Core Value #6

Just got done preaching on VCC's calling to proclaim Jesus' victory over darkness to all people; it wasn't planned this way, but it is quite appropriate considering I just returned from a class on Mission.

The link to the sermon can be found in the title or right here.

Busy Week

I have a busy week coming up with the various ministries of the Church starting back up! What should I do?

Luther: "“I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer."

I would love to say that was my habit, but it is not (yet). However, the point is the same: No matter how long we spend in prayer, in order to get through the "busyness" we must first and foremost be people of prayer.

What kinds of things are you doing to insure a consistent prayer life?

Thankful

As I sit far away from the flock I get to tend, I am filled with praise and thanks for the opportunity God, the Chief Shepherd has given me.

I think the feeling can be summed up well in the words of the Apostle Paul:

"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

What a gift it is to serve you as your Undershepherd.

"Missio Dei"

Today in class we are talking about the fact that our God from the very beginning has been a sending God. In Genesis 3 right after our first parents sinned and brought death and condemnation to all, God promises to send One that will rescue us and crush the head of Satan.

In Genesis 12, God promises that through Abram, blessing will be sent through him to all. He is blessed to be a blessing.

In Exodus 4, God calls Moses and sends him to deliver His people from bondage.

God sent Joshua to lead His people, sent David to be their King, sent the prophets to proclaim God's word.

The Father sent the Son to proclaim the kingdom and pay for our sins, The Father and the Son sent the Spirit to empower His Church, and the Trinity sends the Church to continue His mission of rescue to His lost world (John 20:21).

What is God sending you to do?

Tim Keller meets Google

I've said many times that I love the book, "Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism" by Tim Keller. I've actually posted a lecture of his on this blog before. Today I found a lecture that Dr. Keller gave to Google of all places after the release of his book. Speaking of being a missionary to our culture, (which I brought up in my last post) this is a great example: No one represents the broader culture more than Google.

Ahh... The Midwest

Right now I am in the midwest (Minneapolis, Minnesota to be exact) and it is perfect. Usually when I come up here it's very cold and full of snow. About the only subject on people's minds is the weather and I probably talk about it well over a hundred times during the week. Therefore, when I arrive back home the first thing I talk about is the weather.

Not this time. It's about 65 degrees, blue skies and the people are all really nice. I participated in a Worship Service at our sister Church, Ebenezer Lutheran and got to have lunch at a really cool place called "Psycho Suzi's" (great deep dish pizza).

I am up here to participate in a class on what it means to view ourselves as missionaries to the culture where we live and I am very much looking forward to that. I'll keep you posted on different elements of the class this week and I'm sure I'll have some interesting questions to ask.

First question: What are some ways that you could be a "missionary" to the people where you live?

Using Unrighteous Mammon?

Interesting story came out a little while ago about a man who won 6 million dollars in the lottery and decided to tithe $600,000.00 to his local Church. The Church refused the money because it was lottery money.

So the question for debate is should the Church accept an offering from lottery winnings?

Death by Love

Pastor Mark Driscoll is one of my favorite Preachers in America today. He has a new book coming out called "Death by Love." Check out the preview video below:

Core Values 3 & 4

This week I took a little vacation, so I did not post the sermon from last week. So this week I will post both last Sunday's sermon on the "Hammer of God" and today's sermon on "How God Delivers the Goods"

Be interested to hear any feedback on the second message. This message is about what God does through the Word and Sacraments. Being that this is a different view than what the majority of Evangelical churches in the U.S. believe, I am sure there will be some questions. I'd be happy to answer those questions to the best of my ability in the comment section.

Luther on Communion:

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?
It is not the eating and drinking, indeed, that does them, but the words which stand here, namely: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins. Which words are, beside the bodily eating and drinking, as the chief thing in the Sacrament; and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins. (SC vi, 8; Tappert, 352)

What makes a Church "successful?"

I'd really be interested to read your comments on what makes a Church "successful." Is it the size of the congregation? The influence in the community? A great deal of Biblical knowledge? The Building? Something else? Discuss please.

Update: In the next day or two I will post my view on this question, but I am still interested in hearing from as many of you as possible. Is there really any such thing as a "successful Church?" If so, what defines it as "successful?"

Update, Update: I have had a request to keep this question open for a while longer and so I have moved the post to the top of the page again.

He knows what we need

Our God knows what we need. I've always thought it a bit strange that one of the commandments the Lord gave to His covenant people was a command to rest. Shouldn't that just come easy? After all isn't one of the "seven deadly sins" sloth? It can and does come very easy to be lazy, but the kind of rest God commands us to take is something of a perfect balance. He tells us to remember the Sabbath day. We are to work hard in our lives; we are to do everything to the glory of God in service to our neighbor, but we for the same reasons are to take time to rest.

One of the great problems where I live is constant busyness. Many people do not know how to sit still and enjoy the moment. As a result you have a culture of workaholics that don't know their spouses, don't know their kids and find themselves thinking about one thing all the time: work.

This week I'm going to enjoy the freedom that God has given me in Christ (He is our Sabbath rest) and take a vacation with my family. We're going to San Diego to play at Sea World, hang out at the beach and for a couple days, do absolutely nothing. So I won't be posting anything on here for the rest of the week. He is a good Father and He knows what we need.

Do Signs Matter?

This last week I purchased for our Church a new banner! As those of you know who attend the Church, we don't get to put a banner up for our Church until Friday afternoon. By Sunday night that banner has to be down. Since our building looks more like a government office building than a Church and cannot be seen very easily from the street, this can make it difficult to find us.

Without "good signage" can a Church survive? Please see Jesus' answer.

We are more than Conquerors....

The Evangelical world has been rocked a bit lately. Not long ago, Greg Laurie's son Christopher was killed in a car accident. Christopher was married with one child and another on the way. And last May, Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year old daughter, Marie was accidentally run over by their 17 year old son in their family's driveway.

This last week I have watched video of both of these families and have seen overwhelming evidence of the grace of God in their lives. Pastor Greg and his family held a memorial service this last week for their son and through it all they glorified God and praised Jesus' name. If you'd like to learn more about the situation you can go here.

Steven Curtis Chapman's family was featured on Good Morning America a few days ago and their testimony was deeply moving (especially seeing how there family has been held together through this: truly amazing)

They all have questions (as they should); they don't understand why they're going through this; in all of it they do know that there God has promised in this life there is a cross to bear, but one day there will be a crown. Thanks be to God.

Honk if you love Jesus...

I hope this guy didn't have a fish on the back of his car! A preacher from Cincinatti was accused of flashing a gun at a fellow motorist and cursing at her!

Here's the story: Preacher Nut

Question for discussion: Did this guy through his actions prove that he couldn't be a "true Christian?" Could he be a Christian and just have had a lapse in the flesh, or did he lose his salvation by doing such a thing? Interested to hear what you think.

Core Value #2 Sermon Audio

Last Sunday I preached a sermon entitled, "Why the Gospel is so Important" based on Church of the Lutheran Brethren's second Core Value:

"The Gospel is our treasure and our joy. We want the Good News of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ to be the centerpiece of our mission. All people need the Gospel. God’s children need to hear it again and again. The Good News is God’s power, which saves us, draws us together and motivates us for service."

You can listen to it here if you like.

Officer, they didn't give me mayo!!!!

I laughed yesterday when I saw this story.

Some of you may know that when I go to, it seems, any kind of fast food restaurant, for some reason the service I get is almost always poor. Something's missing in the bag; they charged me too much or it takes forever to get my food! My wife believes that the Lord has allowed these things to take place to teach me patience. Maybe she's right.

However, in order to get my sandwhich, hamburger, taco, or whatever it might be right from now on I think I will threaten the worker that I just might call 911 on them if my order is wrong. Maybe that'll work?!