

I think that there are a lot of us who are paralyzed by our past failures, especially when it comes to being a minister for God. We know just how much we have failed God. We’ve turned away from Him, maybe even made fun of Him or persecuted His people. But the great thing about God’s grace is that it is more than sufficient to overcome those failures.

God’s grace effectively burns up all our past mistakes so we can start anew. That’s why Paul could write these words in another one of his letters:

“…But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14 (NIV)

No matter what you have done in the past, no matter how bad you may have failed God, He gifts you with His grace so that you can be effective in the unique ministry that he had given to you. You are loved!

HOW DOES GOD HELP ME WITH MY LIFE WORK

Ephesians 3:7-9
“This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities. And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along.”  Isn’t that amazing?

Let me ask you a question this morning: What would you say is your life work? What’s job here on earth? While you’re thinking about the answer to that question, let me share with you how one person answered that question:

Someone identified only as Harry:

In May of 1998, traveling through the Nevada desert, I discovered my life’s work, namely to enjoy a fine meal at a Taco Bell in each of the 50 US states. Unfortunately, my progress towards this goal has been higher in recent years than I had anticipated, with completion of my life’s work occurring in Anchorage on September 10, 2005. By most accounts, I still have somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 or so years of life expectancy to fill up somehow. I’m open to suggestions...  I love this stuff…

God has Given You and Me a Unique Ministry
“Of this gospel I was made a minister……to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things”
Paul’s ministry of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles was not something he thought up on his own, or even something to which he had aspired. It was a ministry that had been given to him by God. It was God who had made him to be a minister, or a servant, of the gospel. The word translated “minister” here is the word from which we get our English word “deacon”. It is a word that originally meant to run errands, and outside the Bible it referred to one who waited on tables, or a servant.
Paul’s ministry, or service, of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles was unique to him. It was a ministry that had been specifically assigned to him by Jesus. But Paul is not the only one to whom God has assigned a unique ministry. I’m convinced, based on the Scriptures, that God has given every one of His children a unique ministry.

I know what some of you are thinking right now – “ministry” is just for the pastors and the paid staff. I may have a job, but I’m not really a minister. Our problem is that we just have the wrong idea of what a minister is.

As we’ve already seen, the word “minister” just means a servant. You are simply someone who serves the kingdom of God. We’ve already seen in Ephesians 2:10 “that all of God’s children are created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” That’s ministry. When we get to Ephesians 4, we’re going to find that all of God’s people are to be engaged in works of service – that’s ministry.
You don’t have to quit your job to become a minister/servant. You can be a minister right where you are. When you serve the needs of other people, you’re being a minister. When God adopts us into his family, He provides each of us with a unique spiritual DNA that equips us for a unique ministry. And those ministries are as varied and different as our fingerprints and DNA. But there is no such thing as a Christian without a ministry.
I love this quote from Enrichment magazine from a Sunday school teacher who is also a public school teacher. She has a pretty good handle on this principle: I have known since I was a young child that I was meant to become a teacher. It is a career that runs through my family. About eight years ago I thought that I should try something other than teaching. That pursuit did not fulfill me the way teaching did and I learned from the experience that God designed me to be a teacher. I get the most joy from teaching those students that most adults shrink from: pre-teens and teenagers. When I was a beginning teacher with my first class, I could scarcely believe the trust society, parents and the students had in me. I am still humbled by it, and rely on the fear that I may lead someone astray to keep me on track as an educator. I want to give back to the system that gave me such a hunger for knowledge. And I want to live out the lesson that I most hope to teach my students: we each make a profound difference in the lives of each other.
God has designed each one of us to be a minister. Whatever gift that is. You are Loved!

Knowing God's Plan (3)

 

'...it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us...' Acts 15:28 NKJV


Knowing God's Plan for your life is essential in our Journey of faith. You must listen for God's guidance yourself. Many want someone else to tell them what God is saying. But if you are patient, God will speak to you too. So be carful, as long as you keep listening to people whose opinions don't align with God's Word and God's will, you'll be frustrated and get nowhere. When important decisions that affect the future must be made, you must be able to hear from God. You must also welcome feedback. Why? Because if you're not teachable, you're not usable. Now, the majority opinion can be valuable in run-of-the-mill matters, but when a God-given vision is at issue, first and foremost you must listen for God's guidance. You say, 'Isn't there wisdom in having a plurality of leadership?' Yes, even the best leaders have blind spots and need people with 20/20 vision in those areas. '...certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."' (Acts 15:1 NKJV) What was the result? '...Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, [and] they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.' (Acts 15:2 NKJV) How did the apostles handle it? They said: '...God, who knows the heart, acknowledged [the Gentiles] by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.' (Acts 15:8-9 NKJV) So after prayer and deliberation, the apostles wrote a letter to the church, saying, '...it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.' (Acts 15:28 NKJV) And what was the result? 'When they had read it, they rejoiced...' (Acts 15:31 NKJV) You are loved!

Knowing God's Plan (2)

 

'...show me now Your way, that I may know You and...find grace...' Exodus 33:13 NKJV

How do you get to know people. Two years ago I did a sermon series on just walk across the room. Sometimes it's that simple and others times it takes a little work. I'm not trying to sugar coat ministering to people. It's hard work yet very rewarding. Look at Moses...No minister has ever had so much trouble with a congregation as Moses had with the congregation of Israel in the wilderness. At the Red Sea, he was so happy that he wrote a song to celebrate their spectacular victory. But later, when the complaints were coming at him from every direction, he told God he wanted to die. It reminds me of one pastor who asked another, 'How many active members do you have in your church?' The other replied, 'Five hundred. Half of them are actively working for me, the other half are actively working against me.' You may laugh at that but the reality is that not all of you are on board with the mission and vision @CFW. But I know that all of you will play different roles in the plan God has given for our church. On his deathbed, Jacob prophesied over each of his twelve sons describing both their nature and their future. He said Reuben was unruly, Simeon and Levi were prone to anger, Judah was born for leadership, Zebulun would extend his borders, Issachar was willing to carry the load, Dan was sharp when it came to dealing with people, Gad was a fighter who wouldn't retreat, Asher loved cooking, Naphtali loved raising children, Joseph would be wounded but would come back stronger than ever, and Benjamin would be an entrepreneur who knew how to excel in business (Genesis 49). To minister to people successfully, you must know them. So pray, 'Show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.' You are loved...

Knowing God's Plan (1)

 

'You must build...according to the pattern I will show you.' Exodus 25:9 NLT


Thanks everyone who helped make our Biker Weekend a huge success. Incredible service yesterday that touched many lives. Thanks to Rev. Jim Powers and his wife for their faithful ministry to our church family.

I want to look at God's plan for our lives the next few days. How do you Go to God for His plan for your life. God told Moses: 'You must build this tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you.' God knows what you will need in the future, you don't. He prepared Noah a hundred years in advance of the flood. He prepared Joseph to feed Egypt seven years in advance of the famine. Without God's guidance the best you'll ever have are estimates, educated guesswork and projections. 'To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.' (Exodus 24:17-18 NLT) Moses spent over a month waiting in God's presence for direction. Why? Because what he was building had to meet the needs of God's people for generations. So go to the place of prayer. Tell those around you, 'I'm not coming back until I hear from God and get His plan!' When God orders it, He pays for it. But when He doesn't give the order, and you decide to do it anyway, you're on your own! Why? Because you won't have confidence to go to Him in your time of need. Unless you start right, you won't finish right. You say, 'But I'm nobody special. Why would God speak to someone like me?' If God has called you, and He has, then you're special. His promise is, 'If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God...and it will be given to him.' (James 1:5 NIV) You are loved...

It's Your Life

 

'...I have set before you life and death...choose life...' Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV


Choice is the greatest power God gave you. Too many of us just accept our lives - we don't become leaders of ourselves. One of the biggest things I had to learn was to lead not only myself, but others as well. Sometimes we just can't seem to get out of our own way. Thing about your life this way: when you die and go to meet your Maker, you're not going to be asked why you didn't become a messiah or find a cure for cancer. All you're going to be asked is why you didn't become you, why you didn't become all that you really are. Fulfilling God's will for your life requires taking responsibility for yourself and your life. How do you do that? By saying 'yes' to God first - then to yourself. Every time you say 'yes', you open yourself up to your God-given potential and to the greatest of possibilities. If you're used to saying 'no', you may find this difficult. If that is true in your case, then at least be willing to say 'maybe'. One day a father whose child was chronically ill asked Jesus to heal him. 'Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"' (Mark 9:23-24 NKJV) If you're a self-doubter, pray that same prayer. God will answer it. Never forget that you are unique, possessing talents, experiences and opportunities that no one else has ever had - or ever will have. You're responsible to become all God made you to be, not only for your own benefit but for everyone else's. You are loved!

Living Life out in Community

“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 3:4-6 (NIV)

Last Week this church community did one of the most amazing things…you lived out community and put it into action. I’m so proud of all of you who went and put Gods love into action at the Kenton’s. I know you touched that family and you touched me as your pastor because I got this really proud thing going on knowing you get this think about being in each other’s lives. God intends for us to live out our spiritual Journey within the community of believers.

Paul begins to describe what Community is in verse 6 and when he needs a word to describe something and there isn’t a common word that is adequate, Paul just creates his own words. He creates three compound words that all begin with a Greek prefix that means “together with.” Paul describes three aspects of Community in the church:

• Heirs together

Paul prays in chapter 1 that his readers would know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. Paul writes that we will one day experience the complete fulfillment of God pouring all His spiritual blessings into our lives and the idea that we are God’s inheritance, precious to Him. We are precious cargo…ever seen those signs with a little baby on them that hang in the back of car windows? You are one of God’s chosen; why wouldn’t you be special to him? Sometimes we allow Satan to tell us we are worthless, when all along God is telling us how precious we are to Him. You are precious because we are:

• Members together of one Body
We share in common a dependence upon each other. In both Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, Paul goes into much more detail about how the body of Christ only functions as God intended when every member fulfills its role within the body. I’ve actually had people tell me that this is an option in the bible and that we don’t really have to do anything unless we want to. We think the bible is like when we are out to dinner and we read the menu to see what our options are. We can pick and choose what we want to eat. There are no options when Paul says we need each other and we all have gifts and talents that must be used to the benefit of everyone. We are members together. Then he says we are:

• Sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus

In Ephesians 2:12, Paul had reminded his Gentile readers that before Jesus, they had been foreigners to the covenant of the promise. In both of these verses Paul uses the singular “promise” and not the plural. We together share the promise of Jesus so we in turn can share the promise to others.

I’m not going to belabor this point since we’ve already discussed it throughout our journey through Ephesians. But let me just say that there is absolutely no Biblical precedent for trying to live out this mystery of life on our own. God intends for all of His children to be connected together with others in this body of Christ we call the church.

Life is a mystery, one in which God reveals that mystery at just the right time, a mystery that is consistent with what God has already revealed in His Word and a mystery that is to be lived in community with other believers. You are loved!

 

God’s Revelation Never Violates His Word

 

In Ephesians 3 Verse 4 begins with this phrase: In reading this, then…

Although Paul’s readers didn’t realize it at the time, what they were reading right then would actually become part of the Bible, God’s Word. And one of the main criteria that would be used later to determine whether Paul’s letter would in fact be included in our Bible is whether what Paul wrote lined up with the rest of Scripture.

We live in a culture today where many people claim to have some new or special revelation from God. Most of the cults that we are familiar with are based on such claims. Even in the church, we have people who claim that God has spoken to them and given them some kind of new revelation. But the problem with this kind of new or special revelation is that it isn’t consistent with what the Bible teaches. If God gives a revelation it must lineup with His word, or it is false. Paul wrote some pretty strong words to warn against being deceived by false teaching:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” Galatians 1:6-9 (NIV)

The revelation that Paul received from God about the mystery of the church was completely consistent with everything that God had previously revealed in His Word. It was merely a further revelation of what God had already made known to his people and which had been recorded in the Scriptures.

Today, God’s revelation primarily comes through His word and gifts like prophesy, word of knowledge, and wisdom. But we can be assured that we will never have any revelation from God that is not consistent with what is already written down in His Word. If someone comes to with a word from God and that word does not line up with Gods word, it is false. Or if the word over a test time does not in-fact come true, it is false. The big test for us is to become mature so we won't be as Paul says, "

Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Let me give you another example. From time to time, I’ve had a Christian young man or woman come to me because they are considering marrying someone who is not a believer. And I’ve even had them ask me to pray that God would reveal whether he or she should marry an unbeliever. But there is really no need to do that because God has already clearly revealed His will in that area in 2 Corinthians 6:14 when Paul writes that "believers are not to be yoked together with unbelievers."
God’s revelation will never violate what he has already revealed in His Word! If you want to be strong spiritually, get into His word...you are loved!

God's Just in Time Technology

Just a reminder that our new Fuel Group Schedule is in place and ready to go. The group you signed up for yesterday is the group you need to go to this week. We have amazing groups you can be a part of. Please make Community discipleship a priority in your life! You won't regret it...(Sunday 9am Women's Jesus Calling, Monday @CFW 6:30pm Foundations, Tuesday 7pm @the Clark's, Thursday 7pm @the Collins, Friday 6:30pm Young Adults @the Nix's)


God reveals as We need to Know

This is something important that God wanted me to remind you of today. It was a part of yesterdays message that many of you were touched by as Gods Spirit spoke into your life. I love when God moves on as he did yesterday. Here's a reminder of why God gives us what we need, not always what we want.

God doesn't reveal his entire plan until His people are ready to understand and apply His truth in their lives. Remember the promise to Abraham in Genesis, he would have been completely unable to understand all of those details of God’s plan since Jesus wouldn’t even appear on the scene for thousands of years. So God just revealed to Abraham the part of His plan that Abraham needed to know in order to be obedient to God and fulfill God’s plan for his life.

God still works that way today. As much as some of us think we want to know exactly what the future will hold, the fact is we couldn’t handle it if we did. What if you knew that you would have a heart attack and die in advance? You would try with all your heart to change the outcome so you wouldn't die. So God reveals as much of his plan for us each day as we need to live out our lives one day at a time. Jesus made that quite clear in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”  Matthew 6:34 (Message) The verse before that says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”

Jesus is telling us that life is a mystery that God unfolds in our lives one day at a time. God reveals to us today what we need to live our lives today. And when tomorrow comes, he’ll give us what we need then.

Many businesses apply an inventory strategy called “just in time” or “JIT.” That strategy calls for them to obtain their raw materials only when they are actually needed for production rather than storing large quantities of those items. The idea is that they can save on the costs of storing those materials and avoid large outlays of cash to purchase supplies that won’t be needed for some time.

God uses the “just in time” technology method when it comes to revealing His plan for our lives. Because he knows it would be unproductive to give us more than we need right now.

That’s why Matthew 6:33-34 is such an important message for us in our lives. If we seek him first …have faith in him…he has our best interest at heart. You are Loved!

Life is a Mystery

“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 3:4-6 (NIV)


Just a reminder that we will be taking two special offerings on top of your normal tithes this Sunday...1. for General Fund Support 2. The Kenton Family. Please earmark your giving on your check or you can give online at calvarychurch-ag.org

I know what most of you are thinking right now – Pastor, tell me something I don’t already know. And although we all know intellectually that life is a mystery, the fact is that many of us don’t live our lives like we really believe that. If you doubt that, just look at how many people are trying to take the mystery out of their lives by consulting psychics, tarot card readers, fortune tellers, horoscopes, and fortune cookies. Now if you eat Chinese food with me we play a game called fortune prophesy and your fortune is a word from God…"not really" but we have fun with it...but many read these horoscopes and fortune cookies and think this stuff is real and applicable to their lives. The reality is many of us have allowed these thoughts and concepts into our lives to seek out the future.

The Bible is clear that we can’t know exactly what is going to happen in the future because that’s the way God ordained it. James makes that very clear:

“Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:13, 14 (NIV)

I don’t know if you remember Gilda Radner, she was on the cast of Saturday Night Live. She wrote this right before she died and had a better perspective on this principle than most Christians.

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned the hard way that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the most of it without knowing what’s going to happen next.”

We need to learn to embrace the fact that life is a mystery and we shouldn’t worry so much about what might happen or not happen tomorrow. You are loved...

Fuel Group Sign-ups This Sunday!

 

“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 3:4-6 (NIV)

Good morning,
By now most of you have heard that Kreg Kenton has passed away. Calvary and Crossview have teamed together to help the family out with meals the next two weeks. If you would like to help, here is the link http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=ILJR9450 to sign-up. Please keep Brenda and the Kids in your prayers. The Memorial service will be September 14th @1pm @Crossview.

One of the things that we have decided to do as a church is to move towards Sermon based small groups. You have probably heard me talk about this from the pulpit from time to time. To be in community with others is one of the biggest discipleship strategies you could make in your personal spiritual Journey with Christ. One of the reasons we have been studying the book of Ephesians is that Paul outlines a clear path of getting to know God, Christ, the church, and how to live that out in our lives. This Sunday is our Fuel Group sign-ups. I would love to see each and everyone of you make the decision to make discipleship a priority in your spiritual disciplines. The bible teaches and as we have seen in Ephesians, we need each other to make it in this world we live.

Yesterday I was reading an article from Fox news on a Christian business in the Portland area that was forced to close because they would not make a wedding cake for a Gay wedding. The Gay's literally attacked them, their business, and threatened to kill them. This is the world we live in. To be a follower of Christ will get harder for each of us as the return of Christ comes nearer. That's why Christian community is so important and that you be a part of a bible based loving Fuel Group. Why do we call them Fuel Groups? Because each of us need to be refilled weekly in God's word in a loving community.  Paul says we are:

• Heirs together
• Members together of one body
• Sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus
I hope you will chose to be a part of one of our amazing Fuel Groups...you are loved!

It's a Waste of Time

It's a Waste of Time

'A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.' Proverbs 15:1 NAS


Thank you to everyone who came and helped at the Kenton's yesterday. We have such an amazing church family... I'm very proud of you all! Thanks Charley for being you and speaking for me yesterday...you are incredible!

Ever been in a conversation were you said to yourself, why am I even speaking to this person? Do you sometimes find yourself saying, 'I get so angry when they refuse to listen to my viewpoint. How can I make them listen and hear what I'm trying to say?' Unless you're involved in an official debate, arguing with someone who's unwilling to listen is useless and a waste of time. Let me state that again; useless and a waste of time! the bible is very clear about this. State your viewpoint with clarity and purpose, but don't become defensive and argumentative if it's not received. You'll only hurt yourself and the relationship if you become argumentative. Don't allow anyone to draw you into strife or arguing. Hold your tongue, and try to remember these words of wisdom: 'A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of a fool spurts folly.' (Proverbs 15:2 NAS)  Arguing; it's a waste of time, and if you begin the opposite path, you will find yourself being an encourager verse a arguer. You are Loved!