New Year... New Look...

Happy New Year!

As we come to a new year, we are changing the look of the blog.  It's time for a redesign, something new, something exciting.

A new year is an ideal time to make changes.  Are you making changes?  Any resolutions? 

Perhaps more importantly, are you allowing God to make changes in you?  I'm not talking about resolutions here, I'm talking about the new life God wants to bring to you.  When you put your faith in Jesus, He promised to transform you into the very image of Jesus.  But you have to let Him.

I.  How do you let God work in you?

You let God make these changes in you by putting yourself in places where He can reach you.  the Christian Disciplines are those places.  Daily devotions, regular church worship, daily Bible reading, and Bible Study with a group of believers, are all examples of places where God can work in you.

In Richard Foster's book, Celebration of Discipline, he outlines three major types of discipline, all designed to bring into a place where God will change us into the image of Jesus.

II.  What are these disciplines?

Foster's three types include:

1.  The Inward Disciplines:  including meditation, prayer, fasting, and study - these are the things you do by yourself, things that no one else sees.

2.  The Outward Disciplines:  including simplicity, solitude, submission, and service - these are things you do in the company of others, how others see your life of faith lived out.

3.  The Corporate Disciplines:  including confession, worship, guidance, and celebration - these are the things you do together with other believers, often in worship services or prayer gatherings.


So as the New Year starts, I encourage you to think about where God is working in you, and make sure you're letting him there.  Reflect on your practices of the Christian Disciplines - that's where God is at work!

Back to the new look of the blog - What do you think? Let me know, leave a comment.  I'd love to hear from you.

And I truly wish you the very best of New Years.  May 2014 be the best yet!

Steve

They Will Be My People

A couple of weeks ago I was reading in the book of Revelation, and I came across a verse that caused me to stop and reflect for a few minutes.  It was a familiar verse, a verse I had heard before.  It was in Revelation 21:3 – and it said, “I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

It was familiar because I had seen in the Old Testament.  In fact, this same phrase, worded the same way, is found five times in the Old Testament.  It’s found in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.  “I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  It’s also found, in different words, in several other places.  I’ve always thought that if God cares so much about something that he repeats it several times, it must be important. 

As I was reading in Revelation, I was reading about the new heaven and the new earth, what a splendid place it would be, and it occurred to me that one of the things that would make it a splendid place was this verse.  “I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

I reflected on what that would look like, I like to try to visualize these verses in the context of our times, what it look like today if all people were truly God’s people.  We can only imagine what that might be like.  I’m sure each of us have some thoughts that come to mind about what that might be like.  Some of our thoughts might be similar, but many our thoughts would be very different.  Overall, I wonder if we really can imagine.  I wonder if our thoughts would do justice to the glory and the splendor of an entire planet truly living as God’s people. 

I don’t think we can imagine what that would be like.  But we can imagine what it would be like if we were truly God’s people.  We can start there.  That’s what we’re really called to be, isn’t it.  We are God’s people.  We struggle and stumble as we try to live that out in our daily lives.  Some days are easier than others.  But still, we are God’s people. We can imagine our relationships if we’re fully turned over to God.  We can imagine God’s blessings if we’re totally surrendered to God.  We can imagine ourselves doing the things that Jesus would do if he were here.  We can imagine God working through us because we are fully open to him, fully surrendered, fully His.

There is a story about a fellow who came in deep distress to see his pastor. "No matter how much I pray, no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I'm losing my salvation." The pastor said, "Do you see this dog here? He is my dog. He is house-trained; he never makes a mess; he is obedient; he is a pure delight to me. Out in the kitchen I have a son, a baby son. He makes a mess, he throws his food around, he dirties his clothes, and he is a total mess. Who is going to inherit my kingdom? Not my dog; my son is my heir. You are Jesus Christ's heir because it is for you that He died." We are Christ's heirs, not through our perfection but by grace.

We are God’s people.  Live as people of God. 

What is church?

I think that we here at Almond Union of Churches can be very proud of our church.

Our Food Pantry and Samaritan’s Loft make a real difference in our community. Our Missions Committee is our busiest committee, and I think that’s how it should be. We show our love for others by actions – physically caring for the people around us.

In the Confessions of a Small Church Pastor web blog, I came across this definition of the early church:

Church was a community, a refuge, a place of healing, a gathering of God’s people, open to others, driven by fellowship and mission, obedient to God, gathered for worship, inclusive of slave and free, innovative, sharing, caring, loving, powerful, prayerful, worshiping, gifted — an expression of the kingdom coming in the world now.

That was the model given us in the New Testament. How are we doing as a church? What should we be doing as a church? And even more important, how are you doing as a believer? Do you measure up to the standards set in the early church? Is there anything you could be doing differently to help others see the expression of the kingdom of God that is here now?

How can we make sure we are community, a refuge, a place of healing, a gathering of God’s people, open to others, driven by fellowship and mission, obedient to God, gathered for worship, inclusive of slave and free, innovative, sharing, caring, loving, powerful, prayerful, worshiping, gifted – all the things the early church was…

Play beautiful music - together!

I love music, but I don’t really play an instrument. I do participate in the church’s Chime Choir, and have a lot of fun with it. You certainly don’t have to be a musician to participate – it’s quite easy!

On occasion, when I struggle with a particular piece we are trying to play, I will sneak up to our balcony and pull out my two chimes, and work on my part. But the thing with chimes is that there are 30-40 chimes that are played in any given song, and the two that I play don’t sound anything like the song I’m playing when I’m practicing on my own.

I think that life is like that. When we are doing our thing, acting by ourselves, we have trouble seeing the big picture. One person can make a difference. But when that one person joins dozens of other people, so much more can get done.

One person working on a project alone can make a great project. But when two or three other great minds work together, new ideas come to light, and the project is much better as a result.

Our faith is like that, too. We can carry on a life of faith by ourselves. We don’t need church, we don’t need activities to keep us busy. We can lead a life of prayer and devotion with or without others. But when we come together, our faith can grow so much deeper. In the Psalms you will find a passage, “Iron strengthens iron.” We sharpen each other when we come together as part of larger body – a church body. Jesus understood how our faith can grow when we come together when he said, “Whenever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there also.”

You don’t need the church. But your faith can be so much deeper, so much more alive, and so much more real when you are an active part of a church. It’s as dramatic a difference as hearing my two chimes when I’m practicing alone, compared to the richness of 30 other chimes playing at the same time along with me.

If you’re living a life of faith alone, you’ll never know the difference until you come together with other like minded people. You will find them in church!