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Throwing Parties, Spreading Grace and Thanks

On Sunday we discussed a missional spiritual practice that is quite unique. The giving of thanks.

In Leviticus 7:15 we read an odd verse. A verse that talks about eating all the meat of a sacrificed cow in one day. The meat that is sacrificed in a thanksgiving offering must be consumed on the same day. Embedded in this odd verse is a community shaping practice. Because the only way you can eat a whole cow in one day…is with a whole community…

So what would happen is simple. God would provide for you in some way, and out of thanks you’d sacrifice a cow. You’d give back to God, but then you’d be required to give back to the community because you wouldn’t be able to consume the whole cow in a day. So you’d invite family, friends, and neighbors over for a party. You’d provide all the food, and a giant feast. But it wouldn’t be about just spreading good food around, but also deep gratitude for God. Because the natural question for everyone there would be “Why the party?” And when they would ask you would share what God had done in your life. You’d share how God provided, and all of a sudden thankfulness is spreading through the community, God’s activity moves from private to public, and people have an opportunity to be changed through a party.

Isn’t that a beautiful thing?

That God would think of such a process? That he would ensure that his people would throw parties full of thanksgiving and praise to him?

What if we actually took this verse seriously and when God did things in our lives we reached out to our friends, family, and neighbors with an invitation to a party – where we shared the good things God has done?

Wouldn’t that start to change people?

What if your neighbors consistently were invited to great parties, where people were celebrating how Jesus has changed and impacted their lives? Wouldn’t you want to join in the party, the celebration, and maybe even following this God? What if generosity, gratitude, and grace became the hallmarks of being a Christian? Wouldn’t this type of living change our communities?

I think it would.

So my challenge to you this week is simple. Plan a party. Throw a party. Invite everyone, and give thanks to God. Because as Leviticus says, all the meat must be eaten the same day. Or in other words, celebrate God’s goodness by throwing a party and sharing grace with others. It’s a simple action, but sometimes the simplest ones are the most powerful.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Giving thanks means thanking God and sharing it with others

Take Aways…

  • “If weren’t not thankful for the small things, we won’t be thankful for the large things” Estonian Proverb
  • Gratitude to God isn’t to be kept private but shared in public.
  • For Jewish people all of life is gift…so do you appreciate the gifts around you?
  • Biblically we demonstrate our thanks by throwing a party (Lev. 7:13)

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What stood out to you from this morning’s talk? What made you laugh? What made you think? What was new?How grateful do you think you are as a person? How good are you at seeing and appreciating the gifts of God? What might you be able to give thanks to God for today? Think about throwing a party. Who might you invite? How might it spread grace and gratitude?
Discussion Questions for Young Families: Share with your kids why it is important to give thanks. Spend time talking to them of all the things that you are thankful to God for. Ask them what they are thankful for God for. At a meal this week rather than just “saying grace”. Share what each of you is thankful for.

Challenge for this Week:

Throw a party for your neighbors and share a reason for giving thanks.

by Andrew Mills

Learning from Leviticus

On Sunday we are looking at one of my favorite books. Leviticus. My guess is that it isn’t one of your favorite books. But on Sunday was are going to be learning something unique about God, and giving thanks. My guess is that you know how important giving thanks is. On Sunday we will discover how it can not only change your life but change your community.

But before we get there why don’t you take a moment, get a coffee or a good drink, slow down, and ask yourself what can I be thankful for? Take a moment and think of all that God has given you? At first it might not seem like a lot.  Maybe it might be tough but it is important. We all know people who seem overcome with bitterness and anger, being stuck in an unhealthy space. The way though to prevent bitterness from taking root is to give thanks.

So today slow down and give thanks and then share why you are thankful with someone else. And as we’ll see on Sunday, that’s the start of changing communities…

by Andrew Mills

Blogging Break for New Baby

Hi everyone. So I love blogging…but I’m taking a break for a little while. Want to know why? Because as much as I love blogging I love my new little boy even more. Yesterday our family grew by one as Asher George Mills joined our family. He’s a bit of a big boy at 8’3 and 21 1/2 inch long (or tall I guess!). And so I’ll be taking some time just to spend with him and my amazing wife, and big brother Hudson. So as important as all of you are this new little gift has all my attention!

So I’ll get back to my regular blogging schedule in about a few weeks but for now I’ll be spending time with Asher. But as often happens on here, I’m sure he will give me lots of new things to blog about! I’m sure he’ll be teaching me all sorts of new things about God, grace, family, and community. But until then here are a few pictures of our new little bundle of awesome. And yes in case you are wondering, Hudson loves being a new big brother. Last night he sang himself to sleep singing, “Baby here, baby here, big brother”.

So I’d like to introduce you to Asher George Mills born on 10/11/12:

 

 

 

 

by Andrew Mills

Optional Christianity ~ Picking and Choosing What to Follow

Soren Kiekegaard wrote:

“The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.”

The problem is that he is right, and what he said is true. Because deep down sometimes my wish was that certain parts of following Jesus were optional.

I want to keep the “he loves me with grace” part. I want to keep the unconditional love, forgiveness, and mercy part. I want to keep the God sacrificing for me part. But when it comes to me giving grace freely I’m okay with it…the first time. I’m sort-of okay with it the second time. I’m less likely to be good with it the…77thtime…

But here is the point: giving grace, forgiving, and sacrificing aren’t optional parts of following Jesus. He says we are to love our enemies (Matt: 5:44). He says we are to forgive as we’ve been forgiven (Matt 6:12). He calls us to a life of sacrifice (Luke 9:23).

The truth is doing those things are hard. Doing those things are counter-cultural and they don’t make sense. Forgiving doesn’t make sense when you let go the hurts and slights that have happened. Giving grace to people who don’t deserve it, want it, or use it in the right way doesn’t make sense. Sacrificing your life for people who could care less doesn’t make sense. I’m not arguing that those things make sense, I’m simply arguing that those things are the way we follow Jesus.

We’d love to make following Jesus easy without grace, forgiveness, and sacrifice. But my guess is that the reason you are at all interested in Jesus is because of his grace, forgiveness, and sacrifice. If we are followers of Jesus, we then need to be followers in grace, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Jesus never promises following him will be easy; he simply promises it will be worthwhile and lead to life.

So while sometimes I wish some things in the Christian life were optional, I now know better. Because sometimes it is living out the hard things that give the most meaning…

So today, who do you need to forgive? Who do you need to show grace to? How can you sacrifice for God? And yes, it will be hard, but you’ll be being like Jesus…

by Andrew Mills

Halloween, Hospitality, and the Theological Significance of Front Doors

Did you know what some of the first Christians we’re most know for? Radical hospitality.

This is something I think we should recapture. Because this is my honest belief: that the front door of our homes can invite and welcome people into the heart of the church. That when we invite and welcome people into our homes, and lives we are inviting people into the heart of the church. Because the church isn’t a building, it is a people. So when we as Christians, part of the body of Christ, practice radical hospitality we are not just inviting people into our homes but inviting people to experience church, Jesus, and God’s kingdom. This is a beautiful thing because I’ve found before people ever cross the doors of the church building where I work, they have often crossed my front door. Before they ever gather to sit and hear God’s story on a Sunday, they have sat on my couch and I’ve heard their story.

So how does this matter on Halloween?

Simple because people are coming to your front door, which can become a doorway to the heart of the church.

So this Halloween practice great hospitality, give out great candy, be warm, be friendly, be giving and generous because the next time a neighbor comes to your front door they might just cross it and eventually become part of the church.

So practice radical hospitality and who knows where it might lead…but my theological guess is it will lead to Jesus…

by Andrew Mills

Labor is a Craft, Perfect Rest is An Art

On Sunday we shared about Sabbath. You’ll be able to download the sermon here. I shared about how the very first thing that God calls holy is the Sabbath. He declares that it is special. It is to be set aside and not used in an ordinary way. The point isn’t to become legalistic about Sabbath but to enter into the beauty and art of it. Abraham Joshua Heschel writes that “Labor is a craft but perfect rest is an art”. This is why trying to approach keeping the Sabbath from a perspective of rules always fails. It’s like trying to paint a beautiful piece of art through using a paint-by-numbers approach. The point is that appreciating the holiness, beauty, and gift of Sabbath is more of an art-form and less of a list of rules to keep.

So my goal yesterday was to inspire us to take a Sabbath. In Exodus 20:8 we read that for six days you will work and complete all your work. As I mentioned, no one ever completes all their work in 6 days. The point is that when we come to the seventh day, the Sabbath, we rest as if all the work has been completed. We leave it up to God and enter into the day. We seek to practice the art of keeping Sabbath.

So my question to you is what helps you to practice the art of Sabbath? What makes the day special for you and helps you to accept the gift it is?

For me Sabbath keeping is all about trust. It’s about trusting God to take care of all that needs to be taken care of. I trust him that he cares for his church, his people, and for my family. I slow down and have good meals, good conversation, and good connections with friends.

For you though what helps you mark a day as special?

 

Discussion Questions:

Adult Discussion Questions: What was the best vacation you’ve ever taken? What makes you feel really rested? How have you felt – when you didn’t rest? What about this sermon inspires you to take time? When can you take a moment to rest and truly “Sabbath”?

Questions for Young Families: Rather than talking about Sabbath take one with your kids. Talk to them how you are going to put away work and be present with them for the day. Share with them why its important and then do it together.

Challenge for the Week: Take a Sabbath

by Andrew Mills

Learning to Rest

This Sunday we are looking at rest, relaxation, and Sabbath.

As Christians, learning to rest and connect with God should be something that is a part of our weekly rhythm, but often it’s not. Often our lives are hurried, rushed, and even frantic. We have emails, meetings, kids classes to take, and an effort to eat healthy. All of this can leave us feeling drained and down before we even come to take a rest.

So on Sunday I want to explore not why we should rest. I think we all know that it’s healthy to rest. Simply work 7 days a week for 6 months and see how you feel after that. The point isn’t why we need to, but how we might rest.

This is what I want to explore on Sunday, how the practice of Sabbath can actually drive our relationship with God and others deeper. I want to seek to share with you how you might start to rest and relax. I want to discover a surprising reality that the very first thing that is called holy isn’t a thing at all, but a period of time.

But why wait to start taking a Sabbath till we’ve talked about it Sunday. Why not start this weekend? Plan out a time to rest and relax. What is it that really helps you to slow down and connect?

For me I’m planning a lovely late Friday night meal with my amazing wife, once Hudson has gone to bed. We’ll talk and sip some fancy soda’s given to us from the church, talk, and reflect. And then have a late night cup of coffee.

This is my plan, but for you – is resting important enough to actually plan? Is it something you hope to do? Or something you must do? Because what we’ll understand on Sunday is that Sabbath is a gift – a gift though you have to choose to receive…

by Andrew Mills

The Depth of Love: Family, Faithfulness, and Hesed

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about love. And not so much the gooey, lovey-dovey feeling of love. Instead I’ve been thinking about love in the faithful, committed, covenanted, never give up, type of love.

In our church family there have been new babies born recently and each group of parents talk about how quickly they love their new little ones. Not just a “feeling” but also a firm resolve to protect them, care for them, be with them, guide them, and walk alongside them. I know that feeling from when Hudson was born, and I look forward to that experience again with our new baby due any day.

The amazing thing is that this idea of love as, deep loyalty, unending commitment, patient endurance, faithfulness, is what is found in the Bible. The idea of love in the Bible isn’t just a feeling but a commitment and a covenant – that never ends.

In the Old Testament when the Bible often uses the word “loving-kindness, mercy, steadfast love.” The word is “hesed” in Hebrew. It speaks of God’s commitment to his promises, to his people, and his plans because of his deep love, commitment and fidelity.

The idea is simple: love isn’t simply a feeling or a contract. Love, or Hesed, is a covenant promise that cannot be broken. This is why when the Bible speaks of God as love (1 John 4) the point isn’t just that God has loving-feelings towards us. No, it is so much more than that. God being love means that he is defined by a passionate commitment, unfailing fidelity, a covenant of mercy, and a faithful promise to keep choosing to love you each and every day. This gets to the heart of God, and the scandal of God’s love. God’s love goes beyond just feelings and moves into action and deep commitment. So when we speak of God’s unconditional love for us, it isn’t just never-ending, good feelings about his people. God’s unconditional love means that his posture to us is one of faithful grace, active commitment, purposeful mercy, and consistent care because that is his promise to us.

In 1 John 4:8b – 9 we read, “God is love. God showed us how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have true life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to rescue us from our brokenness”

This is love. Love that is about action. Love that is about commitment. Love that is about sacrifice, fidelity, and a decision to reach out and give while we don’t deserve it. And this is what makes God so beautiful.

And this is also what makes me excited, because soon I will have a new son or daughter. That deep connection and desire to be committed to them for life I now know isn’t a biological evolution thing, it isn’t a psychological phenomenon thing, it isn’t even a socially prescribed thing. That deep desire for life-long love and commitment is a God thing. It starts with God, comes from God, is modeled by God, and is given by God.

And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing….

by Andrew Mills

The Story of Baptism ~ Grace, Gospel, and Gift

On Sunday we looked at the story of Baptism. You’ll be able to download the sermon here. And what I realized as I prepared the sermon on Baptism is that it’s really about grace, gospel and gift.

We looked at Acts 8 and in the story we meet a eunuch. This is a man who has been socially excluded, hurt, suffered something that is humiliating, and has no opportunity for a family or descendants. And he is reading a passage about humiliation, cutting, and a loss of family (Isaiah 53:7-8). This is a passage that would resonate with a man who has been cut, humiliated, and will never have descendants. Right at that moment Philip asks if he understands what he has read and shares with him the Gospel of grace and Jesus Christ.

The Eunuch understandably wants to join this movement, to be included in a family, but he is scared and scarred. Because the eunuch has just been turned away from the Temple in Jerusalem (see Deut.23:1). He has just been excluded, thrown out, and rejected because of who he is. What is amazing about the story in Acts 8 is that Philip immediately baptizes him and welcomes without wasting any time. The gospel of grace doesn’t demand that the eunuch change before he comes to Jesus; the gospel of grace is that people change by coming to Jesus.

So from this story I pulled three main thoughts. That baptism is really a reminder and a marker of the story we are a part of. It also reminds us of grace, identity, and inclusion in God’s family.

First, baptism is a reminder of the wideness of God’s mercy. So we need to be careful if we limit the scope and activity of God’s grace. The religious institution of the day excluded this man whom the Kingdom of God welcomed. The truth is God’s gospel of grace is for everyone and anyone. Everyone is free to come to Jesus. Jesus died for the whole world and baptism is a reminder of the wideness of God’s grace.

Secondly, it reminds us of our identity. The eunuch is no longer a broken, excluded man with no descendants. He is a part of a spiritual family. He is pure, holy, and clean. Baptism doesn’t save us, make us holy or clean; Jesus Christ does that. Baptism doesn’t change us, but it does remind us of the change that has happened. And when we follow Jesus, we are new, we are no longer sinners, but holy, perfect, and clean because of Jesus’ sacrifice. Paul says, “Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore for the old life is gone. A new life has begun (2 Cor. 5:17). So Baptism is a reminder of our identity in Christ. We are no longer the same anymore. The old life is gone and new life has begun. We don’t need to cling onto our old identity but embrace our identity in Christ.

Lastly, it reminds us we are part of a family. The eunuch joins a family of God, and tradition says that he brought the gospel to many people. So while he may not have any physical descendants, he has many spiritual descendants. He is a father to many. Baptism is a reminder that we are apart of a family and a people called by God. We are included in God’s family and that gives us reason to celebrate.

So from an odd story about chariots, eunuchs, and running disciples, we learn about God, gospel, and most of all grace.

by Andrew Mills

The Story of Baptism and the Story of Grace

On Sunday I’ve chosen an odd topic, one that now that I’ve got into it, I find so beautiful, compelling, and life-changing. What’s odd about the topic is that it is Baptism.

I would say that most people don’t feel that a sermon on Baptism is beautiful. They either feel forced or guilt driven by it, if they haven’t been baptized, or feel it’s a waste of time or redundant, if they have been baptized. The problem with that is, when you read about the story of Baptism in Acts 8, it is anything but boring, redundant, guilt-driven, or forced. The story is all about grace, gospel, life, and beauty. The story is about how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we see the church. The story of baptism reminds us of our identity, the gospel of grace, and the people of God.

So I know it’s odd to preach on Baptism. I know that you might have heard sermons that seem to be trying to convict people to make a choice to be baptized. I know you might have heard sermons that didn’t speak to you because you’ve already been baptized. But I don’t believe Sunday is going to be at all like that, because as I’ve been preparing, God’s been changing me. He’s been using this odd topic to remind me of who I am in Christ, of how I should see my neighbors, and how I should value the church. So my prayer is that on Sunday he’ll keep doing what he’s started in my life, changing us through a story of grace and gift.

So on Sunday if you want to find out about the gospel, grace, and your identity in Jesus, we’re going to find out all about that through the spiritual practice of Baptism. But before we get there why not take a moment and read Acts 8. Simply read it a few times, and see what you notice and how God speaks to you through it. And come Sunday we’ll see how one man’s life was changed and how ours can be as well…

by Andrew Mills