Archive for October, 2009
I am heading out of town today so this update will be brief.
Highlights of my non-eventful weekend:
- Always enjoy hanging out with friends
- College football
- Cowboys looked impressive
- Maintained a level of healthy eating through the weekend
- Even ran some
- Results of one week of running and eating decent: goodbye 7 pounds
- Grace Point was incredible yesterday
- Our people came through in a HUGE way
- We cast vision for our holiday serving yesterday. We are going to a new level and were somewhat nervous of the response.
- In one day, GPers met almost all the opportunities! Unbelievable.
- I will share details when the final numbers are in
- In the Do What series, I taught on Matt 25 where the King divides the righteous and unrighteous and separates them according to their acts of kindness toward the needy. Powerful text.
- We had the directors of City Mission (Warren & Liz Baptist) with us yesterday – one of our strategic partners
- Grace Point honored me with a gift basked for pastor appreciation month – it was awesome. Included many of my favorite things.
- Days like yesterday remind me how important it is to instill “outside your walls thinking” in your church DNA
- The Servolution continues … its a way of life!
Out for now. Next stop Dallas.
Our next installment of the Do What? series is from the story of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25. In this story, Jesus uses a common cultural illustration (sheep and goats) to talk about the final judgment when God will separate the righteous and the unrighteous. What is interesting about this story is the criteria by which God distinguishes the righteous and unrighteous. Both groups are identified by their acts of kindness (or lack thereof). They are not separated based on their theological convictions or what they did or did not drink or what they were wearing or what radio station they were listening to or whether they had a Jesus fish on the back of their donkey. Jesus was clear to say that the righteous and unrighteous were known by their service!
Now let me hit the pause button to say quickly that the New Testament is clear that a person is placed in right standing with God based on grace alone. There are no amounts of good works or acts of kindness that can “earn” favor with God. Salvation cannot be earned or obtained through works, money, or any other human effort. Salvation is a God thing and so it can’t be earned by sinful humans. So what is the deal then? Why does Jesus identify the righteous by their acts of kindness?
The New Testament provides no grounds for a Christ-follower with an inactive faith. Genuine faith is active. Transforming faith results in active service. In other words, works uncover our identity. Works serve as evidences of our faith. James, who many believe was the half-brother of Jesus (hope you know why he was the “half” brother of Jesus – if not, think about who Jesus’ mother and Father were) … back on track … James taught that faith without works is DEAD. If you claim to be a Christian and do not serve others, you have a dead faith! Hello – that’s some strong words.
This Sunday we will be talking about how God is calling us this holiday season to serve “the least of these.” Our heartbeat at GP is to serve our community. It is a part of our DNA. This Sunday we will define what that means for us during the holiday season. And what we will learn is that serving those in need is really serving Jesus … Do What???
- Low scale weekend for the most part
- Some friends dropped by on Friday night for a few but that was about it
- Watched a lot of college football on Saturday – good games
- Bought some new running shoes … ready to hit the pavement again
- Ate at a buffet on Saturday night … need to hit the pavement again
- Celebrated the birthday of a great friend on Saturday night
- Watched the end of the Yankees-Angels marathon … glad to be on Pacific time
- Sunday was another solid day at GP
- First service was full
- Second service gradually filled
- Band opened with a classic: Spirit in the Sky
- We celebrated Communion together … love those moments.
- We have been getting a lot of positive feedback in recent weeks – that’s always encouraging
- Showed a video that obviously the staff felt was far funnier than the crowd … it happens.
- Taught from one of my favorite chapters – John 6
- Sermon insights:
“The crowd that followed Jesus did so based on faulty expectations and assumptions … a common problem”
“The natural human instinct is to try and earn eternal life”
“Prove yourself Jesus is a common request from the Jesus fan base”
“Moses did not give the manna. God did. And by the way, that bread did not satisfy or provide life”
“I AM the bread of life. Come to me and you will never grow hungry or thirsty again”
“Christianity was never intended to be a code of ethics or behavior patterns. It is not even primarily about the teachings of Jesus. Christianity is about JESUS”
“Many can accept Jesus for something other than who He claims to be”
“Many can’t grasp the reality of eternal life because it is a God thing. We can’t make it a human thing”
“Instead of explaining for clarity – Jesus complicated for confusion”
“You are what you eat”
“In Jesus the life God creates and gives becomes our life – eternal life”
“Every human desires spiritual nourishment. Most seek it from the wrong source”
“The gospel separates fans from followers”
“Lord, to whom else would be go??? You alone have the words of eternal life”
- No Cowboys game this weekend so I didn’t have that “stress” on Sunday!
- Ended the weekend with some volleyball and The Amazing Race
back to the cycle
We continue our Do What? series this Sunday looking at the controversial words of Jesus in John 6 when he told his audience to eat his flesh and drink his blood. I have to be honest – if I remove myself from my church upbringing and having heard this passage explained multiple times, then these words are a little troubling to me. Our culture is fascinated right now with vampires. Twilight … Vampire Diaries … True Blood … the list goes on and on. And what Jesus says in this text seems kind of vampirish if you just read his words with no explanation.
I think we sometimes downplay these words to try and make the words of Jesus less risque. But in reality, these words were so contentious that many people whom John describes as “disciples” walked away from Jesus. This statement was so divisive that many people who said they were followers of Jesus Christ could not accept this saying and they abandoned him.
We discovered last Sunday that Jesus often said things that separated fans from followers. His words sparked controversy. His claims were outlandish. He said things that caused his audience to turn away. He definitely would not have won the “how to win friends and influence people through your words” award.
I find that the claims of Jesus continue to generate as much controversy as ever. The exclusive nature of His claims continues to cause people to turn and walk. Jesus still has a huge fan base. We have a ton of Jesus fans even in our culture today. People from all walks of life and every world religion will give Jesus the props they believe He deserves. But when you really pull open the curtain and discover the claims that Jesus made about Himself, there is no room for a fan base. Jesus wants followers. He wants John 6:68-69 followers – “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”
Jesus was not and is not looking to raise up a mob of fans. His goal is not to create a FaceBook Fan Page with thousands and thousands of fans. God is calling true followers. Following Jesus is about appropriating through faith who He is – embracing the truth that Jesus is who He claims to be: the Holy Son of God who came to die for sins. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to embrace fully who He is.
The old cliche “you are what you eat” applies to the words of Jesus here. Jesus is not calling us to stand on the other side of the bakery glass and admire the doughnuts. He is calling on us to consume fully who He is and when that happens … we become like Him – genuine Jesus followers.
- Went climbing Saturday morning with a great group of young adults from our church
- I really enjoyed this climb which was more doable for me than the last
- The weather in Vegas is crazy awesome this time of the year
- Saturday night we went out with 4 other couples to eat Mexican food and watch Couples Retreat – decent movie typical of that genre
- Sunday was another solid day at GP. We started our Do What? series on the controversial words of Jesus
- Our band introduced a new song that rocked the house. They brought their A+ game on Sunday.
- White Stripes opener for the Do What? series
- We played the video of the infamous Skiing on the Strip episode. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
- Great attendance again. We have grown about 20% in the last 6 weeks or so.
- I taught from Luke 14 on the controversial “hate” passage.
- Some quotes from the message…
“Many people follow Jesus as long as it is comfortable and convenient”
“Many want to come to Jesus on their terms and not His”
“We are ‘conditions’ people by nature – as long as my conditions are met I am happy and on board”
“Jesus is not looking for fans but for followers”
“The true gospel separates the fascinated from the faithful”
“Jesus demands absolute devotion above all other human relationships. It is a priority of choice.”
“Whoever or whatever takes God’s place in your life is an idol”
“Following Jesus is a constant call to come and die to myself”
“Following Jesus is not about my rights but about dying to my rights to follow”
“Jesus wants full ownership over our whole life. He demands a position above everything.”
“The primary roles of Jesus within salvation – Savior and Lord – demand exclusive devotion from His followers”
“Being a Christian is not primarily about adherence to a particular ethical teaching. It is about following the One who demands the place of supreme importance in our lives”
- Next week’s Do What? passage: John 6
- Watched the Cowboys lower themselves to their competition’s level again. I missed my Sunday afternoon nap in the process.
- Played some volleyball – first time in a while
- Slept solid last night. Long and tiring weekend.
- Elders meeting Monday night!
Should be a good week
Here is the Skiing on the Strip video:
Do What?! Project #1 – Skiing on the Strip from Grace Point Church on Vimeo.
The Battle of Bacon …
Joel Osteen vs Jim Gaffigan
This series we are starting a new series at Grace Point called Do What?! The series examines some of the most controversial words of Jesus in his time and in ours as well. This Sunday we are looking at the passage in Luke 14 where Jesus tells a large crowd that they must hate those to whom they are the closest in order to be His disciple. I have had more than one person ask me what this text means. Why would the One who puts so much emphasis on loving (even our enemies) tell us to hate the very ones we love the most?
What we will discover this Sunday is that Jesus is talking about a priority of relationships. Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ is to be our highest relationship. It is really a question of priorities. Who or What is sitting upon the throne of your life? If it is someone or something other than Jesus, then you have a priority issue. As a matter of fact, it is technically an issue of idolatry. Anything or anyone who takes the most prominent position in our lives outside of Christ are technically idols to us. I am not talking about a chubby stone statue or a multi-armed creature who looks like he is from another planet. I am talking about real life idols that often disguise themselves as stuff or people in our lives that claim the position that Christ alone is to be given.
Jesus wants us to love Him above all others – above our kids, our spouse, our friends, our parents – above everyone. And here’s the catch: if we learn to love Christ supremely and to love with the love of Christ, then it enables us to love the other people in our lives in a deeper way than we could have ever imagined. Putting Christ first enables me to love my children better. Putting Christ first makes me a better spouse to my wife or husband. It makes me a better child to my parents. Putting Christ first allows me to experience and to give love in a way that cannot be experienced or known outside of Jesus Christ.
The words of Jesus often seem outlandish and inconsistent at times. But when we delve into the heart of what He was saying we begin to see that what He was actually teaching completes us in a way that can only be found in Jesus Christ. What He was actually teaching makes us better Jesus followers and better people.