Category: Sermon Reflections

Broken Pasts, Limited Futures, and New Life

1310598_43430592On Sunday we explored the story of Moses but looked at it from a different angle. We looked at it from a failed past angle. Moses was surely thought to be the man to bring salvation to his people. His story from the very beginning seems  destined for greatness. He was miraculously saved in an ark, grows up in Pharaoh’s court, and seems to be a man of limitless potential whom God will use to save his people.

Fast forward to when he is older, and ready to step up and be the hero. The story in Exodus 2 jumps to his moment when we think he will save his people. But what ends up happening is that Moses makes a rash and impulsive decision and kills an Egyptian burying him in his sand. This leads to Moses fleeing from Egypt leaving behind his destiny to live in the desert.

It’s at this place that we catch up with Moses, a man whom we must assume has many regrets. He was raised in the lap of luxury, and is now a man alone watching sheep as a shepherd in the desert. My guess is that if we were to ask Moses what his future was like he would say dim. That he would assume that his past is limiting what God can do with him in the future. That even though he once had potential his failures define his future.

But what I love about God is that our past is never ever wasted with him. That our past never defines our future. Our God can even transform our pasts into new futures for us.

So God comes to Moses and says, “go to Pharaoh and speak to him and save your people.”  This is amazing because Moses is probably the only Israelite person in the world who can actually get to Pharaoh. It’s like you or me trying to get a personal audience with the President of the United States – it’s just not going to happen. But Moses grew up in the court, Moses might have even grown up with the current Pharaoh, Moses knows the ins and outs of political landscape. He can get to see Pharaoh.

And so Moses thinks that his future must limit God, but God wants to use Moses precisely because of his past. His past doesn’t limit God, but actually allows God to do something amazing through him.

And I think this is true of all of us. Our pasts with God are never wasted, instead God can use them, transform them, and build on them to accomplish something amazing through us. Through Moses and his checkered past God saves all the Israelite people. And through us no matter what our past is like, God can use us as well.

The question is this: do you believe that God can use all of you?

Do you honestly believe God can use all of you?

Because this story points to the fact that your past doesn’t limit God. Your poor decisions, awful events, hurtful encounters doesn’t stop God. In fact, God can use your past to bring about a new future for you and for others.

So the question is “do you believe that God can use all of you, no matter what you’ve done? And if so are you willing to be used?”

We ended up on Sunday with the challenge for each of us to carve out some time and go to God and give him all of ourselves. To offer to him all of us, broken pasts and everything, and invite him to use us. I think it’s the right way to start. Moses encounters God in the burning bush and everything is changed. So today why not go and encounter God and discover that he can change and transform your past and your future. Because that is how great our God really is.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Your past is never wasted

Take Aways…

  • We don’t drift into making a difference
  • One of the single biggest obstacles to finding God’s future is often our past
  • We have an assumption that God works best with perfect people
  • Moses is gifted with amazing potential
  • In Moses we see someone with unlimited potential, falter and fail
  • We end up rehearsing and regretting our failed decisions
  • For many of us decisions in the past decide and determine our future
  • Our God can change the past
  • We often feel like our past limits God’s future for us
  • God chooses Moses because of his past, not in spite of it
  • Your past is never wasted
  • Will your story be one of regret or transformation?
  • Do you believe God can use all of you?
  • Give God all of yourself

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?

Have you ever deeply regretted a decision? What happened? How come you regretted it? Have you ever felt like you were destined to do something important? In the sermon could you relate at all to Moses regretting an impulsive decision?

What in your past have you wished you could let go of? How might God be wanting to redeem and use your past for his good? How might God want to transform your past, so that you might transform others today?

Do you believe God can use all of you? Share your thoughts on this question.

Plan a time to spend with God giving him all of your past

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take sometime to talk with your kids about how with God he heals our past. Ask your kids if there has ever been a choice they regret or something that really hurt them. Talk to them about how with God he can heal our hurt pasts. Talk to them about how we can go to God with all we have in us and find peace. Spend some time with your kids praying, and bringing to God anything they have.

Challenge for this Week: Give God all of Yourself

by Andrew Mills

New Futures and New Hope for All

1224442_75255610On Sunday we explored one of my favorite stories, the calling of Abram and Sarai. What happens is God comes to this couple Abram and Sarai and changes their future. In the story the line of Abraham is coming to a close. Sarai is barren and the future for their family is closed. They are in a dark and difficult place. But this is when God chooses to act.

God calls this couple, this unlikely pair, these people to a new future that would change the world. From the outside Abram and Sarai are not people with lots of potential, or promise. These would not be the people most people would choose to change the world with. But thankfully God chooses a different sort of people – not put together perfect people – but broken and barren people so his goodness can be seen. He uses ordinary regular people like you and me.

And God gives Abram and Sarai a new promise and a new future and they believe it and start to follow it. Through this belief God changes the world. Through their following God changes their future. Through their hope God changes them.

This was the point for us – that we follow a God who can change our futures. Your future is not dependant on your age, gender, education, race, finances, or anything else. Your future is dependent on God; the same God who gave a new future to Abram and Sarai and wants to give us one as well.

So we ended with inviting everyone to begin to hope. To hope in a new future, one in which depression, addiction, purposelessness, anxiety, or boredom doesn’t rule. One in which God sets us free for what he has for us. We challenged one another to start to hope and to start to follow. Listen for God and start to follow him like Abram. I have no idea how your situation and future will change. I know though who will change it – God. So begin to hope and trust him and see where he might lead. Because God is in the business of giving a new future and opening up closed ones. I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s something that gives me hope.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea God changes our futures

Take Aways…

  • God is involved in real peoples lives, with real struggles
  • This family begins its life in a situation of irreparable hopelessness. Walter Bruggeman talking about Abraham.
  • God is in the business of changing already pre-determined fates
  • They are called to leave behind their country, family, and father’s household
  • Abram lives in a world where life cycles, and repeats, and is destined
  • We base our futures on our past rather than the promises of God
  • Abram goes forward with “eyes close” – John Calvin
  • Your future is not determined by your birth, education, race, gender, skill-set, finances, health, or your parents, Your future is determined by God.
  • I don’t know how our futures change, but I know who changes our futures
  • We follow the God of the limitless future.
  • Start to hope and start to follow
  • My God is a God of new futures

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?

Have you ever been tempted to believe that your future was set? How come? What future might God be calling you to? Do you have a sense of the next steps to take? How can you ensure that you don’t lose hope in God’s future? Who can support you as you walk towards God’s future? Who can you support?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take sometime to talk with your kids about how with God the world is open. How their future’s are open because of what God wants to do in and through them. Ask them what they think God is calling them to do in the future. Listen really listen, and then no matter how big, decide on one step to take to get them there and take it.

Challenge for this Week: Start to hope and start to follow

 

by Andrew Mills

Finding God’s Purpose for Our Church

Plattsville_Missionary_ChurchThere is an old Chinese proverb that says:

If your vision is for a year, plant wheat.

If your vision is for ten years, plant trees.

If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people.

I think it’s really true and quite deep. A vision that lasts a lifetime must be centred on people. That’s what we really ended up exploring on Sunday. How Jesus Christ changes people. How he changes lives, and how he invites us into doing the same thing.

On Sunday we talked about Jesus’ mission and vision for life found in Luke 4. Here he states and shares what he is here to do. He is absolutely clear he is here to free people, to provide healing, to provide restoration, and to set things right again. In short, he is here to change all of life, in the here and now. Jesus is about changing lives in the present. And he is still about doing that today. And he actually invites us into changing lives with him. Becoming like Jesus means participating with Jesus in what he is doing.

So on Sunday we discovered our foundation for the next series. Our deep desire and goal is this: to be changed by Jesus, and join Jesus in changing lives.

Our goal is to first have our lives absolutely transformed by Jesus Christ. You can’t share something you don’t have. So we first need to experience life, transformation, and change before we can ever begin to share that with others. Our deep desire is that anyone who joins with us will not remain the same. That through Jesus Christ being active in our church each person would experience lasting life change. They would find restoration, healing, hope, and new life.

But if that transformation just remains with us it will turn stagnant and bitter. As a church we are also equally called to share life with others. We are called to change lives with Jesus. That “with” is important because it recognizes that God is already active in our friends, family, and communities. We aren’t bringing Jesus with us into relationships. We are discovering where Jesus is already active in relationships and starting there. Through our commitment to serve, to bless, to give, we believe we will see change. We see change happen only when we are living life like Jesus Christ ~ with a posture of grace, openness, willingness to enter someone else’s world, and most of all humility.

That is our deep deep hope. I could care less about us being the biggest or best church in the area.  I care a lot about being the church to the area. We are not content to run nice services if those services don’’ send us out into the community seeing life change in our friends, family and neighbors.

So this is what we want to be doing, and in all honesty, it’s what we’ve been trying to do for a while. Now we simply want to become more intentional, because as I said in my last post: you don’t drift into making a difference. Making a difference starts with making a decision and that’s what we did on Sunday. Making a decision to be changed by Jesus, and to partner with him to change others.

So that’s our decision about where we are going. But maybe for you today it’d be worth making a decision of your own. Why not take a moment and ask him how today you can join in what he is doing. And then why not do this each and everyday. Because my guess is if we do that we will not only be changed by Jesus, but changing others with Jesus.

Sermon Notes

Big Idea: Being changed by Jesus, and changing lives with Jesus

Take Aways…

+       Where is your life headed?

+       If you don’t plan where you are going, you’ll end up going nowhere

+       Churches and Christians in general have a vague idea of what we are called to do.

+       That people who do great things, set out to do great things

+       You don’t drift into making a difference

+       Vague direction leads to a lack of action

+       New life isn’t coming it’s here because Jesus is here

+       If it’s not Good News for everyone, it’s not Good News for anyone

+       Jesus is here to change all of life

+       The Christian life isn’t a self-interested one

+       Being changed by Jesus, and changing lives with Jesus 

Adult / Group Discussion Questions

What direction is your life headed? If you were to answer the question, “Jesus is leading me (where)…” what would you say?  What has Jesus already changed in you? What freedom, restoration, and hope has he given in you? What do you think he wants to change in you? How might he do this, or what is he asking you to do?

How is your life having an impact and changing others? Are there those in your workplace, family, or neighborhood God is calling to leave an impact? Do you have any ideas how you might do that?

Are there people you can journey with over the next few weeks? How can you make that happen?

Who should you invite to church, or to journey with you discovering how Jesus wants to change us, and change lives through us?

Discussion Questions for Young Families            Talk with your kids about what Jesus is about: us being changed by Jesus, and changing lives with Jesus. Ask your kids how Jesus has changed them. Really listen to their answers. Ask them how they might help change the lives of their friends. And then help them do it. 

Challenge for this Week Commit to the Journey, Journey with Others, Invite Others on the Journey

 

by Andrew Mills

“I’m Just Getting Started…”

SpraySo on Sunday I talked about one main question: when does life peak? This is a pretty relevant question to me because I hit a big milestone on Saturday: I turned 30. So I wanted to explore what is the Biblical view of growing older? And we did that through looking at, of course, Joshua Slocum, Johnny Cash, and Isaiah 44.

We looked at how Isaiah 44 tells us unequivocally that God is about doing a new thing. We read this “But forget all that—
it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? “ God is about doing a fresh thing. God is about creating new life, new creation, and new transformation. The word new in Hebrew is “Hadash”. It means a new thing, a fresh thing. Its root means to renew or repair something, bringing out a freshness and a newness to something that wasn’t previously there. This isn’t the “cult of the new” culture. This isn’t “newer is always better”. This is God promising that the best is always in front of us. That he is always in the business of taking our lives and using them to bring new depth, new life, new meaning to the world around us.

The answer then to our question “when do we peak” is never. In God’s Kingdom our usefulness never expires. Our ability to contribute to the world is never over. If we follow the God above we never ever peak, but are in a constant search to pay attention to the new thing God is doing and join him there. We talked about how Joshua Slocum at 50+ fought off pirates, and sailed the world alone. We talked about how Johnny Cash at 70+ covered a song by Nine Inch Nails and brought such depth and beauty to it that he made it new. Because age never defines our ability to contribute to life. Our willingness to see and respond to the God who is doing a new thing is the crucial point. So we landed asking ourselves – do we believe that the best is before us? Do we believe in the God who does a new thing? Do we believe in the God whose future is full for us? Because God is clear, “I’m doing a new thing…it’s already started”.

So how do you follow God into the newness he has to bring through you? Well, first start to pray to God to use you, because it is only through God that we discover new life. God is the originator and creator of life, so it starts there. Then start to pay attention to what God is doing around you. God says it has already begun, it is before us, around us, and before us. So open you up your eyes and see what God is doing. Pay attention to the moments full of hope, promise, and life. Pay attention to the ideas, dreams, and crazy thoughts that capture your spirit and soul. That could be the new thing God is calling you to. It could be to start a business, to fix that relationship, to launch a new chapter of your life.

So that’s where we went on Sunday believing that God is never done with any of us. Believing that God wants to do a new thing in and through all of us, if we’d pray, pay attention, and follow. So as a new 30 year old I ended with this thought that I believe is true for all of us: I’m just getting started. And I think this is true for us in our 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, or even 80+. So I’m just getting started because I follow the God of new life, and who does new things. What about you?

Sermon Notes

Big Idea God wants to do a new thing in and through us

Take Aways…

  • We are all getting older
  • When does life peak?
  • Our culture says, “Newer is always better”
  • God’s newness, isn’t about new packaging, but new creation
  • Our temptation is to believe the best is behind us
  • “Forget all that…”
  • God’s best is always to come
  • God is in the business of transforming old things, into brand new things.
  • I am just getting started.
  • God is the one who wants to do a new thing in us
  • We don’t need to force it to happen, we need to see it and follow it.

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What surprised you? What made you think? What did you take away? What was new?

When do you feel “you’ve peaked?” Do you feel that the best days are before you or behind you? What makes you feel this way? What type of “new thing” might God want to do in your life? How can you start to pay attention to what God is doing? Are you ready to follow God into the newness he has for you? How can you get started?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Talk with you kids a bit about getting old. Ask them, “How “old” is “old”? At what age are you old?” Then talk to them about not matter how old or young they are, God wants to use them. Ask them how God might want to use them right now (reach out to friends, feed the hungry, adopt-a-sponsor child etc)? And then follow through with how God is leading them.

Challenge for this Week: Let God do a new thing in and through you

 

by Andrew Mills

Politics, the Kingdom, and Daniel and the Lion’s Den

131.Daniel_in_the_Lions'_DenOn Sunday we looked at the story of Daniel and the Lion’s den. We really dove into it, past the simple highlight, and into the world of power and politics. The story of Daniel is set in the world of power, politics, governments, and kingdoms. And at the heart of the story is one simple but compelling question: where does your allegiance lie?

That’s the question we explored on Sunday. Does you allegiance lie with God above, or those around you? Do you follow our heavenly king, or earthly rulers? Who gets the final say in your life – God or yourself?

What we saw was how one man changed an entire nation. While it might sound extreme to say that but that is exactly what Daniel did. Worship of God was outlawed and Daniel had to choose where to place his allegiance. And rather than placing his allegiance with the powers around him, he placed it in the power of God above him and he changed his world.

Daniel was saved from the lion’s den, and the law outlawing the worship of God was overruled and turned into a farce. Through Daniel’s courageous act to challenge the powers that be, he brought about change.

This is our calling as well as Christians, as it has always been. We are called to follow God’s voice and his commands to stand up for justice, the orphan, widow, and foreigner. Our gospel is a political gospel in that it calls us to stand up to the kingdoms and rulers of this world seeking to follow God’s calling of loving him and loving others. Stanley Hauerwas once wrote:

Jesus’ death was a political death. If you ask one of the crucial theological questions – why was Jesus killed? – the answer isn’t “Because God want us to love one another.” Why would anyone kill Jesus for that? That’s stupid. It’s not even interesting. Why did Jesus get killed? Because he challenged the powers that be.

I think that is true. Our calling is to be like Jesus calling into question the powers that oppress and marginalize.

So we wrapped it up by asking one simple question: where does your allegiance lie? And as we explored it we asked people that when this week’s decisions arise between following Jesus and following the rules of this world, that we choose Christ. This is how we change the world. Doing this means sometimes you get thrown into a den of lions, sometimes you get thrown into a furnace, and sometimes you get nailed to a cross. But what does happen every time we are faithful to God, we see God’s Kingdom come, we see the Spirit move, and we see the world changed one small bit at a time. And that’s what following Jesus is about, following Jesus one step at a time.

Sermon Notes

Big Idea: Who has your allegiance?

Take Aways…

  • This world is running contrary to God’s Kingdom
  • How do you change a world that is going in the wrong direction?
  • The Gospel is a political reality and a political statement
  • His Kingdom is not based on killing, lying, or coercive power. His Kingdom is based on sacrifice, life, and truth.
  • Key choices set the direction of your life
  • It’s not the knowing that’s hard, It’s the doing that’s hard
  • The longer you wait to make the right decision, the harder it is to make the right decision
  • This story is about allegiance
  • I may not face life and death decisions everyday, but I do face decisions to bring life or day into my life everyday
  • We need to suffer the consequences of following God

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What surprised you? What made you think? What did you take away? What was new? Where is your allegiance? Is it to God or things of this world? What made you most uncomfortable when we were talking? What grabbed your attention or your heart? How is God asking you to live our allegiance to him in this world this week?

Discussion Questions for Young Families Talk with your kids about the things of this world that aren’t from God (Hunger, war, violence, disease). Talk to them about how as Christians we are called to stand up and change those things. Ask them which things they want to change and then find a way to do it (i.e. sponsor a child, build a well, go to a homeless shelter etc)

Challenge for this Week Give God you Allegiance

 

by Andrew Mills

Jesus’ Promises to Us

941675_66474867So on Sunday we explored how God both hears our cries and responds to our difficulties. We then explored how God does this, and also most importantly what he promises to do. In Exodus 6:6-8 we read of three promises that God covenants with his people. That he will:

  • I will take you out
  • I will rescue you
  • I will redeem you
  • I will take you to me

Traditionally then at each Passover these promises would be remembered, and glass of wine accompanying each promise.

Jesus then in the last supper, while having a Passover meal, raises a glass saying “this is my blood, poured out for many, sealing the covenant between God and his people” (Mark 14:24). In this moment Jesus is reminding the disciples of the promises of God given to his people in Exodus 6. And Jesus is now saying that these are his promises to his followers as well that because of his death and resurrection: Jesus will take us out of our difficulties, Jesus will come and rescue us from our bondage, Jesus will redeem us from sin, Jesus will take us to his presence and Kingdom.

Jesus’ promise to those who follow him is that just as God in the Old Testament heard his people’s cries and responded, so too does the Son of God. He hears our cries and promises to come and take us out of difficult, rescue us from trouble, redeem our past, and take us into his future for us.

So we ended on Sunday by putting these things into practice: believing and trusting in the promises of Jesus. I think that’s a good way to end any Sunday, and start any day. To trust that Jesus is the one who comes to us, redeems us, rescues us, and takes us to his Father.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Jesus Keeps His Promises

Take Aways…

  • God hears our cries
  • God listens and responds to us
  • God gives four promises:
    • I will take you out
    • I will rescue you
    • I will redeem you
    • I will take you to me
  • These promises aren’t just for back then but for today

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What surprised you? What made you think? What did you take away? What was new? How does knowing that God hears and responds to our cries make you feel? Change you? Shape your Prayer life? Which promise did you need most today? What made that promise resonate with you? How might Jesus come through on his promise to you?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Talk with your kids that just as how when they cry out, you come and respond to their needs – that God does the same thing. Share with them that they can cry out to God at any time. Ask them if there is anything they need from Jesus today?

Challenge for this Week: Trust in Jesus promises

by Andrew Mills

The Bushes are Burning All Around Us

1359634_44238885On Sunday we explored Moses’ encounter with the burning bush and God. The honest truth is if we are in a difficult, dry, or desert place the only way we ever leave that place is through God’s leading.

The difficulty is that when we are in a desert place God often seems so distant. We are often calling out for God but can’t seem to find him. Through this story we realized a few ways that God seems to work when we are in a desert place.

The first is that he places something in our regular, everyday life, that while intriguing isn’t interrupting of our life. For Moses there was a burning bush placed in his path. This certainly was intriguing but wasn’t interrupting in his life. It’s easy to come up with plausible  explanations for a bush on fire in the desert. So rather than interrupting Moses’ life God seeks to lure Moses’ attention towards him.

To be honest we’d love God to interrupt our daily lives and lead us to his Promised Land. The trouble is that doesn’t seem to be how God seems to work in the Bible. God seems to wait, to lure, to linger, and hope that we follow. But God does not coerce, he does not seem to demand, or to force us to follow. So Moses notices the bush, and then he must spend a long time watching the bush, because how long would it take you to realize a bush isn’t burning up? A long time. So his interest grows, and so does his attention. So we read in Exodus 3:4 “When the Lord saw that he had caught Moses’ attention, God called to him from the bush”. Isn’t that true? That once God has our attention he speaks, he calls, and he promises. This is how our God works. He works in partnership with our attention, willingness, and participation.

So the question is if you are in a desert place and want to leave how much attention does God have? Because there is a possibility that we’ve been walking past burning bushes – holy nudges, and luring by God – and missing him. So the question is how can you this week give God your attention and awareness?

That’s the question we pursued on Sunday, believing that once God has our attention he speaks and leads. To leave the desert God needs our attention to lead us. So this week I think the challenge is this: give God your attention, in everyway possible. Be open to his leading, his speaking, and trust that when he has your attention he will speak. Because God doesn’t leave us in the desert, he walks us through it. But to be led, we have to first be willing to hear.

Sermon Notes

Big Idea: Give God your Attention

Take Aways…

  • Many of us know what it is like to be in the desert: a dry, deserted, and difficult place
  • How do you leave a desert place?
  • When we are lost and hurting we need God to speak
  • The ground doesn’t change Moses’ perception and awareness of the ground changes
  • Sometimes God doesn’t change the world around us, he changes us to see a changed world
  • When we are wasting away in the desert we God’s promises of new life and a new future
  • The only thing that gets us out of the desert and difficult times, is God’s voice and his leading.
  • How long does it take a bush to burn up?
  • God placed something intriguing in the path of his everyday life, to call him to an extraordinary life.
  • God speaks when he has our attention
  • To leave the desert means giving God your full attention.
  • How much attention did God have this week?
  • If we want to leave the desert or difficult places it starts with us giving God our attention in our everyday spaces.

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What surprised you? What made you think? What did you take away? What was new? Has God ever spoke to you through a burning bush like encounter? Do you think its possible you’ve ever missed God’s attempts to get your attention? Have you ever been in the desert before or even now? What was it like or is like? How might God be trying to get your attention today? How might you give him you awareness and attention this week?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take a moment and talk about your kids about today’s sermon. Talk to them about how just like how you kids often won’t really talk with us as parents, until you have our full attention, share that God is similar. Sometimes he doesn’t interrupt us until we give him our attention

Challenge for this Week: Give God your attention this week

by Andrew Mills

Technology’s Good and Evils and the Tower of Babel

towerofbabelOn Sunday we explored a piece of underrated and life changing piece of technology: the brick. We explored how the story of Babel found in Genesis 11 isn’t just about God scattering but God’s response to technology and how it shapes us.

So what we discovered is that the people were moving eastward. Yet the people began to settle. In essence they began to move away from their nomadic roots. And with their “rootedness” they began to create something of permanence that wasn’t a possibility before. They wanted to create a Tower. Yet the only reason this becomes a possibility is through technological innovation: the creation of a brick. Bricks are uniform, they are mass-producible, and functional. They open up the ability to building projects never even dreamed of before.

Yet we read of the motives behind their building project. It says this in Genesis 11:4-5 ““Let’s build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies – a monument to our greatness! This will bring us together and keep us from scattering all over the world”. Here we get a glimpse how technology can shape us. It can influence us to create monuments to our own greatness. There is nothing wrong with creation, creativity, and innovation (in fact God commands it in Genesis 1-3). What is wrong though is creating out of a desire to prove our own greatness rather than a response to God’s goodness.

Technology has a tendency to infect and increase our pride. Look at how people strive for the better car, phone, house, or cool gadget so that they feel secure. These are the same emotions and insecurities that drove people thousands of years ago to make the Tower of Babel. We desire our own permanency, and monuments to our greatness but the message of the text is that in chasing after those things we end up scattered and alone. This is true in our day and age today.

The second danger is technology can distract us from God’s calling. Up until this point in the narrative the calling has been to move, and fill the earth. Now though people are settling and creating monuments to their greatness. And I think while our times are different technology still today separates us from God’s calling. There is nothing wrong with technology, but currently the average American watches over 32 hours of TV a week. There is nothing wrong with TV but is it possible that it is stealing our effectiveness from God? The average Canadian has over $27,000 in consumer debt. Is it possible that our addiction to stuff is stopping us, as part of the wealthiest people on the planet, from being a part of blessing others?

The last danger of technology was found in its ability to create a lack of listening. A faithful rendering of Genesis 11:7 is as follows: “Come let us go down and give them different languages. That way they won’t be able to listen to one another” I think this is what technology can do. It can stop us from truly listening to one another. We can forget to engage in conversations, and check our phones. We can forget to talk with our spouses, and turn on the TV.

So on Sunday the point wasn’t the evil of technology. The point was to recognize that it is shaping our lives for good or bad. And some of the negative ways is that it causes us to become prideful, resistant to God, and forget to listen to each other. So I gave a challenge to the church – give up technology as best you can this week. Put away the phone, the tablet, and the TV and give that time to God and those significant relationships in your life. Through this you might realize you don’t need it quite as much as you think, and find your life fuller. So with that said – my blog posts might not be as frequent this week 😉

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Technology shapes us for good and bad

Take Aways…

  • Technology shapes our lives
  • Technology allows new possibilities
  • Technology has the tendency to separate and confuse our relationship with God and each other.
  • We create technology as monuments to our greatness
  • Technology can increase our sense of ownership
  • Technology in this story breeds resistance and distance from God
  • The 4 dangers of technology in this story are:
    • + Pride
    • + Sense of Personal Ownership of Communal Items
    • + Resistance to God
    • + We stop listening

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What surprised you? What made you think? What did you take away? What was new? Have you ever though of a brick as technology before? Have you ever been caught up in “getting stuff” as a monument to yourself? Which of the four dangers of technology do you think you struggle with most? Which is the most dangerous for you? How much does technology shape your life? How easy will it be for you to give up for a week?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Share with your kids the good things about technology, but also some of the difficult things. Talk about how we can get prideful in what we have, we can stop listening to one another, and we can stop being together. Tell them you are going to try putting away technology for the week and to be together. Maybe buy a new board game, go for walks, go to the park, paint, create, and share time together

Challenge for this Week: Give up technology for a week, as best you can.

by Andrew Mills

A Flood, a Story, and the History of Noah

Unidentified_artists_-_Stories_of_Noah_-_Noah_and_the_Ark_-_WGA16281So on Sunday we explored the story of Noah. And while in today’s day and age people love to debate if it really happened, back then no one debated whether or not a flood happened. What they debated was what the flood meant.

So we compared and contrasted the Story of the Great Deluge from the Epic of Gilgamesh, a contemporary cultural story to Noah, with the Biblical account found in Genesis 6. Through comparing these stories we were able to discover three key areas that the Biblical narrative was countering the dominant cultural story of the day.

From the opening scene we saw in how the Epic of Gilgamesh the gods were fickle, cantankerous, capricious, and angry. This is in stark contrast to the Biblical account where God in the Bible has his heart broken over the wickedness of the people. Both stories agree that the people were wicked and had made a covenant with death. But the different lies in the reaction of the gods and God. The God of the Bible had a depth of care and mercy, the gods of Gilgamesh were small and angry. So the first lesson was shaping our view of God as someone with depth, love, and mercy.

The second lesson was found in the differences of the main characters. Noah was consistently portrayed as someone who simply followed God’s leading. He was obedient, he was faithful, and he followed. Whereas in the Epic of Gilgamesh Utnapishtim was portrayed as someone who took fate into his own hand, and survived because of his skill rather than surrender to God. This is a huge difference, that as Christians we are called not to make it through the disasters around us through relying on our skill but on our surrender to God.

The last difference was seen in the rewards given to the main characters. Utnapishtim received eternal life because of his works, and was taken from the world. Noah received a blessing from God but was then sent back into the world. The rewards differed, in that Noah wasn’t removed from the earth but sent back into the world as God’s representative.

So we saw how the Biblical account demonstrates a God who cares, the need for us to surrender, and a God not interested in removing us from the world but using us to change the world. So we landed on one practical take away. Utnapishtim trusted his own skill and ability to get him through the difficult waters. Noah surrendered and trusted in God. So we asked ourselves, when difficulty comes do we try to go it alone or go with God? Do we rest, pause, and ask God what he would have us do or rely on our own strength and skill? We left with the challenge to be like Noah this week. Don’t trust ourselves but the guidance of God, asking God what would you have me do? And then, like Noah, following with deep trust.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Two ways through life ~ Force and Trust

Take Aways…

  • The story of Noah challenges the dominant story of the day
  • Sin pushes toward its self-chosen future: death – R. R. Reno
  • God has a heart that can break
  • Noah makes it through because he relies and surrenders himself to God
  • Noah’s name means rest
  • Noah is sent back inot the world as a representative of God
  •  Don’t rely on your own skill or strength, rely on God

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What surprised you? What made you think? What did you take away? What was new? Have you ever thought about God’s heart breaking before? How should that shape your picture of God? What is your natural reaction to difficulty to rely on yourself or God? How often do you ask God to direct you during the day? How often should you ask him to direct you?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take a moment and talk about your kids about today’s sermon. Talk to them about how God’s heart is like ours – that it can break. Talk about how the best way to get through life is to trust God because he has our best interests at heart. Teach them to ask God to direct them in decisions they need to make.

Challenge for this Week: Ask God to direct you

by Andrew Mills

Money, Peace, and Prosperity

1222896_52704774On Sunday we looked at how to have true peace, freedom, and hope in relation to our finances. It might sound a bit funny to talk about money at church like this, but this is something that Jesus spoke a lot about and also causes a lot of stress in our lives. My bet is that if you could have peace, hope, and freedom in your finances you would want that.

The trouble is that our answer to finding peace is always to have more money. But more money doesn’t bring about more peace or freedom. The reality is that you might even have experienced this personally. That perhaps a few years ago you thought you only needed a bit more and you’d be set, but it hasn’t brought a deep transformation of peace. The truth is that if our life is based on having more, then our peace is always out there before us rather than residing with us.

So we looked at Jesus’ discussion on possessions, worry, and life in Matthew 6. He begins by saying not to worry about everyday concerns. The problem is that for many of us this seems like an impossibility or a fantasy, but we’ve forgotten that many of us at one point in our lives lived this way. And we lived this way because of trust. My two boys trust me to make sure that they have cheerios, goldfish, and raisins to snack on. Worry and stress does not consume them because of the trust they have.

This is similar to what Jesus is teaching, that if we can trust deeply in the Father who knows all our need, peace and life will flow into us. Peace comes from trusting the Father who knows and cares for us, not in having giant savings, RRSP’s, or salary increases. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t’ be prudent with our financial planning, spending, and habits. What it means is that peace doesn’t come out of good financial planning, it comes out of trust in the Father who knows and cares for us. Peace doesn’t flow out of having more, but deeper trust in God.

So we landed on the fact that until we get the trust piece right with God, the rest of our lives won’t fall into place. So the question is do you trust God? When and how has he been faithful in the past – so that you can be reminded – that he will be faithful today? Can you say you trust him? And if so, what is he asking you to do to put that trust in action?

So that’s what we explored on Sunday – that having more doesn’t bring peace – trusting in God brings peace.

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea Peace flows from trust in God

Take Aways…

  • We base our financial freedom on having more
  • Having more money doesn’t bring more peace, freedom, or happiness
  • God doesn’t want our money he wants our hearts
  • You cannot serve both God and money Jesus
  • Trust provides peace and freedom
  • Peace comes from the creator caring not what we own and have
  • We don’t trust our futures to our finances but to our Father
  • How big is your God? How much do you trust him?
  • Peace flows from trust
  • Steps for Trust to Grow
  • Decide and declare to trust God
  • Remember times of God Being Trustworthy
  • Put trust into action by following God

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What surprised you? What made you think? What did you take away? What was new? What did you think about the idea that “more” doesn’t bring peace? Have you seen that true in your life or friends lives? How deep is your trust in God? How can you start to deepen your trust? When has God proven his trustworthiness to you? What next steps is he asking you to take?

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Take a moment and talk about your kids about today’s sermon. Talk to them about how life and peace comes from trust in God not the stuff they have. Ask them to think of when God has been faithful to them, when he has answered a prayer, or spoken to them. Focus on building their trust in God.

Challenge for this Week: Trust God, Be Reminded of his Trustworthiness, and Practice Trust

 

by Andrew Mills