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What is “Faith”?

This Sunday we are starting a brand new series looking at one of the most important aspects of our faith, becoming an apprentice of Jesus. Dallas Willard writes this:“The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.”

I think this is true. The world doesn’t need more people who know about Jesus. The world doesn’t need more people who like Jesus. The world needs more people who are willing to follow, sacrifice, and become like Jesus. This is what the world needs; this is what your community, family, and neighborhood needs too. I know this is what I need too in my life.

So on Sunday we are going to start looking at how to become an apprentice of Jesus. We are going to discover how it starts and how we can start to practice our faith. Because I’m sure of one thing, becoming an apprentice doesn’t mean just learning more things about Jesus. It means starting to practice living like Jesus. In Matthew 7:24 Jesus says the wisemen hears his words, and puts them into practice. So on Sunday we are going to discover the very first and most important practice disciples are to take to start to follow Jesus. It has everything to do with where your heart is at and faith.

So before we get there I want to ask a simple question that I’ll try to answer on Sunday. What is faith?

Because I’ve seen pastors struggle to answer it, I’ve heard theologians muddle answers, and I think that’s where following Jesus starts. So how would you answer it – What’s faith?

by Andrew Mills

Finding Something to Die For…

380639_10152357546245643_786204358_nI think a lot about the future. I think a lot about my sons’ futures. I sense both of them have different paths in life. I’m already sensing their different personalities and as I pray for them I’m sensing God will use them both in deep but different ways.

But what I’m realizing is that how I raise them will affect what they live for. So already I’m praying for strength to be able to raise them to be courageous, grateful, grace-filled, and to have a sense of wonder. But this will be tough. This goes against what the world, marketing, and society teaches us. Namely that what we want out of life is personal happiness. Unfortunately nothing can be further from the truth…

Stanley Hauerwas writes, “What you want out of life is not happiness but to be part of a worthy adventure you want to have something worth dying for.”

The difficulty is as a dad how do I help them to see this? How do I teach them that they don’t need stuff to be happy they need someone worth following and life worth leaving. That’s right leaving. They need something worth dying for. They need something bigger than themselves to give themselves to. They need Jesus.

So the question is how do you help little boys who love fire trucks, and Kraft dinner to see and learn this? How can you help them to see past TV and see the poor, hurting, and broken around the world and in our neighborhood? How do you help people see the Kingdom that is hidden all around them?

Well what I know for sure is you can’t force it. This type of life has always been an invitation. Jesus says, “Come and learn to die with me” (Luke 9:23) A statement that on the outside makes no sense, but it’s an invitation I can’t refuse. Yes, giving grace to people who don’t deserve it doesn’t make sense. Giving generously to people who will never repay you doesn’t make sense. Forgiving enemies, welcoming the broken, making room for the messy, and making your life about others doesn’t make sense. And while it might not make much sense, it does make a difference…

So while I’m not totally sure yet on how to help my boys find an adventure worth following, I know it will require a few things. It will require many prayers, sleepless nights, and a lot of sacrifice on behalf of Krista and myself. But it’s worth it because one day I hope to sit with both my boys and share with them Jesus’ invitation to take up your cross and follow him. And I hope that we might do it together…

by Andrew Mills

Finding and Seeing God in the Midst of a Mess

Bob Goff is a really brilliant guy. He’s the type of brilliant person who writes short simple sayings that are really deep. Here is a tweet he shared the other day:

“When we keep asking God to show up at places He’s already at, He isn’t mad, He probably just figures we didn’t recognize Him”

This really got me thinking…

How often am I asking God to show up somewhere and he already is but I don’t have eyes to see it? How often am I missing Jesus all around me?

And as I started to reflect on those questions I realized…I’m missing him probably more than I should…

The reality is that in really difficult situations, relationships, and even places, it can be hard to find God. When life is messy we ask God to show up, but the way God shows up in a mess isn’t to clean it up. The way God shows up in a mess is to enter into it and to start changing it from the outside. This type of involvement is slow, it is subtle and it is the most powerful.

This is really seen during Christmas which we just past. The world was broken, it was a mess, and people asked God to show up. So he did in the person of a baby, in the forgotten place, mostly alone and definitely in the dark.

The point is that we are often asking God to show up when he might already be there, working from within, and giving glimpses of grace. So for me personally I’ve moved from asking God to show up, to asking God to give me eyes to see him. That little difference has made all the difference…now I’m not waiting in God’s absence, I’m searching for his presence…

by Andrew Mills

Does Jesus Want to Play Trucks??

Hudson, on Christmas said something very profound, and no it wasn’t “presents!!”

What Hudson said that caught me off guard was this…“Daddy, Jesus come soon, and he play with me.” He then told me that he and Jesus will play trucks because Jesus likes trucks. Of course we had been talking about how Christmas is Jesus’ birthday so perhaps that’s what prompted his little saying, but I think it goes deeper than that.

Hudson is learning about Jesus slowly and surely and he’s showing it. Somehow he has already picked up the fact that Jesus is interested in our interests. That just like in any relationship, Jesus cares about what we care about. I can’t tell you how many romantic comedies I’ve sat through, not because I like them, but because I love my wife. When we care about someone we are concerned with what concerns him or her.

And Hudson has somehow already learned this lesson about Jesus. Jesus is interested in you and what matters to you. When Hudson says that Jesus will play trucks with him, he is saying that Jesus wants to be involved in the biggest and best part of his day. The Jesus Hudson knows is the one who wants to play trucks, who wants to be involved in his life at his level with his cares and concerns. As a pastor, a Christian, and most of all a dad I couldn’t be happier that my son knows this Jesus.

My question for you today is simple: do you know this Jesus too?

Do you know the one who is concerned with all your cares? Do you know the Jesus who is willing to get down to our level and enter into anything and everything we are doing? Who is willing to play trucks? To care about our business, relationships, art, hopes, dreams, and desires? Because this is the Jesus of the gospels, this is the Jesus worth finding, and this is the Jesus that is coming soon.

So Hudson tells me, “Daddy, Jesus come soon, and he play with me. He play trucks”. I, of course, responded with, “Yes you are so right. Jesus is coming soon, and he would love to play trucks with you…but for right now why doesn’t daddy”. And so as we played trucks I smiled…because my son knows the Jesus who is coming…

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by Andrew Mills

New Year’s Questions ~ Not Resolutions

We often make resolutions about how we are going to improve, and change. But as everyone knows we rarely keep these for the month of January let alone the whole year. So rather than giving you a list of goals I want to ask you some questions that might awaken something in you, shape you, challenge you, or inspire you. If you consistently ask them I truly believe this year will be different for you and better than last year. So here are some New Year’s Questions:

  • What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
  • What wastes the most time in your life?
  •  What is the one decision you know you need to make but have been avoiding?
  • What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
  • Who has God put in your life to encourage, support, or mentor?
  • What’s one experience you want to have this year? Who do you want to share it with?
  • And lastly where is Jesus already active in your life?

What question resonated most with you? Which one fell flat? Which one is a real challenge?

And even better what questions would you add to the list?

by Andrew Mills

The Power of the Christmas Story

Merry Christmas!

Take a moment if you can and maybe read the story here. I truly believe that stories can change people. They can redirect attention, give grace, and become a moment of meaning. So simply read the Christmas story to your family, friends, or on your own. But read it and be reminded of why we have Christmas, and maybe even be changed through it:

Mary, a virgin, was living in Galilee of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter. A1408232_74466547n angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus.

At first Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel’s words. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, “How will this be?” The angel explained that the child would be God’s own Son and, therefore, “nothing is impossible with God.” Humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior.

Mary must have reflected with awe on the words found in Isaiah 7:14 foretelling this event, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced and ashamed. He knew that the child was not his own, and Mary’s apparent unfaithfulness  would shape his community’s opinion of him and her. So Joseph decided to quietly break off the engagement seeking to spare Mary as much shame as possible. Joseph was a righteous man and sought to act with grace even in difficulty.

But God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to confirm Mary’s miraculous story and reassure him that his marriage to her was God’s will. The angel explained God’s amazing plan that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit. That the child was the Messiah, and was to be named Jesus meaning God with us. When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife, in spite of the public humiliation he would face.

Joseph too must have wondered in awe as he remembered the words found in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. The Inn was full so she gave birth to Jesus in a manager, on their own, on the outskirts of town. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger.

Out in the fields, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were tending their flocks of sheep by night. The angel announced that the Savior had been born in the town of David. Suddenly a great host of heavenly beings appeared with the angels and began singing praises to God. As the angelic beings departed, the shepherds decided to travel to Bethlehem and see the Christ-child.

There they found Mary, Joseph and the baby, in the stable. They praised God for the miracle of the birth of the Messiah. They went on their way still praising and glorifying God. But Mary kept quiet, treasuring their words and pondering them in her heart.

After Jesus’ birth, Herod was king of Judea. At this time wise men from the east saw a star, they came in search, knowing the star signified the birth of the king of the Jews. The wise men came to the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem and asked where the Christ was to be born. The rulers explained, “In Bethlehem in Judea,” referring to Micah 5:2. Herod secretly met with the Magi and asked them to report back after they had found the child. Herod told the Magi that he too wanted to go and worship the babe. But secretly Herod was plotting to kill the child.

So the wise men continued to follow the star in search of the new born king and found Jesus with his mother in Bethlehem. They bowed and worshipped him, offering treasures of gold, incense, and myrrh. When they left, they did not return to Herod. They had been warned in a dream of his plot to destroy the child.

This is the story of Christmas. Merry Christmas, enjoy the day, and Jesus’ presence!!

by Andrew Mills

Christmas Eve, Candles, and Traditions…

1409260_26919826I love tradition. I know some people don’t, but I do. The feeling of continuity, of depth, of history gives some things extra meaning. For me that is especially true tonight because my family has a tradition of going to Christmas Eve services.

There is something beautiful about the carols, the stories, and the candles. Christmas Eve doesn’t need to be a big show, there is power in the simplicity of the story of Jesus’ birth. So tonight that’s what we get to celebrate.

In our family the tradition was that on Christmas Eve my dad and my mom would lead the Christmas Eve service together. It was something special they did together each year. In fact, it was the only service they co-lead usually each and every year. The reason that this tradition matters to me is that now my wife and I get the honor of leading a Christmas service.

We will sing carols, we will long for Jesus to come, we will read the Christmas story in all of its simplicity and grandeur. We will light candles to remind us that on Christmas the Light of the World came into the dark. This is something we need to be reminded of each and every year. So if you’d like to join us it’s at 7:00-8:00 here at the church.

This is the tradition of our family to go, sing, and light a candle. But if I can make a challenge to you today. Maybe it’d be worth starting a tradition of your own to create some meaning, depth, and history for your Christmas. Start something that will give meaning to this time of the year each year. Start something that will give depth and create great memories. Start something you can pass onto your kids, grandkids, or family. Maybe it’s going to a Christmas Eve service, sharing stories, creating something as a family, or any other number of things.

But this is the year to start a good tradition, or to keep up time-honored ones. Because  for me I won’t be starting a new tradition…but carrying on an old one.

Leading a Christmas Eve service just like my dad would…Merry Christmas!

by Andrew Mills

Chasing Stars to Jesus

On Sunday we looked at an odd story of Magi, stargazing, and finding Jesus. What we saw in Matthew 2 is a beautiful story of sacrifice, searching, and stargazing. We see Magi who have been diligently searching the Scriptures because they knew of the prophecy about the birth of the Messiah. We see them willing to sacrifice and travel over 700 miles to Jerusalem to welcome and worship the new king. We see them suffer through heartbreak and difficulty as they finally reach their destination to discover there is no king in Jerusalem. And worse than that, it seems like Israel as a nation isn’t even looking. Doubt and dejection becomes a temptation. But they press on, they keep following the star, wondering and hoping that it will lead them to the one they have set out months and months ago to find. And finally after miles and miles of travel, after cold nights, endless sacrifices, threats, and rough journeys they arrive to find Jesus. They find him. And I think this is a beautiful story about how to find Jesus.

I love this story because amidst all the heartbreak, set-backs, and sacrifices they get to meet with God. Even though at times they were looking for Jesus in the wrong places, and maybe not in the right way, God still guides them to him. What matters to Jesus is the heart that is searching for him and these magi have a heart that demonstrates sacrifice, perseverance, and audacious hope. I love this because this story reminds me to never give up searching for Jesus.

Maybe you know what it is like to search for God and feel disappointed. Maybe you know what it is like to give up and leave behind your context to find this King,only to become confused and unsure. Maybe you know what it is to search but still haven’t found Jesus.

Well, I think this story teaches us something profound: don’t give up. Keep going. Keep believing. Even if doubt tempts you to give up, hold onto hope that Jesus could be over the next hill. Because the magi hold onto to hope in face of difficult circumstances, and eventually they go over the next hill and discover Jesus. And so what I want to leave with you today is this…Jesus could be just over the hill…so if you are searching, don’t give up

Because the God that you’re searching for…is searching for you too…

Sermon Notes

Big Idea: Your heart matters most in finding God

Take Aways…

  • What matters most in a gift is the motive and meaning behind it
  • What matters most to God isn’t looking for him in the right way, or the right place. What matters is the heart that is looking for him
  • Is your heart ready and willing to follow, sacrifice, and celebrate to find Jesus
  • Don’t ever, don’t ever, don’t ever give up searching for Jesus.
  • Focus on getting your heart right and never give up looking for the God who wants to be found

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What surprised you in the sermon? What was new? What was different? When have you been given a gift with a “great motive”? What was the best gift you’ve ever received? Think about your motives. Are you searching for God? Are you willing to sacrifice for him? How might you sacrifice to find him this Christmas?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take time to talk with your kids about what matters in giving and receiving. Tell them that the heart behind it is what matters most. Talk to them about Jesus and how that’s what matters most with him too.

Challenge for this Week

Examine your heart your searching for Jesus with, and ask what you might need to sacrifice to find Jesus…

by Andrew Mills

Finding God in the Stars?

On Sunday we are going to be looking at a really odd story found in the Bible. It’s one where God uses a star to direct people to his Son. It’s odd because the story is really about how to find God, but generally we never say to someone searching…”Well look up at the stars”. So on Sunday we’ll find out what this story can teach us about finding God. Because I think in our lives we want to find Jesus, we want to have a deep vibrant relationship with him, we want the full life he talks about. And to find the full life Jesus talks about, means finding him.

So the question I have for you is this: how do you find Jesus? Are you looking for him in your life and all around you? I think it’s a question worth pursuing.

So how have you found him in your life? What did it take? What helped? What was tough? Because what has been my experience is this. God isn’t hiding, but I’m not very good at looking. I give up too fast, I give in to doubt and dejection too quickly, and I forget that my God is looking for me too. But what I’ve learned is that finding God is the most important discovery of my life. So on Sunday we’ll talk about how this Christmas we might all make the same discovery…and we’ll discover it has a lot to do with stars and sacrifices…

by Andrew Mills

“Silly Daddy…Jesus Isn’t in a Computer”

312555_10152322007455328_691432867_nI was reading my sermon from my computer aloud talking about Jesus when Hudson runs up to me and shuts my laptop saying, “Silly Daddy, Jesus isn’t in the computer”

And it’s funny, because it’s also sort of true.

My guess is that you would more likely discover Jesus in playing with your kids, than playing on Facebook.

My guess is that you would more likely discover Jesus in a deep conversation with a friend, than checking Instragram.

My guess is that the you’re more likely to discover Jesus while reading the gospels, than checking Twitter.

I know the irony of me reminding us to look for Jesus outside of the computer while I write on a blog, which will post this post to Twitter and Facebook. The truth is that many wonderful connections can be made, insights can be garnered, and depth gleaned from Facebook, blogs, and the Internet. Yet as I look back on this past year I realized most of my real in-depth encounters with Jesus didn’t have anything to do with a computer or twitter. They had a lot to do with friends, family, food, and fun.

So have fun on Facebook. Check Instragram if you’d like. Tweet because I will keep tweeting, and please do continue to read my blog. Let it all impact and deepen your relationship with Jesus. But here is my point, maybe it’s wise to every now and then learn from my son…to shut the laptop down and remember Jesus isn’t just found online and to invest in those relationships all around you.

So the next time you’re with friends and are tempted to play angry birds on your phone, when you’re with your kids and want to check Facebook for the 17th time, or you’re with your wife and want to fiddle on Twitter – Maybe you can picture Hudson running up to me shutting my computer and reminding me that he’s right in front of me…and just maybe Jesus is too…

by Andrew Mills