God – Page 8 – { Andrew Mills }

Confessions of a Pastor: Limitations

I have a confession. I’m an imperfect person. I have faults and flaws. I’m not sufficiently good, wise, or amazing to make things work everywhere. I know I have limitations, I know I have temptations, I know I make mistakes, and I have regrets. You might be like me too.

We live in a world though that sees confessions such as these as weakness. Imperfections and limitations are things to be covered up, avoided, or denied. But this is not the way in God’s Kingdom. In God’s Kingdom limitations are not to be avoided but actually embraced because they are where God works best. As Paul says, it is in our weakness, our limitations, our imperfections, that God is strong and does his best work.

Sometimes I come to a situation, a crisis, or even a Sunday with a feeling like I don’t know what to do. I don’t have the experience, the skill, or the knowledge to draw upon. I have no idea how to make things work. I reach the end of myself and see my limitations. These, though, are precisely the times when God seems to act most. When I say to him I have no idea what I am to do – so this one is up to you. When I say to him – God, this is bigger than me, so it needs you. When I embrace the fact that God I am small and broken – but accept the fact that even in my weakness God wants to use me. And he wants to use you even with your weaknesses and limitations.

This isn’t about excusing sin and failures of that sort. This is about realizing that we are not God, that we are not perfect, that we do not know everything, or know how to act in every situation. This isn’t to be lamented but embraced because when we embrace the fact we have limits we embrace the fact that God doesn’t.

It is only when we acknowledge our limitations that we also acknowledge our need and dependency on God. As I said I am not sufficiently amazing, wise, or skilled to succeed without God. I need God each and everyday in my life, work, and in his church if I am to be faithful. I cannot rely on myself, my limits remind me of my desperate need for God.

So for you – when you come up to your limits – what do you do? Do you embrace them as a moment for God to work? Do you embrace them as a reminder of our dependency on the Spirit that lives and moves in us? Or do you avoid it, deny it, or try to compensate for it?

My suggestion is this – the next time you come to the end of yourself, embrace that fact because it is often the beginning of the work of God.

September 11, 2013 by Andrew Mills

“I’m Just Getting Started…”

So 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

September 2, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Emptying Yourself and Not Controlling the Outcomes

So on Sunday I was preaching in St. Catharines on Emptying Yourself. The main idea was that Jesus emptied himself, and so we are also called to empty ourselves on those around us. The idea was to see people not as interruptions but opporutnties to empty ourselves, giving away grace, hope, and life.

And so after the service I went out for lunch with two of the pastors from the church. And as I’m leaving the downtown area a man looks at me sitting on a bench near my car and says, “Sir, do you have any change, I have a handicap and would love a coffee”?

I looked in my dash and there was a $2 (which I thought was God’s provision ~ because I never ever seem to have cash). I gave him the toonie and went to get back in my car. But my sermon kept echoing around in my mind, and I wondered – “Is this emptying myself?” So I talked with the man a bit more, and he asked if I was a Christian. I said I was, and I saw that my bank was directly behind where we were talking. So I quick walked in, grabbed some more cash, and gave it to the man.

This is normally in the story where God moves in and changes lives, where people accept Jesus, and where we feel like we did a wonderful thing. Expect that didn’t happen at all. Instead the interaction with the man turned sour. He got quite angry at me for not getting out more money. And so as I gave him the money he turned and stomped off leaving me feeling a bit confused, unsure, and unsettled. I wondered to myself, “God what did I do wrong?”

But I think that’s sometimes the wrong perspective isn’t it. We focus on the outcomes, rather than the obedience. We focus on the change we create, rather than leaving that up to God, and simply following in his footsteps. These were my thoughts as I walked back to my car.

I thought maybe there is something I can learn from this…

And as I’m thinking this through, a lady drives up next to me and rolls down her window and gets my attention. She says to me, “I just saw what you did, and you are far too nice. I never would have been able to do that.” She said “I hope that he uses the money for the right things, and not drugs.” I said to her, “I hope so too, but as a Christian my calling is to give, and not judge how the gift is used”. She said she’d never thought of that before and thanked me for what I did and drove off.

As I reflect on this whole little experience I believe I learned one key thing. Focus on following Jesus, and leaving the rest up to him. Maybe I was to give the money to help the man, to help this lady, or even for me to learn something. And maybe God is using this experience to change all three of us.

The point is I think we should focus on following more than anything else. Don’t worry about the outcomes, and whether the action or gift worked or failed. Focus on being faithful and following as best you can. That’s what I learned and what I want to keep learning and most of all keep practicing.

August 27, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Outburst of Love and Encouragement

Want to know why I love our church? Because of this:

Quite a few weeks ago, I was trying to think of how I could show my care for a family in our church. They had an important doctors meeting, so I thought I’d go leave flowers with a note of my prayer while they were away at the meeting, to get when they got home. I thought it would be a good way to surprise and encourage.

And as I’m placing the flowers, I saw a car drive into the driveway and I thought my little surprise might be ruined. Except it wasn’t them. It was someone else from our church with the same idea. They had brought homemade muffins, and food (which made me wish I’d thought of that).We both smiled as we both placed our little gifts and left.

Here is the thing – I hear of stories like this all the time. Of people dropping by with groceries for people who are in difficulty, I see people bring flowers to bless a friend on Sunday, I hear stories of people showing up to fix things, to give away money, time, and love.

I love our church because they seek to creatively care. Because they take Galatians 5:6 seriously, “What is important is faith expressing itself in love”. What is important is our faith moving us to loving actions. What is improtant is us showing our care for others.

Our church is far from perfect, I am far from perfect. We mess up and miss things. But we continue to try to put that verse into practice. To have our faith express itself in love, and this is why I so love this place.

So this week why not try to express your faith in love? Why not try to come up with a creative way to show you care? Hebrews talks about us encouraging one another in outbursts of love and encouragement (Heb 10:24). So why not do that today – leave a note, drop off a meal, send a card, offer to babysit, bring by a coffee to a friend at work. Today let your faith express itself in love and let the stories of life and love spread.

August 21, 2013 by Andrew Mills

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

On 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

August 18, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Pure Joy and Pure Wonder

This is a picture of Hudson. I think it just shows pure joy. I love this picture because it is who Hudson truly is. He is a boy with a lot of joy.

And to be honest Hudson shows his joy and thankfulness a lot. His prayers at supper and lunch tend to be long as he thanks God for everything he can think of. They are full of joy of what he has done in the day and hopes to do.

What amazes me is how much he has to thank God for, things I don’t even think of. He thanks God for all his cars (often by name…so it takes a while). He thanks God for our family, for Grandma and Nana and Papa (often also praying that he will go there on Tuesday), and for sunshine, for his backpack, for Skylanders, and for everything else.

I got to wondering if part of the reason Hudson is so joyful in this picture is because he is able to be so “present” to things?

Every experience for Hudson is like a brand new experience. He enters into with eyes-wide-open. We have been to the Splash Pad in that picture dozens of times, but he loves it like it’s new each and every time. There is a sense of wonder that permeates his life. There is a sense of joy that spills out.

I wonder when was the last time I felt like that?

When was the last time you looked like that picture?

I think this is something to strive for. I think this is something to seek, about being at a place of pure joy. So this week practice being thankful, practice entering into familiar places and relationships with wonder and awe. Practice being fully present. And if none of those things work. Why not try running through a splash pad…

“The insights of wonder must be constantly kept alive…I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder. And you gave it to me”. Abraham Joshua Heschel

August 7, 2013 by Andrew Mills

God is Moved By You

On Sunday we are going to be having communion, and exploring an interesting passage in Exodus. The passage we are going to be looking at is this Exodus 3:7:

Then the Lord told Moses, “You can be sure I have seen the misery of my people. I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come to rescue them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt.”

I think this is a beautiful passage because it reveals who God is.

In this passage God is one who hears, and who acts.

I think this is so crucial to so many of us, because when we are in difficulty our temptation is to believe we are alone. Our temptation is to believe our prayers are futile. Our temptation is to believe that nothing will change. Our temptation is to believe that the God we worship is distant and unmoving.

But here in this passage we see a totally different God. We see a God who is intimately involved with his people. We see a God who hears the cries of those who are suffering, and is then moved by them. Our God is not some unmoving, uncaring, distant deity. Our God is someone who is involved in the world being moved by injustice, not just to hear the cry but then to act.

So this passage gives me hope that whenever I feel alone, and hurting I know God is not removed but listening and acting.

On Sunday we’ll discover how God acts, and what he promises to us. But today why not simply rest in the fact that your prayers are heard by God. Your prayers and cries do move God. You are not alone but actually connected to the Creator who hears and responds. Hopefully that gives you hope, because it gives me hope.

August 2, 2013 by Andrew Mills

The Bushes are Burning All Around Us

On 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

July 29, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Learning to Leave the Desert

How do you leave the desert?

I mean honestly. When your life is feeling dry, distant, and you feel alone – how do you leave that place? When you feel like you are wandering around in circles, when life has passed you by, when you look back and regret decisions wondering – how did I end up here? How do you leave “here”? How do you find a place with life, hope and grace? How do you leave the desert?

I don’t know if you’ve been there but I have. I have been in a place that once was good but got drained of life and was draining me. I have been in a place where all of a sudden I felt alone, distant from God, and wondering where I was. I have been in a desert staring at the empty world around me wondering how I will ever find my way out. And maybe you’ve been there too. It is a difficult place to be. The trouble is that life seems to take us to the desert.

The question is how do we leave? How do we find new life again? How do we find hope again? How do we find a land flowing with milk and honey?

That’s what we are exploring on Sunday how to leave the desert and find new life. We are going to be exploring a pretty well known passage with some pretty not-so-well-known conclusions.

Come Sunday we’ll explore how to find your way out, which not so surprisingly, begins with God finding you.

But that’s Sunday, what about today? What if your desert is so difficult, and oppressive that you can’t wait till Sunday to start leaving it?

Well I’ll give you a hint of where we are going on Sunday. It doesn’t begin with you. It doesn’t begin with you forcing or finding your way out. It begins with God finding you and leading you out.

So today why not make yourself easy to find. Why not take some actual time, sit in space with God, ask him to direct, and to wait on him. Give him time to speak to you, give him your attention, and wait patiently on him. This, of course, isn’t easy, but it’s a lot easier than languishing in the desert.

So come Sunday we’ll explore how to find your way out in more depth, but it does begin with God. So no matter how your life has been these past few weeks, days, or even years why not let yourself be found by God. Don’t fill your weekend so full of noise, business, and stuff that he can’t break through to you. Sit still, stop, and listen. And who knows maybe God will show up in a burning bush and lead you out…

July 26, 2013 by Andrew Mills

Tumblr, Technology, and The Bible

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

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

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

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

July 20, 2013 by Andrew Mills