- Portrayed as socially isolated loners, but that's not quite accurate, said Katherine Newman, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University who has studied high-school and university shootings.
- "In fact, they are very rarely loners," Newman said.
- But in general, their social experience is not one of easy incorporation."
- They experience rejection by their peers...They believe they're perceived as insignificant, Newman told LiveScience.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Prisoners of Hope (Becoming Hopeful and Full of Hope)
Sunday, December 8, 2013
December 8th Message Title: God In Us (Deity Decentralized)
1 Corinthians 2:6-8; Colossians 1:26-28; Colossians 2:2; Ephesians 3:4 (NIV)
■Incarnation was meant to demystify our Sovereign God/Deity/Sovereign
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own (1 Corinthians 6.19)
Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation ritual you’re after, you’ve already been through it by submitting to baptism. (Colossians 2.11-15 MSG)
- Collectively we hold the anointing of God. (How did this come into being?)
- What was inaugurated with Christ is continues in us~ God’s Spirit indwells human beings as a result of God indwelling Christ...Human being.
- We are the Temple■ of the Holy Ghost
Aim: Help believers understand that the incarnation■ of God in Christ was meant to revolutionize■ relationships and society through God’s collective power in a collective us. Unity■ is the ticket to God’s power.
Theological Implications (What we summarize re: the attributes of God)
Church doesn’t fully understand the incarnation
- We see■ the humility of God
- We see the love of God
- We see the God’s most amazing pursuit of His Creation
- We SEE So much because we were blind to God’s goodness before God’s Incarnation and the epiphany of His Glory.
Further Theological Implications:
- The reign of God was instigated by God in Eden
- The reign of God was initiated by God in the Advent
- The reign of God was inaugurated by God at the Epiphany■
- The reign of God was intensified by Christ’s death
- The reign of God was increased■ by God’s Spirit in the People of God
Summary: Believers aren’t really waiting for God to return. God is waiting for believers to arrive.
Next Steps:
- Commit yourself to meeting with 1-2 others and reading through the biblical accounts of Christ’s birth. (Matthew 1-3 & Luke 1 & 2)
- Ask God for the fullness of Christ to overtake you in a world-changing manner.
- Commit to growing in the knowledge of your position in Christ.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Message Title: Vulnerable Deity! (Advent Series: All In/Skin In The Game)
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Heaven Can Wait Part 2 (Series Wrap-up)
- Earth = A place for God’s glory
- God’s dwelling place is Holy to Him
- Theology of place: Holy Ground...A piece of God remains where He touches down.
✔God has always had a remnant
✔God has always called and sent:
- We like being called and chosen
- We shirk being sent & assigned
-----> Called Out!
- Adam/Eve
- Ark
- Egypt
- Small Family, Small Tribe, Small Country, Small Nation...
[Trouble happens when the called refuses to be sent!]
✔We blew it...disobeyed...became “important” in our own eyes
As a result...God called out and sent His own Son to achieve something that we could not...Perfection...obedience...faithfulness...acceptance by God.
✔Again! God sends...God goes...God is on a mission!
- Burning bush
- Lion’s Den
- Egypt
- Elijah’s cave
- Hagar in the wilderness
- David out in a field
- Shepherds keeping watch
- Sinai Bethlehem
✔Ten Missional Markers are important to me as your pastor & to us as a congregation:
- It’s not what we do. It is how we do...
- We look up (To Go for inspiration & power)
- We in (Transformation by God for God)
- We look out (Towards & for...each other)
✔ We’ve gone as far as we can human go in leading this great ministry!
Why???
- Humans typically promote what we can control, benefit from & take credit for!
✔When we seek God’s Son & His Mission.....
- The Presence of God is released IN incredibly powerful & grace filled ways
- God reveals-------->exposes Himself...to us. (Result: The atmosphere changes!
Questions:
- What does it mean to not actively join in God’s mission?
- How does all these discussions are “missional living” change my thoughts about what it means to be a Christian?
Challenge:
- Engage in God’s mission! Inasmuch as we can help offer opportunities and/or training for that, join us.
- This might not be what you signed up for, however, it is exactly what you were called by God become. Where do you stand? (Is it enough to just be called? Will you experience God’s joy of being sent?)
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Heaven Can Wait! (The Prophetic Edge of The Church)
✔When we meet God in Genesis we often miss what is being shown
- We argue evolution when the main point of the story is Creation
- An act of the Creator
- God...going...doing...shaping...calling...cultivating...growing...building!!
*We see God moving ----> from a place of comfort to a new place
**Some refer to this as the Missionary Nature of God
✔Therefore...
- God sends His Son
- Father and Son send Spirit to engulf the Church, creating a new family/community
- The Spirit sends us (As Jesus sends disciples...& breathes on them. Without the Spirit we cannot be sent.)
✔We are created in order to be sent (being sent is how we imitate God’s nature)
✔ The Church is measured on their response to their sentness
**We are currently in a posture of being called or being sent. There is no...
- Middle ground
- Waiting period
- Marking Time
- Treading Water
- Anything else is spiritual stagnancy which is death.
Church (as a result of Christ’s redemptive work and personal and interpersonal working of the Holy Spirit) = A new community living in the midst of a fallen world and broken humanity which is controlled by the power of the air. (Van Gelder)
*There’s a war going on!!
Jesus is incredible important to the Christian faith:
- He represents the nature of the faith
- He covers people’s past
- He represents the New Creation which is the result of & proof of REDEMPTION
There is also a prophetic nature to the church that represents God current and future reign!!
(This is why the Lord and the enemy play for keeps...they know that the NOW is the future!!!)
Luke 4:
✔(Luke 3) Jesus is baptized in Luke 3 by John
✔(Luke 4.1) Jesus is tempted in the wilderness during his fast
✔(Luke 4.14) Jesus goes home to preach & is rejected & his life is threatened
✔(Luke 4.31) Jesus preaches in Capernaum (Galilee) & a demon manifests
...manifests isn’t just what it does.
...it taunts Jesus...at the top of his voice (Luke 4.33 & )
“Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are---the Holy One of God!
“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. (v. 35)...
*As Jesus arrived in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men from the tombs confronted Jesus...
“What do you want with us, Son of God?” They shouted. “Have you come her to torture us before the appointed time?”
✔ Jesus’s mere presence poses a threat to the status quo
✔ He knew he was sent, so he wasn’t side tracked by this demonic freak show
✔ This out break was proof that he was a threat
✔ Jesus reps the Church (Body of believers) in this story
✔ Believers pose a threat to the enemy as we reflect God’s ultimate & eternal reign
***Only Healthy Missional Churches pose a threat to the enemy. (They pursue Christ & pursue His priorities...his mission in the world.) **Where are you in being sent????
Friday, October 25, 2013
Week #4 Fast Guidlines (Lord Have Mercy Fast): Only liquids!!!!!
Week #4 Lawd Ha’ Mercy Fast (Liquids)
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! John 4:35
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38
FOL is a ministry that has been called to join God in bringing hope, help and healing to our community and and the world. Being “Missional” means that we understand that this is not extra-credit. This is what it means to be the people of God.
This week is the toughest of each of the fasts. We are avoiding solid foods all week. This fast will push us to remain focused while our stomachs attempt to distract us. As we are focusing on hungering after God and God’s plan for the Church and society, I would like to offer the following as a reading and praying guide:
(Read the story of Jesus evangelizing the Samaritan woman in John 4:1-42)
Monday: What is this story telling us about the cross-cultural reach of the gospel message? What is God saying to you?
Tuesday: What does the nature of the woman’s marital status tell us about the reach of the gospel? What is God saying to you?
Wednesday: Pray today that FOL and area churches would see unsaved people as an opportunity to live out the gospel.
Thursday: Think in agricultural terms...what happens when crops ripen? What is the response to ripened crops by farmers? What is Jesus saying to the readers in this passage? What is he saying us?
Friday: (Question) When is the last time you shared your faith with someone? When is the last time you testified of God’s goodness to you? What needs to happen in order for that to occur regularly?
Saturday: (Question) How regularly do you pray for the people closest to you to be reached by the gospel? Can you begin to set time aside to pray for those who are not connecting with Jesus?
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Beautiful Temple ~ Broken People
Acts 3 sermon on the purpose of the Church
Oct 12, 2013
Message Set-up:
- Beautifully ornate temple building. Designed & visited by God Almighty
- In disarray because a few month’s prior it’s Holy Corridor was desecrated
- Worth millions but defunct because it lacked purpose, passion & God’s presence
- Lame man laid before its gates because he wasn’t allowed inside✫
- Godly well-dressed leaders stepped over this man daily to enter this facility
- Luke wrote about a similar scenario in Luke 10 (Good Samaritan)
- Two uneducated fishermen who had been deeply touched by the Holy Spirit walked to temple...reflecting upon the purpose of Christ and his desire for hurting society..
The Turn:
- This story is meant to strike the heart of every church leaders and sincere believer
- Our religious endeavors have become more important than our godly entreaties
- Our pace has co-opted our passion
- Our calling has taken a back seat to our “culling” (sorting thru and sifting/rejecting things due to their inferiority)
- Our agendas are comfort
- Our mantra is now!
- Our unholy trinity is me, myself & I (the cause of every demise)
- The man represents society...The temple represents the attitudes of God’s people...A miracle is needed in order to re-establish AWE in the House (Church) of God that it used to have.
- The miracle lies in the interaction of God’s standing people and God’s crippled people...because they need each other, badly!!
Key thoughts that I hear in this passage:
- A witnessing presence
- A witnessing power
- A witnessing compassion
- A witnessing worship,
We have reduced “witnessing” to an act and not a lifestyle.
We have to rethink what a witness can do:
- This man only saw these two men in a transactional lens.
- When they said look on us… They had seen each other before…
- Where had the man been looking?
- Sometimes you have to get in the dirt so that people can look on you!!
- But Peter and John had new power and this man had a new opportunity.
We are not called to witness for the Lord in the sense we merely discuss him…
- We are called to be a witness in that we bring people into the presence of God right where we are!
✫The man never had access to the temple. He didn’t need the temple...it needed him!!
The temple which is been so routine and religious now had a bona fide miracle and it's midst and it redefined worship.
✫We need a evangelism so that the new converts can remind us of the fresh fire and power of God that changed us. We need a evangelism to bring new people man to reinvigorate I worship.
The birth of the church was the father's restoration of what he had hoped to establish in Eden with those with whom he shared dominion
History of God’s Housing Situation...
- When Tabernacle was built to God’s specification, His Glory fell! (2 Chr 5)
- When Temple was completed to God’s specification, His Glory fell (Ex 40)
- When His Temple within human hearts were unified..His Glory fell (Acts 2, 8 & 10)
- When we unify...God shows up!! His Glory is revealed...
- ...But not until we love unconditionally
Christians like damning American culture and society. We blame it for the trouble in the world.
However...
For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? I Peter 4.17 NIV
*Remember being the oldest child left in charge???
- Who got in trouble if the younger child misbehaved?
According to Congregational Mission Professor, Craig Van Gelder
➢The Church is about human behavior that is being transformed by God’s redeeming* power...which will be used for his redemptive purposes
➢The Church is God’s personal presence in the world through the Spirit
➢The Church is a social organization (human community of people in interaction with each other...not a social agency) & spiritual community.
➢ The Church is called to live fully in the Reign of God’s Almighty
➢ The Church does not have a mission...it is God’s mission!!!
Questions:
- How is God redeeming you for His great purpose in the world?
- In what ways do you help/hinder the Church in meeting its purpose?
- Do you want really to be a part of God’s solution in the world?
- Who is lame and sitting at your door?
Challenge:
- Pray for the Church to fulfill God’s intended purpose
- Pray for the Power of the Holy Spirit to control the Church
- Rethink life...you’re not the lame man in this story...you’re either Peter/John or you’re the people inside the temple going through the motions.
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