GODISNOWHERE

Christians actually celebrate Easter every Sunday. In fact, the resurrection is the reason Christian worship moved from the Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday. Followers of Jesus wanted to make sure the reality of resurrection stayed front and center in our life together as the Body of Christ.

We celebrated that yesterday.
Here's the video we used to begin the service.

Sunday's Coming

I wonder what it must have felt like to not know Sunday was coming. These people had put all of their faith and hope in Jesus and he was now dead. Think about today what it must have felt like to not know that Jesus was going to come back to life the next day. 

Do you remember what it was like when you first heard about Him and the hope he brings to your life NOW? Do you remember the first time you heard about the living God, the one who suffered for you and then was raised from the dead?

Your invited to come and celebrate with us tomorrow at 10:45 at Trinity Church, as we remember and celebrate what Jesus' real message is!

A Light in the Darkness

7-7:45PM Tonight.

Join us tonight as we focus in on the night Jesus was killed and his disciples lost all hope and darkness was everywhere.

What did that feel like to have their only light in the darkness snuffed out?

It's a powerful service and a powerful way to prepare for the joy and hope of Easter.

Short.

Sweet.

Powerful.

Nursery is available through age 5. Kids age 6+ are invited to join us.

A New Way to Live--Tonight Only!

7-7:30PM tonight only! (okay, that's a cheesy sales technique but...)

join us as we focus in on the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples and the new command he gave us.

Short.

Sweet.

Challenging.

Nursery is available through age 5. Kids age 6+ are invited to join us.

Pack the kiddos, the 'rents, the spousal unit, whoever, in the car and join us.

entering his last days

We are in the middle of what most christians call "The Holy Week." Tomorrow night we will come together for a Maundy Thursday service and focus on the new mandate or command Jesus gave. On Friday, we will have a good Friday service and focus on what Jesus did on the cross. However, at theGathering tonight we are going to focus on a simple act Jesus did with his disciples during the last supper, litterally hours before suffering on the cross.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas
Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all
things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel
around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash
his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. -John 13:2-5

After he washes his disciples feet, he then tells them to wash one another's feet.

What does that look like for us roughly 2000 years later?

I believe to serve Jesus to the benefit of another, shows the deepest level of love and humility. So, how can you use your talents, resources, services and life to serve one another? Maybe it means:

mowing the yard of the single mom in your neighborhood (for free)

doing the thing in your office nobody wants to do

doing laundry for your wife

helping the family out that you know is struggling financially.

I don't believe it was an option that Jesus was giving us. I believe he mandates or commands us to Love God, Love People and to Serve One Another!

Is That Really Possible?

We've been sending out verses from the Bible each day via twitter, and they've been a real help to me.

Like when the prophet Isaiah reminded me (after visiting a family who made the gut-wrencing decision to turn the life support off for their 6 month old) that "the Lord will swallow death forever."

Like the day I needed to be reminded by Paul that my humanity wasn't a challenge to God: "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive"

Or the day I needed to be reminded that love is to be the dominant reality of the way I interact with people: "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love."

I like being comforted and reminded of God's help and love through Scripture. They all seemed like (and were!) divine interventions in my day. God really does want to speak to me, to you.

But then the other day, Peter reminded me that Jesus "bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness."

Hold the phone. God wants and expects me to live in way that overcomes the still broken parts of my life? That seems a bit much, right?

Do I believe that? Do you? Do you and I really believe (in biblical language, really believe means really live that way) that is true? That God can empower us to overcome our brokenness and sin?

Friday we'll celebrate the fact that Jesus came to do just that.
If we aren't living it, I would venture to say the only explanation is that we don't really believe Jesus. Ouch.

Here's how Dallas Willard says it:

"Anyone who is not a continual student of Jesus, and who nevertheless reads the great promises of the Bible as if they were for him or her, is like someone trying to cash a check on another person's account. At best, it succeeds only sporadically."

Is your God to Small?

Yesterday, Scott gave a great challenge about How we view God.  For many people, the way they view God is not the God of the bible.  It was great to end the service with people breaking tiles with their wrong view of God written on them.  So...what is or was your view of God? What is your picture of God? Leave a comment on here and share with the community what you wrote on your tile if you were at the service on Sunday.

If you want to read more about this idea of, "your god is to small," check out one of these books:

Your God is to Small by JB Phillips 

The Deity Formerly Known as God by Jarrett Stevens

Is it about You or Him?

I love this quote from Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz.  He says, 

I was a fundamental Christian once. It lasted a summer. I was in that same phase of trying to discipline myself to “behave” as if I loved light and not “behave” as if I loved darkness. I used to get really ticked about preachers who talked too much about grace, because they tempted me to not be disciplined. I figured what people needed was a kick in the butt, and if I failed at godliness it was because those around me weren’t trying hard enough. - Blue Like Jazz, 79

I often wonder if people are stuck in the idea that Christianity or their walk with Jesus is just something they do..."if I just try hard enough" or "if I just stay away from those people or those places".  I wonder if we have forgotten that it is all about Jesus and what he has done for us and what the Spirit does in us.  I pray that through this week of remembering His last week, we will understand that it is about Him and not You!

Join Us

In a few days we'll be entering the time of year often known as Holy Week--the week Jesus was betrayed, crucified and buried in a borrowed tomb.

Along with millions of Christians around the world, we'll be having several services this next week designed to help each of us enter into the anguish and triumph of Jesus' last days as we look forward to Easter.

Consider yourself invited. Now share the love and invite a friend.

Start at Home

We're in a bit of an economic slump (in case you hadn't heard), with lots of finger pointing going on about who is to blame.

It's so much easier to blame someone else than to "start at home" and look inside to how I've contributed to the problem. While that's particularly true with the economic situation we're in, it applies to every aspect of life. It's part of what Lent does--it keeps us honest and reveals the degree to which we've contributed to our own problem.

If we can't honestly figure out where we are, we can't take any real steps forward in our relationship with God and we end up resorting to a veneer of spirituality and religiosity.

Gordon MacDonald suggests asking these questions (about the economic downturn...but they apply to any area of life).

Have I lived beyond my personal means?
Have I incurred irresponsible debt?
Have I lived indulgently, a lifestyle directed more by culture than by the influence of Christ?
Has my life's purpose been more about acquiring stuff than living a life of generosity and compassion?

Where, O death is your sting?

I attended a funeral today and I have to say I struggle at funerals. Almost every funeral I have gone to, no matter how well I know the person that is placed before us, I have a difficult time. I have been trying to process this today and here are a few thoughts:

1. I want my life to be about something! I don't want to live and then die and have a few people stand up and talk about how I was funny or nice or whatever. I want my life to be about something. I want my life to represent Christ and his kingdom. Am I doing that?

2. I think about those people I am close to that don't have a relationship with Jesus! I am forced to think about the what ifs? What if my friend never comes to know Him before he dies. Am I playing my part is God redeeming people's lives?

3. I am forced to be reminded that life is short! We waste so much time on some things that really don't matter and miss out on some of the important things. I want to be the best husband, best dad, best person I can be today. What do I need to do to accomplish that?

I always leave thankful that Jesus came to rescue me and to make a way for me to live in eternity with him. I am not really afraid of what is next, but maybe I am afraid of what is NOW! May you and I be who God has called us to be today, not just holding on until the "man upstairs calls us home."

An Upside Down Kingdom

Many people have described the Kingdom of God that Jesus preached as an "upside down kingdom." In other words, God's reign overturns and subverts every other reign.

Pretty radical when you think about it and not at all the tame, religious, non-world shaking thing that most people think of when they think of Christianity.

In the upside down Kingdom...

The rich became poor, so the poor could become rich.
The foolish confound the wise.
The weak are strong, the strong are weak.
Life comes from death, clinging to life brings death.
The proud are humbled, the humbled are exalted.
The last will be first, the first will be last.

What needs to be overturned in your life for God's reign to fully come in your life?

Amazing Woman

I can't read enough about Mother Theresa. When I think about somebody who attempted to live their life like Jesus, she is the first person I think of. She spent time with those who nobody else cared about. She touched those nobody else would touch. She loved those nobody else loved. This prayer is one that she would often pray and is one of my favorite prayers. It is my prayer for myself and my prayer for you:

Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, That our lives may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, That every soul we come in contact with may feel Your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as You shine; So to shine as to be a light to others. The light O Jesus will be all from You, none of it will be ours; It will be You, shining on others through us. Let us thus praise You without preaching, not by words but by our example, By the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to You. Amen.

What would it look like in your contect to spread His fragrance? What is it in your life that others see and see Jesus? What example can you be to your children or your spouse? What would happen if when people come in contact with us 'they feel His presence'. Oh how I long for that!

Ask Yourself this question every morning and night until Easter

One Question: What must I let go of to have an undivided heart for God?

"'Even now,' declares the LORD, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.'
13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing--grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, 'Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?''
Joel 2:12-17 (NIV)

HT: Rob Wegner

Living In His Story

This is a painting done by the artist David Arms and it depicts God's Story.  He describes it like this:

"God’s Story comes to us as a redemptive drama in four parts.

Creation—when everything was as God meant it to be.

Fall—the tragic intrusion of sin and death, resulting in the pervasive brokenness of all people and everything God has made.

Redemption—God’s astonishing promise to redeem his fallen image-bearers and creation through the grace-full work of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Consummation—the magnificent fulfillment of God’s plan to gather and cherish a people forever, and to live with them in a more-than-restored world, called “the new heaven and new earth.”

My question for you is kind of a difficult one.  ARE YOU LIVING IN HIS STORY?  Do you believe that God is the one who has or can rescue you?  Do you believe he is the one that can redeem your past?  Do you believe that there is a hope for you today? Not only are you living in his story, but do you believe you are a character in his story? 

Many of us believe we are in our own story.  That we are really alone in the game of life and if we just try hard enough or just catch a few breaks, then good things will happen.  I have come to find out for myself that this doesn't work.

So, will you choose to live in your own story or will you find yourself in God's story?  

The Kingdom of God

Our culture isn't set up as a kingdom, so Jesus' phrase "the Kingdom of God" sounds a bit foreign to our ears. But we do understand leadership and administration. For example, every four years, we elect a man (at least until this point) who instantly becomes the most powerful person in the world. His "reign" extends over what happens in much of the world.

Jesus meant this and more when he talked and prayed about God's kingdom coming. The Kingdom of God was his basic message. And it's what the early Christians meant when they said "Jesus is Lord."

Here's a clear and and concise description of the Kingdom of God by Mike Breen:

"God is in charge.
He loves you and is near to you.
What would you like him to do for you?"

Jesus communicated that message over and over, because he knew it was true and knew that people's lives would be radically altered when they lived into it's truth.

Stop and think about it. If that message is true, what does that mean for the biggest challenge you are facing right now?

Telling the Truth to Yourself

By this point in any Lenten fast, you begin to realize--through the discipline of fasting--that something has more of a hold on you than you thought. And you have to face the truth:
Why?

Why do you like angry words?
Why do you eat more than you need?
Why do you zone out in front of the TV for hours a night?
Why do you obsessively check your email/Facebook/Twitter/etc?


You realize that there is more going--to use my own fast as an example--than "just" a sweet tooth. There is a deeper hunger, longing, ache that to this point you've downplayed or outright ignored. And so, if you want to grow from the experience and see your life become more like Jesus' luminary existence, you must face the truth.

Thomas a Kempis said that if we are to become like Jesus Christ, we must learn to love the truth no matter where it comes from. A difficult thing, to be sure.

So what is the truth telling you?

When you understand this....It all changes!

"God doesn't want or expect you to get it together before you come along, because you can't get it together until you come along"

Anne Lamott in Plan B Further Thoughts on Faith

Video and Book from Sunday

The video we showed yesterday during the service:
"God of the Moon and Stars" by Kees Kraayenoord





The book mentioned during the sermon.
The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller
(The link to the books website also contains links to a sermon series Tim Keller preached on The Prodigal God if you want to explore further)

Overcoming Obstacles

I often tell myself that I don't know if God could really do that (feel in the that for yourself) with me. I can find pretty good excuses:

I don't have the resources.
I don't know the right people.
I can't speak well.
I am young.

What if we really believed that God could use us...that he even WANTS to use us?

In Chicago I learned about a man named Wayne Gordon who began a church in the Lawndale Community. He had to overcome many things to accomplish what he felt God was calling him to do: a change in jobs, his family thought he was crazy, at the time it was the 15th poorest neighborhood in the United States, he was white and the community was 90% black and 5% Hispanic. It would have been easier for him to do something different but following Jesus isn't about just doing what is easy!

We are a little over half way through the season of lent. What is God teaching you or challenging you with? Will you respond or will you give excuses.