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. 

Need a Sign?

 Christmas trivia based on our communion song: The First Noel

What is noel? Christmas/first birth

Who were two major groups of people who came to visit Jesus when he was a baby?

Shepherds: Jewish and very poor

Wisemen: “Pagan”- Non-Jewish, likely very wealthy and very wise.

What were they looking for?

How did they hear about Jesus?

Shepherds- Angels- The angels were their sign.

Wisemen- Star- The star was their sign.

Have you ever needed a sign? Like the lyrics, “I need a sign to let me know you’re here.”

The shepherds knew a day would come when Jesus would arrive. They waited 400 years!  The Wisemen also were waiting based on prophecy from Daniel. 

Here is the point: Jesus came for the poorest of the poor in finances and spirit and the richest of the rich, not only in finances but spirit. Not only did he come for those people in the extreme places, but for everyone in between.  

I am not sure where this morning finds you. Maybe you are flying high loving the season, or maybe you are facing times of extreme difficulty. I bet we all have something in common with the shepherds and the Wisemen. The shepherds and Wisemen needed a sign. They asked, “where are you, God?”

Maybe, you are like many of the people before Jesus was born. They just needed a sign. They needed a sign to know that God was real and loved them. Jesus coming is your sign. Have you ever wondered what God was like? How can you truly know God? Jesus' birth was a gift. We can know what God is like because he took manly form through Jesus. He is our sign!

This week, I want to challenge you to read through John. When reading, ask yourself, what was God like? I did that to prepare for communion. The first miracle God turned water into wine. Not only did he defy the elements of water by turning them into wine, but did you know he used the water that everyone washed their hands with? He converted the dirty disgusting water into something beautiful that helped people celebrate life’s beautiful moments. 

As we focus on communion this morning, focus on three things:

1. Jesus died for you and wants a relationship with you no matter where you are: poor or rich in spirit

2. Jesus is God. We can know God by getting to know Jesus through reading his word.

3. Jesus can transform us like he transformed the dirty filthy water into something completely new and life-giving.

A Snowball To The Face

If you are a golfer, you know the feeling of everything being right, expecting to hit a drive perfectly down the fairway, getting up to the tee box, and hitting the worst opposite hit of your life. I had a similar experience in wrestling.

Our team had one the league championship four years in a row, I was a Sophomore with the opportunity to wrestle varsity against Carrollton. I had been working very hard with the team. Weigh-ins took place. I sized up my opponent and immediately had visions of a big and fast win in front of the whole school, my friends, and my family. I get out on the mat and take off confidently, pushing aggressively into my opponent. He tosses me through the air and puts me on my back. There I was, in front of the whole school, all of my friends and family fighting hard off my back. I get pinned. I was crushed. Feelings of being a failure, extreme embarrassment, frustration, and shock all consumed me. I would not talk to anyone. Then, I had to take my best friend home after the match. He did not wrestle. He was trying to cheer me up. It had been snowing, and he took a snowball and hit me in the face. “What are you doing?” “Get over it!” He said. It was painful! Hey, I can move on…reliving my past that happened 30 ish years ago!

Have you ever had a similar experience spiritually? Maybe even lately? You feel like you are growing spiritually. You are reading the word, attending bible studies, having great prayer time, making sacrifices to grow spiritually, and maybe giving a lot. If you are in school or at work, you may be going outside of your comfort zone and witnessing to others, speaking up when people are doing the wrong thing. Then the opportunity comes for the right thing or something good to happen, and you get thrown on your back. You lose your temper, you spend too much, you speak harshly, and you lose control. Or maybe something wrong happens. An unfavorable job situation, a lost relationship, or an unexpected diagnosis. It is easy to get discouraged, embarrassed, shocked, and frustrated. Feelings of failure. We may want to withdraw.

Well, here is your snowball to the face. It’s not about your comfort. Get over it. It’s about your character. It is about who you become. We, as your brothers and sisters in Christ, love you. We are here for you. Jesus died for you because he loves you. As we prepare for communion, I want to share a few of my favorite scriptures I have memorized for when life situations throw me on my back unexpectedly:

James 1: 2-4  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking 

Romans 5: 3-5 Not only so, but we[a] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

Phil 4: 12-13  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

John 15:4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Let’s pray. Father, it feels amazing to have our debt paid off. Thank you for dying for us. We do not deserve the love you show us. We are sorry, we confess, lead us to serve you. In Jesus name.

Our Church: A Launchpad for Generations

 As we prepare for communion this morning, we pause to remember the past. Some of my earliest memories in life are at church. I had a big wheel at Beechwood and would ride down a cement sidewalk and hit the blacktop parking lot going at least 80 mph, hit the brake, turn the wheel, and do the most awesome spin-outs ever! I hate to admit this. Confession is therapeutic. I remember sneaking to taste communion. Yes, I repented. I remember trying to jump down the highest number of steps possible. I would go as high as possible without a severe sense of pain in my legs upon landing. I think seven was the magic number.

I remember I didn’t want Ed Smith, the man in charge of starting this church, to leave in 1982. He had been a source of leadership, stability, and security for my family. I remember him talking about being called to start more churches in stark county, but my six-year-old mind struggled with not wanting more churches if that meant he was leaving Beechwood. 

I remember when Ed invited my sister to sing at one of the first church locations, the Louisville Constitution Center. I spoke with Joanne Rossow and told her I remember walking in and seeing all the glass. She said, “we were called the church in the fish bowl because everyone could see in.” I remember my sister singing in the fishbowl. I remember playing sardines, prayer walks, and Wednesday and Sunday night youth group-Sunday Night Live. I remember all the Sunday School and Youth group leaders who poured their hearts and souls into my spiritual growth.  I remember people who have come and gone who didn’t give up on my family, and I remember my baptism. 

Probably most of all, I remember communion. I remember every Sunday taking an inventory of my behaviors. I remember caring about my teenage habits. Every Sunday was a new beginning. It was an opportunity to give one more go, remembering I was forgiven, and that I wanted to show my love for Christ by growing. 

Communion is a time to remember Christ’s sacrifice and to examine our hearts. That includes praying about our habits. As we reflect on our past and the importance of the church to spread the love of Christ, this week, I have found myself asking what habits lead the Dehoffs, the Rossows, and the Browns to remain committed to this church. You can bet they all had their feelings hurt, times of disappointment, and times when expectations weren’t met. However, they all had a God-given vision, a dream, and a commitment to the great commission right here in Louisville. 

When it comes to not giving up on people, I see you all as leaders in the community. I want you to find hope, fuel, and inspiration to pursue your missions here. Our church is a launchpad to do His work in His community.

As you reflect, I want you all to know this church was sown in love w a vision to win thousands and millions to Christ and to be a place where all people can practice life w one another and work toward the joy of realizing our salvation and being transformed in Christ.