What I learned in Church on Sunday!

I had a great day worshipping and sharing in Bible study on Sunday! In Sunday School I was challenged to think about the Christmas story anew and I began thinking "What do i need to see in order to believe?" (The Shepherds saw and angel, Simeon saw a baby!) and "How do I respond when God calls me?"

During the Worship service I was reminded the the birth of Jesus means that Christ is sufficient to save everyone.

So, what did you learn in church this week?

The Advent Devotions

I noticed that a lot of people took the Advent Devotion Booklet on Sunday! I hope it gets used well.
If you are using it I would love to have feedback, either here or on the Advent Blog.

If you did not get the booklet, all of the devotions will be posted on the blog. I am currently putting them up one day at a time, but I may post a few at a time soon.

Merry Christmas!

The New Advent Blogs are Coming!

Advent is almost upon us!

The new advent blogs are going up this week.

Check out the pbcadvent blog here!

Marriage weddings and the second advent

I went to a wedding today and I was reminded of the apostle Paul's words that marriage gives us a picture of the mystery of Christ and the Church.
The Church is the bride of Christ. I am excited about the day when that Bride is honored and joins her groom at the altar! What a picture! Maranatha Lord Jesus!

we just need to get the message out...

I recently heard two guys on a radio station discussing whether it was a good thing or not that the Beatles songs were now a part of a video game ("Beatles Rock Band") The question was whether it was a crass way of distributing the music. The conclusion was that the Beatles music was so great the at it needed to be heard by this generation and this was just another method to get "the message out" to them. The guy actually said, "our methods are going to change, but the getting the music out there to this generation is the most important thing."

Are we as Christians willing to make sacrifices of our "sacred" methods in order to get the message out there to the next generation?

What do you think are the methods that some would say "diminish" the gospel? Do they really?

What methods do we need to engage to reach the next generation?

Psalm 106

We forget!

Psalm 106:6-7
Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have gone astray and have acted wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp [the significance of] Your wonderful works or remember Your many acts of faithful love; instead, they rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.
19-21
At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped the cast metal image. They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass–eating ox. They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,
(I added italics and bold)

The children of Israel forgot and did not grasp the awesomeness of God!

God's Mercy
Psalm 106:40-45
Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance. He handed them over to the nations; those who hated them ruled them. Their enemies oppressed them, and they were subdued under their power. He rescued them many times, but they continued to rebel deliberately and were beaten down by their sin. When He heard their cry, He took note of their distress, remembered His covenant with them, and relented according to the abundance of His faithful love.

God relented... according to the abundance of His faithful love!!!!!!
Praise God!

Come enjoy discussion of this passage in adult Sunday School this Sunday morning!

Psalm 105

verses 7-11
God is Faithful!
God remains faithful to the promise He made to Abraham:
1 The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
Gen 12:1-2 (HCSB)

God promised to make Abraham a blessing. God blessed the whole world through Abraham's seed - Jesus Christ.

God is faithful!

Paul says this:
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
2 Tim 2:13 (HCSB)

Thank God that His faithfulness is not dependant on mine!

Psalm 19

God is revealed!
His Glory
His Word
His Approval

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, lord, my rock and my redeemer. (v.14)

Come learn more in Adult Bible Study this Sunday!
9:15 AM at Parma Baptist Church!

Psalms

This coming Sunday (9:15 AM) most of our adult Bible Study (Sunday School, small groups, whatever) classes will be starting a study in Psalms.
Here are some tidbits to get us started!

• The word "psalm" comes froma greek word and denotes a song or hymn.
• The Hebrew word for the book is related to the word "hallelujah" and means "praises"
• Psalms has many authors, the most prominent being David who penned 75 of the Psalms.
• The book is called Psalms. An individual chapter is one "Psalm" thus you would say "Psalm 1," not "Psalms 1"
• Psalm 90 is said to have been written by Moses, and would date from the 1400s BC!
• Some of the themes found in the Psalms: Praise, God's power, Forgiveness, Thankfulness, and Trust.

Join us Sunday - the month of September will be on the theme "Singing God's Praises" and will focus on learning more about God.

James 5:13-20

Someone suffering? Pray!
Someone cheerful? Praise!
Someone sick? Pray and ask others to do so!
Sinful? Confess!
The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful!

Hope to see you in Adult Bible Study at Parma Baptist Church Sunday morning (9:15 AM) to finish our study of James!

James 5:7-11

Your future is secure!
Patiently wait for Christ's coming! Continue to be faithful and God will reward!
Let's not get into the blame game about the troubles we see, but rather stand firm seeking how god can be glorified through it all!

James 5:1-6

1 Come now, you rich people! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your wealth is ruined: your clothes are moth-eaten; 3 your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You stored up treasure in the last days! 4 Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the land and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned—you have murdered—the righteous man; he does not resist you.

James 5:1-6 (HCSB)

The rich unrighteous will be punished.

The rich think that they will store up earthly treasures and that is what will save them. Wrong!

The true riches are those who treat people with respect and do righteous acts. These people have been despicable and will get their reward - only it will not be their earthly riches!

James 4

It was a good lesson yesterday. A good reminder to reject worldly behavior and turn to God, seeking His will in our lives. how many times have I asked wrongly - seeking only my desires and not His! As we move toward looking at James 5 next week, what can we change this week to make it easier to draw near to God?

Visitor's Parking!

As a staff member of a church, one thing I don't get to do much is utilize the church visitor's parking. So this past weekend when I was away intentionally visiting another church, I was excited to be able to use the visitor or guest parking. I actually visited a church on Saturday night and another on Sunday morning. On Saturday I scored a great "first time guest" slot near the door. (If I ever go back there, I guess I won't get as close beacuae I won't be a first timer.) Sunday morning in the lot I was in the visitor slots were all taken. Dissappointing, but what a great problem for this church to have. They need more visitor parking!

It was interesting to "secret shop" a church. All along the way when they did something good, i was asking - "Are we doing that a PBC?" and when something went wrong, I wondered, "Are we doing that at PBC?"

All in all it was a great experience. I think I learned a lot. Perhaps as I process it all, I will share more.

Words are powerful

Just read an article from "Plugged In" about "under cover cursing." You can read it here.
I liked the second to last paragraph. Bottom line... cursing is offensive, unneeded, and lazy.
It is interesting how often as a youth minister the conversation has rolled around to swear words and how often the phrase "they are just words" comes up. Words are powerful. They conjer up images and thoughts and lead to actions. Even liberal non-religious people like the MPAA ratings folks and the FCC have deemed some words as too offensive. They get it. Some words should just not be said. So in today's media, other words are being exchanged for THE words. But the words lead you back to the original context.

The use in the media has already moved to common language. Good church kids have picked up on the "under cover" cursing. Words are coming out of kids mouths as descriptors even when discussing prayer, Bible study and devotions. ( "It's my turn to do the ****ing devotion." etc.) Cursing is not the end of the world. But it is part of the slippery slope that allows us to be taken further away from a God who is wholly pure and righteous and has not offensive way in Him.
I don't know about you, but I want to be like Him.

Cursing is offensive, unneeded, and lazy. And it is very unlike Christ.

SBConvention

I attended the Southern Baptist Convention this week with thousands of others.
I was encourged to see the system work to allow voices to be heard and to move along when things needed to move along.
I appreciate the idea of a "great commission resurgence" though I am still not completely sure what it all means. Besides, Who can vote against the great commission and who wants to debate Al Mohler anyway...
I liked the preaching I heard and enjoyed worship
I was challenged to think globally and to think locally - to give and to share my faith
I appreciate more being who I am - a Southern Baptist.

Vacation Bible School

Wow! Another year of VBS is almost over - Celebration Service is Sunday!
An average of around 140 kids coming every day. A total of around 180 kids and close to 100 families impacted for the gospel.
Of course it is not about numbers but rather names and lives impacted.
Praise the Lord!

I would love to see every family that came to VBS as a regular part of our church fellowship. Wouldn't it be fun to have 140 kids in Sunday School every Sunday morning? Is this such a crazy dream? Then maybe our VBS would move up to 300 or 500 and we would seek to keep reaching.

As we said all week... It all comes back to Jesus. Jesus loves these kids, their moms and dads and families! Let's continue to let Him love them through us!

"You're thinking about this all wrong."

School levy did not pass. Bummer.
I think it's because people are thinking about it all wrong. Like George Bailey said in "It's a Wonderful Life." (see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Er69b4HMl8 )




See the thing about this whole idea of raising our taxes to help our schools benefits everyone. Your money isn't just going to the schools - your money is in my kid, and that kid over there and that other kid. This money would have improved our schools to make our community better. People look at schools when considering a move. Your property values are affected.

A couple of hundred dollars a year would have gone a long way.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go, work in the vineyard today.’ 29 “He answered, ‘I don’t want to!’ Yet later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. “ ‘I will, sir,’ he answered. But he didn’t go. 31 “Which of the two did his father’s will?” “The first,” they said. Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you! 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him, but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him. Matt 21:28-32 (HCSB)

Jesus, speaking directly to the religious leaders of his day, confront their pious attitude that they were doing the will of God. They had said they would do the will of the Father, like the second son, yet they also did not follow through. What would the language be for some religious people today?
“I assure you: Gay people and muslim terrorists are entering the kingdom of God before you! For they did did believe in Jesus, but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him. "

Being religious is saying to God: "I will do your bidding," but then not following through.

Mark 1:21-28

21 Then they went into Capernaum, and right away He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. 22 They were astonished at His teaching because, unlike the scribes, He was teaching them as one having authority. 23 Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, 24 “What do You have to do with us, Jesus—Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 25 But Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit convulsed him, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him. 27 Then they were all amazed, so they began to argue with one another, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” 28 His fame then spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.
Mark 1:21-28 (HCSB)

Authority.
Dictionary.com defines it as..."the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine."
The above passage presents Jesus as the One with authority. And people were amazed!
First, note that they saw his authority in His teaching (before he did miraculous acts).
Then He demonstrated His authority by commanding the unclean spirit.
Then they were even more amazed because not he teaches "with authority."
Jesus is the Authority. The issues can be settled with Jesus. He has the right to control, command, and determine direction for our lives.

Mark 1:16-20

16 As He was passing along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. 17 “Follow Me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people!” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in their boat mending their nets. 20 Immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.
Mark 1:16-20 (HCSB)

Jesus was intentional.
Jesus went to Simon and Andrew, James and John and called them to follow Him.
Jesus wants to change our attention from whatever we are focused on to ... people.
They left their lucrative business (they had hired men!) and followed Jesus.
What should I leave to follow Jesus?
What is He calling me to?

Mark 1:14-15

14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: 15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!”
Mark 1:14-15 (HCSB)
I keep thinking I am going to run into a really long passage to deal with and I keep getting these short full verses. Mark packs a lot into a concise statement.
Mark does not go into detail of John's arrest, just that the significance of it was that this was the point at which Jesus went to Galilee and preached the good news. Then he proceeds to give an example of that good news. Jesus says the time of the kingdom of God is here and people should "Repent and believe."

It is interesting to note what Jesus did not say.
He did not say " God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."
He did not say, "You need to accept me as your personal Lord and Savior."
These things are true, but Jesus said...
"Repent and believe."

The message of the good news of the kingdome is this.
The kingdom is here. Repent and believe the good news!

Mark 1:!2

The Temptation of Jesus
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels began to serve Him.
Mark 1:12-13 (HCSB)

Mark is short and sweet and to the point. Matthew and Luke describe the whole scene with Jesus and Satan, but Mark just says this. Acouple of things jump out to me:
1) The Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. Why else would He go? I mean it was not a fun trip. Jesus went becasue He was compelled. Do i listen when the Spirit seeks to drive me to a place I do not want to go or a place I know will be difficult?
2) He was tempted. Jesus faced the temptation of the devil himself and came out of it.
3) He was with wild animals. I never saw this before. I'm not sure it is that profound, but it is interesting. Mark is the only one to mention the animals.
4) The angels came and served him after the temptation. When we are tempted, whether we fail or defeat the temptation, it takes something from us, more than the physical. Spiritual battles are draining! Seek God for help in recovery.

Mark 1:9-10

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 As soon as He came up out of the water, He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending to Him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: You are My beloved Son; I take delight in You! Mark 1:9-11 (HCSB)

I wonder what it looks like to see he heavens "torn open" and I have also always wondered what it looked like for the Spirit to "descend like a dove." Of course we always see the picture of the the Spirit as a dove, but that is not what it says. It says it "descended" like a dove. It's flight down from heaven was like this graceful bird coming down. Or something like that. Anyway you look at it, this must have been one cool place to be on that day. How do you recover from that? I mean really. How does your average Eli coming out to watch the crazy preacher recover from seeing the heavens torn open the Spirit decending and God speaking. How do you leave and go back to normal. There is definately a new normal after that!

So what about me? What do I do when i encounter God? How do I dare go back to life as usual?

Mark 1

John the Baptist knew his role. He knew there was someone coming after him Who was the real focus.
How much better would our lives be of we recognized that what we do, we do for Jesus' glory and not our own.

Enjoyed Saturday Breakfast

I really like the Bible study leader breakfast on Saturday.
Our Sunday School groups are really cool.
Our Sunday School leaders are really cool.

I am looking forward to helping to find out how to better Invite, Discover and Connect through small groups!

limited thoughts

My thoughts have been limited lately.
I am still getting over the fact that Christmas break is over. Wow I love Christmas!

Busy-ness is setting in.