The Power of the Proper Point of View

This morning, as we prepare for communion, I want to reflect on the power of the proper point of view. As a kid, I never went deer hunting. Growing up, I was always fascinated whenever I would see a deer in the wild. As I became older and would run on trails in the woods, seeing deer was always breathtaking and a "God" moment. Therefore, when I came to church a few weeks ago and saw this picture of these two deer (a doe and a buck), you can imagine my shock when my point of view changed. 

My perspective on this picture changed because my 11-year-old son took up deer hunting. Therefore, the prior two months, I had been learning everything I could and purchasing everything needed to go deer hunting. The morning before seeing this picture, we saw several deer and almost had a shot at a few bucks. Now, seeing this picture reminded me of what we missed the day before and I began contemplating how we might do things differently when we see them again.

Realizing my perspective had changed reminded me of another story told by Steven Covey. It is the story of two men in a subway. It is 6 AM and an older man is on his way to work. He has not yet had his coffee and is not a morning person. Another younger man gets on the subway with two little boys appearing to be around the age of 5 years old. They look as though they have not slept and are running, jumping, yelling, and being very unruly. When the older man can't take it anymore, he finally says to the younger man, "Why don't you control your kids?" The younger man gasps and apologizes stating, "I am sorry. I am at a loss. We have been at the hospital all night and were just told their mother is not going to make it." The older man's attitude completely changes. He goes from wanting to put the man and kids in their place to wanting to do anything to help.

Christmas brings about challenging times with relationships. This morning, as we prepare for communion I want to encourage you to reflect on God's perspective. He loved us so much that he died for us. Despite our sins, he died for us. His law is love and His gospel is peace. Let's pray:

Father, thank you for loving us even though we don't deserve it. As we eat and drink at your table, we praise you for your unconditional love and for forgiving us of our sins. Father, help us. As we prepare for a season of family gatherings, there are lots of emotions. Help us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Help us to make every effort to do what is right in the eyes of everyone and to live at peace with everyone. Help us have the right point of view. Helps us to see others the way you see us. In Jesus' name. Amen

When Two Truths Are In Conflict With One Another

As we prepare for communion this morning, I want to ask a question: how do you handle two things being true at once when they are in conflict with each other? 

Imagine having a brother and a sister and being a young adult. You all grew up with Jesus and are extremely close friends. You have come to know Jesus as the real deal! He is the most loving person you have ever met. It has been amazing to witness and hear of all of his miracles. There was the time he turned water into wine, the time he fed 5000 with a few loaves of bread and pieces of fish, the times he calmed the storm and walked on water, and you can’t forget the time he made the blind man see, and one of your personal favorites was when he arranged for a fish to be caught with a coin in it’s mouth to pay taxes. You can’t resist asking him monthly to repeat that one to help pay off your loan on the donkey you bought a year ago!

Sadly, Jesus is away when your brother gets sick and declines fast. He declines so fast that he suddenly dies. You seek the help of Jesus by having a friend find him to notify him and ask for Jesus to return. You wait. One day goes by and you wonder if Jesus got your message. Two days go by, but you know better than to give up hope in Jesus. 

With each passing hour, your heart is breaking, your emotions are getting stronger, and you feel torn. You battle feelings of trying to just want to be with Jesus during this difficult time and with selfish feelings that you want him to come and fix this problem. You are not sure how, but you believe Jesus can heal your brother, you just aren’t sure if he will. Then, another day passes. You find yourself in agony over the loss and confusion about where one of your best friends has gone.

As we prepare for communion this morning, I want to ask how you handle two conflicting truths? You are doing the best you can, but things just aren’t working. You love Jesus, but you keep failing. You are praying for healing, but sickness remains. You know Jesus is always with you, but you feel alone. You need a miracle, but he doesn’t seem to be answering your prayers. 

I want to remind you that Jesus died because of two conflicting truths. God loves us more than we can imagine, but he can’t tolerate our sins. Fortunately, Jesus worked out this dissonance through his death on our behalf.

Before we pray and take communion, imagine one more time. Imagine being there, when Jesus arrives. You are frozen with emotion and cannot move. Your sister runs out to greet him. But then he calls you to him. Imagine him weeping with you over your sorrow. You realize the creator of this amazing earth cares so much to weep when you weep. Then, imagine the exhilaration when he heals your brother. Impossible! He brings your brother back to life! 

Let’s pray:

Father, as we come to your table this morning, we are in awe reflecting on your miracles like raising Lazarus from the dead and for conquering death. Thank you for weeping when we weep. We confess our sins. Just like Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, help us to have faith knowing that your ways are best and that you are in control. Right now, we acknowledge you as the resurrection and the life. We know that when we believe in you, we will live, even though we die; and as we live by believing in you that we will never die.

PR

 PR. 

In cross country, a major goal is to PR. To PR means to achieve a personal record. In other words, the goal is to get a faster time. I love to go to the Cross Country meets and watch the runners strive toward PRs. They train all week long working on their fitness, their diet, their sleep, and mental and spiritual health. Yesterday, after the race, I noticed one runner who was upset because he didn’t PR. He was frustrated. He did not want to talk to anyone. His competitive nature and desire to succeed were clear and appropriate. He needed some time to think. 

I had witnessed him running, and I saw him run his best race. His form was great, his breathing was controlled, he was confident, and appeared to be moving faster. I did not want him to be discouraged because I knew he just ran his best race, but you just couldn’t appreciate it because of the numbers. To me, it was clear this had been one of the most challenging courses he had run because of the sharp 90 and 180-degree turns with lots of hills. While the numbers or the time didn’t show it, the runner ran his best race.

As believers, we come to communion to remember Christ’s sacrifice and to examine our hearts. We check our hearts. We reflect on our week. Where did we represent Christ well? Where did we not represent him well? Our goal is to grow in Christ and help others do the same. 

I want to encourage you to consider your course. As you reflect, did you run an easy predictable course this week? Maybe you were able to go on vacation and everything went well. There were no difficult tests and all of your friends got along well. Or, did you run a challenging course? Perhaps you took on new servant leadership activities. Maybe you got some bad news or things didn’t go your way. 

As you reflect, what kind of training can you do to prepare for the more challenging courses of life? I want to encourage you to keep reading His word and memorizing His scripture. Keep spending time learning and growing with other believers and seeking guidance. Praise God when you succeed and you can see the spiritual fruit. Pray for wisdom as you reflect on those things in which you are failing. Never stop training and never stop running the race! 

Philippians 3:14 NIV

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Let’s pray

When You are in the Middle of "Nowheresville"

A few weeks ago, we returned from a 5300-mile round-trip to Yellowstone, many times traveling through “nowheresville,” as one of my adventure-loving kids calls it,  stopping at several national parks along the way. We ventured through nine different states and stopped at 24 different gas stations.

After driving our nerd mobile with 180,000 miles through the Rockies, Grand Teton National Park, Canyonlands, and Arches National Park in 104 degrees weather, you might be able to appreciate why I grew concerned when I heard a disheartening grinding sound coming from the driver's side front wheel. Needless to say, when arriving at some of our 24 stops, I could be seen walking around the van, checking it over, monitoring the tire pressure, checking the brake rotors, as if I knew what I was doing, looking for fluid leaks, etc. I would top off the gas because we wouldn’t know when our next gas station would come, because, you know, we were in Nowheresville, I would clean the windows, and take the trash out of the inside to keep it nice and orderly. Well, Amanda did that. I found each gas station to be a place of peace in a sense. It was representative and symbolic of a momentary time to refuel and make sure things were right. 

Maybe you can understand how this relates to our communion time. Maybe your breaks are heating up or grinding a little. Maybe your tank is empty or maybe it’s only a few gallons low. Either way, don’t miss this moment. Use this time to reflect and reconnect your spiritual journey with the Lord. I want to help you do that.

Would you pray with me? Father, we know you have spectacular views, amazing things to learn, and life-changing experiences for us to embrace through your will, as we pursue your great commission. Thank you for giving us this amazing adventure of life. We confess that sometimes we feel like we are in nowheresville. Sometimes, even though we know where we are, our GPS tells us where we are, and our backup, atlas even shows our location, we may still feel alone or homesick.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭ Pray about 3-4 things of which you thank God for this week.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  ‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬  Think of 3-4 things that you need to confess to him this morning. Take this moment to ask for forgiveness.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”  ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Pray for help from the Holy Spirit to change the way you think and give you the strength to create new habits of thought and habits of action.

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭23‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Fourth of July Weekend: Responsible Freedom Communion Meditation

Communion on Fourth of July Weekend 

As we prepare for communion on independence day weekend, I think of one key point:

1. Are we good stewards of our Freedom?

1. We are free as a nation. How are we doing? 

2. We have to learn how to use our freedom responsibly. We have to be good stewards of our freedom.

3. Personal- Jesus died for our freedom and realized most of us do not experience freedom immediately. We continue to work out our freedom in Christ.

4. We are free spiritually, how are we doing? When are you the freest spiritually? I asked some of our youth for input from Zoomerang and Peak church camp, but before I share their thoughts I want to give an example of how I had to learn to use my freedom wisely.

This reminded me of moments of freedom I experienced for the first time. I will share one:

1. Freedom to drive at 16. Buddies would have Nintendo Night. Play Tecmo Bowl tournaments. Go to the grocery store because we could buy whatever we wanted. I would buy a whole bag of Donut Fair donuts. They tasted so good- 22- 15 now donuts. After that, I felt like I needed to wash my face and run for five hours to get the grease and sugar out of my system. Learn how to manage freedom. Responsible freedom.

Communion? Jesus has given us freedom from Sin. We are forgiven. But as it states in Romans, 6, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.” Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ 

Here is a question: When have you been most spiritually free? Is it when you are on mountain peaks? Our Youth had an awesome week of church camp and VBS. I asked a few what they learned.

Zoomerang: Liam

God loves you no matter what. Can have fun knowing God has your back. God made you unique and in His image. You don’t have to be the way other people are.

Cohen: 

He said they were told, “You are on the Peak right now at camp. When you go home, you will come down the mountain. Stay strong. Just hold on to be free in heaven. Remain. God is always by your side. Draw near and He will draw near to you.” He went on to paraphrase the sermon on the mount from Matthew 5, “Lucky are those who know they are not good enough for they get into the kingdom of God. God is the only way.”  “Satan is the only enemy in our lives.  

Rachel: “Our temptation is to test God rather than trust God. There is a huge difference between tempting and testing. You can’t depend on your own intelligence, God is the only one you can truly depend on. Blessed are the poor in spirit, you’ll never be good enough. God is perfect so you don’t have to be.”

Both Rachel and Cohen said, “Right after Jesus’ baptism, Jesus needed to be tempted because he would lead us out of temptation.” “Satan tempts you and God tests you. God will only test you to see if you love Him.” 

Temptation is an opportunity to show God we love Him.We are most spiritually free when we live in a manner to show God that we love him. 

This morning, I want to lead us in meditation and prayer time on using our spiritual freedom responsibly. Let’s pray.

Father and Jesus, we come now praising you for our country. We thank you for our freedom here and for all who sacrificed and made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can be free. We reflect now on our spiritual freedom. We first want to confess our sins. We know we fall short. Thank you for forgiving us. We pray for strength and wisdom to use our spiritual freedom through the filter of love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, looking out for what is best for others, and making every effort to do what is right in the eyes of everyone and to live at peace with everyone.  In Jesus’ name. Amen

This is the first draft, but I did not use it because I decided to use more content from the kids' weak at camp at Round Lake and Zoomerang VBS:

As I reflect on our independence or freedom from tyranny, I think of a few key points:

1. Freedom is not free: Thank all the service members who have fought for our freedom and Jesus Christ who died for us. We were slaves to sin and He died so that we could be freed from that bondage and live with Him.  

2. Are we good stewards of our Freedom?

1. Country- Enslaved people who fought alongside free people hoping for freedom when the war was over. Most did not experience freedom immediately.

2. Personal- Jesus died for our freedom and realized most of us do not experience freedom immediately. We continue to work out our freedom in Christ.

3. We have to learn how to use our freedom responsibly. We have to be good stewards of our freedom.

Reminded me of moments of freedom I experienced for the first time. I will share a few:

1. Freedom to drive at 16. Buddies would have Nintendo Night. Play Tecmo Bowl tournaments. Go to the grocery store because we could buy whatever we wanted. I would buy a whole bag of Doughnut Fair doughnuts. Tasted so good- 22- 15 now donuts. After that, I felt like I needed to take a bath and run for five hours to get the grease and sugar out. Learn how to manage freedom. Responsible freedom.

2. No curfew. Stay out til 1-2 AM playing Euchre. Exhausted the next day. Wanted rules. Wanted to be grounded. Had to learn how to manage freedom. Responsible freedom.

3. Amanda and I were dating. My Sophomore year and her Freshman year of college. Lived in the same residence hall 20 seconds away. I timed it. Spend as much time together as we wanted. Was great for about two weeks and then we realized we had no life! We had nothing to talk about because we were constantly together! Learn how to manage freedom. Responsible freedom.

Communion? Jesus has given us freedom from Sin. We are forgiven. But as it states in Romans, 6, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.” Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ 

My most free moments are when I work out my spiritual freedom in love. When I frame my spiritual freedom in the context of loving others and the fruits of the spirit, I experience true peace, and freedom in Christ. That takes work. It does not come naturally.

This morning, I want to lead us in meditation and prayer time on using our spiritual freedom responsibly. Let’s pray.

Father and Jesus, we come now praising you for our country. We thank you for the freedom we have here and for all who sacrificed and made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can be free. We reflect now on our spiritual freedom. We first want to confess our sins. We know we fall short. Thank you for forgiving us. We pray for strength and wisdom to use our spiritual freedom through the filter of love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, looking out for what is best for others, and making every effort to do what is right in the eyes of everyone and to live at peace with everyone.  In Jesus’ name. Amen

Earthly Father Vs. Heavenly Father

Happy Father’s Day. 

As we prepare for communion, I want to very briefly focus on two things. 

#1. The difference between earthly fathers and our heavenly father

#2 How our Father in heaven yearns for the most meaningful relationship with us.

First- The difference between earthly fathers and our heavenly father. In short, Dad fails. Have you ever experienced a Dad fail? 

For instance, like when you let your two-year-old daughter fall on a pile of bricks leading to stitches in the lip, or when your wife prepares an awesome breakfast for you and your three kids while she is away with simple instructions to take the lid off of the pyrex container and put it in the oven, but you don’t read the instructions and assume since it is pyrex you can just put the whole thing in the oven without taking the lid off. We all know earthly fathers fail. 

Remember this, when Jesus teaches us to pray, He states to start with our Father, who art in heaven. That is a reminder that we are not praying to our imperfect earthly fathers, we are praying to the perfect and most powerful father. The creator.

That leads us to the second point preparing for communion. This second point is most impactful to me right now. Since school has been out, Rachel and I have been taking nighttime walks. We talk about life and joke about silly things. Then we have a tradition of commenting on how huge the neighbor's oak tree is before we return to the house.

Here is the point, when Jesus teaches us to pray, he starts with Our Father. When he did that, Jesus called God, Abba. Literally, that term is the most intimate term to imply he is our Daddy. He wants to know us. He wants to go for walks with us. He wants to hear things that make us happy and sad. He wants to be there for us. He wants our hearts, not perfection.

Let’s pray: Our Father- that means you are patient and kind. You are not self-seeking, you keep no record of wrongs, you always protect, always trust, and always persevere. You are good and you are gentle with us. You discipline you guide, you are our strength and shield. We take a moment to confess our sins and celebrate you as our Father. We remember your love for us through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus.

In Jesus' name, Amen

Mother's Day Communion Meditation

To all of the awesome ladies out there who are positive influencers, thank you for being awesome. The older I get, the more I appreciate all that you do. I read a sign that said, “Mom- chaos coordinator” and thought, yes, that is definitely one of their roles. I heard someone say, “The three most important letters in baseball and softball are not RBI, ERA, or AVG. They are MOM!” The older I get, the more I appreciate my mother as well. 

As we prepare for communion this morning, I thought about what my Mom had taught me about communion. I realized that one of my best memories of my Mom is not only the great meals she would cook or the way she loved letting us have friends over and parties, but it is the way she prioritized communion. 

My mom prioritized three things with communion: First: do it regularly; Second, prepare for communion; and Three, don’t take it unless your mind is in the right place to keep it relational with Christ.

First: To do it regularly, Acts 20:7 early believers would meet the first day of the week to gather and break bread- would make every effort to be at church, but would take it at home or on the road as a family.

Second: Preparing for communion meant keeping our minds on Christ on Sunday mornings.   She encouraged us to prepare for communion from the time we woke up. There was no tv on Sunday mornings. No video games. She reminded us of the importance of what it represents. The goal was to prepare our minds to be focused on Christ and to take communion in a worthy manner. The command is found in 1 Corinthians 11:26-28, “For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are retelling the message of the Lord’s death, that he has died for you. Do this until he comes again. So if anyone eats this bread and drinks from this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, he is guilty of sin against the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 That is why a man should examine himself carefully before eating the bread and drinking from the cup.”

Third: We wanted to take communion in a worthy manner, so we wouldn’t take it unless we were focused on Christ. This was real. I knew something was up if Mom or Dad didn’t take it! Needed to be sincere about confession, forgiveness, and love.

So, this morning, we are all here to build our relationship with Christ and help others do the same. I want to help you prepare and focus. Close your eyes or focus on the cross.

Focus on Christ. Imagine eating w Him. What is He saying to you? What are you saying to Him? 

Remember His death on the cross. Thank Him for His sacrifice. Ask Him about your sins and confess your sins. 

Think about His resurrection. Imagine Him hugging you. What victories did you have this week because of Him? Take a moment to praise God for his forgiveness and His unimaginable power. 

Passion

My Mom got me a one-year devotional called “Mission Possible” by Tim Tebow. I asked Liam if he knew who Tim Tebow was. I thought everyone knows who Tim Tebow was, and then I realized Tim is a historical figure if you were born in 2012. For those who do not know, here are some pics of Tim. Tim led his Florida college team as a quarterback to two championships in 2007 and 2009. He played professional football and baseball.

His devotional had a one-day study on Passion. He explained we got the word passion from a Latin root word that meant to suffer. In greek, it means to be afflicted or undergo suffering. He states, “passion is not so much about getting hyped or professing our love, but at its core, true passion is our willingness to suffer. When you say you're passionate about something, what you are really saying is you are willing to suffer for it.

When you look at these pictures of Tim, you can see what he is passionate about. He is willing to suffer to make his body strong. He also stands up for his faith. He uses his athletic success as a platform to preach the gospel. 

His eye stickers state Eph 2:8-10: For it is by grace you have been saved. He prayed so much on the field that people would call kneeling to pray Tebowing! That took guts. You can bet he was anxious standing up to do what is right.

Here is someone else who used sports as a way to share his faith. On national and international TV he works through his fear. “Maybe this is not the right thing to do, but I am going to do it right now. We believe you are God.” shared his spiritual heart on TV. Passionate. Dan Orlovsky was an international quarterback. (Prayer for Damar Hamlin)

What if Tim messes up or makes mistakes? Should fear of failure keep him from his mission? 

What is Dan Orlovsky passionate about? Should his fear keep him from his mission?

Should your fear keep you from your mission? How about our church? Should fear keep us from accomplishing our church’s mission? Before Jesus died on the cross, we know he was so stressed that he sweat blood. What if Jesus had allowed fear to keep him from his mission?

Back to the Tim Tebow Devotional. “A mission mindset embraces suffering. I am not saying to be masochistic, but it’s a mentality with which you are willing to make sacrifices, push through pain, and fight for what truly matters because the mission is worth it. Jesus was passionate about dying for us so that we could have spiritual freedom. Is there a spiritual passion that you have but are not pursuing it for fear of messing up? Confess that now. Let’s pray. 

1 Peter 5:10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.