Yield Ahead!

Acts 8:26:

As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Henri Nouwen was an expert in psychology and religion; he spent many years teaching at Harvard and Yale. But then in the spring of 1985, he wrote these words in his journal:

I want to cry out loudly to my colleagues and students: “Do not serve Harvard, but God and His beloved, Jesus Christ, and speak words of hope to those who suffer from loneliness, depression, and spiritual poverty. But I myself have come to the painful discovery that when I am chained by ambition, it is hard for me to see those who are chained by poverty. Therefore this is not a time to play the prophet, but a time to listen more carefully to the voice of God calling within me.” (excerpt taken from "The Daily Devotional Bible")

In response to the voice of God, Henri left Harvard for Toronto to care for mentally retarded persons in a household connected with the I’Arche federation. Later, in a moving speech at Harvard, Henri reported that the apparent demotion of working with a severely handicapped young man had given him “a whole new understanding of God’s love.”

In a recent trip to Mexicali, Mexico, a group of seniors answered God’s call to go south. The mission trip was our fourth year serving a senior citizen orphanage in Mexicali. The facility housed and cared for 12 elderly orphans, the oldest of whom is 102 years old. In some of the most moving acts of humble service, God showed up in the hands and feet of the team. The team spent a little less than a week serving the orphans, washing their feet and giving pedicures, assisting with physical therapy, and a renovation of their poor sleeping quarters. Additionally, they supported and ministered to the couple who serve selflessly and tirelessly at the orphanage.

Possibly, Philip thought it was a demotion when the Lord told him to head for Gaza. After all, Philip had been leading a wildly successful ministry in the Samaria area. Now God wanted him to talk to a single foreigner standing in the desert. I'm sure he thought to himself, "Are you sure Lord?" But he obeyed the Lord and ended up sending an enthusiastic new believer back to Ethiopia (Nubia), extending the reach of the Gospel!

As with Henri Nouwen -- and our missions team to Mexicali -- God’s call on our lives may not meet our expectations. Whether prestigious or obscure, publically successful or personally humbling, God will direct us. The truth is we are His to direct. Faithfulness is what matters most to Him. Banishing your pride, ask God to confirm that you are doing all He wants you to be doing. Then sit with your palms of your hands facing upward, in the receiving position, and listen for God to speak.

A prayer for the day:
I want to help build your kingdom, Lord; that’s all. Send me where you will. Assign me the task of your choice. I will do it.

posted by:
Dan Wade
Pastor of Congregational Care

True Wisdom is Trusting God

Proverbs 3:7:

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

Matthew Henry’s concise commentary states, “There is not a greater enemy to the fear of the Lord in the heart, than self-conceit of our own wisdom.”

The first half of Proverbs 3:7 says, “Do not be wise is your own eyes.” This statement is brief and to the point and one would think it would be simple to adhere to. But so many times, our human arrogance convinces us that we are knowledgeable too and because we have deemed ourselves wise, we replace God’s wisdom with our own.

The problem is that we begin to rely on our own understanding. We act independently from God and conduct our lives as we see fit. But we are human, fallible by nature and our wisdom is finite. Inevitably we will fail in our attempt to live life on our own. We cannot possibly understand or know everything as the omniscient God does and therefore, as believers, we are called to live by faith rather than understanding. This is difficult because faith seems contrary to our idea of wisdom.

Our response then is found in the second half of the verse, “fear the Lord and shun evil.” We must reject our own “self-conceit” and acknowledge God’s superiority. We must trust that He is sovereign, just as He promises. Fearing the Lord leads to a reverent dependency upon Him and trust in His way. We must deny the evil desire within us to rely on our own wisdom and adhere to His word as the final authority.

Job 28:28 states “...behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding.”

We must continually examine our lives and find those areas where we have decided that we are wiser than God and in a true display of wisdom, humbly surrender to Him.

posted by:
Dan Demuri
Worship Leader

The Hall of Faithfulness

Hebrews 12:1-2:

v1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. v2. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.

The apostle Paul often mentions our journey as followers of Jesus in relation to sporting events and many times as a race. This is an easy idea for me as a former athlete in high school and junior college. There is a start and a finish (goal); there is training (preparation); and there is sacrifice.

Paul gives us some real practical advice on how to run the race: our journey with Jesus.

First, we see that we have had a great example of faith lived out before us by people of great faith. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is affectionately titled “The Hall of Faithfulness”. It mentions people like Abel, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and many others who, by faith, obtained a good testimony (finished the race well). None of them had an easy time. They struggled, sacrificed, failed, turned, doubted and at some point they all humbled themselves and surrendered themselves to God.

Don’t we all sometimes mirror there stories. First there is the crisis. Then we push and pull on our own power and intellect and make a bigger mess. We attempt to move forward, outside of God’s direction and power, and wonder then why it’s not working out the way we planned. It is only when we humble ourselves and surrender control back to God that we move forward in His power and in doing so glorify God .

We need to remind ourselves of those great examples mentioned in Chapter 11 and learn from them. Read their stories and be inspired by the power of God in their lives so we may know that we to have a God who is more than able to accomplish a great work in us.

Second, we see that Paul give us practical training tips so we can run this race to the best of our abilities. Vs.1b. “let us strip off every weight that slows us down”. I believe that Paul is talking about non-sin issues here. These are things that have taken root in our lives and prevented us from effectively living for Jesus. It might be hobbies, sports, TV, video games, work, relationships, worries, etc. Simply put, anything that prevents us from being fully devoted followers of Jesus. I am sure some of you may be reading this saying, “Not me…it’s Jesus first for me”. But deep down we all have things in our lives that we struggle with, things that have priority over our faith. Paul is asking us to strip those things away that have taken priority over following Jesus. Not all things are bad, but if they are not in their proper place in our hearts, get rid of them! They will just slow you down. A runner strips off all the extra baggage so they can have little to no resistance. What are those things in your life that God is asking you to strip off. What are those things that give you resistance? Ask God to reveal those thing to you and then in humility act in obedience and strip those things away.

V1c. “especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress”. In the NKJV version the wording used is “ensnares” us. That word picture is like a trap that prevents us from moving forward at all. I like to teach this word picture with an illustration of a weed. We all have probably had experience with weeds in our yard and or garden. At first the weed is tiny. We sometimes don’t even know it is there. Then soon that weed grows and we notice it but it isn’t really affecting anything in the yard or garden. But, after awhile, that weed, if it goes unchecked, grows and grows until it wraps itself around the flowers/plants and eventually chokes the very life out of the flowers. The weed ensnares, it grips, and it entangles itself until it is all that you see. The flowers/plants no longer grow. The eventually die off. Paul is talking about sin here. Sin is like the weed. It slowly gains a foot hold in our life if it goes unchecked. It will eventually wrap you up and prevent you from ever finishing the race. Your testimony for Jesus is halted and ineffective. Maybe today we take a long look at what is it that may have a hold of us. Maybe we look at ourselves and do a little weeding in our lives. For some of us the weeds are still small. We can simply do a little maintenance and the garden will flourish once again. Maybe for some of us we have to do a major overhaul. We need to really get in there and get rid of everything and start over. Whatever it takes to run the race and finish well. It is never too late to pull the weeds and replant. Get rid of the distractions and sin, v1d. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.

Finally, how do we do this? v2. “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish”. Keep your eyes on the One who endured the cross for you, the One who can empower you. Keep your eyes on the “One”. His name is Jesus.

posted by:
Tim Layfield
High School Pastor

It Changes Everything

1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 14, 17:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

Easter is the celebration of the bedrock truth of our faith. It changes everything. Yet, it’s easy to get lost in the busyness of the days or just become “too familiar” with the Easter story that we lose sight of its significance. It’s also so easy to get lost in all the grass, eggs, bunnies, chocolate, marshmallows and food. Now in and of itself, the cultural celebration of Easter is not bad, but this isn’t Easter. Easter is the celebration of the greatest phenomenon to rock the history of humankind! The most unfair, undeserving and scandalous reality took place a couple millennia ago. Yet, it was all for the Father’s glory and for our redemption that Jesus was brutally and horrifically murdered.

Paul states that of first importance is that Jesus was unjustly humiliated, abandoned, flogged, beaten, pierced and nailed onto a tree to asphyxiate. In addition, death could not defeat Him and on the third day He supernaturally was raised from the dead. First importance. This is ALL that matters, for if it didn’t happen we are still enslaved to our wicked rebellion against God. Therefore, it is essential that we grasp the significance of this week, for our whole Faith rests on it!

See, Jesus’ mission was to save or redeem us from our selfish and self-centered ways. Jesus lived to die, but then to rise again from the dead to prove that He is God, defeating our greatest enemy: spiritual death and separation from God because of our wickedness.

There are two things we should do as we prepare for this monumental three days of reflection, tears, appreciation and celebration:

One is that we need to take intentional and specific time to “relive” Jesus’ death. To “relive” the pain and suffering He endured all for our own benefit – to sacrifice Himself to be our substitute payment for our sin! Practically, here are some tips to “relive” this event. Take some time on Thursday or Friday to re-read the Gospel accounts or listen to them on tape, CD or MP3 or you can also watch (or re-watch) Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and enter into the emotion and pain that Jesus went through for His Father’s glory and for your salvation! Identify with Christ’s suffering and garner a greater appreciation for His work

Second, look forward to the Resurrection by taking time to identify in your life, signs of Jesus’ resurrection power working in and through you. Thank Jesus. Praise Jesus. Fall down on your face and worship Jesus. Because of first importance is what occurred many years ago, and we need to celebrate it! It is all about Jesus. He came to die and to conquer death so that those who would come to Him in repentance (change of mind and behavior) and believe upon Him shall be reconciled back to the Father! Why is this so important? Jesus changes everything!!!

posted by:
Matt Newton
Small Groups Pastor

Grace & Truth, Part 2

John 1:17:

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

In the devotional I posted a few weeks ago (Grace & Truth Part 1), I discussed Jesus’ principle of balancing grace with truth, and I focused primarily on grace. We learned that grace is intended to point people to Christ, not to blindly dismiss behaviors, actions, or attitudes. Therefore, Godly truth is essential to extending grace that points to Christ.

Truth is not a warmly welcomed element in our current culture. We live in a world that tends to shy away from absolute truth, because inevitably it will mean that something, or someone, is wrong- and that creates a perception of arrogance and superiority that no one wants to be accused of. However, God created a world of order and precision, and to adhere to that order means some things are concretely true, while others are not. Our society has a tendency uphold fairness above truth; however, God did not put that standard in place. We did. Is it fair that God sent Jesus to die for us? No. Is it fair that God proclaims that Jesus is the only way to the Father? Some would argue no, but it does not negate the truth. Truth is not always popular, but it is necessary.

As we head into the celebration of Easter, let us open up God’s Word, and open the minds that He gave us, and begin to separate worldly opinions of “fairness” from absolute truth. The truth is that Christ died for our sins. The truth is that Christ rose again, conquering death and sin. The truth is that Christ offers salvation to anyone who confesses his/her sins, and calls upon the Lord to be saved. The truth is that Christ is the only way to salvation. We see these truths laid out time and time again for us in Scripture.

Easter represents the perfect blending of grace and truth. The grace that He gave us by dying for our sins becomes the truth we must accept for our salvation. Hopefully, the more we grasp this balance of grace and truth, the more we will realize our mission to administer grace and loving truth to others- all in the name of bringing others to Christ.

posted by:
Kevin Goldstein
Director of Worship