The Cost of Love

May 17, 2012 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

There is a cost for love. God so loved the world that it cost him his one and only Son (John 3:16). When you profess love you will be able to point to a sacrifice you have made for the sake of that love. That is what love does.

Last weekend we celebrated Mother’s Day. How great is a mother’s love for her child! But as we think about it – as much as any mom ever loved her child – God’s love for you is even greater. How amazing is that?

When a woman becomes a mom, she takes on a purpose greater than herself. The things that once mattered to her no longer matter. Her joy is found in her children and not in herself.

Jesus says, “remain in my love . . . I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:9-11) He is telling us that if we want to experience true joy it is found in living for a purpose that is greater than ourselves. So many people live to make themselves happy. They make their personal enjoyment to be their ambition. But Jesus points out that he who would gain his life would loose it.

I want to inivte you to consider what you are living for. Are you living for yourself or are you living for purpose greater than yourself? As believers we have been called to follow Jesus. Our greater purpose is God’s purpose. It is God’s mission in this world to bring healing and hope to those who live in darkness. There is a cost to living with a purpose greater than yourself. But when we see the blessings that are given because the cost we pay, we experience the full and complete joy God desires for us.

Tomorrow night the Men of Lord of Life will be gathering. We are gathering for a tailgate party in the parking lot, but we are gathering for more than that. We are gathering to be revitalized, to reconnect with Jesus and each other, and to recommit our lives in service to him. Several of the men will be sharing their testimonies about how God moved them to live for more than themselves and how they are now experiencing the fruit of that change in their lives. So if you are a man, I would like to invite you to come and to join us and be encouraged.

A Mother’s Love, The Father’s Love

May 15, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

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It’s Mother’s Day. When we think about Mother’s Day we think about love. As much as our mothers love us. Jesus loves us more and that is the type of love we are called to love each other with. The reading is John 15:9-17.

Bearing Fruit

May 10, 2012 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

Do you know what the very first commandment was in the Bible. Before there was the 10 Commandments, God gave another command. We find it in Genesis.

Genesis 1:28 (NIV84) God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number . . .”

God desires for you to accomplish and acheive for the sake of his kingdom. Not only is this his desires, but he also gives us the ability.

John 15:5 (NIV84) I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit . . .”

Philippians 4:13 (NIV84) I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

When it comes to bearing fruit in our lives, there are two lessons we can learn from the vine. The first lesson is a hard lesson. It is the lesson of pruning.

John 15:2 (NIV84) 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

It is much easier to add one more thing to our life than it is to cut back. We fear that by cutting back we might be letting another person down, that we are missing out on an opportunity, or that our life will be less fulfilled. But to bear abundant fruit, pruning is a necessary endeavor. Consider what you may need to prune that is distracting you from a greater harvest.

The second lesson of the vine is remaining.

John 15:4 (NIV84) 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Remaining implies staying. Bearing fruit takes time. Fruit is not grown in days or weeks. It takes months to produce fruit. The branch must remain in the vine to receive its nourishment to bear its fruit. Keep watering and weeding while trusting in God to provide the sun and the rain. It may only be spring and the season of the harvest is a ways off, but that harvest will come in its time as long as you stay faithful.

Lessons from the Vine

May 7, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

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Today we learn a few lessons from the vine. Jesus loved to use everyday objects and experiences to heavenly concepts. Vineyards were plentiful in his time and these were something many people were familiar with. The reading is John 15:1-8. This story is the key to greater fruitfulness in our lives for which God created us for.

My Sheep Know My Voice

May 3, 2012 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). He is not just a good shepherd. He stands apart from all the rest. He is different. He is unique. The Book of Hebrews calls him “the Great Shepherd of the sheep.” (Hebrews 13:20) There is no other like him. There is no one else that can bring lasting and significant change into your life like Jesus. No one can have the impact that Jesus does. He has come that you might have full (John 10:10), abundant (Romans 5:17), and eternal life (John 3:16). It is only Jesus who can give these things. Everything else is an imitation of the real deal.

Jesus has come to bring us these things, yet we do not always experience it. Why not? The answer is because we are like sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way. (Isaiah 53:6) We are stubborn. We go our own way even to our own peril. Jesus leads us to green pasture and the still waters (Psalm 23:2) but we would rather walk through the parched desert.

If you are failing to experience the full and abundant life that Jesus has come to offer, ask yourself if you are allowing yourself to be shepherded by the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Jesus says, “my sheep know my voice. They listen to me and follow me.” (John 10:27) Do you know Jesus voice? Are you listening to that voice? And even more important, are you following that voice?

There is no substitute for spending time each day with the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Are you allowing him to prioritize your day or are you setting your own priorities? Whose agenda are you following? Is it your agenda or is it the agenda of the Good Shepherd?

The Bible says Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted yet he was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus knows and Jesus understands what you are going through. He is not a God who is far removed from us. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to the challenges of life because he has has experienced them himself. He is not talking from theory. It is wise to listen to his guidance.

If you have not yet taken time to listen to the Good Shepherd today I would encourage you to stop what you are doing. Open up your Bible. The Gospel of John is a great starting point. As you read, listen for the voice of the shepherd. You can hear his voice by asking yourself:

*Is there a verse, a word, an idea that stands out in my reading? (Often times a certain part of the reading will just jump off the page.) *Why does this verse, word, or idea stand out? *How does this apply to my life? *What is one thing I can do differently as a result of word, verse, idea?

When it comes to learning to had the voice of the Shepherd there is no place to turn to like the Scriptures. It is not that the voice of the Good Shepherd can be heard in different ways. It is that this is the primary way in which the Good Shepherd makes his voice heard. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

This next Sunday we will look at yet another illustration Jesus gives about how he helps us in our times of trial. This illustration is that of the vine and the branches found in John 15. We will examine the importance of pruning and of being connected to the vine. Looking forward to seeing you Sunday at 8:30 or 10am!

The Good Shepherd

April 29, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

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Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. The reading is John 10:11-18. In this message we discover what it means that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and how we are shepherded by him.

Believe!

April 26, 2012 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” John 20:27

Jesus gives us the invitation to believe. But to believe is not always easy. We get stuck in situations and circumstances where we lose hope. There are times when it seems like nothing will change. We are looking for that ray of sunshine but all we see are the storm clouds. We want to believe, but doubt is the more natural response because of all we observe.

The Bible says that in all things we are more than conquerors! Romans 8:36) It says thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:56) Jesus himself says to take heart because he has overcome the world! (John 16:33) These are promises to take hold of and to grasp by faith. It may seem like the devil and the world are winning right now. You may feel overwhelmed and defeated. There is nothing within you that can conjure up enough hope to see beyond your troubled circumstance.

If that is where you are, I want you to hear the invitation of Jesus. He invited Thomas to come, see and, touch. Today he gives you the same invitation to come, see, and touch. Confidence and hope does not come by trying to be more positive. Belief not about having enough strength and willpower to overcome doubt. Faith comes by receiving the invitation of Jesus to experience more and more of him. The Bible says, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) In other words our faith does not begin with us, it begins with Jesus. If you want faith don’t look at your circumstance. Don’t look within. Look to Jesus.

Thomas thought he needed to see and to touch the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and the wound upon his side. He was overwhelmed by Jesus’ death. But when he saw Jesus, everything changed. Doubt was replaced with belief. It was all Jesus.

My prayer for you is that if you find yourself what seems like an impossible circumstance, that before you seek faith, you will seek Jesus. And when you see Jesus, you will then see with the eyes of faith, the victory he has won for you.

Doubting thomas

April 23, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

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This weeks message is a message on faith. We look at the story of doubting Thomas in John 20:19-31. The goodness of God is sometimes so good that it is unbelievable. Our invitation is not to doubt, but to believe!

Would You Come Back?

April 19, 2012 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 (NIV84)

Would you still come to worship if you knew you would not have a comfy chair? Would you come if you had to sit on a dirt floor? Would you come if you knew there was no heating or air conditioning? Would you come if you knew there was the possibility you might be arrested? Would you come if you knew that you might be physically assaulted? Would you come if you knew it might cost you your life?

Last Sunday we got a small taste of what it might be like to be a persecuted church. We suffered some inconveniences and were made a bit uncomfortable. We knew it was just one Sunday, but what if it was every Sunday? Would you come back?

It made me to think a bit about why we come to worship. Do we come to see our friends? Do we come to hear and to sing the music? Do we come for the message? Or do we come for a greater purpose?

One person shared after worship last weekend that they had never felt more a part of the community than when they were sitting on the floor together with everyone else. There is something about sharing hardship together. It brings us together. It unites us and makes us one. Our gathering together is about the body of Christ. It is not about you or about me as individuals. It is about Jesus and it is about us together (the body of Christ). When one part of the body suffers, all parts suffer together.

When gathering together with the with other believers it is about more than just what you get out of it. Together, we are honoring our Lord and our Savior who gave his life on the cross that we might live. No matter how inconvenienced or uncomfortable we may be made to be, honoring the Savior makes it all worth it. If it honors Jesus then that is where I need to be and that is what I need to do.

I want to say thank you to everyone for playing along last weekend. I would love to hear any feedback that you might have. What did you take away? What did you learn? How were you changed?

The last thing I want to share is that if you want to pray or to write any of the persecuted Christians we prayed for, you can get more information at prisoneralert.com.

The Persecuted Church

April 15, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

Today our worship was a little different. We focused on the persecuted church. We simulated an experience of what it might be to truly experience persecution. The following is a video of me getting roughed up as the pastor of the church.

Pastor Jacob Gillard who recently returned to the United States after serving in Uganda for the past four years shared the message on his experiences in Africa.

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