Archive for September, 2009
2000 years of men, women, boys, and girls going public with their faith & it never gets old.
buried in Christ
raised to walk in newness of life
Moms
Husbands and Wives
going public - I am His!
united as ONE in Jesus
Mother and Son
His dad was baptized 6 months ago!
Friends bringing friends
Post-Weekend thoughts and Cardboard Stories video…
- Played golf this weekend. Always a fun time to hang out with some of my best friends in life.
- Kind of a “do nothing” Friday night and Saturday.
- Starla and Ragan went to see Miley Cyrus … thousands of screaming tweeners … not for daddy.
- Sunday was another great day at GP. This series just gets better and better.
- We have as much momentum right now as I can remember in a long time.
- Attendance was as high as its been since our move to Legacy High School.
- The “Cardboard Stories” was one of our most powerful moments ever (see video below).
- The greatest joy of ministry is seeing genuine life transformation happening in the lives of people you know.
- I love seeing men, women, boys, and girls baptized!
- Baptizing in a portable pool in front of a public high school never gets old to me.
- I taught on “Identity Crisis” from Galatians 3:26-28.
- Some of my favorite truths from the message:
“Most people find their identity in four places: who I am, what I have, what I do, and what I did. God calls us to find our identity primarily in Christ.”
“When we find our primary identity outside of Christ, then when that something or someone is taken away, we face an identity crisis that could wreck our faith and destroy our life.”
“Your identity must be grounded primarily in who you are spiritually.”
“When my identity is found in Christ, it enables me to deal with life’s harsh realities from a different foundation.”
“My primary identity – I am a child of God”
“Baptism is not an empty ritual but an act of deliberate, radical obedience that announces to the world ‘I belong to Jesus’.”
“Being clothed with Christ is more than wearing a Jesus t-shirt or putting a fish emblem on the back of your car. It is a way of life.”
“My genes, gender, or role does not define me in Christ.”
“There are no sexual, cultural, or social barriers when it comes to being one in Christ.”
“Following Jesus is not about being better than or superior to. It is about being transformed in Christ.”
- Celebrated a birthday of one of our friends yesterday evening.
- Watched The Amazing Race last night. I get amused at how those competitive reality shows always feel like they have to have “representatives” from every cultural segment (including Christians).
- My fantasy football team got POUNDED.
- Cowboys on MNF … are you ready for some football???
Here’s the video from yesterday. It does not quite capture the full emotion of the live element but gives you an idea.
Untitled from Grace Point Church on Vimeo.
A must see GP weekly update … make sure you watch the outtakes.
One of GP’s very own, 15-year-old Michaela Tindall, performs to the Barlow Girl tune Mirror, Mirror…
Mirrors Week #2: Michaela Tindall Dance from Grace Point Church on Vimeo.
- Spent over 5 hours on Saturday doing yard work & then cleaning out our garage.
- I have mowed our yard a grand total of 3 times this year.
- Why do we keep so much junk???
- We now have space in our garage! I give it a month.
- Watched Wolverine: Origin on Saturday night. Good movie about the same quality as the X-Men trilogy itself.
- Another great day at GP on Sunday.
- Our attendance has been up the last couple of weeks. Feels full in our service which is always a good thing.
- Michaela Tindall danced to the Barlow Girls tune Mirror, Mirror. Outstanding job Michaela!
- We have been having a lot of new people and a lot of people at different places in their journey at GP. Refreshing.
- Just heard an incredible story of radical life transformation that started with a bottle of water during Servolution!
- We used a visual illustration during my teaching demonstrating how we try and give ourselves a spiritual make-over before God but end up falling short.
- Had a lot of people at Starting Point yesterday.
- We have had several adults commit their life to Jesus the last two weeks.
- Baptism next Sunday!
- I really enjoyed teaching from Romans 8 this week. Thank you Andy for some awesome insight into this text.
- Some of my favorite quotes from the message:
“You can’t cure ugly”
“Religion is the human effort to try and make ourselves presentable to God”
“The gap between ought to and able leaves us in need of a Savior”
“What do I do with my failure? is the question every human must face”
“The gospel bridges the gap”
“In Jesus, God addresses the ‘I know but I am not capable’ dilemma”
“Condemnation is no longer a threat for those who are in Christ Jesus”
“Through Christ, the law of the Spirit of life overcomes the law of sin and death”
“What the law is powerless to do, God did”
“God succeeds where religion fails”
“God provides through Jesus what we cannot provide for ourselves – a right standing with a holy God”
“Sin no longer dictates the terms for those who are in Christ”
“The difference in religion and the gospel is the difference between DO and DONE”
- Was very energized about watching the Cowboys-Giants game in Jerry’s house.
- The stadium looks unbelievable. I plan to visit in the future.
- Good reminder last night: 1.15 billion dollars does not win football games.
- Maybe Jerry should use some of his money to be a consistent quarterback.
- Whether its Texas Stadium or the casinos of Las Vegas, humans know how to build their monuments!
A few pics from yesterday…
Visual illustration on religious make-up
Michaela Tindall performs
Outstanding job Michaela
Teaching on Romans 8
Almost forgot one … we had a mic issue in service one and had to do a quick change during the message – which resulted in this awkward moment where I was violated by our sound guy…
This Sunday I am talking about how we humans often try and make ourselves presentable before God. Part of seeing ourselves as God sees us is understanding that God sees those who are in Christ as clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Our tendency is to try and make ourselves appear righteous before God. If I can start doing this or stop doing that or try hard or be better, then God will accept me. Or we tend to dumb down our sin by thinking “well at least I am not as bad as that person.” We try and apply our own spiritual make-up in order to make ourselves more acceptable to God.
Religion is that effort. It is the effort to try and bridge that gap between what I ought or ought not do and what I find myself doing. Every major world religion teaches that we ought to behave in a certain way but we are not perfect and we fail to adhere to the commands and so we find ourselves at odds with God and our own heart. And so we struggle with that dilemma – what do I do with my failure to measure up? What do I do with my sin? Most people (and religions) believe that the way to solve the dilemma is through trying harder or rituals or other human efforts to somehow try and appease the God (or gods) we have offended. This religious cycle has marked human history.
Enter the gospel. Paul is clear in Romans that our efforts are futile when it comes to meeting the righteous requirement that is written even on our own hearts. C.S. Lewis identified 8 commands that every major world religion (and most people) embrace as standards of right and wrong. And yet none of us is able to keep those common commands. We all fall short of even the moral code written on our own hearts, not to mention God’s standards of right living. No amount of human effort can fulfill the standard. And that is where Jesus enters the picture.
Jesus did what we are incapable of doing. God did what law-living is powerless to do (Rom 8.1-4). God sent His Son to a) live a sinless life and fulfill the “ought-ought not” standard, b) become and condemn sin for us on the cross in order to bridge the gap between ought and able, and c) come back to life to validate his authenticity and offer eternal life to those who embrace this provision through faith and repentance. The gospel solves the religion dilemma. The gospel declares “Jesus did what you could not do.”
As Bill Hybels stated so clearly many years ago, the gospel and religion is the difference between do and done. Religion says I must “do” something to be viewed favorably by God. The gospel says Jesus has “done” everything necessary to bridge the gap between my inability and God’s righteous requirements.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 8:1, “There is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” For those who are “in Christ” and have embraced through grace the gospel, condemnation is no longer a threat! God sees me not as a person condemned by my inability to measure up. Instead he sees me as a person who has been liberated through what Christ has done. Jesus met God’s righteous requirement for me and that places me in right standing with this God who extends His grace to those undeserving of such love.
Take off your religious make-up. It can’t cover your flaws. It is only through the gospel that we are made presentable and acceptable in His sight.
Last Sunday I taught on how God sees us “in Christ.” In the message I wrote on a mirror how we tend to see ourselves and then at the end of the message I shattered that mirror to illustrate how God sees us. It was definitely a God moment at GP as people connected to this reality. It was probably as quiet as I have ever heard it during a message. Thanks Jud for the creative idea. Here is the shattered mirror moment of the message…
- Played one of my best golf rounds in a while this weekend and still shot 21 strokes over what Tiger Woods shot the same day (he shot a 62). And Tiger did it on a PGA course with not a single mulligan. There is some perspective for you on what separates the best from the amateur.
- Just hung out with the fam this weekend. Played some Disney Scene It and Wii with the kids.
- Watched college football.
- NFL started on Sunday. Cowboys dominated. Fantasy team is yet to be determined. Totally based on MNF results. Not looking promising.
- Did I mention the Cowboys dominated? Big game next Sunday night in the Big House against the G-men.
- Ate some Korean short ribs last night with some friends. Definitely one of my faves.
- Let’s talk GP…
- Awesome day at Grace Point. God did some great things yesterday.
- We had a lot of new faces from our Servolution weekend.
- Here are some basic stats from Servolution:
5500 bottles of water given out ~ 1200 ice cream cones distributed ~ 500 Faces Painted ~ 1000 balloons given out ~ 1200 people served at the grocery store ~ 150 windows washed at the service station
Total volunteers: 150
Hours Served by GP volunteers: 4,000
People directly served: over 9,000
- Started our Mirrors series yesterday. This series has huge potential to be one of our best in terms of life transformational possibilities.
- Set design was awesome as always.
- Taught from Ephesians 1 on how God sees us. The gist of the message centered on our tendency to see ourselves differently than God sees those who are “in Christ.”
- Used a mirror illustration that was one of the most powerful moments we have had in a while….I wrote how we tend to see ourselves on a mirror (ugly, alone, rejected, guilty, inadequate, rejected, dirty, small, hopeless, unworthy) & then explained how God sees us according to Ephesians 1 (chosen, loved, set apart, forgiven). At the end, I shattered the mirror and there was a second mirror behind with the words “in Christ.” It was a visual moment of great impact.
- We had several adults embrace the gospel yesterday! Baptism in two weeks.
- New band in the student area yesterday – my tweener gave two thumbs up.
- GREAT momentum at Grace Point right now.
- Some of my favorite quotes from the teaching:
“Your eyesight is spot on” (had to be there for this one)
“The ‘How do I see myself?’ question dictates so much of how I approach life.”
“It is not about self-image but about God’s image of us.”
“A distorted view of myself can leave me with a distorted view of who God created me to be in Christ.”
“The more important question – how does God see me?”
“In Christ, I have been chosen, set apart, loved, and forgiven.”
“See your sin. Own your sin. Turn from your sin to God.”
“God’s perspective shatters our distorted perspective.”
Great times…