Category: Sermon Reflections

Finding a Vision Worth Chasing

On Sunday we looked at how Nehemiah found a vision worth chasing. He wants to build the wall of Jerusalem, to heal a people, and to bring dignity back to the land. I think many of us want similar visions. We might not want to build a wall but we want to do something lasting, that has a legacy, and changes lives. So the question is where do you begin? How do you find God’s vision that’s specific to you?

Well I think the answer is simple. You start praying and paying attention. The first step is to pray. Start asking God to show you where your life should be going. Start asking God to reveal to you what you should be giving your life to and then start looking. But just don’t think of what you want to get rid of, think of what you want to create. Peter Senge writes, “Most adults have little sense of real vision. We have goals and objectives, but these are not visions. When asked what they want many adults will say what they want to get rid of. They’d like a better job – that is, they’d like to get rid of the boring job they have”. The point is Nehemiah didn’t want to just get rid of his job, he wanted to give himself to creating a whole people. Nehemiah wanted to be part of creating something, not just getting rid of something in his life. Nehemiah was given a burden to change the state of Israel. And this is often how visions begin: as burdens.

So start paying attention to your feelings and thoughts. Are there things that grab your heart, break your heart, that you want to create, or stir your desires? Here are some of the questions I ask:

  • What passions has God give me?
  • When I look out in my life what grabs me?
  • If I could be doing something what would it be?
  • What do I want to change around me?

Who knows what God might want  to do with you. Maybe it’s for you to give your time and energy to save your marriage, to build a new business that values people and the planet, maybe it’s to start a ministry, maybe it’s to make people whole and healthy, maybe it’s to launch your kids well. The possibilities are endless, but ask God what do you want to create through with me.

Donald Miller writes this, “The ambitions we have will become the stories we live. If you want to know what a person’s story is about, just ask them what they want. If we don’t want anything we are living boring stories, and if we want a Roomba vacuum cleaner, we are living stupid stories. If it won’t work in a story, it won’t work in life.”

So what ambitions do you have? What type of life, community, family, neighborhood, or church do you want to create?

Spend time today with God asking him to reveal to you where your time and energy should go. And start paying attention to yourself because God has designed you with a specific purpose, passions, and plan. So what excites you, what burdens you, what change do you want to see? What do you want in life? And I hope it isn’t just a Roomba vacuum cleaner…..

by Andrew Mills

Chasing Cars…Promotions…and Power

On Sunday I started a brand new series called “Where Is Your Story Going?” The point of this series is to examine where our lives are headed, and how we can discover a new vision for our lives.

I began sharing this quote from Donald Miller, focusing on the last phrase:

If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn’t tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you’d seen. The truth is, you wouldn’t remember that movie a week later, expect you’d feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of the movie about a guy who wants a Volvo.  But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to feel meaningful”

Miller is right that we do spend years actually living those stories. So for the next six weeks we are going to discover, through following Nehemiah, how to live different stories, how to live better stories, and how to live lives with meaning, passion, purpose, and vision.

So on Sunday we shared from Nehemiah 1 examining how Nehemiah was given a vision to build the wall in Israel. This wasn’t just a vision about brick and mortar but about restoring a people and giving hope. This is a vision God gives to Nehemiah. It’s a vision to change lives, to change a country, and change a people.

These are the types of visions that God wants to give us, to give to you. Desires to change our marriages, ministries, workplaces, communities, companies, and even countries.

And as we work through this sermon series we’ll look at the next steps to take to pursue a vision, how you overcome obstacles and hurtful people, and how to fulfill God’s vision for your life. But we closed with this challenge to spend time this week and see where is your life going? To spend time praying asking God to give you a vision like he gave Nehemiah. Toask God, “ are you chasing after Volvo’s or God’s dreams for you?”

So today do just that. Spend some time with God, ask him where your life is going; ask him where he would have it go? And then in a few days I’ll post some more thoughts on how to discover God’s vision for your life…

Adult Discussion Questions: What did you think of Donald Miller’s quote? Where is your life, or story, going? Are you chasing after something of value and meaning or not? Has God given you a passion, burden, or desire for something greater like Nehemiah? What is it? Or how can you discover it? Spend some time this week talking to God about where your life is going

Discussion Questions for Families: Spend some time sharing with your family what is worth living for. Ask your kids what some people live for (money, fame, to be cool, to be strong). Ask them what they think they should be living for. Share with them some of what you want to live for.

Challenge for this Week: To ask God to give you a vision to live for.


by Andrew Mills

Overwhelmed By God in a God-Absent Place

Last Sunday we talked about Ezekiel 1. You saw my most terrible rendition of the passage on a white board. In case you missed it – here’s what you missed.

Yes it was that bad…

The point though was that this is a difficult passage to picture, it’s a difficult passage to understand, it’s overwhelming and even a bit odd. So what we wanted to discover was what does this passage mean for us?

I asked each of you to think of one place where you assume God isn’t in your life. The reality is that we each have these places where our experience tells us God just isn’t there, or that active. That in this relationship, that workplace, that family, that street, that place God doesn’t seem to be there.

But as we discovered Ezekiel was in a place where God was supposed to be absent and gone. He was in a far away land, in a different god’s land, his temple was gone, his connection with God was strained and he felt alone.

But what is so amazing is what God does.

He shows up and overwhelms Ezekiel with his presence and a vision. That even though Ezekiel was sure he was in a place God wasn’t, God shows up. Amidst all the amazing details of the vision, one incredibly important one stands out. Ezekiel had a vision from God, a connection with God, in Babylon, a place God wasn’t supposed to be.

So what we can learn is that even those places in our lives where we feel or think God is absent or isn’t active – that he can show up and surprise us. There is no place in our lives thatis absent from the presence or activity of God. And on Sunday we prayed that in those places where we feel alone, that this week God would surprise us, overwhelm us, and connect with us just like he did for Ezekiel.

So as you go off to school and you feel God isn’t there, as you enter that workplace that seems so dark, as you meet with that friend where it seems God is no where near…may you discover him today just as Ezekiel did in a surprising, life changing and deep way.

Because this vision is a reminder to us that when we feel far from God, and alone, that today could be the day he shows up, surprises us, and changes our lives…

Group Discussion Questions:

– What places in your life does God feel most absent? Where do you wish he would most show up? What do you think Ezekiel felt after that encounter with God? Do you trust that God can show up even in dark places? Who can you have commit to continue to pray for you that God surprises and shows up for you?

Discussion Questions for Young Families

– Spend time with your kids asking them – is there anywhere God can’t be? Ask them how they know God is with them? Then spend time sharing with them that God is always with them, and that they know that from the Bible and God’s promises (i.e. Hebrews 13:5)

by Andrew Mills

Path’s that Lead to God: Listening

Take a moment and think about your relationship with God. How often is there silence in your conversation? How often are you bringing things to him? Does God though have space to speak?

As a youth pastor I once had a youth come to me and say that God isn’t speaking to them. That they want to hear God’s voice. I said, “Often it’s not that God isn’t speaking, but that we aren’t listening.” So after discussing we realized that in their life they woke up listening to music, listened to an iPod on the bus, sat in school texting, played on their phone on the way home, watched TV, and went to bed. The point is their life was so full there was no space to listen.

So for me a path that leads to God is creating spaces to listen for God. A Hebrew sage Solomon ibn Gabirol wrote,

“The beginning of wisdom is silence. The second stage is listening.”

So for me I realized that rarely do I not have music, sound, or noise on. In the car I listen to podcasts, at my office I listen to music, at home the Olympics are currently always on. So I started to create times to listen. Car rides just with me and God. Lunches outside with the breeze. Moments of silence in my life where I simply wait and listen.

And I think you can do the same. We need to be like Samuel where he says, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening” (1 Sam. 3:10). So what can you do to listen? What creates noise in your life that you can turn down? Because I do believe God is listening and we will hear it if we start to listen…

by Andrew Mills

Path’s that Lead to God: Creating

The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays – not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship. – Martin Luther

We were created in the image of God. Therefore we were created, as creators. God in his creativity shaped us, molded us, and breathed life into us. We too are called to do the same thing: to create, shape, mold, and breathe life into the world around us.

Some of us can do that through beautiful artwork. Others can build homes. Others can cook and create a scrumptious meal. The point is that we are each gifted and using the gifts God gave us can draw us closer to God.

In Exodus we read that God gifted people to use their hands, skills, and crafts to build his temple (Exodus 35:30-36:7). And through them working and using their gifts, they honored God, connected with God, and became like God through creating.

So for me one path that draws me closer to God is creating. I love to create pictures with words, phrases, and thoughts. I love to create delight through meals that sometimes are spectacular and other times a mess. I love to create through painting a picture as an expression of life. Prayer is not simply closing your eyes and thinking. Prayer is connecting with God, and one of the best ways is to honor the gifts God gave you.

So what can you create that draws you closer to God? Can you shape and mold wood to bring something to life? Are your cupcakes the best in the neighborhood? Or does the interplay of space and tone in music give your soul a boost? Do you love to create life through soil, water, sunshine, and seeds? Whatever it is ~ find a way to create and use it to connect to the God who gifted you…

by Andrew Mills

Path’s that Lead to God: Awareness

“We believe that the divine presence is everywhere”                                             – Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 19

On Sunday we discovered how embedded in Psalm 84 is the idea of creating and walking paths that lead to God’s presence.

So today I want to share a few ways “paths” that lead me to God’s presence in my life. These are rhythms I seek to practice to help me connect with God.

The first is awareness. Jesus says in Matthew 24:23 “Pay attention” I just want to take that seriously.

The fact is that God is all around me. His presence is something I can’t escape from as the Psalmist says, “If I go to the heights of heaven, God is there. If I go to the bottom of the depths, God is there.”  So the point then is to become aware of his presence, that He is a part of my life. The point is to pay attention. I just need to walk around my life with eyes wide open to discover God.

To help this I’ve done this through a few simple but concrete rhythms. The first is when I start talking with someone I often pray: “God be with me.” I seek to remember that God is present in the conversation, so I look to him, seek his guidance, and hope to be found by God in the midst of that dialogue with another.

Other ways I try to develop awareness is I have random text messages sent to me throughout the day from echoprayer.com reminding me of God’s presence. I seek to see intrusions in my day as chances to get a glimpse of God. I remind myself that God has created the day, is a part of it, and wants to find me ~ so I need to look for him.

The point is we pray “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”. So are we looking for God’s Kingdom all around us? Are we open to discovering him in conversations, connections, creations, and communities?

So one path that leads me to God is simply paying attention. Not rushing through conversations, seeing intrusions as possible connections, and believing God is around me to be discovered. What about you though? How do you pay attention and seek out God in your daily life?

To end, Iris Murdoch wrote:

“Prayer is properly not petition, but simply an attention to God which is a form of love”

So pay attention to God today…

by Andrew Mills

Hearing God’s Voice in Psalm 23 (A Targum and Prayer)

On Sunday we talked about how our God cares for us, provides for us, gives life, protection, and direction.

To end the sermon I read a paraphrase of Psalm 23 asking us to listen for God’s voice in the words. That as I read we would hear God speaking to us. And many people heard God’s voice.

So I thought why not do that again today.

Take a moment, put on some good music, have a cup of coffee and read this passage three times. And as you do, listen to God speaking to you, stirring something in you, listen to any words or phrases that resonate or stick with you. Why not take that as God speaking through his Holy Spirit to you today. And then give thanks to him that we have such a wonderful God.

  • The Lord is my shepherd
    • The one who watches over me
    • Who comes to seek and find me
    • The one whose voice I know within
  • With a Lord like this I don’t need a thing
    • You take care of my needs
    • Leading me to rest for my soul and body
    • You renew my strength
  • True to your word
    • You let me catch my breath
    • And send me in the right direction
    • Displaying your faithfulness at all times
  • Even when that way goes through Death Valley
    • When depression, darkness, and death stalk me
    • I will not be afraid – because you walk at my side
  • You never leave me in the darkness
    • You walk me through it
    • Your power, protection, and presence makes me feel secure
    • Knowing you are there to guide me
  • In the midst of calamity and onslaught
    • In front of my taunters, disbelievers, scoffers, and enemies
    • You come and prepare a full meal for me
  • Welcoming me into your home
    • Anointing my head with oil
    • Calming me, protecting me, and claiming me as yours and yours alone
  • My cup it brims with blessings
    • Your beauty and your love they chase after me every day of my life
    • Grace is pursuing me and life is coming
  • I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life
by Andrew Mills

Dealing with Doubt

On Sunday we talked about doubt and how it’s a part of our lives, and a part of faith. We talked about how you get through it by acknowledging it, naming it, and bringing God into it. We first must acknowledge we are having doubt. We then need to radically and in a raw fashion, name the doubt and struggle. And lastly, we need to bring God into it, and bring to God our doubt. This is how the Psalmist in Psalm 23, Jesus, and Mother Teresa all deal with their difficulties. And I believe that’s the path for us as well.

 

I also wanted to just list some of the quotes that I mentioned here for some further reflection for you. At the bottom I’ve also included some of the books that have helped me to understand this important topic. I hope it’s helpful!

 

Os Guinness:

  • “We do not trust God because he guides us; we trust and then are guided, which means that we can trust God even when we do not seem guided by him. Faith may be in the dark about guidance, but it is never in the dark about God”
  • “If faith does not resolve doubt, doubt will dissolve faith”

Father Neuner (Mother Teresa’s Confessor)

  • “The sure sign of God’s hidden presence in this darkness is the thirst for God, the craving for a least a ray of his light. No one can long for God unless God is present in his/her heart”

Flannery O’Connor:

 

  • “I think there is no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe. I know what torment this is, but I can only see it, in myself anyway, as the process by which faith is deepened. What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when, of course, it is the cross”

 

Books that Were Helpful to Me:

 

  • Come Be My Light – Mother Theresa
  • Dark Night of the Soul – St. John of the Cross
  • God in the Dark – Os Guinness

 

Lastly, what has been helpful for you in getting through doubt? Was it a friend, book, song, movie, or something else? Leave a comment and let us know what’s impacted and helped you to deal with doubt…

 

by Andrew Mills

Lessons from My Father: See Good, Give Grace, and Celebrate

Yesterday we talked a little bit about what my dad taught me about God. I shared three lessons that I’ve learned about my heavenly father from my earthly dad.

The first was that God changes us by reminding us of who we are, not who we aren’t. In Colossians 3:12 God calls us holy, dearly loved, and chosen. God reminds us who we are and how he sees us. He doesn’t see us as half-holy strike outs. He doesn’t see us as people he has to love. He doesn’t see us as half wanted wannabes. Instead, he sees us as holy, loved, and chosen people. Being reminded of who you are is what leads people to change and grow. There is a great clip that shows this from the movie Blood Diamond. What’s happened is this young boy has been taken as a child soldier and forced to do terrible things. This is the scene when his father finds him. Listen to how he talks to him.

I love the line, “I am your Father who loves you, and you will come home with me and be my son again”. This is just like our heavenly Father. God the Father doesn’t begin by reminding us of all the ways we’ve failed, messed up, and sinned. He reminds us of who we are in Him and also who we are to him. He reminds us how he sees us as holy, loved, and chosen. That like Solomon in that clip reminds his son Dia, “You are a good boy.”

The truth is that people live up to our expectations of them. And if we only see people as screw-ups and wash-outs, why should they act any differently if we can’t believe differently about them?

So the first lesson was to remind people of who they are and what we see in them. The second lesson was that grace is meant to be given. We love to give grace to nice people, deserving people, or people who earn it and ask for it. But this isn’t grace. Grace is a gift that covers a wrong, that reconciles, and redeems. Grace can’t be earned, it is a free gift. So we talked about how if there is division, tension, or problems in a relationship to think about this question: “What would it mean to give a gift of grace to that person?” It doesn’t mean pretending that nothing is wrong, but instead rising above the wrong and giving a gift of love.

And lastly, we talked about how we need to learn to celebrate. Celebration, throwing parties, and connecting isn’t just fun, it’s actually Godly. In the Old Testament they had celebrations every single month. In the New Testament the Kingdom of God is often related to a party. And in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the Father throws a lavish party instantly to welcome home his son. The point is that God is into good celebrations, great connections, and a fun party. So we need to as well.

So this week go out and remind people of who they are, give grace, and celebrate. And as you do this, watch as people are changed, because you’ll be living and acting just like our heavenly father…

by Andrew Mills

Sex Talk in Church

So on Sunday we talked about sex. We talked about God’s perspective on it, trying to understand two questions: why was it given and what’s the basis for great sex?

Biblically, God’s design for sex is pretty clear – it’s to unite and connect. When God says a man leaves his father and mother and becomes “one flesh” with his wife in Genesis 2:24,what God is saying is that sex connects. That two people, two lives, two different beings become truly one in a deep sense. This isn’t just a physical oneness but a deep relational, spiritual, and emotional oneness. That’s the beauty of marriage and of sex.

The way then you have great sex is to focus on that oneness. Great sex doesn’t flow out of great desire. Great sex flows out of great intimacy. Relationships are built on intimacy, trust, and commitment, and when you have that – that’s when great sex happens. We read about it in Song of Songs 4:12 how the man says his sex was so great it was like cool, refreshing, living water. He says this happens because of the intimacy, the depth of connection, and the sacredness between him and his bride. Their choice to only choose each other generated deeper and better sex because of the intimacy and connection that was there.

So that’s what we looked at last Sunday, that sex connects, and great sex is based in great intimacy and commitment.

So this week no matter what stage and place you are in whether married, looking, or single and content, focus on building trust and intimacy in your friendships and relationships. Because that’s what really matters and that’s what makes a great friendship.

And lastly, if you want to hear my semi-awkward sharing on sex it will be posted under sermon download shortly. What you won’t get though is the visual of me turning red a few times!

by Andrew Mills