Category: Sermon Reflections

Giving Tied to Grace…

Yesterday we talked about money in church. I know a topic that isn’t often talked about in church. We feel uncomfortable and awkward talking about it. I think this is because it’s been talked about poorly in the past, where giving gets tied to guilt and other wrong motives. But on Sunday we sought to look at giving tied to grace.

We looked at 2 Corinthians 8 to discover how Paul deals with money. Here, there is the Corinthian church that hasn’t given what they’ve pledged. Paul rather than coming down hard, judging, and using guilt to motivate, he talks about grace and God. In fact he says, “Let me tell you a story of grace…” In this story of grace Paul tells about the Macedonian church and how they gave and experienced joy and God’s presence. He talks about how they gave what they could as a response to God, not as a response to guilt or judgement.

Paul in his story of grace is trying to change the Corinthian church’s heart. He’s not trying to guilt them into giving, but instead trying to inspire them through grace. Because the Biblical perspective is that when giving is tied to guilt and legalism it quickly dries up, but when giving is tied to God and his grace, giving never ends. The point isn’t really how much you give, but the heart you give with. Giving is important, blessing others matters, but your heart behind the giving really matters. Is your heart like God’s, generous, open, and appreciative?

Jesus says that the Pharisees who gave a tenth of every part of the income still get it wrong because of mixed up motives and desires (Matt. 23:23-24). The Pharisees did the right action but not with the right heart.

So where is your heart today? Why not be generous and give to someone today out of a grateful heart. Consider all that God has done for you, and find a way to bless someone today. When you do this you might just find yourself like the Macedonians…full of joy…and taken care of…

P.S. Since money is an important conversation we’re committed here to not only be seeking to excel in generosity and grace, but also good stewardship. So if stewarding finances or debt is a struggle we have partnerships, and great people who are here to help us steward what we’ve been given well. Let us know if that’d be a help and we’ll help you make a connection.

by Andrew Mills

Overcoming Death

On Sunday we talked about death. We opened up a dialogue on an important topic that affects us all but is so foreign to us at the same time. After I shared on Sunday, a friend came up to me and said death is supposed to be foreign to us because death was never to be.

This is so true but is so often misunderstood. So often people think of death as part of God’s will and plan. But death has never been, and won’t ever be part of the plan of God. Jesus died to conquer death. Death is an enemy and not an agent or activity of God.

So on Sunday I shared from 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul writes that death is an enemy. And yes it is true that death is the last enemy as Paul put it, but death is not an enemy that lasts. There is a future rushing forward to meet us where death will be swallowed up whole (Is. 28:5), where every tear will be wiped away (Rev. 21:4), where all will be restored (Acts 3:21). This is the future that needs to shape us. But how do we do that? Well I have two suggestions. First, don’t let death count the time and second, we get through it together.

My dad died two years ago on Sunday. It feels as if I’ve lost him for two years. But this is counting time through the lens of death, rather than the future that is before me. Because in reality, I am now two years closer to being reunited with him. God’s future is two years closer to becoming a reality. And yes, the loss I feel is real, and it is deep. But the loss isn’t permanent. So while I wait I will remember that a future is coming where all will be restored.

But how do you get through the “waiting” or the space between now and the future? Well I believe you get through it together.  Andrew Root writes this, “God is present when death is shared, when suffering is joined”. So we get through to the future God has for us together. We share in the lives of each other refusing to let death have the last word. We remember memories, events, and people together.

So my sermon in one sentence was this: Death is wrong, death won’t last, and we get to the future promised to us together.

But sermons aren’t meant to just be heard, but to be lived. So this week why not go and join someone in their loss. Ask them about a loved one, send them a prayer, or mark a memory. Go and join someone and bring God with you…

Discussion Questions

  • Questions for Adults: How have you viewed death growing up? What part struck you most about the sermon today? Is there anyone that you’ve been separated from because of death? How does today’s sermon help you in that separation? How can you help others who have recently experienced the separation of death?
  • Questions for Young Families: Why is do you think that death is hard? Are you scared of death at all? Share how Jesus promises that death will never win, and that he gives us life.
  • Challenge for this Week: Walk with others in your community and neighborhood who have experienced loss
by Andrew Mills

Guest Blogger: My Wife! Lessons Learned as a Mom

Since Andrew got me to be our guest speaker yesterday at church, he also thought that it would only appropriate that I also be a Guest Blogger for today. I made the comment yesterday that I think that since I am doing his job, he should have come into my office and do mine for a day – and I am still holding onto that idea!

Yesterday we had a fantastic Mother’s Day celebration including a baby dedication and home-made gift giving. Andrew and I also got to share something super exciting with the church family – that we are going to become a family of four sometime early November!

We are very excited to welcome our little boy or girl into our family and as well into our Plattsville Church family too!

After sharing this exciting news, I talked about a few things that I have learned about God as a mom, things that I have been taught my whole life, but have been made real through the ups and downs of being a mom.  If you feel brave, you can listen to it online it will be posted later on this week here. However, I am nervous to even encourage this idea as this was my first time speaking and I was a wee bit nervous – but if you dare, you can hear all about these lessons of God through experiences and stories of my little man, Hudson.

I have been so blessed through this small little boy since the moment he was born. We are blessed that Andrew’s dad was able to be a grandpa for three short months.

We are blessed that he is going to be a great Big Brother. I know that Andrew feels blessed that his first word was ‘Ball’, and how he loves to play soccer. And for me, I feel blessed that through loving this little boy, I have learned to love and lean on God like I never have before and decided to share more about this with you all.

I shared on how God’s love is unconditional and that He is concerned with every detail of our lives. I shared on how we are to depend on Him and that he indeed feels all the same pain and sympathizes with us. And I said that for all these things, God first wants us to want Him. These simple concepts, ones that we may have been taught our whole lives, have taken on a new meaning through my little boy. Take a moment and think back to when God has shown you his love, mercy, compassion and desire to be with you, think of a time when you felt God’s presence beside you or His arms around you as you cried. Take a moment to just sit and thank God for being there during these moments, making Himself real to you. He wants to be with you, during the good times, and also during the times when you would rather that He was far away – He is still there.

So that’s what I’ve learned about God through being a parent. But what about you? What have learned about God from being a parent, through a parent, or though an adopted “parent” in your life? Because the beauty of our faith is that we learn from each other, and discover a God worth knowing…

by Andrew Mills

Learning to Forgive – Learning to Send Away

On Sunday we talked about forgiveness. We discussed that the literal meaning of “to forgive” in Greek means to send something away; it means giving up and giving over. So when we forgive we are giving up and giving over our hurts, anger, desires for justice, and all that happened to God. We are literally sending to him everything and trusting that he can hold onto our hurts and deal with them. That’s what forgiveness is.

Forgiveness frees us from holding onto the burden of hurt. Forgiveness frees us from replaying that event or conversation over and over again in our minds. Forgiveness frees not only the other person but also ourselves because we no longer are holding onto the hurt – God is.

Forgiveness is not simply forgetting. It’s not saying “no big deal” when what happened was a big deal. It’s not pretending that a wrong didn’t happen. Forgiveness is sending away the wrong to God, so that you can be made whole. That’s what forgiveness is all about. And we can make a choice to forgive.

We ended with inviting people to make that choice. And yes forgiving is a hard choice. But it is the only choice that leads to healing, because forgiving leads to God.

So to make that choice we invited people to write down their hurts, betrayals, and unforgiveness and to “send it to God”. To do this we invited people to symbolically burn the paper, shred it, or toss it out. The point was to do something physical and tangible that would be a reminder that we have forgiven that person, and “sent it” to God. The point was to do something physical that echoed what we were doing emotionally and spiritually. We were sending away our hurts; we were forgiving others.

So that’s what we touched on yesterday. After church I watched a video sent to me by a member from the church. It’s on forgiveness and I think it illustrates well what we’re talking about. The last line of the video is a great reminder for us today, “If God doesn’t come in forgiveness cannot come”. So why not watch it and today seek to practice forgiveness and sent to God anything that you’re holding onto…

by Andrew Mills

Don’t Pick Up the Jawbone

On Sunday we talked a bit about forgiveness. You can download it here. We looked at Samson and saw how violence, anger, and hurt can just escalate and grow if we don’t deal with it. That, unless we actually learn to deal with our hurt, it can end up driving us, depressing us, and distancing us from our loved ones. We looked at Judges 15 and how when you pursue revenge you never get even, you simply get worse. The story begins with a man, a goat, and a troubled marriage and it ends with hundreds dead, an economy wrecked, and a man hated by both his people and his enemies.

We ended our time thinking about the last scene with Samson where he picks up a jawbone to go another round with the Philistines. This can happen so easily in any relationship where we get hurt and so we want to hurt back. We take a swing with a “jawbone” through words, actions, and thoughts. We lash out saying “they made us do this” (Judges 15:3), trying to get even (15:7), and paying them back for what they did to us (15:11).

The problem is that’s not how Jesus acts or treats us. Jesus gives us a different example where we don’t respond to hate with hate, or hurt with hurt. Jesus shows us a different path where forgivness leads to life. Jesus reminds us that avoiding forgiving simply leads to prolonged hurt. C.S. Lewis’ says “Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” I agree forgiveness isn’t easy, but it is right…

So we ended with this challenge for this week: don’t pick up the jawbone. This week when you are tempted to lash out, to say something snarky, or to get even, break the cycle of hurt by stepping up and forgiving. And next Sunday we’ll be looking at how to practically forgive…

Questions for Discussion

  • Adult Discussion Questions
  • How have you seen violence or hate “cycle” in your life?
  • Why is so hard to break the cycle of revenge, hate, or violence?
  • Is there any cycles in your own life that you need break? To take the first step and “drop the jawbone”?
  • Questions for Young Families
  • Ask your kids what they want to do when soemoen hurts them. Get them to share about the feelings. Ask them what the right thing is to do when someone hurts them. Share with them how if we try to “get even” it always “get’s worse”.
  • Weekly Challenge: Don’t pick up the jawbone – practice forgiveness
by Andrew Mills

Getting through the Tough Stuff

This Sunday I preached on why bad things happen but most of all how to get through them. You can download the sermon here.

The main point I focused on though, was that bad things happen because we live in a broken world. The world and our lives aren’t yet what they were meant to be. We struggle with sin, broken relationships, death, decay, and difficulty. This is not the world God desired. But the promise of God is that a new world is coming; that he will transform this world into all that it was meant to be.

But in the meantime how do we get through the difficult stuff that happens until God’s future reaches us?

Well we discovered through Romans 8 three promises God gives us to make it through a tough day, week, or even years. The three promises are as follows:

  • That the Spirit Prays for Us
  • That the Father work everything out
  • That the Son is always with us

These three promises for me are really moving. The fact that when we are down and out, in distress, and weakness God prays for us is astounding. The Holy Spirit is praying for you and all that is before you – praying what you need but don’t have the words for. This is beautiful.

The Father also promises to work everything to good. That doesn’t mean that everything is good, but that out of anything God can create good. That nothing you are currently going through can stop God’s goodness from coming to pass.

And lastly that the Son is always with us and that nothing can separate us from his love. What is in the forefront of your mind and is currently taking up thought space? God’s promise to you is that – that thing – won’t separate you from Jesus. That too is beautiful. These are the promises of God to you.

Which one matters most of you? What other promises from Scripture have helped you get through some rough stuff?

by Andrew Mills

Living in Light of Easter

The biggest challenge of Easter isn’t to believe it happened; but to actually live in light of its happening right now. In essence,Easter isn’t something we are called to just believe in but to be transformed by.

So on Sunday I shared how resurrection can transform us, and why Easter matters. You can download it here. We talked about how when we are in the dark, resurrection teaches us that light is coming. No matter how dark, and “tomb-like” our lives may feel, light is coming. Darkness didn’t win. We explored how sin is disconnection and broken relationships. But Jesus, in his death and resurrection, takes on all separation, disconnection, and brokenness so that we can be made whole and holy. And lastly, even in the midst of death, life wins. Death would have us live in light of its lies: that life is over, that relationships are lost, that dreams can be crushed. But Easter reminds us that Jesus says it is finished, not death.

So this is why Easter matters. But if the point isn’t just to believe it, but to live it. So how do you do that?

Well that’s the hard part isn’t it, because we live in a reality where darkness seems to last, linger, and cover over us. We live in a reality that is fragmented with broken relationships, broken selves, and a broken planet. We live in a reality where death seems to win and loss seems irreparable. So how do we live out resurrection in this reality?

Well maybe a simple way to start is to let resurrection shape our reality.

We do that by holding onto Jesus, and onto hope. We hope even in the darkest, most broken, and death filled places, that life, light, and healing can still spill forth. Because that’s the message of Easter. This isn’t simply positive thinking. This is deep trust in the God who doesn’t let death, darkness, or sin win.

Andrew Root writes,  “Optimism says, ‘Something good will come out of this experience’. Hopes says, ‘In the midst of this hell, God will act'”. That’s the message of Easter, that out of this hell, God will act. That’s how we live in light of the resurrection by holding onto hope even in the midst of hell.

So hold onto hope, hold onto the trust that the God, who was active in raising Jesus from the dead, is still active in your life as well. Hold onto the God who is active in the dark. Hold onto the God who doesn’t let anything but life, light, and love have the last word…

by Andrew Mills

Power, Parades, and Position

On Sunday we talked about Jesus’ triumphant entry. We talked about how he enters into Jerusalem riding a donkey, symbolizing that his power works differently than the world’s power of might, greed, position, and conquering. Jesus didn’t ride a warhorse emphasizing his superiority, but a donkey emphasizing his humility.

But even as he was riding into Jerusalem in humility, he was still riding into it to rescue the people. The people shout “Hosanna”, save us now. And Jesus was bringing rescue to them although in a way they never would have expected. That’s because while Jesus does rescue and save, he does it in his way and not in the way of the world.

Jesus rescues and saves through submission, sacrifice, and surrender, not through military might, wealth, or positional power. Jesus’ power operates in a way that is distinctly different than the way of the world.

Around the same time that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, so did Pilate. Pilate rode in on a horse with all of his position, power, and strength on display for all to believe in. Jesus rode in on a donkey where his power and strength required trust to believe in.

The challenge for us is to not simply believe in what we can see with our eyes, but what we can trust with our hearts. The challenge is to not simply search for Jesus in spectacles and the sensational, like Pilate and his parade of power, but also in the simple and significant ways of life. Jesus rides a donkey. He’s not riding something flashy and showy, but humble and true.

So my challenge for you this week is this: look for Jesus, watch for him, and find him. But don’t just look for him in the sensational stuff around you. Look for him in the simple and humble ways that he is riding into your life.

And today if you need rescue from something: a work, health, financial, or a relationship situation, then shout “Hosanna” and ask for Jesus to save you.

Just remember he saves in his way, and not the world’s. But that through saving and rescuing us in his way – he rescues the whole world.

by Andrew Mills

What to do with Betrayal…

On Sunday we briefly talked about what to do when we are betrayed, through following the example of Jesus. Jesus, as he is being nailed to the cross says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. From this we realized three things. First, was that hurt people end up hurting people. We also talked about how Jesus doesn’t see his betrayers as enemies, but as broken people needing forgiveness. And lastly, that Jesus takes his betrayal to God, praying to the Father for their forgiveness.

The main point we ended on was that if we want to deal with our betrayal in the way of Jesus, we need to be like him. We need to take our betrayal to God. To give up our desire for justice our way, and give it over to him.

By this I don’t mean that we don’t create good boundaries, that we forget what happened, or that things go back to the way they were. Broken trust creates consequences. What I am saying is that the personal hurt that happens to us needs to be dealt with in a Jesus-like way. And the way Jesus deals with his betrayal and hurt isn’t to see those who betrayed him as enemies; but instead to see them as broken people needing forgiveness. Jesus also chooses to forgive, and pray for their forgiveness. In essence, he takes his betrayal and he leaves it with God.

I believe this is what we are called to do.

The problem is I often don’t want to. I want to hold on to my betrayal, bitterness, and judgement. I don’t want to give it up. My hurt starts to feel normal, justified, and right. And sometimes it is so hard to give over those deep betrayals. We feel we need to hold onto them and to fight for justice. I’m not saying those feelings aren’t right. What I am saying is that I have stronger feelings when I look at Jesus. When I see him, I want to be like him more than I want to hold onto my hurt. I want to be like him more than I want to hold onto being right, or my version of justice.

So I’ve decided to give up my hurts, betrayals, and give them over to God. I am in no way saying it’s easy; I’m just saying it’s Jesus-like. And that’s enough for me. What about you?

by Andrew Mills

Community Intervention ~ Betrayal Prevention

Last Sunday we explored how a community can prevent betrayal. You can download the sermon here.

What we discovered is that if we walk with people we can stop people from “walking out into the darkness” alone. That’s what happens to Judas. He is with his friends, brothers, and community and he walks out into the darkness under suspicious circumstances with no one inquiring about him. No one cared enough to stop Judas, to ask how he was doing, or to ask where he was going. The community let him walk out into the darkness alone.

But we can learn from the disciples’ mistakes.We can care. We can connect. We can stop people from walking into darkness, sin, and betrayal. But how? By always walking with them. If someone is walking out into the dark, you can walk with them bringing the light and love of Jesus with you. If a community walks together then no one will walk alone. That reality can change the course and direction of someone’s life.

On Sunday we landed on three ways you can walk deeply with others. You can give people your time, your full attention, and space. You can give people time to check in, to catch up, and to actually have a conversation. Deep conversations can’t happen over Facebook, or on route to get coffee after church. Give some time for someone to open up.

Then also give them your full attention. So often when we are in conversations with people we are just waiting for our turn to talk. Turn that around. Wait for your turn to listen. Give the other person your full attention, not figuring out your next question, when you can jump in, or what you can say. Make them the focus.

And lastly, give them some space to talk and to go deeper. So ask some difficult but important questions. Ask how they are truly doing. Give them space and an opportunity to talk to you. They might not choose to, but at least they will know you cared enough to ask.

So this week ~ walk deeply with those around you. Make a decision to never let a friend walk out into the darkness alone; and give people your time, attention, and space. Take your responsibility to your community and friends seriously. Never let anyone walk into the darkness alone, by making a commitment to walk with them wherever they may go…

by Andrew Mills