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An Expanding, and New Future…

1435800_47324731On Sunday we looked at the topic of finding a new future. And to be honest this is something I think we need. I think we all need to dream about new possibilities and what God might want to do in and through us.

The tough part is that while in theory we say we trust in God for our futures, in practice we don’t.

If I were to ask you: who guarantees your future?

Who do you trust in for your future? While many of us might want to say Jesus, I think in practice many of us trust in different things.

Some of us trust in our bank accounts for our futures. That if we have more money our futures will be secure. Some of trust in our doctors for our futures, that their diagnosis determines whether the future will be good or bad. Some of us trust in our present circumstances to determine our futures. That if things are going well, we think they’ll continue, or if they go bad, they’ll keep going bad. Some of us actually trust in our sins for our futures. I know, a weird way to put it, but true. We believe that because of this past sin, mistake, choice, whatever, our future is limited or constricted in some way.

The point I want to make is that while in theory we might trust in God for our futures, in real life the temptation is to trust in so many other things. To trust in our own abilities, present conditions, or current trajectory of life.

The point is what if we trusted in God?

Because God says this:

I am doing a new thing. Are you alert? Are you watching for it? Because it is happening. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? (Isaiah 43:19)

This is God’s position on our futures, that he is doing something new. The question is do you trust in him to do something new – in you? That’s the question, and it’s only by  trusting in God that our futures open up, expand, and become limitless.

God has proven again and again that he loves to take broken, burnt out, and passed over people to change the world. Just look at Abraham, Moses, David, or Paul. God specializes in doing a new thing.

So on Sunday we gave a challenge to trust that God wants to do a new thing in your life and to discover it, by listening to him. I believe that God can be taken at his word, that he is doing a new thing, and that if we are alert, watching for it, we will find it.

And my prayer is that you do find the new thing God is doing, because it is happening, it is bursting out, do you see it?

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: God can give you a new future if you trust in him

Teaching Points:

  • Our futures can shrink, as we age.
  • Who is your future dependent on?
  • Who are you trusting to guarantee your future?
  • I am doing something new – God
  • God is in the business of doing new things.
  • God can give you a new future if you trust in him.

Adult Discussion Questions:

What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? How did God speak to you through it? What was new? What were your first impressions to the topic for today? Does it seem to you that growing older does limit your future? How would you answer the question “Who are you trusting to guarantee your future?” What do you believe your future looks like right now? What does your future look like with God involved? What does he want to do in your future?

Discussion Questions for Young Families

Today talk with your kids about their futures. Ask them what they want to do, and who they want to be. Today learn from your kids. Sense the enthusiasm, the belief, the sense of excitement and possibility. Learn from them, and seek to bring that into your relationship with God today.

Challenge for the Week: Trust in God for your Future.

by Andrew Mills

Is your future open or closed?

On Sunday we are talking about what can seem a bit paradoxical at first: having a fresh future.

In many ways this almost seems absurd. Like how can a future not be fresh? It hasn’t happened yet? Anything is possible already?

And while on the surface that is true, when you dig a little deeper, it isn’t.

For many of us our future actually seems to narrow as we age. There are things that are no longer a possibility for us that once were. Like I will never be a professional soccer player, unless of course they start hiring unfit, and unskilled amateurs who play a couple times a year. The chances of me being a movie-star are also relatively unlikely.

The point is that as we grow older, our futures can seem to constrict and shrink. 

Add into that how we also often tend to base our future on current circumstances, or limit our future because of past mistakes. We tend to think that if things are going badly now, they probably will in the future. Or if we have some terrible mistake, disaster, past event, or sin, that it can limit our future too. That we won’t find a happiness again after that divorce. That life won’t ever be as good as when that person was in our lives. Or before that moral failure I could have been a leader, but now that’s out.

My point is that while in theory our futures are full of possibility, in practice, they are often much more limited and narrow.

And that is why I think we need to find a fresh start for our futures. That is why I think we need to learn to dream again about what the future can hold. That is why we need to move beyond our present circumstance, past mistakes, and personal potentials to ask the question what does God want to do in our lives.

Because our futures are not just dependent on our personal skill sets, connections, present conditions, or past mistakes. Our futures are dependent on God. 

And come Sunday we are going to see what that means, and what a practical difference that makes. But before we get there, why not spend some time dreaming with God what he might have in store for your future. Because there is one thing I am sure of, that the future God has planned for you is always better than the one you have planned for yourself.

by Andrew Mills

Loving Your Neighbours and Why No One Can Tell You How

583245_74851881No expert can tell you how to best love your neighbour…Only the Spirit can guide you into faithful presence, which is the love of Christ. Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens, and Dwight Friesen

I think that this quote is just so – challenging and true. We know as Christians we are called to move out into our neighbourhoods, and love our neighbours. If we aren’t loving our neighbours well, we aren’t following Jesus well. That’s just true.

But the difficulty is in how to do this. We often at least in Christian circles, look to experts to tell us this. And if you don’t believe me, just look at how popular conferences and seminars on “How to Be Missional” are. They are everywhere (and I’ve led some…).

The point though is that no expert can adequately tell you how to love your neighbour. And to love our neighbours well, we don’t need more experts, we need a change in focus. We need to focus on Jesus and his Spirit.

It is only Jesus that can truly lead us into loving our neighbours well. It is only through listening to his Spirit that we can discern the right ways and the right times to show love in practical action. In all honesty what we probably need is less experts in our lives, and more dependence on Jesus. This isn’t a knock against practitioners, experts, and people who are inspiring us to live like Jesus. But that’s just the point, they can only inspire us to live like Jesus. It is only Jesus Christ himself who can direct us to live like him, who can transform us into his likeness.

So loving our neighbours is crucially important. And experts and practitioners are important too. But what is most important is learning to listen and follow Jesus and his Spirit well – because that’s the true first step in learning to love our neighbours well.

by Andrew Mills

Why Forgiveness is So Hard, and Why We Need To Do It

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Image from http://www.parkingspace23.com

On Sunday we looked at the topic of forgiveness. Forgiveness. I think. is something we all like when it happens to us, but find it difficult to give. We find it easy to give when someone takes all the right steps to earn the forgiveness, but giving it freely is hard.

So the question we looked at was this: Is it possible to forgive someone in the worst of situations? Where they are unrepentant, don’t care, and sadistic? And to reflect on this, we talked about Louis Zamperini’s story written in the amazing book “Unbroken” (Spoiler Alert).

Zamperini was a runner, who was drafted into World War II. Through an amazing and remarkable survival story, he ends up captured by the Japanese and put in a POW camp. The story that follows cannot be told in a few paragraphs with justice, but the basics is this. He was beaten, tortured, and abused for years. It was a brutal time, specifically abused by one guard nickednamed the Bird.

The question is, in a situation like this, is forgiveness possible? Is it an option? Is it even right to do?

If you are a follower of Jesus, the answer is simple but hard. Forgiveness is not only an option, it is the only option. Jesus says this in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that the law of Moses says, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you.” He continues a few chapters later saying, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins”.

For Jesus it seems like forgiveness is the only option. And this teaching of Jesus’ is hard, and one I want to skim over rather than practice. I don’t want to forgive my enemies, I want to see them brought to justice. I don’t want to forgive those who hurt me, I want to hurt them back.

But here Jesus’ teaching pushes past what we want and feel, to what is actually best for us. And when Jesus is calling for forgiveness he is not calling for us to forget or stay in abusive situations. That’s not what forgiveness is. What he is calling for is for us to let go, and to end the cycle of hurt and revenge.

Jesus knows that to hold onto bitterness, hurt, anger, and vengeance doesn’t do anything but poison our own soul. To live with unforgiveness is to live with ghosts, haunted and hurt by our own choosing.

So is it possible to forgive even in the most hellish circumstances? Well the example of Jesus shows that it is. Even as he is killed he says, “Father forgive them”. And it’s Jesus’ example that even allows Louis Zamperini at the end to forgive his abuser. He doesn’t pretend that the abuses weren’t real, horrible, and absolutely wrong. He states the hurt he felt, but then he states his forgiveness. He says, that Christ said, “Forgive your enemies and pray for them” and he did that. He goes on to say that, “Love has replaced the hate I had for you.”

So is it possible to forgive even in the most difficult situations? Yes, but of course it is hard.

But sometimes the hardest things are the best things to do. To choose to live with unforgiveness hurts you, and no one else. So we ended the sermon with challenging people to forgive those who hurt them, big or small. To no longer live with ghosts and unforgiveness, but to let forgiveness start a fresh start in them.

Brian Zahnd writes,

“Conventional forgiveness, easy forgiveness, reasonable forgiveness is what most rationally minded people are willing to engage in. Christ’s followers are called to radical forgiveness, unreasonable forgiveness, reckless forgiveness, endless forgiveness, seemingly impossible forgiveness.”

He’s right – that’s our calling. Now let’s live it out.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Forgive your enemies, and pray for them

Teaching Points:

  • Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes, you say sorry just for show, you live like that you live with ghosts – Taylor Swift
  • How is forgiveness possible in a hellish circumstance?
  • Enemies are by almost definition, people we don’t love
  • Forgiveness is not a feeling. Forgiveness is a choice to end the cycle of revenge and leave justice in the hands of God. Brian Zahnd
  • Jesus not only expects us to forgive. He commands us to forgive
  • When we choose not to forgive, we cut ourselves off from the heart of God, because God, at his heart, is forgiveness.
  • When we choose not to forgive, we don’t hurt the one who hurt us, we hurt ourselves.
  • Forgiveness does not mean forgetting or staying in abusive situations or relationships.
  • Conventional forgiveness, easy forgiveness, reasonable forgiveness is what most rationally minded people are willing to engage in. Christ’s followers are called to radical forgiveness, unreasonable forgiveness, reckless forgiveness, endless forgiveness, seemingly impossible forgiveness. Brian Zahnd

Adult Discussion Questions:

What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? How did God speak to you through it? What was new? What were your first impressions to the topic for today? What do you think of Louis Zamperini’s story? How do you think he was able to offer forgiveness? What happens when you choose not to forgive someone? How are bitterness and unforgiveness tied together? Who is it that you might need to forgive? Who can help you to continue to forgive them? What are the next steps with them? Do you need to just let them go, approach them, or maybe pray for them?

Discussion Questions for Young Families

Talk to your kids about how important it is to always forgive others. Ask them if there is anyone they need to forgive, and then spend time doing that. It’s also a great time to ask for their forgiveness, for the times you’ve been an imperfect parent or guardian. Why not practice with them what we hope to see?

Challenge for the Week: Forgive your enemies.

by Andrew Mills

Learning to Forgive

Picture from http://start2finish.org/hard-forgive/
Picture from http://start2finish.org/hard-forgive/

Come Sunday we are going to talk about one key area for everyone of us, whether you are a follower of Jesus or not, and it’s forgiveness.

Forgiveness is a practice that gives your life a fresh start. Forgiveness is a practice that creates a new future. Forgiveness is a practice that changes lives, but forgiveness is hard. Forgiveness is really hard.

It’s easy to forgive someone when the slight was small, they ask for forgiveness, and change their behavior. But what if the issue is big? What if they don’t ask for forgiveness? What if they keep intentionally hurting or abusing – is forgiveness possible in these circumstances?

Those are the questions I want to poke around in on Sunday. I want to acknowledge them, and try to answer them. And to do that we are going to be using a lot of the Sermon on the Mount, some of Louis Zamperini’s story “Unbroken” (so see the movie before Sunday if you don’t want to hear about it), and of course a little Taylor Swift.

The question I want to pursue is this: Is forgiveness in horrible situations possible? And if so, how can we find it?

So that’s where we are going, but before we get there why not spend some time thinking about those questions. Are there people in your life that you need to forgive? Do you think it’s possible? What would forgiveness even look like?

And then come Sunday we’ll explore this topic, and hopefully find a fresh start.

by Andrew Mills

Why Being Real Matters So Much, and Why Its So Hard

Being real matters to me. That doesn’t mean I’m good at  it (I’m trying though), but that it deeply matters to me. I don’t know how you can have trust without authenticity ~ and trust is the currency of relationships.

What I mean by that is that without trust relationships don’t work, and they actually aren’t relationships. Without trust relationships devolve into contracts, conversations, or mutually aligned interests but they aren’t deeply committed friendships.

Which brings me back to authenticity. Because trust is based on being real, authentic, and true. But being authentic is hard in today’s world. It’s hard to be true. It’s hard to be content with who we are, and to be real about that. I read other people’s Facebooks and want my life to be as cool as others. I read other people’s posts about their kids and wish my kids said deeply spiritual things. Instead Hudson said at Sunday School, when they were discussing the burning bush, that if Heatwave (a Firetruck Transformer) was there he would have put it out. Yep that’s my son – thinking about dousing Moses’ burning bush.

But what’s the point? The point is that even though it can be tempting to puff up our lives, to embellish, to become jealous, and to wish we were something different or more – it’s not worth it.

It’s not worth it if you want true relationships. It’s not worth it if you want things that last. It’s not worth it if you want your life to mean something. Because in the end the only thing that matters are relationships. And those are all built on trust, and being true and real.

So while at times I wish Hudson was deeply spiritual, the truth is he loves Heatwave and Transformers. And while sometimes I wish my life was as “cool” as other people’s seem to be, the truth is I’m pretty content with my everyday rhythms staying at home and watching Netflix with Krista.

The point I’m trying to make is that being real is hard, but it’s worthwhile. 

So the next time you’re tempted to be anything less than real, muster up the courage and let people see the real you. The person who doesn’t have their house, parenting, or life put perfectly together. Let people see the real you, trust in you, and in the end your life and theirs will be better for it

by Andrew Mills

The Dynamics of Holding the Truth: Gritted Teeth, Judgement, or Love

201764_5120The other day I was reading through Ephesians, and one verse just jumped out at me.

It always seems weird to me how sometimes you’re reading the Bible and a verse just leaps off the page, and you wonder, “Has that always been there”. I don’t know how many times I’ve read Ephesians, but I can tell you that this for sure isn’t the first time. But here is the verse that just caught my attention:

“Instead, we will hold to the truth in love” Ephesians 4:15

And that verse just sounded so beautiful to me. Because isn’t that what we should be doing? Isn’t that what our world needs? For us as Christians to hold to the truth in love?

Because I don’t think we, as Christians, are so good at holding truth in love. We’ve got the hold the truth in self-righteousness down pat. We really know how to hold the truth in judgment over someone. We know how to hold truth in anger and aggressive verse quoting. But do we really know how to hold the truth in love?

I just think that this is something so worth striving for. Wouldn’t it be beautiful if when people talked about you or I they said, “They sure know what they believe, but they are so gracious with their beliefs” or “Even though we disagree, their love shines through.”

For me that verse just so clearly gave me a goal – for love to permeate all of my interactions. That I might hold the truth in love, share the truth in love, and live the truth in love.

I’m sure I must have read that verse before, but for today it just seemed brand-new, and needed more than ever.

What about you? What do you think of it?

by Andrew Mills

The Connections Between Faith and Finances and Fresh Starts

1390009_45620103On Sunday we looked at the topic of finances and how to have a fresh start. I began by acknowledging how badly the church has dealt with and discussed finances. We often berate people into giving, bribe them with promises of health and wealth, or beg people to give. And while I don’t believe any of these approaches is correct, I also acknowledged that we can’t pendulum swing to not discuss finances. Because finances can bring stress, money is a spiritual thing, and it’s a real life thing. 

So with that understanding we took a look at Malachi 3:7-11.

This passage in Malachi 3:7-11 is both challenging and full of promise at the same time. It has some bite to it, and can set you free. God challenges the Israelites with their lack of giving, he says that they have “robbed” him. That’s the challenge part.

But there is also this promise part in verse 10. We read this,

“Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams.”

God is essentially saying that if we put him to the test, he will come through on our trust. And that’s what this passage is actually all about, it’s about trust.

The truth is when we often stop giving, give reluctantly, or don’t give at all – at the root is often a lack of trust. At least I know that’s true in my life. When I want to pull back from giving, at the root is often that I don’t trust in God deep enough to get me through something. I’ll see a bill, and rather than give, I’ll hoard. That’s a trust issue, not a budgeting issue. 

The truth is, at least in my life, that as my trust grows so does my giving. And I think that’s exactly what God is getting at in this passage. He’s saying trust me, give, put me first and see what I will do in your life. God is challenging us to put our trust in him, and to see if he is trustworthy. That’s what he is asking – see if I’m not trustworthy.

And that’s a challenge I know I need to hear. Because giving is a spiritual thing, it’s a trust thing. And what I know is that I trust in God more, he will bless me more. And not in we all get rich way, but in a real life way. And this just makes sense, the more control God has over my life, the more opportunity he has to direct it and bless it.

The point is that this passage is really about trust and priorities. 

And so on Sunday I gave us all, myself included, the challenge to give. To give more if it’s already a habit, or to start if it isn’t. To put God’s challenge to the test, to see what he might do in our lives as we make him a priority and demonstrate it by our giving. For God giving is a central issue, because it’s a heart and priority issue. So my challenge is to put God first, give greater, and see what he does in your heart and through your life as you put him first.

I think it’s a challenge worth taking, and what’s the worst that happens, you were more generous for a few months. But imagine what might happen if God comes through and does abundantly bless you? Imagine not only how you would be blessed, but the world around you? So I think giving greater to start this year is a risk worth taking.

 

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: We need to put God and our trust to the test – by giving.

Teaching Points:

  • Churches shouldn’t berate, bribe, or beg for money – they should bless with money.
  • Giving is spiritual
  • God sees giving as intimately connected with us following him.
  • if we put him to the test, he will come through on our trust.
  • When we choose to not give, it’s a spiritual issue, because it’s a trust issue.
  • For God giving is a central issue, because it is a heart issue.
  • This is a promise tied to priorities

Adult Discussion Questions:

What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? How did God speak to you through it? What was new? What were your first impressions to the topic for today? What were your first reactions to the passage from Malachi? How are finances and trust in God tied together? Are you willing to take a giving challenge the next 3 months? What ways might God bless you if you do take up His giving challenge?

Discussion Questions for Young Families

Talk to your kids about the importance of giving. Decide as a family on some ways to maybe serve and make money, and then give together. Maybe sell some toys, to give the money to kids across the world. Maybe shovel some drive-ways, and give to the food bank. Serve and give – it’s a great habit to get into at a young age.

Challenge for the Week: To start or increase your giving for the next 3 months.

by Andrew Mills

A Fresh Start with Finances ~ A Conversation That’s Needed but Often Not Wanted

O1428100_36158286n Sunday we are talking about finding a fresh start in a very important area of our lives: finances.

And I know the church has a well-deserved bad rap for how we discuss finances. But the truth is it is an area many of us need a fresh start in. Many of us are stress-filled about our finances, we are worried-filled about our futures, or our happiness is so tied to our income that we can’t seem to find joy. The number one cause of divorce is also finances. So finances adds stress to our relationships. And these are many good reasons to talk about finances.

But the truth is there is one more really good reason to talk about finances. Because finances are actually spiritual. Meaning that finances are intertwined with faith.

So we are going to explore that intersection on Sunday, and how you can leave with a fresh start in your finances. And I know that most churches, when it comes to finances, either beg, berate, or bribe you into giving. And I don’t think any of that is Biblical. Instead, on Sunday I want to let God share with you why finances, giving, and generosity are so closely tied together and how when our priorities get straight he can bless you.

So that’s where we are going on Sunday, I know a topic not many of us like to discuss, but a topic that can be freeing. And that’s my prayer for Sunday that we’d be freed and find a fresh start with finances.

by Andrew Mills

Few Who Believe in Jesus Believe in His Revolutionary Ideas

A quote to chew on today:

Far too few who believe in the risen Christ actually believe in his revolutionary ideas. Brian Zahnd

That is a deep one.

We love the fact that Jesus saves us, we love the fact that Jesus loves us, but we are less comfortable with how he says we should live and love. We love that fact that Jesus loves us, when we were enemies, but we are reluctant to love our enemies. We believe in the risen Christ  but don’t believe in his revolutionary ideas of love, sacrifice, and grace.

This quote makes me uncomfortable, and it should. 

Because it’s so easy to like Jesus, and believe in him. The hard part is following him, is living like him, is being willing to practice what he practiced.

So while this quote makes me uncomfortable, it’s a good thing. Because sometimes when you get uncomfortable you get out of your comfort zone. And I think that’s what I need. I need to be challenged not just to believe in Jesus, but live like Jesus. To not just believe in a risen Christ, but to believe in his revolutionary ideas and follow them.

So while this quote makes me a little uncomfortable, it’s a good thing.

What do you think of it?

by Andrew Mills