BIG ANNOUNCMENT & NEWS AT GRACE

Yesterday at Grace Fellowship was another phenomenal day.  I continue to be humbled and filled with joy over the ways God is working in and through our church family.  Here are some highlights and the BIG ANNOUNCMENTS MADE YESTERDAY!

*  We baptized 39 new follwers of Christ yesterday after the 12:0o noon service.  It was awesome as one entire family was baptized together – one man was baptized who was saved during our services on Sunday – a mother & daughter were baptized together – a husband and wife were baptized together –  several were baptized as a result of the influence of their life groups.   It was awesome to see so many adults being baptized and the joy in the celebration we had together!

*  Because of your generosity as we continue to LOVE LOUD - we are able to feed 160 families a full thanksgiving meal this year.  In addition we’ve been able to provide another 150+families with much needed groceries durin this holiday season and take more food to Wise Area Relief Ministries.   I’m so thankful that we continue to learn as a church that we cannot outgive God.

*  ANNOUNCEMENT:  The Balcony is moving along well and will be ready for us to use on Sunday – December 13th.  In light of this space being provided, we’ll be abe to go back to 2 services at the original times:  9:30am and 11:00am on Sunday, Dec. 13.  Thanks so much to all of you who moved to 12:00 noon to help us provide additional space in the earlier services during this transition.   As we move back to two services and open the balcony let’s PACK THIS PLACE on Dec. 13th.   I’ll also start a very interesting Christmas Series of Messages that day called:  Backstage Pass.   By the way – the 2nd service yesterday was packed to the hilt – we had to add chairs everywhere we could find places to put them!

* BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:  In light of your faithfulness in giving , a financial blessing from on of our members, and the wise handling of the funds entrusted to our care – we are able to move to Phase 3 of our building plans  (we’ll hold off on phase 2 for a while).  With MLT approval we are moving forward to build a new Student Center Building which will also have space for adult events; this is another multi-purpose building.   IT’S GOING TO BE AWESOME !!!!    In addition, we’ll transfrom the existing student space in our building to additional Childrens & Preschool space.   I think we’ll all be blown away.   The other part of the great news is that we’ll not have to borrow a cent from the bank to complete these projects.   The student building, the renovation of the student area for children and preschool, and the balcony will all be paid for when we move in! 

* LOVING GOD - LOVING PEOPLE – LOVING LIFE – is more than just a catchy slogan.    It’s a definition of our purpose and mission; and we’re committed to this because we know that heaven and hell are real places and every person will spend eternity in one of them.  We want to do everything we can to introduce boys and girls, students, and adults to the grace of God through Jesus Christ so they’ll impact their world in this life and spend eternity with God in the next.

* HELL – YES?  HELL – NO?   I heard so many of you share positive comments about this message yesterday.  You can point others to the message by directing them to our podcast on our website.

* JIM & TIM     As always JIM (Jerry Burnett) did a fantastic job with the JIM BUILDING UPDATE and his introduction of Tim Hawkins.   The clips we saw were hilarious.  Remember to invite everyone you meet to our Grace Christmas Celebration with TIM HAWKINS on Dec. 19 & 20th this year.  It’s going to be hilarious and the gospel of Jesus Christ will be shared in a creative manner.  If you and I will do our parts, we ought to be able to pack the auditorium during all four productions (4pm & 7pm on Sat and on Sun).

Bullets From James

Reading in James this morning during my time alone with God (Quiet Time).  Here are a few bullets from what I read:

*  ALL who claim to follow Christ should be slow to speak and quick to listen.  1:19

*  If you just listen to God’s Word, but choose not to obey it – you’re foolish.  1:23

*  If you claim to be religious, but won’t control your tongue – your religion is worthless.  1:26

* God wants us to care for orphans – widows – AND to refuse to let the world corrupt us.  1:27

*  There will be no mercy for those who are unwilling to show mercy to others.  2:13

*  Faith without action is useless.  2:17

HELL; Yes. – HELL; No.

Do you believe HELL exists?   Where?   Is it a literal place or just symbolic?

Do we experience HELL ON EARTH and that’s it  – or is there more?

If a literal HELL exists how do you keep from ending up there?

If literal HELL exists is there a backdoor – a way to get out once you’re there?

Did Jesus ever go to HELL?

Next Sunday, Nov. 22, we’ll be dealing wih these questions and more in one of the most sobering messages I’ll preach in this series: LOVE LOUD.

Random Thoughts From Time Alone

I was reading in Hebrews 11 this morning in my time alone with God.  Even though I’ve read this chapter many times, verses 1 & 6 seemed to jump off the page this morning.

Heb 11:1 & 6 state: “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.   6 So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

As I journaled some notes I asked God to give me more faith – to exponentially expand my faith – and to help me continue to learn what it means to SINCERELY SEEK HIM.   A question that came to my mind that I think you should consider is:  Who or what are you sincerely seeking?  Is it God or something/someone else?   He rewards those who sincerely seek Him!

I also read from Psalm 111, and verses 7 - 10 about God rocked.     ”7 All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy. 8 They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.  9 He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!  10 Reverence for the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. The rewards of wisdom come to all who obey him.Praise his name forever!”      We desperately need wisdom to nagivate these difficult/evil times!  Fear/awe/reverence of God is the foundation of true wisdom and when we obey Him we grow in wisdom.   How cool and simple is that!

 

Every Whoever Doesn’t Spend Their Forever With God

This past Sunday at Grace was amazing – God did the work only He can do in the lives of people – lifechange took place – it was an awesome day.  The cardboard testimonies were a moving illustration of lives that are being changed by the power of God in our church family.   John 3:16 says “WHOEVER” believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life.   God wants every WHOEVER (which includes you and me) to believe, be saved and spend forever with Him.  But every whoever doesn’t spend their forever with God.

As we discovered in the service – when you “believe in’ (trust & follow) Jesus Christ there will be evidence of it in your life.  If there’s no evidence of lifechange, you need to test yourself to see if you’re really a Christian.     As Paul said in 2 Cor. 13 — Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.

Here’s a recap of some of the things we discussed Sunday:

What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!    2 Cor 5:17 NLT

 A Whoever Who Lives Forever With God – Loves Other Christians 

  If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to eternal life. But a person who has no love is still dead.    1 John 3:14 (NLT)  

A Whoever Who Lives Forever With God – Obeys God’s Word

So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the Devil. Anyone who does not obey God’s commands and does not love other Christians does not belong to God.  1 John 3:10 (NLT)

A Whoever Who Lives Forever With God – Lives Like Jesus

 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.  1 John 2:6 (NIV)

 A Whoever Who Lives Forever With God – Has Jesus

This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life. My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life.  1 John 5:11-13 Msg  

Here’s the deal – if the Son of God really lives in you – there will be evidence of it…..    IS THERE?

Want to hear more?  Listen to the PODCAST:   WHOEVER WHENEVER HOWEVER at www.gfcfamily.com

Attractive Women

We tend to put so much emphasis on the external, but God says He’s more concerned with the heart than the outer appearance —- “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  (1 Sam 16:7b NIV) 

This morning I read from 1 Timothy 2 and verse 9 & 10 really caught my attention:  “And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.  (1 Tim 2:9-10 NLT) 

Again, this stands in contrast to our culture that is so focused on the external.  Don’t get me wrong – I think you should do all you can with all you’ve got, but attractiveness to God is not based on looks – it’s based on character that produces good things (Godly works).  This is not an excuse for being sloppy or not trying to take care of yourself because your body is the home of God’s Spirit, but our culture has missed it totally when it comes to what’s important.

I showed the students in England last week a photo of Janet and told them: “My wife is HOT!”  She is very attractive to me, but not just in her external appearance.  She is also attractive because she has a tender heart that motivates her to do good things for people – she genuinely loves the kids she teaches – she cares about people who don’t know God – she has a special love for the elderly – and a great love for her family.

In light of the contrast between culture and the words of our Creator – consider this final thought today:   ^1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.   (Romans 12:1-2 Msg)

Play On Words

Writing email to church tonight and came up with these thoughts: 

“A God-given Vision requires a God-centered Vow resulting in a God-pleasing Victory.”  

“A great vision requires a great vow resulting in a great victory.”

Not too original, but about all my mind could come up with tonight – tired – limited creativity…..I’ll probably look at this tomorrow and laugh……time to go to bed.

WHY RESIST GOD’S LOVE?

This past week in preparation for my message this Sunday, I asked people on Facebook and Twitter a simple question:  “Why do you think people resist God’s love?”   The following are the unedited responses I got that you might find interesting.   I’d love to know if you agree or disagree with them and why.

“They don’t see it in the lives of professing Christians”  Russ

“Many people here in France just think it’s silly to believe God exists.  They don’t see it as resisting God, but being enlightened.”  Charles 

“For some, it’s difficult to have a concept of unconditional love without the love of an earthly father.  If that earthly relationship is neglectful or abusive, the concept of a Heavenly Father could be difficult to truly believe.”  Stephanie

“I was at a Beth Moore Bible Study a couple of weeks ago and she said that as a human we will never live in the spirit by accident, only by choice.  We have to choose to follow and open our ears to Him from which His love flows. So, that makes me think that we have to continuously “choose” to live in the Spirit. I think people who resist Gods love arent choosing to open their hearts and ears to Him and He wont force it, he didnt make us to listen to HIm, he gave us the “choice” to shut our ears..So those who resist it arent listening…They are tuned into a different radio frequency.”  Nesi

“Pride, peer pressure……”   Lance

“I think it’s because God’s love cannot be separated from His holiness….many people are fine submitting to His love, but submitting their lives to a holy God might require them to lay down some things in their life they might rather not.”  Jennifer 

“I would say that unconditional love is so impossible for us to attain that we almost feel guilty receiving God’s love.  No matter how I am or what I’ve done, God sent Jesus to die for me and give me the gift of eternal life.  For me to even think of doing the same for someone who has offended me is a tough thing to process through human nature.”  Shayne

“I think that most people believe that nothing is free…. To them that is. Though Jesus paid the price, they are hesitant to believe that their salvation is free. There has got to be a catch…. Just as the world teaches. Add this to the misconceptions of the things they think they have to “give up” to be a Christian. If they only knew how the Truth would set them free! “  Gene

“I agree with Christi and Nicholas-that some think they will have to give up worldly stuff, not knowing God will change their desires for the stuff they will want and that being a Christian can be lots of fun!”   Kathy

“Our nearness to God is always in direct proportion to our sense of sin.  When the HS is convicting of us sin we don’t perceive God’s love because we don’t feel worthy of it or we aren’t ready to deal with the sin.  Either way it presents a barrier to the constancy of the Father’s love which is always there regardless of our perception.”  Jane

“they don’t feel like they deserve it because of all the yuck in their life.”  Amy

“I believe there is two sides to ones resistance to God’s love.  First, I believe that people resist God’s love because of PRIDE, which is a result of a harden heart.  Second is the lack of Faith.  Having a hard heart effects the persons ablility to have FAITH, especially in the hard times when you need God’s LOVE the most….”    Steve

“They are afraid that they are going to have to give up all the “fun” stuff in their life or that they’ll get sent to some Third World country on a mission trip. It’s sad when you see someone resisting, because it means that they probably don’t have a relationship with God or truly know how much He loves each one of us. You usually can’t feel someone’s love unless you are in a relationship with them.    “   Christi

“Pride”   Alisa

“Some people value wordly pleasures so much and are afraid to give them up. They dont understand what is beyond this life.  “   Nicholas

ASAPH & THE FAT CATS

Read this and see if you can identify with these thoughts and feelings…..

3 For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. 4 They seem to live such a painless life;their bodies are so healthy and strong. 5 They aren’t troubled like other people or plagued with problems like everyone else. 6 They wear pride like a jeweled necklace,and their clothing is woven of cruelty.

7 These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for! 8 They scoff and speak only evil;in their pride they seek to crush others. 9 They boast against the very heavens,and their words strut throughout the earth. 10 And so the people are dismayed and confused,drinking in all their words.

11 “Does God realize what is going on?” they ask.”Is the Most High even aware of what is happening?” 12 Look at these arrogant people — enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply.

13 Was it for nothing that I kept my heart pure and kept myself from doing wrong? 14 All I get is trouble all day long;every morning brings me pain.

15 If I had really spoken this way,I would have been a traitor to your people. 16 So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper.But what a difficult task it is! 17 Then one day I went into your sanctuary, O God,and I thought about the destiny of the wicked. 18 Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. 19 In an instant they are destroyed,swept away by terrors. 20 Their present life is only a dream that is gone when they awake.When you arise, O Lord,you will make them vanish from this life.

21 Then I realized how bitter I had become,how pained I had been by all I had seen. 22 I was so foolish and ignorant — I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. 23 Yet I still belong to you;you are holding my right hand. 24 You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you?I desire you more than anything on earth. 26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,but God remains the strength of my heart;he is mine forever.

 
27 But those who desert him will perish,for you destroy those who abandon you. 28 But as for me, how good it is to be near God!I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter,and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

These words were written by Asaph several thousand years ago in Psalm 73 - but he paints a pretty good picture of the thoughts and feelings many of us have today.   Have you ever wondered the things Asaph put into words?  I have.  But like Asaph, I keep coming back to the fact that God is sovereign and in control and even though I don’t understand everything that’s going on in the world – I SIMPLY TRUST HIM.  Some people would call that stupid – I call it faith; faith in a God who has changed my life and perspective forever.  In addition to this – I would have a hard time listing all the blessings of God in my life; they are too many to count!

Yes – the wicked do often prosper, but God’s love for them hasn’t stopped and He still desires that they would repent and trust their lives to Him.  However, He’s not only loving – HE IS JUST.  And they will eventually be judged for their wickedness.  I remember reading verses 17-19 years ago when Nintendo first came out and the picture that came to my mind was ICE WORLD —- and how when you’d make a mistake in this “Nintendo world” you’d slip off into total destruction.   That’s the picture of the future for the wicked unless they repent and turn to God.

I also noticed vs. 21.  When we get focused on what other people have instead of the blessings God has poured into our lives – we will always be tempted toward bitterness.  In fact, a lack of gratitude leads to a hard heart toward people and even worse – toward God.  According to Paul in Eph. 4 - those with hard hearts end up…..”hopelessly confused.  Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him.  They don’t care anymore about right and worng, and they have given themselves over to immoral ways.  Their lives are filled with all kinds of impurity and greed.”

One remedy for a hard heart:  read these words of Asaph in Ps. 73 often and then share with others the great things God has done (and is doing) in your life.   As Asaph wrote:  My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,but God remains the strength of my heart;he is mine forever.  As for me, how good it is to be near God!   I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter,and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

 

CRITICISM 101

Why rewrite what’s already been written!   This morning I read a blog by one of my favorite new authors: Mark Batterson.  His blog was entitled Criticism 101, and was so good – I’m reprinting it here.  You can check out Mark’s blogs at evotional.com.  Here’s Criticism 101:

Thought I’d share a few thoughts on the topic of criticism. I’m honestly surprised I don’t have more critics than I do, but I have my fair share. Here is a simple rule of thumb: if you are a leader you will be criticized. Period. If you’re not being criticized you might not be a leader! But how you handle it is so critical.

A few months ago I heard Brian Houston say something so good and so true: “I’d rather be a film maker than a film critic.” His point? There are those who do and those who criticize those who do. I’d rather be a doer than a critic. And I’ve learned that the more critical a person is the less they’ve probably done. Just shooting straight.

In the words of Teddy Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.”

Life is too short and the message is too important to spend our energies criticizing each other. Infighting must break the Heavenly Father’s heart. It’s self-righteous. It’s sideways energy. And when we take pot shots at each other we’re just playing into the enemy’s hands. We need to be about the Father’s business!

Let me share a few lessons I’ve learned about criticism:

1) Thou Shalt Offend Pharisees. Jesus didn’t have the time of day for the self-appointed critics who formed the religious establishment. He didn’t back down. He confronted their hypocrisy. If you follow in Jesus’ footsteps, you’ll offend some pharisees along the way!

2) Don’t play defense. Life is too short to get defensive. Celebrate your weaknesses and failures. That’ll defuse criticism quicker than anything else. Keep a humble spirit but keep playing offense for the kingdom!

3) Consider the source! An insult from a fool is actually a compliment and a compliment from a fool is actually an insult.4) Preach for an audience of one. The only person you’re accountable to as a preacher is the One who called you in the first place. Never forget it. And for the record, critics will also be held accountable for the criticisms they wield so easily and so quickly.

 

5) Don’t get into an argument! I love Proverbs 26:4, “When arguing with fools, don’t answer their foolish arguments, or you will become as foolish as they are.” The very next verse says, “When arguing with fools, be sure to answer their foolish arguments, or they will become wise in their own estimation.” Those back-to-back verse seem to contradict each other but I think they reveal a deeper truth: if you’re arguing with a fool you can’t win.

The bottom line? Don’t be a critic. Be a doer of deeds.