Christ-Centered Acts 1:8 Family

Sunday morning retuning:  So are you putting your minas to good use?  If you were present with us Sunday you heard some compelling reasons to do so.  To hear those reasons, and tap into other resources click here.  Jesus gave everything He had to us, we should offer nothing less in return.  “All that I am I place into Your loving hands, and I am Yours…”  Rooftops, Jesus Culture, see below.

One of the problems with large organizations is that they can easily lose sight of the compelling vision of a better future that instigated their beginning in the first place.  Denominations are no different.  The leadership of Christian and Missionary Alliance has been trying to remind us of those beginnings and call us forward into what God had in mind for our part of the Kingdom work.  This weekend will be for North-Mar Church an opportunity to embrace this call again.

Our President, John Stumbo, will be with us sharing this passion in a variety of settings.  I am sure that many of you are aware he will be with us Sunday morning and you are looking forward to those moments, or at least intrigued with curiosity regarding the new leader of our movement.  I want to strongly urge you to join us for one or both of the other two sessions, Saturday night at 6:30 pm where he will share about the Alliance family, and/or Sunday evening at 5 pm when he will answer the question “Why Does God Allow Human Suffering?” having been very well-acquainted with it himself.

I am imploring you to come because I have been listening to his monthly video blogs over these first 14 months his presidency.  I have routinely found myself not only challenged by his words, but greatly encouraged.  He has the heart of a shepherd and you will find yourself at each encounter desiring to enjoy the goodness of Jesus more and more, all the while helping others to do the same.

In his series of blogs he laid out a case for the Alliance thinking of ourselves as a “Christ-centered Acts 1:8 family”.  [Intrigued, watch that video blog here.] I love that.  It is clear, concise and compelling.  It captures who we are, and points us to what we want to become.  I am confident each session this weekend will leave you feeling the same way, so I want to encourage you again, come to more than Sunday this weekend.  I implore you.  You will be glad you did.

Jesus, make us into the people You want us to be individually, so we can be the people You want us to be collectively.  We will be satisfied with nothing less.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

The President’s Coming!

Sunday morning retuning:  So are you asking Jesus to open the eyes of your heart today?  Do not be like the disciples who refused to see, but instead like the blind man who did as Christ responded to his plea!  What is your plea?  Where/how do you need to see Jesus?  Ask Him to show Himself to you in that circumstance today!

“We do not need smaller problems.  We need a bigger view of God.”  President of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Rev. John Stumbo.

This was a line tucked into a powerful message from our President in his monthly video blog for September.  He raised our awareness to the magnitude of the problems our world is facing, and asked us about unique challenges in our lives.  He took us to Jeremiah to examine how God spoke to the prophet to encourage Him in his struggle.  It was a powerful word for licensed Alliance workers, but which I truly will resonate with anyone connected to an Alliance work.  If you are interested, you can view the video here.

I share this with you for a few reasons.  It will give you a glimpse into this man’s heart who will be our guest the first weekend of October.  If you have not yet considered reading one of his books for sale at church, it might encourage you to do so.  

It also helped to pull together a number of themes that have been swirling in my mind for the last week, primarily discipleship and calling.  Now before you dismiss the latter to those who are called to vocational ministry, let me define the first as it was described at the annual conference of the Central District last week.  Here are two to consider:  a disciple is a follower of Christ who displays the character and priorities of Christ, and disciple-making is the process of walking with another in their Christ-like formation in character and priorities.

I assume the former resonates with you, and I pray the latter will as well.  I believe you want to follow one step behind Jesus, and that means displaying the character and priorities of Jesus, though that is not easy.  If you are willing to embrace that, then there is a logical next step.  You could sum up Jesus priorities in a number of ways, but let’s think in terms of Great Commandment [Matthew 22:37-40]  and Great Commission [Matthew 28:19-20] as we have dubbed them.  Love God and love others is a simplification of the first, and make disciples, the latter.  This is the calling of every Christ follower.

I was challenged by these definitions.  I want to be a disciple, but that implies that I will be making other disciples.  What does that look like?  It means simply helping others follow Jesus, even while I am still learning to do the same.  There are some ahead of me who I am following, and others behind who are looking to me.  It also, means I am even leading myself well.  I want to be making disciples, who are making disciples, so let’s encourage each other in this pursuit by answering a couple questions.

Who are you following?  I hope you answer Jesus, but who is in your life who you look to to help you walk through the process of becoming more like Jesus.  If you can not name someone, I want to encourage you to do so soon.  On the other hand, who is following you.  Who have you come alongside and said essentially, follow me as I follow Christ?  If you can not answer that one either, I want to encourage you again. Identify someone and do it.

I know we are all busy, but I want to encourage you to be more like Jesus tomorrow than today, and I really believe this is a part of how we partner with the Holy Spirit to make that happen.  If you are overwhelmed by this call, then watch John’s video above and be encouraged.  

Jesus, you have called us not only to be disciples, but to make them!  This is a huge responsibility, but whom You call, you equip. Fill us with Your Spirit, and use us for your glory.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

God’s Stories

Sunday morning retuning:  God has put some things in motion for us, since the foundations of the earth.  We who are His masterpieces, His handiwork, His craftsmanship.  Are you embracing the fullness of what God has in store for you.  Hopefully Sunday’s message and Adreanne Zeleny’s thoughts below will help you move along in that great journey.  [Thanks for being our guest contributor this week.]

Writing has always been a profound aspect of my creative life. I can recall writing and illustrating stories from the time I could spell proficiently, with the help of a dictionary close by (the days before Google!). I loved creating characters and bringing them to life through words and art. My stories involved anything from friendship to romance, and my characters were always different from story to story. After many years of writing stories, I began thinking of the possibility of writing a book. I learned that writing a book is much different than the short stories I was writing. Books need structure, organization, chapters, and most of all, a moral and a purpose. Then I began reading more obscure books to get more influence for the type of book I wanted to write. Some of the books did not even contain chapters! Others had chapters, but numbered them using prime numbers. These books came across as disorganized yet intriguing. If we think of our lives as being like a book, we can admit that our books are messy. We can admit the chapters are numbered funky and the whole book is disorganized. We can also admit that our book is downright confusing at times. But who would write such a muddled and messy type of a book?! The answer is God.

Each of us has a book written by The Almighty King in permanent ink. It is amazing how many books God has written. He has written one for each of our lives. Each book has a unique title, which is our name, inscribed boldly on the front cover. Every book God has written starts out the same with "He created this individual in His image", but every book turns out differently. Day by day, we turn the pages of our giant non-fiction book by LIVING what God has already written. Our books are not perfect; some may have fragmented sentences while some may have improper grammar. As we live the book God has written, we may discover our books are written one way, but we wish for it to be written another. However, we cannot use white out in God's library. We cannot change what has happened and what is to happen. Once God began writing, everything that was meant to be inside our book was written for a purpose, from the words we say to the life we lead to the actions we choose. It is important to remember that every book contains sadness, happiness, love, loss, and hurt but God's love ultimately prevails. Every book has a beginning and end, and our stories can have new beginnings, such as salvation. And every book has a purpose and moral, no matter how messy it may seem. The purpose of each of our books is to live the life God has written for us, taking it page by page. Praise The Great Author of our universe!

God's book for each of us is already written and has been since the beginning of time. The mystery is living page by page, or day by day. This week I found myself living in mystery and desperately hoping to skip pages ahead to see what God has in store for me. I have been eager in a particular situation and have been trying to speed up the process. In doing so, I have made mistakes along the way by not being patient. My impatient actions were already written and are part of God's book of my life. Although I may not have liked my impatient actions and wished I could have used white out to erase them, God's book of my life is permanent and unchanging - permanent and unchanging just like His love for us! The most important thing is to learn from what is already written and be patient for what is to come in God's great books for each of us!

Jesus, write a great story through my life. You are the Author and Finisher of my faith.  Help me to live in well, to the very end, all for Your glory!  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy