Sermon Preview – Page 12 – { Andrew Mills }

Tumblr, Technology, and The Bible

I’m not going to lie, this Sunday we are covering a lot. And by a lot I mean a lot. We are going to be exploring the Bible’s view on technology. We’ll be looking at Facebook, Pinterest, Tumbler, Gene Patenting, and the crazy amount of consumer debt the average Canadian has (over $27,000 if you want to know). The irony is that I’m writing this blog post about technology on my laptop, will probably post this post through my phone, and link it to my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

So this Sunday won’t be a rant against technology because who am I to rant against it? Instead what it will be, will be a deep exploration of how the Bible teaches us that technology shapes our lives in healthy and unhealthy ways. We are going to be seeing what the Bible says about Twitter, the Internet, and TV. We are going to seeing how the Bible points out that it can, unless healthily understood, separate us from each other and God’s calling.

And to do this we are going to be looking at one of the most world-changing pieces of technology ever invented talked about in the Bible. The problem is that most of us don’t see it as technology. So that’s what’s coming up on Sunday.

But before we get there a little heads up. We’ll be playing a little game, and giving away some technology prizes. And we’ll be asking for what you think is the best technological innovation. So before we get there: what is your favorite technological innovation? Is it Candy Crush, the electric toothbrush, your PVR, your Roomba Vaccum cleaner? Let us know and come Sunday we’ll put it all together with how it shapes your life and mine.

July 20, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Crayon Coloured Bible Stories

On Sunday we are starting a new series called “Crayola Bible Stories” for the summer. What we are going to be looking at are those stories that we tend to teach kids, but don’t really look at ourselves. Those stories that we might have an idea of them, but haven’t really filled them fully in with all the amazing details, and directions that they give us. So we are going to be looking at stories like Noah, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, and Moses.

The reality is these stories weren’t give to us to just teach kids, but to change our lives. So we are going to be deeply exploring some of these stories pulling out new insights that will shape how we follow God.

So this whole series is starting with Noah. So brush up on your ancient history, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and we’ll discover how you are to make it through disaster.

But before we get there what Old Testament story would you love to hear teaching on and why? Let us know and who knows maybe in the future it’ll make it in!

July 5, 2013 by Andrew Mills

What’s in Your Wallet?

On Sunday we are exploring the topic of money, and its related topic of peace. There is a lot of ad’s that promise freedom from finances, peace with possessions, and all sorts of things like that. And that’s what we really want to explore on Sunday. How can you have peace, freedom, and hope in relation to your finances and everyday concerns?

I think this is a really important question because if it is possible to live without worry, to go to sleep without stress, to have hope about the future rather than dread – then we’d want that in our lives.

And as we’ll discover on Sunday so much of society tells us the answer to having that peace and freedom is always…more. Make more money, have more things, be more independent, be more in control etc. But I think the reality is very different than that. Having more doesn’t bring an increase of peace, otherwise most people in North America would be the most happy, and stress-free people on the planet. We have so much in North America, so why doesn’t that translate into more peace and freedom from stress and anxiety?

That’s what we’ll discover on Sunday, how to live life with such assurance that peace, and hope are naturally a part of all you do. We’ll discover how Jesus teaches that peace and hope don’t come from more, they come from him.

June 21, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Father’s Day, Failures, and a New Future

Sunday is a special Sunday: it’s Father’s Day. I know this isn’t an easy day for everyone. If, like me, you’ve lost a father it can be tough. If you never really had a father, had a difficult father, or you desperately want to be a father but it hasn’t happened – I know all of these things can make Sunday difficult. Yet I also know for many of us Sunday can be a celebration. So recognizing all the complexity on Sunday I want to explore an odd topic: my failures.

On Sunday I want to be open and honest and share with you how I have failed as a father, and what that has taught me about God and relationships in general. I’ve only been a father for 3 short years, and 6 months with 2, but even in three years you can falter and fail even with the best intentions.

I know it’s an odd place to start with failures, but if you’re at all like me I learn so much more from my failures than sometimes my successes. And as I’ve faltered as a father my boys have been teaching me so much about God, myself, and all my relationships. So this is what I really want to take a look at on Sunday because failing doesn’t bother me. Not learning from my failures bothers me. I will make mistakes, and mess up – that’s life and parenting. But my hope is always to grow and change. So on Sunday we’ll open up some of my failures so that together we might all learn some important biblical principles around attention, affirmation, and owning our reactions.

Of course I’ll be sharing stories, of my boys painting the carpets and stories from Jesus. So I hope you can join us. But before we get there why not spend sometime and think through what failures have you really learned from? How have you changed? And most importantly, are there people you can share these lessons with so that we might all grow together?

June 14, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Why Does Jesus Talk So Much About Money?

On Sunday we are exploring a difficult topic. We are talking about money. Here is the difficulty though with this topic. Whenever money is talked about people can get defensive and uncomfortable. This has often been because the church has talked about money so poorly, seeming like all we care about is a bigger offering. But money, wealth, and finances do need to be talked about in church because of how it can affect our lives. Whether or not we acknowledge it money has a huge influence on our lives. Here are just a few examples:

Marriages often split over finances and fights about finances
Financial stress can bleed out into all sorts of relationships that we have
Many of us are scared about our future in relation to money, wealth, and security

And so we should talk about how to find peace, life, and hope. The truth is that if Jesus talked about money so should we, and he talked about money a lot:

Jesus talked about money more than anything else, other than the Kingdom of God
Jesus talked about money more than heaven and hell combined
25% of all the parables have connections with money

I think the point is that Jesus knew that money is a stress, it is a focus, and it can steal our peace. So he talks about it to give us freedom, life, and a new perspective.

So here is a sneak peek into the big idea for Sunday. It has two parts but I’ll share the first part now: God doesn’t want your money. This is true, and on Sunday we’ll be exploring Mathew 6 to find out why that’s true. Why God isn’t really interested in your money, why we won’t be having a second offering, and why money isn’t the issue, it has something to do with our hearts.

June 7, 2013 by Andrew Mills

How Do You Become Like Jesus?

On Sunday we are wrapping up our series on the Prodigal Son. We’ve looked at the older brother, and the younger son. On Sunday we are looking at the Father, and asking the most crucial question:

How do we become like the Father?

Because this is honestly one of the central parts of following Jesus. Jesus perfectly represents the Father in this parable. And we are called as followers of Jesus to become like Jesus. We are called to follow in his footsteps to become like the Father in this parable. We are called to learn to show reckless love, abundant forgiveness, and never-ending grace.

So on Sunday we are going to be exploring the hard question of how do you actually do this? How do you actually live, love, and look like Jesus? Of course it will take the Holy Spirit’s work, the Father’s direction, and the power of Jesus. But what practical steps can we take to start to live like the Father in this parable?

Because I believe this truly matters. Imagine with me if each Christian loved, lived, and looked like the Father in the parable of the prodigal son? If this was true our homes, meeting places, and churches would be filled with people drawn to this depth of love. They would be drawn into our lives, just as people were drawn to Jesus.

So this question of “how” matters immensely. And on Sunday we hope to answer it. But before we get there, why not spend sometime thinking about it yourself. If you are to become like Jesus, what next steps help you get there? What is he calling you to do? How might you go so deeply into his love, that it transforms you into a person of deep love? These are questions worth thinking about, and even more importantly worth living out.

May 24, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Keeping the Rules can Keep You From God

On Sunday we are going to be looking at a super well-known teaching of Jesus but not some of its well-known implications. The teaching is the teaching of the Prodigal Son. So many people are familiar with this amazing story and teaching. But what most people, especially Christians, aren’t familiar with is some of the startling teaching that’s within it.

The startling teaching is this: that keeping all the rules can actually keep you from God.

That’s right, that following all the rules, obeying all of God’s commandments, can actually, in some circumstances, distance you from God. The reality is that not only does the prodigal son need forgiveness and acceptance by the Father in the story; but so too does the older righteous brother. Both sons in the story are lost and on Sunday we’ll discover how the one son is lost by breaking the rules, and the other is lost by keeping them.

This is a hugely important topic for us to reflect on, because it is easy to see how we create distance between God and us when we break the rules. It is really difficult for us to see how we create distance between God and us by how we follow the rules.

So on Sunday that’s where we’re going. And I know initially this idea, that keeping the rules can keep you from God might seem startling or even shocking – but it is true. Simply look at the Gospels and see that the people who kept the rules the best, (the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law) were often furthest from Jesus.

So the question is: how can keeping the rules get in the way of following God?

It’s worth thinking about and reflecting on before Sunday. Because if there is any distance between us and God, either by following or breaking the rules, we want to acknowledge it and close it.

Because one thing is clear in the parable of the prodigal son: it’s best to be inside the party with the Father.

May 17, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Prodigals and Finding God

Over the next few weeks we are going to be moving into a new series looking at the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. This is a story that is very well known in general. But what is often true is that the most familiar stories are sometimes the least well known. Meaning that some of the most familiar stories are so familiar that they have lost their initial impact, shock, and experience.

This is what I hope to explore over the next few weeks. Because this story is shocking in what it reveals.

It shows a God willing to divide up his life for people to make the wrong choices.
It shows a God willing to accept and offer forgiveness before it’s asked for.
It shows how we can break the rules, and obey all the rules and still miss God.
It shows how our own righteousness and obedience to the law can distance ourselves from God just as much as running away.
And most of all, it shows a radical picture of God that differs from the unchanging, cold, distant entity in heaven; instead it shows a God radically open, relational, and filled with reckless love.

So that is where we are going for the next few weeks; looking each week at one of the characters in the story and how our lives might line up with theirs. But before we do that, why not spend sometime and slowly read and digest this story. Listen to it as if for the first time and discover not only who God is, but also who we are.

Luke 15: 11- 32.

“A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’

“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

May 3, 2013 by Andrew Mills

We’re All Parents – Some of Us Just Have Kids

On Sunday we are going to look at a major issue for all of us as Christians. We are looking at parenting.

You might actually want to push back a little bit. You might be asking, “Is it a major issue for all of us? What about those of us without kids? What about those of us with grown kids? What about those of us who never want kids?”

Well I hate to be the one to tell you…but if you are a follower of Jesus you are a parent.

That’s right. As followers of Jesus in a community we all matter in ensuring that the next generation launches well. You are a model and an example, even if you aren’t a biological parent.

Stanley Hauerwas writes it this way: Christians, single and married, are parents. “Parent” names an office of the Christian community that everyone in the community is expected faithfully to fulfill.

And he is absolutely right. We all have a responsibility with the youth we, as a community, have been entrusted with. Kids matter. Youth matter. And you matter too in developing a caring community that launches them well. So yes parenting is a major issue for all Christians.

And come Sunday we are going to look at how to launch our kids well. I’m going to share with you three things that I think are really key. But before we get there what about you? What do you think is key in raising kids as a community? What did your parents do – that worked so wonderfully? What have you learned not to do from your parents?

Because the reality for good or bad, we have all been shaped by parenting. Whether that’s good parents, bad parents, or non-existent parents. The question we want to discover is then for those in our care and community how can we raise them well. How can we launch them well? What do you think?

April 26, 2013 by Andrew Mills