Here is the video from this week's sermon.
James 3:9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
"As a disciple of Jesus...I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did." -Dallas Willard
I heard this recently and thought I'd share it. As our church has been talking about prayer, perhaps this story from Erwin McManus will inspire you to pray differently.
One summer Aaron went to a youth camp. He was just a little guy, and I was kind of glad because it was a church camp. I figured he wasn't going to hear all those ghost stories, because ghost stories can really cause a kid to have nightmares. But unfortunately, since it was a Christian camp and they didn't tell ghost stories, because we don't believe in ghosts, they told demon and Satan stories instead. And so when Aaron got home, he was terrified.
"Dad, don't turn off the light!" he said before going to bed. "No, Daddy, could you stay here with me? Daddy, I'm afraid. They told all these stories about demons."
And I wanted to say, "They're not real."
He goes, "Daddy, Daddy, would you pray for me that I would be safe?"
I could feel it. I could feel warm-blanket Christianity beginning to wrap around him, a life of safety, safety, safety.
I said, "Aaron, I will not pray for you to be safe. I will pray that God will make you dangerous, so dangerous that demons will flee when you enter the room."
And he goes, "All right. But pray I would be really, really dangerous, Daddy."
Our church is currently going through a book study called The Circle Maker. The goal of the book and the series is to help people better engage their faith through prayer.
As I have been rereading the book this week, I was struck by this quote...
"At some point, most of us stop living out of imagination and start living out of memory. Instead of creating the future, we start repeating the past. Instead of living by faith, we live by logic. Instead of going after our dreams, we stop circling Jericho." –Mark Batterson
Why is it that we stop dreaming? Why do we let go of the future, for memories of the past?
I don't know, be we do. But God wants more than that for us.
Jeremiah 29:11-12
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
It has been a long weekend. It still doesn't feel like it's over. From Friday to Monday, we've watched our new family service grow, we've launched our new small group series, we've visited the hospital, seen people get better and said goodbye to a courageous church member.
Church work can be very serious stuff, but sometimes we need to step back and laugh. So with that in mind, I share the following guide to understanding the beards of ministry...
A few weeks ago our church hosted a ministry called PACEM. During this week of ministry we housed 40 plus homeless men, helping them find clothes, shoes and a good meal.
However, this ministry works beyond the day to day issues that face the homeless. In the video posted below, you can hear the story of how PACEM is working to help thes men have a brighter future.
I love great speakers. I’d love to become one someday. Andy Stanley is one of the leading Christian communicators in America today and I am rereading his book Communicating for a Change.
There’s a line in his book that I want to share for those who are interested in becoming better speakers. Andy says, “I want to take one simple truth and lodge it in the heart of the listener. I want them to know that one thing and know what to do with it.”
Is it really that simple? Probably. But there’s so much to say? Shouldn’t I have 3 points in a sermon? Don’t I have to speak for 23 minutes? Well some of that might be true, but if we think about our listener first we’d realize Andy’s right. Most people don’t remember 3 points and most pastors aren’t talented enough to cover 3 points well in 23 minutes. Just saying.
I don’t exclude myself from that last comment, by the way. But I do want to use the 23 minutes I have as well as I can. If one point and one take away is the best use of my time, well then that’s what I should pursue.
That’s probably true for most of us. Yet, I still want to tell people more and more…when often I should tell them less and less. One simple truth, dive deep into it, and share what to do with it...
Here's a video about where some of our Christmas Offering is going...
Kingdom of darkness from imb connecting on Vimeo.
Brandon Ives