Category: Sermon Reflections

Preparing for Jesus’ Yes

1430243_28387738On Sunday we looked at two Christmas stories. These two stories are very similar, both people receive amazing promises, have an encounter with an angel, and have some amazing desires met. The difference between the two stories is in the responses of the two people.

The first, Zechariah is promised to receive a special child from the Angel Gabriel. This is an amazing thing, and something he has been hoping for. But because his heart isn’t ready, he is unable to fully receive the promise. His response to Gabriel is “how will I know this will happen?”. He essentially asks, what more proof will there be that this promise will actually come to be? And Gabriel turns to him and essentially simply states, “The fact you are talking to an angel of God should be enough proof”. The point is that for Zechariah his initial response was a bit of reluctance, of hesitancy, of doubt.

The very next story though shows a bit of a different response. The angel Gabriel shows up to Mary and gives her a very similar promise. That she too would bear a son but that this son would be the Messiah. What an amazing promise! Her response though is very different from Zechariah’s, she says, “I am willing to accept whatever God wants”. Her response is willingness.

So we ended asking the question if God were to show up today – what would be your response to him? Would it be reluctance or acceptance? Would it be doubt or willingness?

I think this is an  important question to ask because I believe we’d like to be like Mary – responding with acceptance and willingness. The trouble is the longer we wait for God’s promises the more difficult it is to respond with Mary. We start to base our hopes on our expectations, rather than on God’s ability to do the impossible. We start to base our hopes on our reality, rather than God’s.

So we ended with this challenge on Sunday. Let’s prepare our hearts for God’s arrival. Jesus is coming; that’s what Advent is all about. So let’s prepare our hearts so that when he comes we can respond like Mary, with willingness and acceptance.

The only way to prepare our hearts to be able to be like Mary, I think, is to simply get closer to God. The closer we are to God the more likely we can respond rightly to God. So this week focus on getting closer to Jesus. Spend time with him in prayer, in conversation, in closeness and let that start to prepare your heart for his arrival. Advent is a time of preparation, so let’s prepare for Jesus because one thing is sure. He is coming, so let’s be ready.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea We need to have willing hearts

Take Aways…

  • Advent a time of waiting but also preparing.
  • We couch our expectations in our version of reality
  • Zechariah has based his life on what he thought is possible
  • We can be so unprepared in our hearts and minds, that we don’t even believe the promise and struggle to receive it.
  • In Zechariah’s response there is reluctance, in Mary’s there is willingness
  • What would be your response -willingness, or doubt?
  • We need to prepare our hearts to accept the impossible.
  • We need to have willing hearts.
  • Get close to God

Adult / Group 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 have you been waiting for? Would you say you are ready to receive it? What might be your response today to Jesus’ arrival in your life? How can you get closer to Jesus this week? What will you do this week?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: This week simply watch your kids. Give them something exciting, something great, and watch how easily they receive it. Kids have a natural way of receiving good things without questioning it. Why not learn from them this week.

Challenge for this Week: Get close to Jesus.

by Andrew Mills

Advent: A Time of Waiting and Finding

432071_70194656On Sunday we looked at the art of waiting. In Advent there is a sense and need to wait. We look forward to Christ’s coming, to his entering the world, and to our salvation.

And for many of us we are waiting for some significant things to happen in our lives. So how do we patiently wait in this season, how do we not give up, and even find what we are waiting for?

This is what we looked at on Sunday, preaching from an odd place ~ the page between the Old and New Testaments. This page represents a people of waiting. It represents the Israelite people expecting and desiring God to fulfill his promises. It represents a people waiting and longing for the Messiah.

The truth is though that the longer we wait, the less hopeful we get. But even while we wait we can still have hope, because the page always turns, the story doesn’t end.

We turned the page from the Old to the New Testament and read the first verse in Matthew 1:1 that says, “This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus, the Messiah, a descendant of King David and of Abraham”. Jesus arrives, the promises are fulfilled, the Messiah comes, and the waiting isn’t wasted. And we need to remember this in Advent with the promise of God’s arrival. That the waiting is never wasted, and Jesus does come, he does arrive.

Pope John Paul writes, “Advent is then a period of intense training that directs us decisively to the One who has already come, who will come and who continuously comes.” Jesus does come, he is always on his way, and he does arrive. So we have hope even in the waiting, and we must never ever give up, because Jesus is the one who comes to us.

Advent is about waiting, but it is also about finding. And when you wait for God it is never wasted. So we ended with this main point that Christ is coming, don’t give up waiting. If you are waiting from a dream, a healed friendship, marriage, a job, whatever it may be: don’t give up, Christ is coming.

We ended with three simple ways to put this waiting into practice. First, that we need to acknowledge and name what it is we are waiting for. Second we need to share with God the depths of what we hope for, long for, and strive for. We need to be honest with ourselves, and with God for what we hope for. And then thirdly we need to watch for his arrival.

Some missed Jesus’ arrival because they stopped watching, but Advent reminds us that Jesus does arrive. So watch for the arrival of Jesus in your life because with him comes health, life, and hope.

So the challenge for this week was simple: watch for Jesus’ arrival. And we prayed together this prayer from Revelation 22:20. Our Lord says, ‘Surely, I come quickly.’ Even so; come, Lord Jesus. May that be true in your life as well.

This is truly a different waiting from our familiar ‘waiting’. We wait for something different, quite different – we wait for God. Waiting for God cannot be like that kind of waiting which says or thinks: ‘It would be wonderful if he came; but if he does not come , then we must go one living without him.” We cannot wait for God so ready to resign ourselves to his not coming, so indifferent, so foolish, as we might wait for an increase in salary. No, that would be foolish, meaningless waiting if we really mean God.  But if we will not be satisfied with what is offered us today as godlike words, we will go on waiting, with longing, seeking ,and hoping until at last, it is God himself who comes to help and to comfort…Then our waiting and hoping is not like a piece of wishful thinking, or a fantasy, but life itself. Then we live only because we wait for God. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Christ is coming, don’t give up waiting.

Take Aways…

  • Three responses in advent: Waiting, Willingness, and Worship
  • Waiting is a part of life as a Christian
  • God’s timing is not on-demand
  • “Celebrating advent means learning how to wait waiting is an art which our impatient age has forgotten. We want to pluck the fruit before it has had time to ripen” Bonhoeffer
  • The longer we wait, the less hopeful we get.
  • You turn the page from a place of waiting to a place of finding
  • Advent is then a period of intense training that directs us decisively to the One who has already come, who will come and who continuously comes. Pope John Paul
  • Jesus is the one who comes to us.
  • Advent is about waiting but it is also about finding.
  • When you wait for God it is never wasted.
  • Christ is coming, don’t give up waiting.
  • We truly acknowledge what we need and what we are hoping for
  • Share with God what you are waiting for
  • Watch for Jesus arrival
  • Our Lord says, ‘Surely, I come quickly.’ Even so; come, Lord Jesus. Rev 22:20

Adult / Group 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 made you laugh? If you were given the marshmallow test as a child – how would you have done? What are you currently waiting for? What makes it difficult? What helps to make the waiting “easier”? How are you watching for the arrival of Jesus in your life? How might you try to watch for him this week? Who can help to journey with you as you wait and watch?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Try the marshmallow experiment with your kids. See how long they would last. Tell them if you would have found it really tough to do. Take sometime to talk to them about the importance of waiting, and patience. Remind them too that in the big things of life Jesus promises to show up.

Challenge for this Week: Watch for Jesus’ arrival

 

by Andrew Mills

Amazing Grace ~ A Hope and A Deep Challenge

1374033_79721327This Sunday we talked about grace. Grace is a tricky and a challenging thing. It’s a tricky thing because true grace is so difficult to actually practice, but it is absolutely necessary, because grace changes people.

We looked at the parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18. And in this parable there are two really important principles or truths for us. The first, a deep deep encouragement. And it is this: that God is a God of grace. We see the King as a metaphor of God, forgiving a deep debt. A debt so big it couldn’t be payed off. This is grace, unmerited favor, forgiveness, and who our God is. God is a God who forgives impossible debts, because of the surplus of his love.

The second thing we see though is a challenge and a warning. We see the man who has the debt payed off, not changed by the grace that is given, and he goes and strangles a man for a minor debt. The king in the story is enraged and throws the man into prison until he can pay off the debt. And Jesus ends with the saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.

Now Jesus is not saying that the Father is unwilling to forgive to the unmerciful servant. This is a shallow reading that contradicts the first part. The King is willing, able, and actually does forgive the debt the man owes. The change in response of the King is because of the lack of response from the unmerciful servant. It is as if Jesus is saying as long as you seek to live according to the law, ledger books, and counting of sins and slights you will not be able to experience the grace of God. This isn’t because God isn’t willing to give it, he is. The first part of the parable is clear about that, but you will be unable to receive it because you will be living counter to God’s kingdom.

The point is that to really receive grace, we have to also be willing to give grace. Giving grace to others around us is a demonstration that we have been transformed by  God’s grace. Giving and receiving go hand in hand. The challenge then for us as Christians is to give grace, and not trying to earn it or track the sins for and against us.

So we ended up with both an encouragement and a challenge. An encouragement that God is a God of grace. And a challenge, that to truly enter into a relationship with this God at a deep place, we have to be willing to let his grace change us and flow through us. So we ended with this challenge: give grace. Give grace. And I think that’s a good challenge for us all.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: We can live with ledger books or we can live with grace

Take Aways…

  • Grace is central to theology and the Christian faith
  • If you don’t live by grace, you run the risk of not receiving grace.
  • The debt was so large it could never be paid off, only forgiven.
  • For each and everyone of us, there is grace available for us
  • This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart. – Jesus
  • God is a God of grace
  • No matter how much you owe to him, big or small today you can owe nothing at all.
  • How unutterably sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us completely. No tale bearer can inform on us, no enemy can make an accusation stick; no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our character can come to light to turn God away from us, since He know us utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us. A.W. Tozer
  • God knows you completely, so he can accept you completely
  • That if we seek to live by the law, we will die by the law.
  • An unwillingness to give grace, Often shows a heart that grace hasn’t touched
  • We can live with ledger books or we can live with grace
  • Its okay there is grace
  • We need to give grace to keep our hearts soft
  • Give grace this week

Adult / Group 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? Why do you think grace is so hard to give? Why might it be incredibly important to actually give? As you think about grace, who do you need to give grace too? Take time to look at the last post that includes a quote from Jay Bakker. What parts of it challenged you, did you disagree with, did you agree with? What parts do you think you need to put into practice?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Rather than discussing the sermon with your kids this week, find a way to practice it. This week when your kids make a mistake or screw up – instead give grace and talk about it. Maybe you take their punishment for them, you clean up the mess, or you let them off the hook. Just make sure you share with them why you are doing it and why it matters.

Challenge for this Week: Give grace this week

 

by Andrew Mills

The Art of Spiritual War

1360591_36771804On Sunday we looked at the topic of what are the strategies of the enemy? We launched from Ephesians 6, and 2 Cor 2:11 where we read, “Do not be unaware of the Devil’s schemes”. So to discover the schemes of the enemy we turned to explore 3.

In Genesis we see a pretty clear strategy of the Devil. The first thing he does in Genesis 3 is to confuse what God has already made clear. He asks Eve “has God really said that you can’t eat any of the fruit from the trees in garden?” But this is not what God has said. God has said simply don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And so the enemy starts to confuse Adam and Eve (because Adam was there), and to confuse what God has told clearly. And once he starts to confuse on little things, he starts to deceive on bigger things. He has a conversation with Eve where confusion seems to be pretty prominent. Eve says that God has told her she can’t eat or even touch the fruit. Again though God has said nothing about touching the fruit, and the lies and deception of the serpent seem to continue to confuse. Eventually the writer says that Eve was convinced and ate the fruit because she thought it would make her wise. So Adam and Eve do a wrong action, out of good intentions. They think it will make them wise, but that’s because they believed a lie from the enemy.

So from this short passage we discerned that the primary activity of the enemy is to lie, confuse, and deceive. Jesus says essentially the same thing in John 8:44 where he writes, “The devil was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and father of lies”

That’s the scheme of the enemy: to lie.

To make it practical we then examined 10 common lies and tactics of the enemy. These 10 tactics came from a really old book by Thomas Brookes called, “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices” (which you can read for free here: http://www.preachtheword.com/bookstore/remedies.pdf”

The 10 we looked briefly at were these:

  • Tactic 1: Presents the bait and hides the hook. Here the enemy shows the fun of sin, but doesn’t show us the consequences of sin
  • Tactic 2: Paints Sins with Virtues Color. Here the enemy makes bad actions seem good. For example people refuse to forgive, because they believe in truth that much. Or I’m not stingy or ungenerous, I’m a good steward.
  • Tactic 3: Presenting God to the soul as One made up all of mercy. Here the enemy reminds us of the grace of God, so we can sin, it’s no big deal he might say. But doesn’t remind us that sin has consequences.
  • Tactic 4: By Polluting Judgment. Here often leaders use all their good deeds as excuses to sin. For example, “I put in lots of hours, who cares if I pad my expense report a bit”.
  • Tactic 5: By Showing the Outward Joys of Those Who Sin. This is where the enemy seems to point to all the joy, money, and fun people who are greedy, or disregard God’s direction have. What he doesn’t show us is again the consequences and inner turmoil.
  • Tactic 6: Causing us to compare ourselves with those who think are worse. Here the enemy encourages us to think our personal sins aren’t that bad, look at so and so. So we relativize sin rather than deal with it.
  • Tactic 7: Causing us to remember our sins more than our Saviour. Here he causes us to look at our sins so much we think we are worthless and we forget to look to our Saviour.
  • Tactic 8: Reminding us of Sins Confessed and Dealt With. Here the enemy reminds us of all the sins we’ve previously dealt with and he still tries to condemn us for them.
  • Tactic 9: Causing us to think of difficulties as punishments. Here he causes us to believe that difficulties must be punishments from God. And we fall for the lie that God is out looking for sin to punish.
  • Tactic 10: Causing us to think our Salvation isn’t secure. And lastly, he convinces us that when we struggle that we must not be “real Christians” or that we aren’t really part of God’s family.

So that’s where we went on Sunday examining the tactics of the enemy. Next week we will be looking at how to overcome them. But the first step to overcoming them is to recognize them.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Satan is a liar

Take Aways…

  • “Beliefs about Satan are a matter of debate, but the experience of Satan is a brute and terrifying fact” Walter Wink
  • “Do not be unaware of the Devil’s schemes” 2 Cor. 2:11
  • The enemy confuses what God has made clear
  • The enemy combines good intentions with bad actions
  • The main strategy of the devil is to lie
  • Tactic 1: Presents the bait and hides the hook (Doesn’t show the consequences)
  • Tactic 2: Paints Sins with Virtues Color (Making bad actions looks good)
  • Tactic 3: Presenting God to the soul as One made up all of mercy (Reminding us of mercy but not the consequences of Sin)
  • Tactic 4: By Polluting Judgment (Using our good deeds as an excuse to sin)
  • Tactic 5: By Showing the Outward Joys of Those Who Sin (Showing us the “fun” of sin without any of the inner difficulty or consequence)
  • Tactic 6: Causing us to compare ourselves with those who think are worse
  • Tactic 7: Causing us to remember our sins more than our Savior
  • Tactic 8: Reminding us of Sins Confessed and Dealt With
  • Tactic 9: Causing us to think of difficulties as punishments
  • Tactic 10: Causing us to think our Salvation isn’t secure

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was new, what was challenging? What are you thoughts about the tactics of the enemy? Has there ever been a time where the enemy confused you of something God told you clearly? What happened? Looking over the tactics of the enemy, which ones do you struggle with? Which ones has he used on you? Who might be able to help you to stand strong against the tactics of the enemy? How might they help you, and what can you do to ensure they do? Are you reading your Bible to centre yourself in the truth? If so what has God taught you lately? If not how can you start to read the Bible – what do you need to do? Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take sometime to talk to your kids about today’s topic. Remind them about some of the themes. Share with them how God is always full of forgiveness, but wrong choices have consequences. Remind them how we are always valuable in God’s eyes always. Challenge for this Week: Spot the lie and Stand Strong

by Andrew Mills

Understanding and Exploring Spiritual Warfare

854353_87050096On Sunday we started to open up a series taking a look at the topic of Spiritual Warfare. We began with a great quote by C.S. Lewis who writes this:

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve their existence. The other is to believe and feel an unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.

And I think he’s right. There are two dangers; one of dismissing the reality of evil that is external to ourselves, and the other is to search for it and become totally fascinated with it.

We talked about how in the Bible from Genesis through to Revelation there is a clear picture of an opposing force to the will of God in the world. Sometimes this force or forces goes by many different names; evil, chaos, Leviathan, Satan, principalities and powers. The point is that the Bible seems to point to the reality of evil and powers of darkness that are outside of humanity and seeking to affect humanity. This viewpoint is especially seen in Jesus. Jesus did not just come to free us from personal sins, but to conquer evil, Satan, sin, and death. Jesus saw himself as combatting and challenging the forces of darkness that bring about death, destruction, and division.  N.T. Wright, writes: “One of the key elements in Jesus’ perception of his task was his redefinition of who the real enemy was . . . The pagan hordes surrounding Israel [including Rome] were not the actual foe of the people of the YHWH. Standing behind the whole problem of Israel’s exile was the dark power known in some Old Testament traditions as the satan, the accuser. The struggle was coming to a head and was therefore cosmic.”

The point is that if Jesus believed in the powers of darkness around him, we should be open to believe it as well. Because once we recognize the reality, we can work towards their finality.

I ended with this quote on Sunday and I think it’s true, and deep. So I’ll end with it here as well.

Some think spiritual warfare is only deliverance. Others emphasize pulling down strongholds in the heavenlies. Still others say spiritual warfare is doing the works of Jesus – preaching, teaching and living the truth. Yet another group says all this is impractical. They claim we should focus on feeding the hungry, resisting racism, and speaking out against social injustice. I believe we have to do it all. Pulling down strongholds is only important if people are led to Christ as a result. However, some are deaf to the preaching of the gospel until we deal with hindering powers.  And some can’t break through into victory until bondage is broken in their lives. We must do it all, as appropriate and as God leads. – Dean Sherman

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Darkness is real and we need to change it

Take Aways…

  • Spiritual Warfare: Is standing and fighting against the darkness and evil in this world
  • There are forces that stand opposed to the will of God
  • We need nuanced views, not bumper stickers.
  • There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve their existence. The other is to believe and feel an unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight. C.S. Lewis
  • The Bible right off the bat recognizes a force opposed to the will of God.
  • The Bible unequivocally speaks of powers of darkness, Satan, demons, spirits, and other powers not only consistently but pervasively
  • Three approaches to interpreting passages with supernatural evil: dismiss them as figurative, ignore them as unnecessary, or engage them critically
  • Jesus believed in supernatural evil
  • Understnaidng Jesus means understanding what he came to change
  • Jesus did not just come to save us from our personal sins, but to overthrow all evil, hate, war, sin, and hurt.
  • The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8
  • The assumption that undergird Jesus’ entire ministry is the view that Satan has illegitimately seized the world and thus now exercises a controlling influence over it. Greg Boyd
  • If we don’t believe in the reality of evil and darkness around us we will not be effective in destroying it
  • There are two equal dangers to dismiss the reality of the devil, and to search for the devil in all sorts of ways
  • We need to use discernment to discover what is health and unhealthy

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was new, what was challenging? Did you have an areas of disagreement?

What are your thoughts about supernatural evil? What did you think of C.S. Lewis’ quote? What darkness do you see around you? How can you stand against it this week?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take sometime to talk to your kids about today’s topic. Remind them that whenever they face anything dark in their lives, or scary that Jesus is stronger and already defeated them. Give them a sense of security that Jesus is always with them.

Challenge for this Week: Stand against the darkness around you

by Andrew Mills

Planting Life

On Sunday we looked at how people like Jesus but don’t really like the church. We looked at how our posture (way of relating, interacting, and responding) to the world needs to be the same as Jesus’.

We first looked at how our posture isn’t called to be one of judgment. Jesus is clear he came to seek and save the lost, not condemn the world (John 3:16-17). So a posture of judgment isn’t to be a primary posture towards those around us. We also looked at the posture of separation, where we remove ourselves from the world. And while we are certainly called to live lives of difference, we are not called to live lives of isolation. We are called to engage the world, and to be sent into the world. And lastly, we looked at a posture of accommodation, where we no longer seem to have any distinctives at all.

We discussed how all of these postures don’t seem to the one that Jesus had. That we are not called to judge, ignore, or simply accept the world around us. We are actually called to bless the world. We went back to Genesis 12 and discovered that the first covenant with God and his people is to be a blessing. Our posture, stance, and response to those around us must be blessing. This is our calling,

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s Christians should be known for how we bless others. This is what I hope our church is known for. Not what we stand against, for our separation, or accommodation but for our continuous acts of blessing.

We ended by explaining what blessing means. How, in Hebrew, it literally means to give life. I think this is an easier thing for us to practically understand and practice. We, as Christians, are to give life to those around us in simple, and real ways. This means shoveling driveways, inviting people over, and caring for others in simple and intentional ways. Christians should be people whom others want to be around because of how life-giving we are.

So that was our call and challenge this week: to go give life to those around us. And I think if we get this posture right, we might just also change people’s perceptions of the church as we adopt the posture of Jesus Christ.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea Our posture is to be life Giving

Take Aways…

  • If people are drawn to Jesus, they should be drawn to the church
  • Posture actually conveys more than our words ever do
  • A posture of judgment rarely communicates the heart of Christianity
  • We are called to be different to live lives of difference
  • God is going to use a people, not a program to change the world
  • We will not change the world through our judgment, through our separation, or through or simple accommodation we will change it through our blessing.
  • Barak (Blessing) : means to give life
  • We make our friends; we makes our enemies; but God makes our next-door neighbor. G.K. Chesterton
  • Our posture is to be life giving.
  • What can I do that would be life-giving for those around me.

Adult / Group 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?

How has someone blessing you changed you? What is your posture to those who are around you? Would you say its one of judgment, separation, accommodation, or blessing? How come? How can you give life to those around you? What about you neighbor, co-worker, or friends?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take a moment to talk to your kids about how we are to be blessing. Tell them we are to help others feel happy and full of joy, and life. Ask them if they have any ideas how they can do that for their friends. Then go about and do it!

Challenge for this Week: Be a blessing to those around you

by Andrew Mills

Emptying Yourself

On Sunday we put on our theological thinking caps and dived deeply in Philippians 2:5-11. What we discovered was a clear picture not only of Jesus, but also of who God is. Because Jesus is the perfect representation and revelation of God.

cross-with-shadow-4-1356539-mThrough this hymn we discovered a God who is about emptying himself. The word in Greek is kenosis. So we read that Jesus made himself nothing, or literally emptied himself. So we worked the passage through to discover what did Jesus empty himself of? He didn’t empty himself of divinity, instead to be divine is to actually empty yourself. So what did he release and let go?

Well we discovered three clear things he actually emptied himself of, or divested himself of. The first was unilateral power. In coming to earth he gave up unilateral power, and actually embraced vulnerability. Because now for the first time God in the person of Jesus Christ could be beaten, bruised, and killed. Jesus emptied himself fo power, and embraced vulnerability. He also emptied himself of position. It says that Jesus humbled himself. He gave up his position above us to join us where we are at. He became human to reach us. So he gave up position, and embraced humility. And lastly, he gave up privilege and embraced obedience. Privilege is the right to choose and be in charge. Jesus gave that up and let the father direct him in all things and embraced absolute obedience.

So on Sunday we discovered that the way of Jesus is to empty yourself of power, position, and privilege and embrace vulnerability, obedience, and humility. And if this is the way of Jesus, it is to be our way as Christians as well. We will never ever change the world as long as we are holding onto our power, position, and privilege. Our church is to be known for how it empties itself on those who are around it. Because this is what Jesus is known for: emptying himself for our sakes. We need to do the same thing because being a Christian isn’t about knowing a lot about Jesus, it’s about living life in the way of Jesus.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Live your Life on Empty

Take Aways…

  • Phroneo: To Cherish the Same Views as Jesus
  • People desire power and position to be able to use it
  • God is “Jesusy”
  • Our God is the self-emptying one
  • The decision to become human, and to go all the way along the road of obedience…was not a decision to stop being divine. It was a decision about what it really meant to be divine. N.T. Wright
  • The attitude of Jesus isn’t to hold onto power and position but to embrace vulnerability
  • “The voluntary downward plunge of the divine” Antoinette Clark Wire
  • The attitude of Jesus is one who gives up position and takes on humility
  • The attitude of Jesus is one who gives up privilege and embraces obedience
  • Christians we are to live our lives on empty
  • Being a Christian isn’t just about going to church and reading your Bible, Being a Christian is about living life like Jesus Christ
  • this church is to be known for how it empty’s its life on all those around it
  • As long as we are holding onto our power, our position, our privileges we will not change the world
  • We are not responsible to fill someone else’s life, we are absolutely responsible to empty ours
  • Measure your life not by how much you gain, but how much you give

 

Adult / Group 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?

Why might it be so important to get our view of Jesus straight? What happens when our understanding of Jesus is off?

Why do you think there is such a temptation in our world to hold onto power, position, and privilege? Have you ever thought of Jesus as one who empty’s himself before? What do you think is hardest to empty yourself of – power, position, or privilege?

Who are you feeling called to “empty” yourself on around you? How might you do that in practical, meaningful, and creative ways? Are you prepared to try to live life without holding onto power, position, or privilege? Who can help you to live that way?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take a moment and talk to your kids about today’s message. Remind them that purpose of life – isn’t to gain things – it’s to give. Ask them if they have anything they’d like to give to someone else. Ask them if they have any ideas of how they might give something (time, a toy, whatever) to someone to brighten their day. Then actually go and do it.

Challenge for this Week: Empty yourself on those around you this week.

 

by Andrew Mills

Open Doors, Open Hearts, and Open Invitations : The gift of Hospitality

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOn Sunday we explored the most important spiritual gift there is: hospitality. I think that this is probably the most important gift there is in the church today. Today in North America the church is known for all sorts of things that aren’t good. We’re known for being judgmental, closed, and all about money. What I think though we need to be known for is how we open our lives, our homes, and our living rooms to anyone. We need to be known for how we are open and welcoming, offering friendship with no pretext other than love.

Jesus, in Matthew 25, gives a really clear command to give food, friendship, water to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, and welcome to everyone. This is to mark our lives as Christians.

John Wesley, preaching on this passage, had someone ask him what good is it if we do those things and they go to “everlasting fire”. Wesley’s response is both so challenging and convicting he says “Whether they will finally be lost or saved is not up to us.” He says though,  “You are expressly commanded to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. If you can, and do not, whatever becomes of them, you shall go away into everlasting fire”. Strong response isn’t it? It’s strong because it’s true. We, as Christians, cannot make excuses for us not opening our lives without pretext to those around us.

Long before anyone will come to my church with me, they will have entered my house. Long before they have ever listened to me share on a Sunday, I will have listened to them share countless times in my kitchen. The point is that as Christians we are called to open our lives and welcome others.

So we ended with this challenge which is pretty clear: invite people into your home. Invite neighbors, friends, family, and co-workers. Simply practice welcome, leave aside any pretext, and simply love and care. This is our calling and this is what we should be known for again. Because this is what Jesus does for us. He welcomes us, so we need to welcome others as well.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Hospitality needs to be practiced

Take Aways…

  • We gather to meet with Jesus, to be changed by Jesus, and to be sent out to change lives with Jesus
  • Hospitality changes lives
  • “Hospitality meant extending to strangers a quality of kindness usually reserved for friends and family” Christine Pohl, Making Room
  • “Soap boxes and pulpits are not nearly as important as kitchen tables and couches” Christine Pohl
  • We need to become people who know how to welcome others.
  • Start opening up your home and your life to others
  • Whether they will finally be lost or saved is not up to us.” He says though “You are expressly commanded to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. If you can, and do not, whatever becomes of them, you shall go away into everlasting fire” John Wesley
  • People view hospitality as quaint and tame partly because they do not understand the power of recognition. When a person who is not valued by society is received by someone as a human being with dignity and worth, small transformations occur” Christine Pohl
  • We shall have to break our habit of having church in such a way that people are deceived into thinking that they can be Christians and remain strangers. Will Willimon, Stanley Hauerwas

Adult / Group 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?

How has someone opening up their home or life to you changed you? Are there people you should be opening up your life too? Have you ever thought about Matthew 25, as a command to open your home to others? What are your thoughts about it? How might you start to practice hospitality in your life more frequently? Who can help you to put these things into practice? When will you invite neighbors, co-workers, family, or friends over?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Talk to your kids about the importance of welcome, of hospitality, and opening up your lives to others. Ask them who they think they should welcome from their school, or neighborhood. Why not invite them over along with their parents and practice hospitality as a family.

Challenge for this Week: Invite someone to your house next Sunday, and invite a neighbor over in this month.

by Andrew Mills

Just Share Your Story ~ Its that Simple

445240_46957018On Sunday we looked at a unique text in Mark 5. Here Jesus heals a man possessed by a demon. What is interesting is that after being changed by Jesus and transformed the man wants to follow Jesus. This is all pretty straightforward I would think. If Jesus transforms you completely, deciding to follow him isn’t a stretch. But Jesus does something unique. He says no. He actually refuses to let the man come with him. And instead he says, “Go home to your family, and friends, and share the mercy God has shown you”

In essence, Jesus says simply go home and share your story. Share you story with those around you. Let them know about how you’ve been changed. Simply share the mercy God has shown you with others.

And in this one little verse I think we get a huge insight into how to share the love of Jesus Christ with others. We don’t need to force it into conversations, we don’t need to go door-to-door; we can simply share our story with our friends, family and neighbors. We can with humility, and grace share how God is changing our lives. We can say how God has freed us from fear, given us hope, supported us in difficulty, given us a purpose etc. We can simply share the wonderful things God is doing in our lives.

This is simple, easy, and sensitive to others. If you have a true friendship with others who aren’t following Jesus, they should care about how your life is changing. And if Jesus is the cause of that change then we should feel free to share it. The focus isn’t on changing others, but sharing the change within ourselves.

And the amazing thing is the story in Mark 5 actually testifies to how remarkably powerful this can be. As Jesus leaves the man the townspeople hate Jesus. They are completely against Jesus and want nothing to do with him. But Jesus leaves behind one man and his story with these people. We read that the man goes home to the region of the 10 Towns. A few chapters later Jesus shows up in the same region again. But this time the response from the people is completely different. One man and his story has changed the region from being against Jesus to being interested in Jesus. Mark records that with the women and children there, 10,000 people (approx.) show up to see Jesus. This is the power of sharing your story. People can become interested in Jesus and actually seek him out.

So on Sunday we left everyone with one challenge. Share your story. It’s that simple and see what God might do.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Share Your Story

Take Aways…

  • Jesus is already active in our relationships
  • If our life isn’t changing lives we’re missing something
  • Details matter even minor ones
  • Jesus saw the man
  • Go home and share your story
  • Sharing your story, changes lives
  • More than skin, and bone, muscle and tendon – you are made of stories. Michael Gungor
  • We don’t need more sermons, conferences, or Bible studies we need more of Jesus and a willingness to share him.
  • Our stories have to be real, honest, and focused on Jesus

Discussion Questions for Adults: What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? How did God speak to you through it? What was new?

Have you ever struggled to share Jesus with others before? What made you uncomfortable or struggle?

Whose story has impacted and influenced you to follow Jesus? How did you hear about it, or how was it shared with you?

What mercy has Jesus shown you throughout the years? Share a few stories about how Jesus has changed you.

Who are you friends with that God might be leading you to share your story with them? Take time and pray that God gives you an opportunity to share your story with them.

Discussion Questions for Young Families: If its true that sharing our stories change lives, why not take time and share your personal story with your kids. Be honest, be truthful, and take time to bring them along the journey with you.

Challenge This Week: Share your story with someone this week

 

by Andrew Mills

The Valley of Dried Bones and FreshWind

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOn Sunday we looked at an amazing passage in Ezekiel 37, the valley of dry bones. The valley in this vision from Ezekiel is a place of death. It’s a boneyard, or a graveyard where all life has vanished. And God comes to Ezekiel and asks him “Can these bones live again”. And Ezekiel says he doesn’t know, that it is up to the Lord.

The beautiful thing about this passage is that it is up to God, and God shows what his desire is. His desire is to give life to lifeless things. His desire is to renew dry and death filled things. His desire is to resurrect out of a boneyard new life and new spirit.

So in the story a wind rushes and Ezekiel sees the bones comes together, and God’s spirit fills them. His breath, his life, his Spirit, his wind flows into the bones bringing a freshness and a newness. This was not an act that happens at the end of time, but an act in time. God brings healing and a fresh wind to people in real life dry and dark circumstances.

We ended looking at how God did that years ago with the Israelite people but that he wants to do that with us today too. Because God is in the business of brining life to dry bones. God is in the business of rejuvenating broken spirits. And the amazing thing about this decision of God is that it is unilateral. If you read in the passage God continually says “I will do this…I will do this…I will do this”. God acts because that’s God’s desire.

So on Sunday we left everyone with one simple challenge. If it’s God’s desire to fill us, to send forth his life, Spirit, wind, and breath – then simply breathe deeply. Breathe deeply asking God to fill all of you and trusting he will. I gave them this impossible challenge, to each time you breathe this week,  remember and picture God filling you. And yes the challenge might be impossible, but that’s the beautiful thing about God. Sometimes the impossible happens and life flows into dry bones.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: God wants to breath new life into you

Take Aways…

  • The life of faith is one of change
  • Dead souls do not produce the same stuff as living ones do. Michael Gungor
  • “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
  • You are in the valley of dry bones, when no hope seems possible and no change is on the horizon.
  • God will give new life to prove he is truly God.
  • God wants to breathe it into us
  • My soul cries out / My soul cries out for you / These bones cry out / These dry bones cry for you / To live and move / ‘Cause only You can raise the dead / Can lift my head up. Gungor, Dry Bones
  • Breathe Deeply
  • God is in the business of filling

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? How did God speak to you through it?

When have you ever felt to be in the valley of dry bones? What did it feel like? What made you feel that way? Was anything of a help in that time?

What were you picturing as we read the story? When we read the story what emotions filled you – hope, numbness, desire, intrigue, wonder, doubt? What brought on those feelings?

As you were breathing do you believe that God was filling? What helps you to believe that, and what is a block to believing that? How might God want to fill you even now with new breathe and life? What did you think of this quote: Dead souls do not produce the same stuff as living ones do. Michael Gungor. If God breathes into your soul making it alive what might he want to produce through you?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take sometime to talk to your kids. Talk to them about what you love about them. Talk to them about their wonder, their awe, and why having a “wide-awake” soul is a beautiful thing. Ask them what they want to create, maybe read the story of Ezekiel and ask them to draw, or paint it. Talk to them about never losing their wonder, breathe, and life in their soul.

Challenge for this Week: Every time you breathe remember God

by Andrew Mills