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3 Strands of DNA ~ Grace, Gift, and Our Church DNA

grace-1362672On Sunday we opened up a brand new series exploring the different aspects of who we really are. We looked at the ways in which God has designed our church, and some of our “DNA”. I believe that God creates not only unique people, but unique churches with something unique to offer.

So over the next few weeks we want to explore and reveal some of what makes this church, “us”. And we began by exploring grace.

We looked at a really important parable in Matthew 18. Here Peter essentially asks Jesus how many times we should forgive one another. Peter is asking this question in response to realizing that communities aren’t perfect. No church or group is perfect, we all let one another down and sometimes even hurt one another. Peter asks how are we to deal with that? What are the boundaries on forgiveness? How far does grace extend?

And Jesus tells a story of a man who was given an extreme amount of grace as his debt was removed, but then squeeze out this tiny debt from another fellow servant. In essence the story is one we know well: someone abuses grace. The man though who abused the grace given is eventually thrown into prison and suffers for the rest of his life.

And Jesus ends with this deeply challenging saying, “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

And what we unpacked on Sunday was how, if you refuse to give grace, you can’t be saved by grace. That if you reject the grace that is given, by refusing to give it to others, you can’t be captured by it.

Terrence Malik, in his beautiful film The Tree of Life, puts it this way, “The nuns taught us there are two ways through life … the way of Nature… and the way of Grace. You have to choose which one you’ll follow.” And that’s true.

But the reason I love our church so much is that it has chosen the way of grace. Grace is given first. And this is harder than justice or law first, but it’s the only way to truly live. Because Jesus always gives us grace first, he died while we were sinners and didn’t deserve what he gave us.

The point is that for me, I believe a huge value of our church is showing grace first. And that we can’t drift from this. And while it may sound tempting and biblical to stand up for TRUTH, for righteousness, for the law, and for justice (which usually means punishing someone) – it isn’t right. Jesus gives grace first. Grace is what everything proceeds from, and we need to follow that lead. Which is why I love the church.

The truth is the past few years at this church have been very good, but this isn’t because I’m good, it’s because the church is gracious. I shared stories of how the church has given me grace over the years, and why that changed me, and changes lives. And I ended with this main point: Keep choosing grace. Because grace is like a muscle, the more you use it the easier it is to give it. The less you give it, the harder and less likely you will be to give it.

So we ended with a simple challenge: to show someone grace today. To not wait but to show someone grace in an everyday way. To let something go, to give something undeserved, to actually take a step. Because the truth is grace changes lives, and it’s the reason I love this church, and I believe it’s our calling to not just believe but live out.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Keep choosing grace.

Teaching Points:

  • If we don’t know who we are we can drift from whom God has made us
  • Our DNA: Grace, Transformation, Harmony
  • Grace matters most to me, because I think it matters most to God
  • There is no perfect community, because all community involves broken people
  • The really contentious point of grace isn’t receiving it, but giving it
  • If we reject grace, we can’t be saved by grace.
  • Grace is the thing that makes relationships work.
  • When relationships lose grace they become built on law and legalism but that’s not a relationship. That’s a contract
  • Jesus is a grace-first God.
  • Grace needs to be a habit, not just a belief
  • When you stop practicing grace you start to drift from it

Adult Discussion Questions:

What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? What was new? What would you say are some of our core values? How has someone in this church showed you grace? Why do you think grace is so transformational? Why do you think grace is so hard to show? Who might you be called to show grace to today?

Challenge for the Week: Show grace today

by Andrew Mills

3 Strands of DNA

On Sunday we are starting a brand new series here called: Our DNA: Three Strands ~ Grace, Transformation, and Harmony. We are going to be exploring some of what makes us – “us”. We want to be looking inward and to really examine some of our core values.

Because the truth is if you don’t know what you value, you can drift or lose them.

Holding onto who we are isn’t just important, it’s imperative, because just like how you were designed – I believe God has designed our church in a certain way. We all are unique with unique gifts to the world. And I believe the same is true of our church.

So that’s what we are starting on Sunday looking at the first of our values: grace. It might not be a surprise but it certainly does matter. Hope you can join us.

3 Strands of DNA

by Andrew Mills

Take the bite out of fear…

scooby-toy-1516278-640x480Here is the truth: fear drives us more than we’d like to admit.

For so many of us, myself included, fear can tempt us to make safe but not the best choices. Fear can tempt us into limiting what we reach for, or to not take the step we feel compelled to take. Fear seems to dampen our lives, to where we live with less expectations and simply seek to make it through. I believe that in general, fear always makes us live less than we are called to live.

But I believe too that the real power of fear is in how it lives unexamined. We let it whisper but don’t really let it speak. We let it tempt but not really acknowledge what it says. And I’ve found that through examining exactly what fear is sharing is one of the most helpful ways in overcoming it.

So what I do when I hear fear whisper, is I address it through asking…”what’s the worst”?

Because fear whispers to us that the worst will happen, but is never explicit about what the “worst” actually is. And that’s the power of fear, the unexamined and unnamed ominous “worst” out there. But once you name it, it loses its power.

So for example Krista and I are making a large change in our lives. And making this decision wasn’t easy because our lives are wonderful – but we felt called to something new and different. But here is what fear would whisper to me when we were praying about taking on a new job, new role, and new place of work:

  • What if you fail?
  • What if you can’t hack it?
  • What if you move, give up everything that is amazing here, and lose it all?

But honestly if you look at that what’s the worst? I fail, face some shame, have to start over, and if we lose everything and have to move in with my mom. I mean the literal worst is that we tried something and failed.

And this is how you beat fear.

You let fear tell you what’s the worst that can happen, but then never give it the last word. You think about the best, you think about what could come out of it, and you take the bite out of fear because normally the worst isn’t all that bad.

Fear wants to make it seem worse than it is, so you settle. But what if you don’t settle? What if you launch out and try that business, try that dream, try that thing you’ve been thinking about? Because settling never leads to your best, and fear is all about settling.

So push past it and see what happens.

by Andrew Mills

An indifferent church isn’t a church

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I read this quote a little while ago, and just couldn’t agree more. I have lots of thoughts on it, lots of ideas how this should shape us. But I think my thought’s will convolute the power of this simple quote. So all I would say is this: we should read this thought, and let it drive us into action because its true.

If a local Church falls into indifference as to what is going on in the rest of the world, it is certainly not a Church. John D. Zizioulas

Thoughts?

 

by Andrew Mills

4 Books: 4 Questions ~ The Gospel of John, Mystics, Mystery, and Connections

mystic-water-1410939On Sunday we opened up the beautiful poetic, mystical, and masterful book of John. John is a beautiful book about deeply connecting and communing with Jesus. John is about fully becoming one with Jesus experiencing his joy and his connection. And John uses all of these metaphors to speak of it: being born again (John 3), having springs of living water (John 4), partaking the bread of life (John 6), connecting to the vine (John 15), being one with the divine life (John 17), and breathing the breathe of the divine (John 20).

John wants to push us past our normal expectations and to remind us that we can fully connect with Jesus.

And one of the phrases John uses is “eternal life”.

When we hear this verse we most often think of the future. We think of something that happens after death. We think of something that will happen out there, not right here and right now.

But in reality that’s not what the word means. Eternal life surely does mean life after death, but it also means life right here right now. Its about expierenicng life that lasts into the future but start right here in the present. And John wants us to accept Jesus so we can experience this life now, that lasts and lingers into the future. John is all about us fully experiencing life abundant right here right now. In fact, Jesus says that in John 10:10.

But because we think eternal life is about the future we miss what we can have in the present. A real life deep and boundary breaking experience with the risen Christ.

Eugene Peterson gets at this point well when he translates John 3:16 as, “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life” Anyone can have a whole and lasting life, now that leads to lasting life in the future but it starts today.

So what was the main point? Well its was simple – you can experience Jesus fully if you submit to him. That was it. Pure and simple. You can connect with Jesus. You can be changed by Jesus. You can have and experience that goes beyond what you think. You can be filled with living water, the bread of life, connected to the vine, breathing the breath of the Spirit. This is a possibility for all of us who want to follow and submit to Jesus.

So we ended not with more theology, because at a point all words break down. And we ended with practice. We ended with a traditional Christian practice for fully experiencing Jesus. We ended with communion, inviting all who want to experience Jesus to come forward. To have the bread of heaven, and the cup of salvation. To experience God in their present that lasts into the future. Because that’s’ what John is about. And may you experience Jesus in your life now, experiencing the life that is whole and lasts into the future. May you know the Spirit within you, and encounter the risen Christ in such a way that you are left changed.

 

 

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: You can experience Jesus fully, if you submit to him. 

Teaching Points:

  • John’s about connecting and communing with Jesus
  • Eternal life is popularly understood about the future
  • This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. John 3:16
  • “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God”. St. Irenaeus
  • We cannot shrink the gospel to what we are comfortable with
  • But he himself that justifies also deifies, for by justifying he makes sons of God. ‘For he has given them power to become the sons of God’ If then we have been made sons of god, we have also been made gods. St. Augustine
  • You can experience Jesus fully, if you submit to him.
  • if you submit to Jesus, if you accept him, you can experience him.

Adult Discussion Questions:

What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? What was new? Had you ever thought about the gospels being different before? Are you comfortable with mystical experiences? Why do you think John believes they are so important? How have you connected and experienced Jesus in the past? How might you continue to experience him in the future and stay connected to him?

Challenge for the Week: Experience and connect with Jesus.

by Andrew Mills

Mystics, Wide-Eyed Dreamers, and the Book of John

mystic-1189958On Sunday we are going to be really diving deeply into the book of John. And in many ways I think that this is a book that is really needed for our day and age. In general we as a Christian culture I think are much more comfortable with tame, reasonable, and expected interactions with Jesus. We are less comfortable with things that seem…mystical…mysterious…or beyond us.

But John is all about connecting with Jesus in mystical ways. He is all about breaking the box we put the Spirit in, and saying you can fully connect with Jesus. John uses images of water, vines, new birth, bread, and resurrection to remind us of something that is amazing – you can connect fully with Jesus.

So this is the theme we are going to look at on Sunday. We are really going to explore this topic and maybe push us past our comfort zones a bit. Because John wants to move past what is comforting and normal into something that is life changing and transforming.

So we are going to explore the mystical and deeply personal book of John and how you might connect with Jesus through this book. I hope you can join us.

by Andrew Mills

Getting ready for God’s Future

819V0oTxp0LSo here is something basically most of you know: I read a lot…like a lot.

I mean as in whenever we travel Krista and I have fights over the amount of books I’m bringing and the space they take up (at minimum is 1.5 books per day). Did I say I read a lot?  Krista would say this is because I’m a nerd…I say it’s because I like learning. Both are true.

But what I’m reading right now is a great book called “Your First 90 Days”. I’m reading to prepare for a change in our lives. I’m trying to ensure that I’m prepared for the future that is coming as best I can. So for me this means reading…well at least more than 5 books.

But I bring this all up for a specific reason. While out for dinner the other night I tell Krista all about this book and how great it is and she said, “I like it that you’re preparing for our future”. And that comment just really stuck out to me. Because I would say generally I’m not preparing for the future I’m reacting to it. And maybe you can agree. 

So my thought and reason for bringing this all up is to ask you one simple question, “What would it look like to prepare for the future God has for you?” What would that look like for you? Are there dreams you have? Are there hopes and things you believe that God has in store for you? And then my question is this – how are you preparing for them?

Because I believe that God has goodness in store for all of us. I believe, like Ephesians says, that God can do infinitely more than you could ever hope or imagine. And if that is true how are you readying yourself to receive it?

Maybe it’s digging into the Bible more. Maybe it’s really learning to pray. Maybe it’s learning to trust in small little things, so you can trust in big moves. Maybe it’s learning a new skill. Maybe it’s taking a new class. Maybe you dream of launching a business, so you are asking some people to mentor. My point is that I believe goodness is before us, and we all need to prepare to receive it. For me, of course, that’s reading…but what might it look like for you?

Because I have a little hunch, after Krista’s comment, is that I may have missed some of what God has had for me in the future because I wasn’t readying myself for it. All I know is that I don’t want to make that mistake again. And my guess is you don’t want to either. So what can you do, start, or commit to – to begin to get ready for the future God has for you?

by Andrew Mills

4 Books: 4 Questions ~ The Gospel of Luke, Baptisms, and Filling with the Spirit

holy-spirit-1315165On Sunday we heard really two messages: first, testimonies from baptism, and a short message from me. The truth is the baptism stories and personal sharing were the best. They are always the best.

But I also offered a few short thoughts on the book of Luke. We are in the midst of a series looking at the different books of the Bible from a high level and seeing what and who were the writing to and why? Luke is an investigator and a historian looking into the stories of Jesus and compiling them. But the point for Luke isn’t just history, but transformation. Joel Green writes this, “He did not, however, intend to provide just a historical justification of the Christian faith – ‘did it happen?’ – but to encourage faith – ‘what happened, and what does it all mean?’” And that’s what we looked at – what does it all mean?

And I think the point of Luke (and Acts which he also wrote) is really to encourage us to walk in service, sacrifice, and maturity. Luke is a book filled with a practical model for how we are to  follow Jesus. It’s like Luke outlines the first few acts in a play, and then encourages us to finish the play in line with what’s been laid down. And part of what Luke really recognizes is that to step out in service and sacrifice we need the Holy Spirit.

So we took sometime looking at the Baptism of Jesus and the Holy Spirit Baptism in Acts 2. And what we noticed was that the Holy Spirit fills people, and empowers people to share his Good News. That if we want to walk in maturity and service to the world we need to be filled with God’s Spirit that allows us to follow. We need the Spirit to truly serve and sacrifice.

So we ended with this simple main point from Luke: To serve and sacrifice we all need to encounter and experience a fresh filling of the Spirit. We all need the Spirit to continually fill us. So we ended with a time for prayer for being filled with the Spirit, and cheering on baptisms as people were filled deeper with the Spirit than ever before.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: To serve and sacrifice we all need to encounter and experience a fresh filling of the Spirit,

Teaching Points:

  • What should we do?
  • Luke is about courageously following God, in service and sacrifice
  • The Holy Spirit fills people, and empowers people to share his Good News

Adult Discussion Questions:

What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? What was new? Had you ever thought about the gospels being different before? What stood our to you from the testimonies? Have you ever experienced the Holy Spirit in a strong way before? Why do you think we need the Spirit to serve the world deeper and fuller? How can you continue to ensure you are filled deeper and deeper with the Spirit?

Challenge for the Week: Be filled with the Spirit and step out and serve.

by Andrew Mills

The Gospel of Luke and Baptisms

water-baptism-1431326I’m really looking forward to Sunday, because on Sunday we are doing some baptisms. So for me this is a real highlight of the year because we will hear testimonies of what God is doing in people’s lives, we will hear people share about Jesus, and we will watch them take a big step in obedience.

Oh and I’ll have some things to say about the gospel of Luke and what it’s all about, but the real message will be in and through the baptisms.

So come on Sunday and join us celebrating people walking in obedience, to hear stories of transformation, and to maybe even be transformed yourself. 🙂

 

by Andrew Mills

The Cross is Jesus Suffering with Us and Because of Us

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Today I want to take a look at the paradoxical nature of the cross. The cross is simultaneously judgment, and forgiveness all in one. And whether the cross is judgment or forgiveness is often the result of perspective.

Andrew Sung Park writes this,

“When the cross of Jesus is seen from the perspective of the oppressed, it signifies God’s suffering with them; seen from the perspective of oppressors, the cross means God’s suffering because of them”.

And this little difference – makes a huge difference.

The truth is that God suffering on the cross signifies God’s solidarity with all who have been abused, oppressed, or hurt through evil. God knows what it is to be killed by an empire about power, oppression, and might.

Yet the cross is also simultaneously reminding us that God’s death is because of oppressors. That the death of Jesus Christ is the result of oppressive systems, people, and regimes that use violence to make peace. The cross stands in judgment of those systems, and offers forgiveness to those who are oppressors.

The trouble with this, or the offensive part of this is that we like to most identify with the oppressed. We like to most identify with the God who suffers with us, not because of us. 

But the truth is that I am not really all that oppressed (I’m white, western, male, and educated). And the reality is that most of us probably reading this are not the oppressed in many significant ways. Through simply being born in the West many of us have inherited much privilege that others do not have.

I bring this up because I know personally I would much rather look at the cross as a place of God’s solidarity with me, but I know if I’m going to be honest I also need to look at the cross as a place of God’s judgment with me. Of the ways in which I can and do participate in systems that hurt other people. The difficulty is that in today’s day and age we don’t often see the ways in which our actions contribute to hurt around the world. We don’t see how our privileges might be at someone else’s expense.

I say this all not to make anyone feel guilty – because I believe guilt is a terrible motivator. I say this all because what God has been speaking to me and reminding me of is that yes the cross is a giant reminder that I’m forgiven. But the cross is also a giant reminder that there is evil in the world, and it’s often in us.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said,

If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

And I think the answer to Solzhenitsyn’s question is – Christians should be willing to destroy a piece of their own heart. Christians should be willing to do the hard work of examining our hearts and seeing how we might change. Christians should be the most motivated to change because when we look at the cross we know two things: 1) we are forgiven and included, so we should not be scared or fearful of doing a courageous moral inventory; 2) we all have sin and evil within us, so we should know we need to do a courageous moral inventory.

So I say this all to remind us of one simple thing: we should be so grateful for God’s forgiveness, so grateful that we do the hard work of examining why we need it. Because if you are anything like me there are actions I need to cut out, there are habits I need to be freed from, there are revelations from God’s Spirit as to the best path I need to hear. But it is easy to ignore doing the hard work of inwardly looking.

I just think that the cross invites us to do that hard work of inwardly reflecting on our lives. The cross says to us we are welcomed and included, but that there are parts of all of us that need to be changed. May we have the courage to really examine our lives, listen to the Spirit, and make changes so that we might not only accept the gift of grace from Jesus Christ – but live like him.

by Andrew Mills