Love’s Response“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” John 15:12 (NLT)
Love is the root system that anchors and enables us to fulfill Christ’s desire that we, His followers and representatives in this world, be unified. Without it, we don’t stand the slightest chance of standing with one another, much less being one. So our unity starts right here with these three words: love each other.
It would be a lot easier to love because I have developed the habit of love than to just love out of the overflow of my heart. One way of being committed to the church would be doing things out of duty. Doing things out of duty somehow seems too mechanical. I love because I have to. How about loving first and then do the things and love people out of that love instead of out of duty? There would be so much less burnout. What a concept – by loving and not doing it out of duty I continue to do the things I love to do without the burnout.
What makes all of this possible is the very word Jesus uses for love. It’s the Greek word agape, and it doesn’t refer to the conditional “scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours” type of love that this world is used to. It’s unconditional love that flows from being in the presence of God. It isn’t something we find within ourselves; it comes from being grounded in God. It’s poured into us by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
Have you ever had an experience in your life where you really sensed those around you unconditionally loved you? My prayer is that you experience that here at Findlay First Nazarene. Why not take the unconditional love God pours into you and give it away to others? If you can do that, it will come back to you in ways only God can orchestrate.
This Sunday as I continue my series, “Maneuvering the Ships of Life,” I will be talking about discipleship. Without discipleship, we would stay on spiritual milk the rest of our lives. As I look around, I don’t see many people still on their bottles from when they were a baby, but I have seen a few bibs. That’s another story for another day.
Don’t forget to plan on coming to the Picnic on the Lawn this Sunday at 5:00 p.m. It’s going to be a great day of worship as we gather together in Jesus’ name on Sunday morning, and a great day of fellowship on Sunday night as we gather for a meal together. Bring a lawn chair, a side dish, your family, and come meet some new people. Both services will merge together for a wonderful time.
Joy in Jesus!Pastor Mike
On Christ, the Solid Rock
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. “
Matthew 7:24-27
This is part of Jesus message called, “The Sermon on the Mount.” It is a powerful message straight from the One who is able to live these truths out of our lives through His Holy Spirit. Notice that it didn’t say, “If the storms come.” It says, “When the storms come.” We will all experience the storms of life. They will not all be the same storm each time. Some will be more severe than others. They come in the form of physical challenges, temptations, relational misunderstandings, and just hard times.
Jesus promised that lives built on the foundation of obedience to His teachings would not be washed out during times of temptation. In his book The Sermon on the Mount, Clovis Chappell expressed this truth as follows: “The buildings we are constructing, the characters we are making are going to be tested. For this reason we are not to build for fair weather only. We must build with a view to hours of crisis. Upon you, and you, and you some day the storm will surely break. The building of the foolish man is going to be tested, but the building of the wise man is going to be tested too. God does not coddle His saints. But there are those, thank God, that are going to pass through the testing without loss and outride all storms.”
Could it be that the storms of life come to reveal how strong your foundation really is? Many times we think that they are only to test us to see if we can withstand the storm. I want you to consider today that they are like a mirror, revealing how prepared you are.
The bottom line of Jesus’ famous sermon was that people must not only hear His words but also obey them. The main point – that obedience to the truths Jesus taught lays a solid foundation for all of life. It applies to individuals, churches, and nations. Since the illustration takes place in a house, what could be more appropriate than for a family or household to take these matters to heart?
This Sunday several of our new parents will be bringing their babies and dedicating them to the Lord. They are bringing their children to Jesus at the beginning of their life, recognizing that they are a gift and that Jesus has entrusted them to raise them up in Christ and the Church. This is laying a foundation of faith in their life, asking the Lord to help them teach them to put Him first in their lives, as they model what it is to be totally committed to Jesus. I can’t think of a better example of this Scripture than that. And to think that we as a congregation play a role in this as well. Don’t miss out on this blessing as we support these families with our prayers.
So whether you are in the midst of a storm or you are experiencing a restful time – saturate in the Word and God and allow Jesus to transform you by the renewing of your mind. I guarantee that God will use your obedience, prayers, and times of renewal for His glory.
May God give you his grace as you walk in obedience to the One who was, is, and is to come…
Joy in Jesus!
Pastor Mike
www.findlayfirstnaz.org
What Standard Are You Living Up To?
Is it possible that someone could live their life according to the world’s standards so much that they become calloused to the things of God? Can someone who once had a growing relationship with God ignore the signs and become calloused to the things of God? The Apostle Paul evidently thought this could happen as he writes Ephesians 4:17-5:20.
Corrie ten Boom reflects on the key to holiness in her book, “Not I, but Christ.” She writes, “A pickpocket once said: ‘I became a Christian. In the past I stole fifty or sixty watches every week, but I don’t do that anymore. Now I only steal five or six.’ Perhaps you laugh at that pickpocket, but are you and I often not just like him? No, we don’t steal – we just dodge taxes a little bit. If you do it cleverly, that is all right, isn’t it? No, that is not all right. Nothing like this is all right. Now, it is possible to live a clean and holy life, because the Lord is with us.”
The Apostle Paul writes about putting off the old self and putting on the new self, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Take the time to read through Ephesians 4:17-5:20. As you read through this passage, make note of the bad habits you need to overcome as well as the qualities you need to embrace. We are to be imitators of Christ, living lives of love, just as Christ loved us; be made new in the attitude of our minds; being filled with the Spirit. These are the qualities that stir the fires of personal revival and keep us from hardening our hearts.
This Sunday we will continue in our series, “Maneuvering the Ships of Life,” as we begin to look at friendships and how they can raise us up or tear us down.
Do whatever it takes to let the light of Christ shine through your life today.
Joy in Jesus!
Pastor Mike
Spiritual WarfareBeginning on Sunday I will be starting a new series of messages called, “Maneuvering the Ships of Life.” We will be touching on our relationship with God, friendship with others, and how to take ownership of our lives to not let hardship get in the way of our discipleship, fellowship, and worship. We need to understand that we are in a war. The enemy of our soul is going to do all that he can to distract us so our relationship with our family, our friends, and our church are not under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I want to talk about different tools the Lord has given us to combat these attacks from the enemy. In short, we are in spiritual warfare and we need to do all that we can to thwart the enemy’s attacks.
In Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul gives us a plan to fight off the schemes of the devil. Suppose the enemy staged a major counterattack. How ready are you to enter into this battle? Take just a moment and score yourself on how prepared you are for this battle.
- Truth– Are you walking in integrity or do you sometime skirt the truth and allow the enemy unnecessary inroads?
- Righteousness– What is your attitude toward sin?
- Gospel of Peace– Are you ready for whatever you have to face because of your identity in Christ?
- Faith– Do you believe God will honor His promises and do you act accordingly?
- Salvation– Are you in an ongoing relationship with God every day?
- Scripture– Where does the Word of God rank in comparison to newspapers, television, books, facebook and the like?
- Prayer– Is prayer a way of life with you, or an emergency measure?
What does this brief inventory reveal about how prepared you are to engage in spiritual warfare? Let’s do all that we can to be engaged in the things of God so we can be fully prepared for anything that comes our way.
May God bless you and bring protection on the things you are involved in today.
Joy in Jesus!
Pastor Mike
www.findlayfirstnaz.org
I Will Build My Church
A new study, put out by George Barna, shows a trend that doesn’t have a good outcome for the American family. In their findings, America is on the brink of having more people un-churched than we have attending church on a consistent basis. This list consists of 34% of people who formerly attended church and no longer want to go. They are considered de-churched and they are the fastest growing segment. Twelve percent of people today are considered un-churched (and this number is growing quickly due to the emergence of millennials who have had and want no church experience). These two segments together make up 46% of adults in our US population. This is a 60% increase in the last decade. The number this represents is staggering. Through the end of 2015, the estimated number of un-churched adults stood at 112 million. If you add in the number of children and teenagers, the total swells to 151 million un-churched individuals.
The number-one reason they give for not attending church is their perception of the experience. Most of the adults felt that people at church were spiritually shallow and that the experience didn’t add value to their life. Three out of four distrust organized churches and one out of four believes the Bible is a good source to address difficult or challenging questions about matters of faith and life.
The enemy is busy at discrediting the effectiveness of the church by causing dissention and distrust toward the people of God and His body. I admit, ministering today is more challenging than it has ever been, but it is not impossible. While the number of un-churched people is increasing in our world, our church is still seeing an increase in attendance. Not what we could see but we are growing. We have more people at our church on any given Sunday than we ever have in the history of this church. We have more people involved in ministry than we have ever seen. We are not where we want to be, and we are not setting records on a national scale, but we are encouraged to see many new faces every week. I believe the increase is due to speaking the Truth in love and a loving congregation who cares for the whole family.
In Matthew 16, Jesus is talking with the disciples and asking them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They give Jesus the response of many people around that varied from John the Baptist to Elijah, and many said a prophet. But Jesus leaned in and asked who they thought He was. Simon spoke up in Peter fashion and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It is there that Jesus said the famous statement, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:17-18). Beforehand, Jesus warned them not to listen to the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They were to guard against this teaching.
When I review the statistics on what is happening in our world of faith today, I can’t help but think back to what Jesus warned the early disciples about. The yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees is still an issue today.
In spite of the challenges and setbacks at times, take heart church, God is not finished yet. This past week with Vacation Bible Adventure reminds me that people are still seeking to know God. We don’t know the underpinnings of everyone there on Sunday. There could have been some families that wanted to give the church and God one more chance before they gave up completely on Church. I believe that this happens more than we know. With the number of VBA workers and the atmosphere that is present in our services, the church may have redirected some families not to give up hope.
There are some exciting things going on in the church. Life transformation is the key in seeing a church go beyond its walls. The enemy cannot hold down a testimony of the forgiveness of God and life transformation. I am excited what God is doing and will do in the days ahead. My prayer is that God will use this church to make a global impact on the kingdom of God starting in our local community. Let’s work at decreasing the number of de-churched and un-churched in our community by passionately following Jesus with our whole heart. This Sunday come with the spirit and attitude of Jesus as He calls you to participate in the faith journey of a devoted church that wants to reach the lost. At our church, we want guests to see a people who are spiritually on fire for God and are responding to a fresh, life-giving Word of faith. Thank you for being the Church!
Joy in Jesus!
Pastor Mike
www.findlayfirstnaz.org
Always Prepared
In 1 Peter 3:15, it says to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Has anyone ever asked you to do that? Would you be ready to share with them about your experience of coming to know Jesus Christ as your personal savior? Would you be able to tell them of your growing faith in Him? There are some who not only want to hear about how you came to know Jesus, they want to know the truth you stand on. It is the perfect opportunity to show them from God’s Word, the solid foundation you stand on. Let me encourage you to read the Word of God daily, attend a Bible Study, and get involved in a Boost Class on Wednesday nights this fall. We need to be students of God’s Word and work to apply the truths we find each and every day. There is no such thing as a growing, stagnant Christian. The maturing Christian will be passionate about their relationship with Jesus. They will be able to share with gentleness and respect as this verse goes on to say.
One way to learn God’s Word is to study it like you are going to teach it. Many of our teachers find themselves growing more and more because they are studying to teach others. Maybe this fall you may have an opportunity to help teach a class or assist someone in teaching a class. I know we always have space for more children’s workers in an ever-growing ministry.
This week has been our Vacation Bible Adventure. It has been an exciting week. We have seen over 150 children attend each night. I am observing a lot of people come together, utilizing their gifts, and seeing many children learning what it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We are so blessed with so many loving volunteers who have approached this week with so much spirit-filled energy. It has taken over 50 people to pull this week off. I am so grateful that Pastor Tracy gives ministry away and doesn’t try to do it on her own. She would be the first to admit that she can’t. None of us can do it alone. Together we are truly better than we are by ourselves. The task force that was put together to lead this VBA is seeing the fruit of their labor. On Sunday we will be thanking this group and many others who made this week possible.
I have been picking up a few kids on the bus this week. These kids love coming to this church. They know and experience the power of Jesus through the love and care that so many people give away at this church. Last night they didn’t want to get off the bus. One of them even said that they wanted to go home with us. I thank the Lord daily for spirit-filled people who love the Lord with all of their heart and love these children the same. Thank you for being Jesus to people who are hungry for more than what this world offers.
Following the second service on Sunday, we will transition the gym and start our indoor picnic. Take the time to get to know some new people who have been attending as well as getting to know others you may only see on Sundays. There will be plenty of activities out on the lawn for anyone to participate in. It’s going to be a great day. I’m looking forward to seeing the Lord move in a new way.
Joy in Jesus!
Pastor Mike
www.findlayfirstnaz.org
