In Character

“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.” – Psalm 15:1-5

Baseball is our national pastime and as such is a big part of culture in the United States and across the world. It is commonly said that baseball, and sports in general, build character. But the reality is that we hear more and more accounts of un-sportsmanlike, unethical, and even illegal conduct at all levels of baseball and sports competition. It seems that character and integrity are secondary to the winning at all costs mentality.

As Christians, we understand the importance of character the minute we open the Bible. If you were asked to reread Psalms 15:1-5 and come up with one word to summarize that passage, what would that word be? I would boil that passage down to one word – character.

Character is that part of us that’s either growing, is stagnant or deteriorating. And when life is hectic and you are trying to keep multiple balls in the air, it can be hard to know which direction it is going. That’s because during the day when we are making decisions, we don’t stop and ask: ”I wonder how this business or relationship or financial decision or course of action will affect my character?” There are not too many character development majors offered in college or even any character development classes for that matter.

Yet, character will always show up in our lives and it will determine our response to failure and pain or even success. Most people only work on their character when it needs to be worked on, which usually happens in hard times or when we mess up. Fortunately, we always have access to God’s presence. You can enter God’s presence, but how do you stay? If you want to have total access to God’s presence in your everyday life, then you must learn to live the Home Run Life and that starts with being connected and then moving to first base and character.

Here’s a critical point. Character will reveal whether you are actively pursuing the Home Run Life. It means I want to proactively try to connect to God and my character will reflect that. The Home Run Life requires more than working on the connection to God when we’re experiencing hard times or if we’ve messed up. Our character must be more than just the pinnacle moments of life. It must become embedded throughout life. It must become part of you, part of your daily routine. We must think about it. We must focus on it. Why? Because our character development in our life is the prerequisite to the power that only comes from being in God’s presence and the Home Run Life.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Did Sunday’s message change or alter your understanding of your character? If so, how?
  2. What is it about your character that makes it difficult to live the Home Run Life?
  3. When your character does not reflect the character of God, who suffers and how do they suffer? When your character reflects the character of God, who is blessed and how are they blessed?
  4. Are there areas of your life where you have not surrendered to the wisdom of the Lord, but find yourself struggling with fear, temptation, or sin? Please describe them.

This Is Where I Draw The Line

…Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” – John 8:6-11

Like every sport, baseball has set boundaries for the field of play. And there are rules for what happens when those boundaries are violated. For example, there are chalk lines or a base path leading from home to first base. If a player runs outside the base paths to avoid a tag and runs more than three feet outside of the base path, the runner is out automatically. The batter must stay in the base path.

The Bible has some very specific base paths that we are required to run in. But sometimes we stray outside the base paths. We have the best intentions, but then some temptation enters our lives. We try to prevent the temptation. We set up boundaries to ensure that a relationship doesn’t become too physical too quickly. We set up standards when we know a potential business deal is a little on the unethical side. We draw a line in the sand when it comes to cheating on tests. And we decide that spending too much time away from home has ended for good.

But then something happens. Even with the boundaries in place we compromise, fudge a little by moving out of the base path more than the allotted three feet. When we fail, we are nervous, guilty, ashamed, sad, and angry, all at the same time. We rationalize and come up with the usual excuses like, “well, everybody else cheated because that test was too hard.” Or “well, at least I was not away from home as much as I was last year.” We try to blame somebody else, but at the end of the day, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. We have to accept responsibility for crossing a line in the sand we created and ask God to forgive us.

God does not place us in situations where we are forced to give into temptation. On Sunday, I talked about the areas where I had to draw a line in the sand. In my experience, I found that I put myself in situations and then tried to justify falling to temptation. Here’s the good news. Though I basically tempted myself, the situation allowed God to test me. His testing, and my willingness to be more careful to not run out of the base paths and my increasing dependence on Him has truly refined my faith. We will mess up. We are not perfect. But we can seek harder and harder after God and continue to draw our power and strength from him when we find ourselves outside the lines we have drawn. When I failed, I turned toward God and plugged into His strength, peace, and hope to overcome any temptation. Had I tried this on my own, I believe I would have continued to fail.

Pray for God to help you in building Biblical boundaries. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom, direction, and power to remain within His boundaries. When you draw a line and keep it, it will lead to peace, joy, and love and contribute to a Home Run Life.

Discussion Question:

  1. What are legitimate boundaries? Why are setting boundaries important?
  2. In what areas have you drawn a line in the sand in the last few years? What did it take to overcome the temptation?
  3. Is setting boundaries a matter of priorities? Luke 16:13 says: “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”

Plugged In

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.” – Ephesians 3:16. (NLT)

There are a number of theories on how to generate more power in a baseball swing. Most include the same ideas, but in slightly different applications and theory. The primary ingredients are lower-body weight transfer, hip torque or power, wrists and bat speed. Using the right techniques will generate more power.

As Christians, we have a unique resource. On those days where we don’t feel empowered, or when you feel as if your inner strength has been sapped, God has unlimited power that can take care of all that.

As we studied in our previous teaching series, sometimes it is in our weakness that God does his greatest work. “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)

Isaiah 40: 28-31 (NLT) tells us: “Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

We can use that unlimited power to build our character. First, let me define character briefly. Character is often defined as a collection of personality traits within our behavior that shows who we are. This is shown in our integrity, attitude, moral fiber, disposition, and how we interact with each other. Christian character is not just a personality or our disposition; it is a description of who we are as a Christian, what we are called to be in our life. Our character summarizes the essence of our walk with Christ being exhibited back to Him and then to others. Our character can grow or shrivel as our growth and faith formation in Christ is applied or blocked. That is why we need to be plugged into the power of God.

People are drawn to the manifest presence of Christ. They were drawn to the power that Christ displayed while He walked this earth. Today, people are drawn to the power of Christ within us.

Tap God’s unlimited resources and you will find strength you never knew was available. My prayer is that you will walk in God’s power today.

Discussion Question:

  1. How can we use the power of God to refine and develop our character?
  2. Who has the most influence on your character? How do they influence you? What is the one quality you have seen in others that you would like to have as part of your character? What is one thing you could do to develop that quality?
  3. How does having a good character help a person in life? How did it help you?
  4. Complete the following two questions twice: I used to be…but now I am?
  5. Pray and ask God to help you plug into His power everyday.

Life In The Vine

“and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.” – Colossians 2:19 (NLT)

On Sunday we talked about John 15:5 which says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

When you think about it, that is a pretty dramatic statement and reminds us that we cannot have a little bit of Jesus. He is the source and goal of all we are and do. And we only can live a full life when we are connected to Him.

Imagine with me a vine branch, cut off from the vine and just lying there all by itself on the ground. What’s going to happen? Very soon the leaves begin to turn brown and look withered. If something doesn’t happen soon, that branch will die.

The bottom line is that the wine and branches metaphor suggests a deep and vibrant relationship with God. One that is active. Remember the last part of John 15:5: “You can do nothing apart from me.” This verse tells me that being in an intimate relationship with Jesus day in, day out, hour by hour, week by week, month by month and year by year is the only way to live a Home Run Life. But this metaphor also clearly indicates that you must be connected to God. That’s the only way the spiritual nutrients, chemicals and life are available to us.

Jesus uses the word “remain” a great deal. For example, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me,” (John 15:4 NLT) I counted the word “remain”11 times in these in John 15: 1-17. What does it mean? To remain in Jesus is to be into Jesus. Jesus becomes and is the controlling passion of your life. Everything, every day, revolves around knowing Him, following Him, serving Him, and being influenced by Him. We need to remember that He is the vine and we are the branches. Apart from Him we can do nothing. Then we need to go and live that out. We need to cultivate hearts that are bent toward Jesus. We need to do things that let the Holy Spirit transform us. We are not the ones in control, we cannot depend on our ability and wisdom.

The longer I live, the more aware I become of how true the statement is that “apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus is the source of my life and your life. As branches, we don’t exist apart from the vine.

My prayer is that we learn to remain in Him as He remains in us.  Keep asking yourself, what do I need to change in my life so that I am consistently doing things to remain in Him?

Discussion Questions:

  1. What did Jesus mean when He said “I am the true  vine” (John 15:1)?
  2. Practically, how can we ensure that we are remaining in Him?
  3. What does Jesus mean by fruit? What is God’s (the gardener) role in fruit being produced in the Vine and borne through the branches?
  4. Pray and ask God to strengthen your connection with Him.

Easter’s Over. Now what?

“I was a stranger…..and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:35 (Amp)

This Easter, across all our Northstar locations, we celebrated Jesus, His death, resurrection, and the hope that He has given us all who believe in Him. On Good Friday the world said, “No” to Christ. On Easter morning God said, “Yes” to the world. During the Easter weekend, a total of 253 people said “yes” to accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. Now the work really begins. Because as you already know, not all of those who come during Easter return the following week. And not everyone who gets saved during Easter services grows spiritually either.

So how do we make sure those who attend our Easter services return, become active in our churches and grow as a Christian? Helping people grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ is as important as winning them in the first place.

One way is to look at what the early church did after winning large groups of people to Jesus. For example we can look at Acts 14:21-22: “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

“And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.” (Acts 15:32-35).

“And (Paul) went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” (Acts 15:41). “After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.” (Acts 18:23).

Two important phrases come up over and over again when looking at how the early Church in Acts responded after reaching people for Jesus. They are strengthen and encourage. After reaching people for Christ—as we did on Easter—the early church focused on assimilating those they had reached. The definition of assimilate is to include into a larger whole; to involve; to make one. Ephesians 2:19 (TLB) says, “Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.”

It is easy to assume that new Christians will automatically connect to a church. It is a bad assumption. The process of making them a part of God’s community rests with the church, not the new Christian. It begins when they accept Christ and it is ongoing from that day forward.

If you invited someone to church, my hope is that you will follow-up with them. Let them know what the church is doing the following weeks, whether it’s a particular sermon series or starting point classes. I would ask that you follow-up, whether the individual just wanted to be in church on Easter, or made a lifetime commitment to Christ. Whether or not visitors return to Northstar has a lot to do with the contact you make with them.

Then try to get them involved in a Northstar Group. New Christians need to be connected to a small group of people. We can’t know everyone in the church, but we need to know someone. If someone comes to your church and they know six to 10 people, the chances are better that they will stay and grow. People come to church for many different reasons. They stay because of relationships within their own stage of life.

Last, see if you can interest them in serving. Nothing’s worse than feeling lost and left out at church. Make a concerted effort to match people’s skills, gifts, and interests to ministries within the church. Try to connect new people to some of our entry-level ministries.

Don’t allow the momentum of the Easter season to fizzle once the baskets are emptied and the chocolate has been eaten. Even a small effort at connecting with newcomers will go a long way in establishing lasting relationships and helping others grow spiritually, which will result in a thriving church community.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What causes people to assimilate into the church? What is your role?
  2. What reasons can you come up with for people not returning to church after the first visit? What can we do corporately and individually to improve in those areas?
  3. Pray and ask God to connect you with those who made a decision for Christ to connect to a church.
  4. Pray for our church for the remainder of the year that God will use us to further His kingdom.

Patterned After

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2.

Most of us have had the opportunity to stand in awe as our eyes perceive the beauty of a perfectly mowed grass pattern in a baseball stadium. Stripes, checkerboard style, or even artistic expressions add flair to a baseball field. But how exactly do they get these patterns in the grass? Some say the grass is mowed at different heights or is colored to achieve the effect, but neither assumption is true. Rather, patterns in the grass have everything to do with how the grass is bent, which affects how the light hits it.

Patterns are an important part of our lives in many ways. When a contractor builds a house, he uses a pattern called a “blueprint.” When a mechanic repairs your car, he uses a pattern known as a repair manual. When a mother sews a dress for her daughter, she follows a “dress pattern.” And when your favorite cake is made, the cook follows a pattern or “recipe.”

In each case the pattern must be followed or the end product will not be faithful to the original pattern and the results could be disastrous. The house not built to pattern may leak or worse, it may collapse; the car not repaired by the manual may run like a “lemon” or not run at all; the dress may not fit or look awful, and the recipe may be uneatable. We are very comfortable with using patterns with the exception of the best pattern of them all, the Bible. God has always provided a pattern for His people to serve as a guide to worship and service acceptable to Him.

In the Old Testament, God led the children of Israel out of the slavery of Egypt down to the foot of Mt. Sinai. There God called Moses up the mountain and gave him a “pattern” of laws and a “pattern” for a place of worship for the Jews. As God gave Moses this divine pattern, He also gave a warning: “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (Ex. 25:9). He repeated the warning in Exodus 25:40: “See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

The tabernacle was constructed following God’s pattern. But not everybody heeded God’s warning through Moses to follow His pattern. Leviticus 10:1 tells us: “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command.” The consequences appears in verse 2: “So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.”

No I have not become a fire and brimstone preacher. I bring this up for two reasons. First, God’s pattern is always right. And second, we should treat His pattern with respect and obedience. The apostles, led by the Holy Spirit are a pattern for us to learn from, imitate and walk after. “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” (Philippians 3:17) And 2 Thessionians 3:9 says “We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.”

Discussion Question:

  1. What is God’s pattern for your life? How did you come up with your answer?
  2. How can God’s patterns help us to grow in Him?
  3. 2 Timothy 1:13 says: “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.” What is that verse trying to tell you?
  4. Hebrews 8:5 reminds us of Moses and building the tabernacle: “They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” How is that verse applicable to us today?
  5. Pray and ask God to show you His patterns for life.

The Secret To Significance

“Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.” – Rick Warren.

There are a certain number of questions that seem to haunt our lives at different times and in different ways. What real difference does my life make? What real contributions have I made or will I make in this world?” Do I dare to ask the question, “how much do I matter,” for fear of discovering the answer. These questions are at the heart of the basic fear of living and leading lives of significance.

Some years back, Cal Ripken Jr. broke fellow Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig’s long-standing record by playing in his 2,131st consecutive game in 1995. Ripken did not just break Gehrig’s record either. He smashed it. Ripken ended his streak at 2,632 games more than three years after breaking the record. It was a significant streak and gave putting on the uniform and playing each day additional meaning. Today, that record continues to have significance in baseball.

We all want to do something of significance for our community or at least for our families. Often, however, we find significance in temporary things like power, wealth, prestige, position, etc.

Paul talked about the subject of our significance: ”I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) Paul declares that only in what Christ has done and has made us to be can we see ourselves as being significant. Paul is pointing us to an entirely different way of measuring our significance and importance. Our worth is not rooted in our possessions, our position, our power, or our prestige.  Our worth and significance are not found in anything we have done or in what the world sees as significant. Our significance is rooted in Christ’s love towards us. Our worth in Christ also is something that is permanent.

As we have received God’s love, we will also want to reflect this love. People should see in us Christ himself and then notice that God sees us as significant. If we use Christ as our mirror in understanding our importance and worth as a person, something interesting takes place. If we understand that we are in Christ, we begin to mirror Christ to others around us. And if we mirror Christ to others, we find that Christ has given us purpose and meaning to our lives. Our significance lies not in ourselves, but in Christ. The result is that we can and will make a difference in the world and in the lives of others.

When we see ourselves in Christ, we are given not only significance, but a purpose. We are given something that will enable us to make a difference, to make an impact on the lives of others around us. If Christ lives in us, we have His love, His presence, and His compassion living in us. We are then enabled to share His love, His presence, and His compassion with those around us. And that makes for a life of significance.

Discussion Question:

  1. Do you ever feel like you will never measure up? Or that you must meet certain standards to feel good about yourself?
  2. What is preventing you from living a life of significance?
  3. Take the time to consider what God is trying to teach you this week. What can you do this week to better or reconnect with God?
  4. What does the Bible say about our significance: Psalms 34:17-20; Genesis 1:27; Psalms 139;13-16: Ephesians 2:4-9; Matthew 10:31; Romans 8:32. What is God telling us in these verses? Do they change how we view our significance?

Connecting At The Plate – Part 2

In Monday’s devotional, I talked about our connection to God starting with accepting His love. In today’s devotional, I will continue on the topic of our connection with God.

“You can’t hit a home run unless you step up to the plate.” – Modern Proverb.

Another area where we can improve our connection or relationship with God is listening when God speaks. The Bible teaches that God speaks through Jesus. “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:2) and the way that we hear Jesus is through the Bible. The Scriptures are described as breathed out by God: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16) and as the Word of God: “Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” (Mark 7:13). This is very important for us. It means that while God can speak to us however He likes, He has promised to speak to all of us through the Bible. So if you want to hear God, read, study and discuss the Bible.

We can also speak to God through prayer. The Bible records Jesus communing with His Father in prayer. Prayer is much more than simply a way to ask God for things we need or want.

We can also worship regularly. “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” – Psalm 95:1-2. God invites us to come into His presence for worship. Not only does regular church attendance give us an opportunity to come before the Lord’s presence in worship, but it also gives us an opportunity to fellowship with the Lord’s people. We can’t help but grow a closer connection to the Lord as a result.

Finally, a closer relationship with God is built upon obedience. Jesus told His disciples in the upper room, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word…” (John 14:23). “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you….” (James 4:7-8). Paul tells us in Romans 12:1: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers,by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” We must keep in mind that we don’t earn salvation through our obedience; rather, it is the way we show our love and gratitude toward God.

Connecting with God is not easy, but the promises the Bible gives us makes trying to incorporate these disciplines into our daily life worth it. These eternal truths help us to connect with God no matter how busy or demanding life is.

Discussion Question:

  1. How do I know when God is speaking to me?
  2. Have you ever tried to live the Christian life without asking God to be involved in the details of your life?
  3. How does God connect to you through prayer?
  4. Do you prepare your mind and heart for worship each Sunday?
  5. What does obedience to God mean to you?

Connecting At The Plate

“and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.” – Colossians 2:19 (NLT)

One of the most famous home runs in major-league history was hit by Mickey Mantle off Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.  Mantle’s home run in 1953 landed in a housing development beyond the left-field wall at an estimated distance of 565 feet. Imagine watching that ball soar into the sky standing at home plate knowing that you connected better than anybody ever did before or since.

Standing at home plate in our lives, I wonder how much we connect with God.  One of the areas that needs constant attention is staying connected to God. It is the first important step before we run the bases. Distractions, busyness, bad moods, demands of life all have the potential to pull us away from God. Our intention may be to remain focused on Him, but in the midst of those things we often allow our attention to get diverted elsewhere. It is like Mickey Mantle taking his eye off the ball and still expecting to hit it into the next county.

How do we find that deeper connection with God in our day to day lives? How do we connect with God in the midst of everyday life that will enable us to get to first base and then second, third and then score? Why is it so hard to connect with God everyday anyway? Here’s what I think I know. If every day was Sunday, I think we would be connecting with God at a higher level. But Monday through Saturday, our ability to connect decreases because of the distractions and busyness of our daily life.

Likewise, during our morning quiet time, we pray about the day ahead and ask God to guide us through whatever the day brings. However, usually by the middle of the day we haven’t re-connected with God since.

The apostle John describes it as abiding in God. John 15:4 says, “Abide in me, and I in you….” and John 15:9 says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

How can we abide in God in our daily lives and connect with God throughout the day? First, remember that God loves us. “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” – 1 John 4:14-16

God loves each of us, And Jesus died because of this amazing love. However, knowing things in our heads is not the same as knowing things in our hearts. Accepting God’s love is the first step to connecting with Him. It is sometimes hard to get our heads around the fact that we are not the person we know that God wants us to be. As a consequence, we are not sure we can move around the bases without disappointing Him. Yes we know the theology, but in our heart we struggle to accept it freely which creates distance between God and us. This can stop us from being able to connect with God freely.

No matter how many mistakes you’ve made, no matter how unworthy you think you are, He still loves you and wants to connect in a meaningful relationship with you. God assures you of that fact in Psalm 100:5, “For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

We will continue this discussion in Tuesday’s devotional.

Discussion Questions:

  1. So, what does abiding in God mean? What is the relationship between God’s love and abiding in Him?
  2. Why is God’s love so reliable? How does he demonstrate it? What is the implication for our relationship/connection to God?
  3. Do you struggle with insecurity? I am not good enough. I am not spiritual enough. I am not talented enough. I am not whole enough. I am not enough.
  4. What keeps you from having a more intimate relationship/connection with God? How can you improve your relationship/connection with God?
  5. Pray and ask God to help you draw closer and abide in Him.

New Series – Home Run Life

“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.” – Yogi Berra

The baseball season is here. All around the country, people are gearing up for a long season of rooting for their home team. Will this be the year the Cubs do something special? Are the Yankees no longer a dynasty? Will the Dodgers 270 million dollar payroll buy them a world series ring? After all is there anything better than spending some time watching a ballgame and munching on a few hot dogs. The start of the baseball season coincides with the start of our new teaching series called Home Run Life. There is quite a connection between baseball and ministry. For example:

The Northstar baseball team belongs to the owner. The coach’s job is to manage and develop the team. The individual players responsibility is to become the best player they can be. Both the coaches and the players primary job is to please the owner. Our daily opponent is a very tough out. In our game, there are no roster limits—you can’t have too many players on your team.

The owner expects the coaches and the players to have a bad game occasionally, make an error now and then, even experience a slump and need to rest and sit out a game or two to refocus. The owner is not afraid to bring up the guy from the minor leagues and give him a shot at the big-time. He just might become the rookie-of-the-year.

Even though the positions on the field are different, every position matters. And we can’t lose touch with the players on the disabled list; they’re still part of the team.

As coaches and players we need to remember to thank the bat boys, the grounds crew, the people who sell hot dogs, and the folks who clean the locker room because they are an important part of the team.

So let the season begin. And no matter what happens with the team, remember this: the owner always has your back.

Come this Sunday and learn how to live a Home Run Life.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Prepare to meet God this Sunday.
  2. Prayerfully ask God to show you ways to apply the rules of the game in your life.
  3. Identify a specific area of your life that needs to change.
  4. Praise and worship God. Read Psalms 65: 5-8 in preparation for Sunday.