Radical Connections

“Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship to God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. But all ten are about relationships.” – Rick Warren. 

Remember “WWJD?” Or “What would Jesus do?” That is an excellent question to ask if we are faced with uncertainty in some aspect of our lives. When we are talking about relationships, perhaps we should ask the question a different way: “How would Jesus live my life if He were me?” Or in other words, what would it look like for my life to be centered on Him? Jesus practiced radical love and it transformed the hearts of those He encountered. So what would the relationships in our lives look like if our life was centered on Him? That is the perspective we need if we want all of our relationships to reflect Christ in us. 

Relating to others begins with how I relate to God. Until I love the Lord with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength, I will be unable to fully express that love unselfishly to others. As I experience His love and grace, my outward actions of radical love will begin to transform my relationships the same way they did for those whom Jesus loved throughout scripture. The better the relationship with Jesus the better friend, better coworker, better spouse, etc, we will be.  

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible reveals that our relationship with God affects our other relationships. As Christians, we want to experience intimacy with God. Psalm 73:28 tells us, “…how good it is to be near God!” And we want to hear and act on what James tells us in Chapter 4 verse 8: “Come close to God, and God will come close to you….” (James 4:8). We serve a living God who wants intimacy with us. God wants to draw near to us. Sometimes we have a hard time drawing near to God which is why we should be thankful He works in ways that draws us, even when we don’t draw near on our own. In the same vein, we can have intimacy in our relationships when we make it a point to draw near the other person even if they are not drawing near to us.

But once we are kind of centered on Jesus, what does that change in our everyday life? How does that overflow into our relationships? So, if we want our relationships to look like Jesus, then they’re gonna have to be defined by sacrificial love. Our love is more often conditional than it is unconditional. We want every relationship to look more like Jesus, if I really want that, then my relationships, all of them, are going to be defined by sacrifice.

And so that we would love sacrificially. That we would love when it’s inconvenient to do so, and that we would love people in a way that looks more and more like Jesus. And when we understand that, then we’re going to begin to see Christlike relationships in all things. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. What causes a relationship to be classified as radical?
  2. What can we do this week to improve our relationships?

Hope For The Cynic

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:13

Have you ever been cynical at one time or another to one degree or another? We can go seasons of life being happy and grateful and then find ourselves bitter and crotchety.  Cynicism results from circumstances in our life that explode and make us jaded. Sometimes things don’t turn out how we wanted them to or how we expected them to and suddenly cynicism has a foothold. As we work to be a new and better person in the the next decade we will most likely have to face cynicism or despair in our life. 

The cynics thought they were winning on the last Thursday of Jesus’s life. They were certain they had the final word on Friday. They were in control. They had won. Cynicism had won. The disciples seemed to think so because they went home. But nobody saw Sunday coming. Nobody saw resurrection to life. Jesus stared hate in the face and met it with love. He confronted cynicism and despair and made it abundantly clear it wouldn’t win. Of all people on earth, Christians should be the least cynical. After all, the gospel gives us the greatest reasons to hope. Our hope isn’t based on an emotion or a feeling. It lives in a living Savior who beat death itself to rescue us. 

We have hope for the future, that we will be redeemed. Hope for the present, that we are not alone, but are loved and have purpose. Hope even over the past, that our failures are not greater than God’s power to transform. When we as believers speak of hope, we don’t mean a desire that may or may not be fulfilled. No, our hope is certain. Our hope rests on the finished work of Jesus. That hope is s stronger than illness, or an unethical boss, or financial hardships. If cynicism is knocking on your door, trust God. That’s the hope found in Jesus Christ. And that, in the end, is what defeats cynicism.

Amazing things happen when the full power of the gospel gets a firm foothold in your life. That is when transformation happens. You’ll realize that tomorrow can be different from today, and you’ll affirm the promise that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Imagine yourself in 2029. What’s happened to you in the years between today and then? Has your heart grown? Has it hardened? Are you alive and filled with wonder? Or have you become a little more cynical?  

It’s easy to be cynical. 2019 was a tough one for many people. It’s also easy to despair. But the new year and the new decade are full of opportunities and possibilities with the possible outcome being a new you for a new decade.   

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think makes people grow cynical?
  2. It can be so hard to trust again, to hope again and to believe again after you’ve stopped hoping, trusting and believing. How does Ephesians 1:15-20 show you that God will help you do that?

True Repentance: What Does It Mean?

God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.” – Acts 17:30. 

Do you understand what it means to repent? What does repentance mean? Briefly defined, repentance is turning away from sin and self and looking to God for forgiveness and salvation. One example in the Bible is the story of Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. 

If you grew up in church, you know Zacchaeus was a short person who because he was a tax collector was seen as a thief and a traitor to his friends, his family, and his people. But then he meets Jesus. Jesus wants to go to his house. Zacchaeus climbs down from the tree “and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.” (Luke 19:6)  In verse 8 Zacchaeus stands before Jesus and says, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”  That’s what repentance looks like. 

There is a difference between regret and repentance. A deep rift in a marriage isn’t solved by buying flowers. As kind a gesture as that is, what needs to happen is change. Regret buys flowers. Repentance confesses and seeks to change. Regret says “I’m sorry.” Repentance risks being hurt by saying, “Please forgive me.” 2 Corinthians 7:10 (TPT) says, “God designed us to feel remorse over sin in order to produce repentance that leads to victory. This leaves us with no regrets….”

Repentance carries with it the idea of changing; changing your mind, changing your attitude, changing your ways.  It’s not a fickle change of mind, but rather a transformation of outlook, an entirely new way of seeing things. It is a change of direction. We turn around. We go in the opposite direction, like Zacchaeus. 

Repentance is not a one-time thing. We cannot be free of repentance until we are free of sin. As a result, it is a daily discipline. Repentance seeks to be restored to a right relationship with God. I have grieved a holy God with my sin and I need to be restored to Him. We often regret our sin, but we fail to truly repent. Seeing the difference between the two can help us better understand the grace of the Gospel and receive the salvation offered by Jesus Christ.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How do you know if repentance is real? What does genuine repentance look like?
  2. What can you do this week to take up a posture of faith and genuine repentance? 

Ongoing Transformation

“…So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake. The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him home, saying,  “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.” – Luke 8: 37-38.  

Being a Christian requires change. It’s not enough to just claim to believe or say that you’re a Christian. There should be evidence in your life that you truly follow Jesus. You have to be transformed. The great news is that Jesus is in the transformation business. There are numerous examples of transformation in the Bible. 

If ever a person experienced transformation in the fullest sense, it was the man Jesus met on the far side of the Sea of Galilee found in Luke 8:26-39. The story begins in verse 22: “One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out.”  The Bible doesn’t tell us but you have to wonder if Jesus crossed the sea because he had a transformation appointment with someone who was viewed as a lost cause. Read the full passage with any kind of objectivity and you would probably agree that this case was hopeless, way beyond rehabilitation.  

Luke tells us “…for a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in the tombs outside the town.” (v. 27). In addition, the man was also possessed by demons. “Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power.” (v. 29). It just couldn’t get any worse for this man. He was shunned and alone. Things were bleak is a mammoth understatement. Then Jesus arrived. Jesus commanded the demons to come out of him.   

This man’s life was completely changed in a matter of moments. For the first time in a long time, he was in full control of his mind. He could think. There was no fear. No torment. Just peace.  

Our transformation may not be as instantaneous and dramatic as the changes in a demon-possessed man. It probably will not be a one-time event. The Christian life is one of continual transformation. God longs that we would be so open to the moving of the Spirit that we allow Him to continually transform us. So what does continual transformation look like? Romans 12:1 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” We serve a God who is always for us, and always with us. In His power and love, He wants to continually mold and shape us into His likeness, that we might enjoy this life for all it can be. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Where are you right now in your faith journey? Where would you like to be? 
  2. Jesus had no desire to let his disciples remain in status quo mode. Agree or disagree and why?

How Do I Get There From Here?

“Set your gaze on the path before you. With fixed purpose, looking straight ahead, ignore life’s distractions. Watch where you’re going! Stick to the path of truth, and the road will be safe and smooth before you. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked for even a moment or take the detour that leads to darkness.” – Proverbs 4:25-27 (TPT) 

One of the frequent sights after Hurricane Michael was traffic regularly coming to a standstill, utility trucks blocking roads, and spray-painted pieces of plywood standing in for missing street signs. Roads were overloaded with people who were trying to get home to assess the damage. You basically had big city traffic jams. Looking ahead to a line of cars stretching to the horizon was frustrating. There was nothing else to do but slowly make your way toward the horizon because the only way to get to where you want to go is to keep traveling the road immediately in front of you.

That is a metaphor for real change in your spiritual life. Transformation/change happens when we keep our eyes on the road ahead, if we do then we will get to where we want to go. C.S. Lewis said, “A glimpse of the road immediately ahead of you is more useful and important than a view of the horizon.” Sometimes we spend so much time wondering about God’s horizon for us and not paying much attention to the road we are on. Look at it this way: being godly is our ultimate goal for this year and through this decade. But transformation, becoming godly is the road that lies immediately before us. 

Transformation rarely happens overnight. It involves training, testing, and time. There are no shortcuts. We hear of people being dramatically delivered from drug or alcohol addiction, so we think to ourselves, “why doesn’t God do that for me? Why do I have to struggle with my negative circumstances?” God does grant instantaneous victory, but more often He leads us through a process that requires us to stay the course that leads to where He wants us to go. 

The enemy will do anything he can to keep you from putting one foot in front of the other to climb the mountain of spiritual progress. He’ll try to convince you that the changes that the Lord is asking you to make are too difficult, will not make you happy, and you’ll wind up a failure.  

God is committed to winning and developing the hearts of His people. Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God and with support from our small groups, our church would become more mature, more Christlike, and further along in our purpose 10 years from now. My prayer is the same for you: that in the next decade, you would grow in spiritual maturity and Christlikeness and purpose.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you have your eyes more on the horizon or on the road ahead? Why?   
  2. What can focusing on the road ahead help us in our walk with God in both the short- and long-term?  

Spiritual Makeover, Making The Old New

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18.

God never changes but wants to change us; God wants to transform our lives. God wants to do a new thing. He wants to teach us new things and lead us in new directions. When God does a new thing, it frequently catches people off guard and causes them to pump the brakes. Many of us use the past as a predictor of the future, so the new creates unease. Whenever we grow accustomed to things being a certain way, our comfort zone is shifted. It is hard to adjust to a new pattern. So, year after year, we get the same old thing, we naturally prepare for more of the same, when God’s about to do a new thing.

This is a good time to remember the potter and the clay.  “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18: 1-6)

Our life rests in God’s hand. Like a skilled potter, He knows how to apply precise pressure, when to relax His grip, how to nudge all of which I signed on to improve the vessel. At times, the Master Potter will do something new in order to mature, develop and conform us into His image. 

In these times, we forget that we may need to go down to the potter’s house and let Him do something new.  When God is doing something new we may only see our needs, and we forget our provider. We lose sight of Him making a way for us, and we forget that He is  “… about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19) 

When God is doing something new we don’t have to struggle or fret, but rather we can rest easy. He is in control. We just need to let go of the steering wheel and hand over our life. He’s doing something new, and instead of fear, feel excited. For the fact is, He adores you with such a special love that always has your best interest in mind. So when He’s doing something new, it’s to make you better. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does doing something “new” mean to you? 
  2. Was there a time when life’s difficulties forced you to trust God or seek him in a new way. 

Let’s Talk About Potential

“I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:12-13 

Throughout the ages, the deep, innermost desire of mankind has remained unchanged. Man wants to obtain the success that will create within him a lasting satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment. And certainly, the start of a new year and a new decade is the natural time to reflect on both our potential and our performance at reaching that potential.  

Paul tells us that “… I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) The Passion Translation says, “And I find that the strength of Christ’s explosive power infuses me to conquer every difficulty.” Do you really believe that you can do everything through the strength of Christ’s explosive power? It is a life-changing statement for those who are willing to live life as if that statement is true.  “I can do anything” is the true potential of every man and woman. While we all have different talents and callings in life, we all have potential. And in this year and in this decade, God is ready to reveal that potential to you if He has not already done so. He wants you to know exactly what He has equipped you to do in 2020 through 2029 and take full advantage of the possibilities in those years. 

Potential is in you. Like faith, God built it in your DNA. Hebrews 11:1-3 says, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”

There is not a person alive today who has not been gifted by God. No one but Him knows the potential – the untapped ability and unused strength – that is inside you. It simply needs to grow and be developed. Your potential is empowered by faith. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. Faith is needed to release our potential.  

Embrace the change you are trying to make in your life as a process. Don’t beat yourself up for not changing perfectly, succumbing to your fears, or taking baby steps. Allow it to be a process – with ups and downs – until you get to your finish line. Make 2020 the year that you surrender fully to Him, exercise your faith and realize your potential.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Getting stuck is a vicious cycle. Fear keeps you from taking action. Agree or disagree and why?
  2. Consider the changes you wish to make in 2020 and identify a simple step you can take this week to move you closer to it.

Imitate God in 2020 And In This Decade

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” – Ephesians 5:1-2. 

The Passion Translation expresses those same verses this way: “Follow God and imitate all he does in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as his beloved sons and daughters. And continue to walk surrendered to the extravagant love of Christ, for he surrendered his life as a sacrifice for us. His great love for us was pleasing to God, like an aroma of adoration—a sweet healing fragrance in heaven and earth.” (Ephesians 5:1-2 TPT)

Paul is telling us to be imitators of God. In other words to “be godlike.” The goal of Christianity, after all, is to produce people who are godlike in an ungodly world.  But that is a pretty tall order. It is such a tall order that it towers over us and we can easily dismiss it as being impossible. It is an impossible challenge to be like God.  However, Scripture commands it. Jesus says, “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Peter says, “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16). God calls us to be just like Himself.

This is certainly worthwhile, but a seemingly impossible goal for 2020 and the next ten years. But how do I do that exactly? The task won’t be as daunting if we break it down into chunks. Let’s start with love. 

“Live a life filled with love…” Paul is asking us to imitate God’s forgiving love into action in our lives. And then, to strengthen His instruction, Paul pointed us to the individual who can be an example of what walking in love looks like for us: Christ Jesus. A life that is like the love of God, will be a life of love. Imitating the love of Christ means we don’t love others part of the time, or as an exception to the rule or as a religious duty on Sundays. We are to love our neighbors, whether they live in our home, sit in the next cubicle or live miles away. We are not to love others once in a while, or as an exception to the rule, or as some kind of special religious duty. Rather, love is to be our way of life, our daily pattern of behavior. Imitation means loving as God loves.  

In the new year and new decade, becoming an imitator starts with asking God to help me discover more of what that means, with a hunger to know more of the purpose for which I have been made and asking how I can grow more fully into God’s image. When I love Him, I will be like Him. When I am like Him, I will love like He loves and be a reflection of Him to those around me.  

Discussion Questions:

  1. How can we imitate God? What aspects of God should we imitate? Why?
  2. How can we walk in love? What standard should we try to reach? 

When Faith And Fear Collide

“ Faith prompted the parents of Moses at his birth to hide him for three months, because they realized their child was exceptional and they refused to be afraid of the king’s edict.” –  Hebrews 11:23 (TPT). 

There is a story in the Bible that illustrates the intersection of fear and faith. Could there be anything that would scare parents more than what Moses’ parents were experiencing? Pharaoh, who was fearful of the rapidly growing slave population, had previously ordered the death of all male Jewish newborns. It was a death sentence for Moses. His parents hid Moses for three months, but their baby was still in danger. If Pharaoh’s guards had caught them, they would have executed the entire family. 

Imagine how carefully they had to live. If the baby cried at any time of the day or night, they had to muffle him while they tried to calm him down. They couldn’t risk having their children play with other children in the neighborhood, for fear that they would let something slip about their baby brother. If Pharaoh’s soldiers roamed the neighborhood looking for newborn baby boys, the family sat in silent terror. The circumstances of everyday life could not get worse for Moses’ parents; they had every reasonable right to be terrified. But their faith never weakened, and they were not afraid.

Could we live with such confidence? Could we live with such faith? We can live with faith if we remember that while our faith is tied to our daily circumstances, God’s promises, and provisions are never altered by daily circumstances. No matter your circumstances God is still the same. He will deliver on His promises. His provision is still more than we could ever expect. In the most terrifying moment of life, Moses’ mother and father believed by faith that God never changed. And they held on to this truth with every nerve-wracking, restless day.

Should we view the parents of Moses as being extraordinary? I don’t know. I do know, however, that the Bible is full of ordinary people with real fears and real pain that placed their faith in God, rather than placing their faith in their ability to navigate the rollercoaster of daily circumstances. Moses’ parents feared God more than men, had incredible faith in the midst of overwhelming odds.

The reason we need faith is that we will be scared.  It is in those times that we realize how much we need God. We lean on God, we depend upon God. You see, fear is always going to be a part of this thing called faith. But when faith and fear collide, faith wins the day.  

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you believe that faith overcomes fear? What would change if we believed that it did?
  2. What are some of the fears we may have when it comes to following Jesus? How does the Scripture answer those fears?

Face Your Fears With Fear

“I have never known more than fifteen minutes of anxiety or fear. Whenever I feel fearful emotions overtaking me, I just close my eyes and thank God that He is still on the throne reigning over everything, and I take comfort in His control over all the affairs of my life.”-  John Wesley.

The benefits of a life without fear hardly have to be stated. Most people would agree that the benefits of living in peace would be incalculable. But fear is a constant obstacle to living in peace. But rather than looking for suggestions and solutions to overcoming your fear and anxiety, what if you replaced your fear with fear. Yes, it sounds contradictory. But is it? 

There are several types of fears: fear that builds you up and a fear that tears you down, a fear to gain and a fear to lose. The fear that you want to gain is what the Bible calls “the fear of the Lord.” (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, and 14:27; Job 28:28; Deuteronomy 10:12; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 2:17 (all ESV)) The fear that you want to lose is the fear of anything and anyone else.

You could probably make a list of fears you would like to lose: fear of failure, fear of change, or fear of the future? Growing in the fear of God gives you the strength and wisdom to face your other fears. Our current sermon series is New You For A New Decade. Starting a new year and a new decade can strike fear in our hearts because we don’t know what the new year holds, let alone the next ten years. Yes, it is great to plan and even set goals, but the reality is we don’t know for sure what tomorrow will bring. The fear of the new, however, should not replace the fear of the Lord. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 1:7 that “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge…”

To fear the Lord is to approach Him with a reverent attitude of worship that regards Him as omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (all-present). Everything we see declares the existence of the unseen God. All that we know reveals the reality of the unknown. Creation reveals a God of wonder and boundless creativity. If no one ever told us there was a Creator, nature would demonstrate His existence. Our God alone is supreme. He is the Lord thy God, the alone and the above all. How often do we stop and reflect on how much bigger God is than our circumstances and our fears? In short, to fear the Lord sets Him in His rightful place in our lives as not only being greater but our source of hope, adoration, and wisdom. What then should we fear? 

Again, I don’t know what 2020 holds, but regardless of what comes your way this year, remember to fear the Lord. There will always be fears to face, but the fear of the Lord will help you face and overcome yours by focusing on the one who is greater than anything you could face in this life.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you fear and how does it affect the way you live?  
  2. How would a renewed fear (awe, reverence) of the Lord encourage you to face your fears? And walk in a manner worthy of the gospel?