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Episodes
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
The Benefit of an Unhurried Life
2 Corinthians 3:12-18 February 12, 2023
I. Introduction:
A. Have you ever been in a hurry? Have you ever been busy? Hurry
and busyness go hand in hand. The busier we are the more our
heart spins out of control.
1. We know the internal feeling that goes with that as our insides
feel they are on steroids and it is hard to slow it down even
when our external activities stop.
2. This hurry and busyness becomes our “go to” excuse for not
meeting with the Lord or when we do meet with him, it is the
reason for a distracted time with him.
3. At times like that we are playing right into the hand of Satan.
Listen to 2 Corinthians 11:3
B. Today begins a series that is going hand and hand with the Sabbath
small groups we are doing as a church. We are calling it the
unhurried life as we attempt as a church and people to get back to
the simple and pure devotion to Jesus Christ!
1. Sabbath is all about stopping and resting from all the hurry and
busyness in our lives to refocus our hearts upon God and
reorient our lives around God!
2. The goal of this series is to break the addiction to hurry and
busyness and reconnect in a significant way with Jesus Christ –
our source from whom comes real life, abundant life, life
indeed!
3. Sabbath is only one practice for connecting with God that as we
will talk about a few others during this series!
C. Hurry and busyness have been hard wired into the world system we
live in. Listen to what a few others have said about it!
1. Alan Fadling, in his book An Unhurried Life, said “hurry is not
a disordered schedule but a disordered heart.” and “to walk with
God you must go at a walking pace…when I am most hurried, I
run past much of what God wants to show me, give me and lead
me into”
2. John Mark Comer, in his book The Ruthless Elimination of
Hurry, said, “hurry and love are incompatible … love is
painfully time consuming”
3. Corrie ten Boom said, “If the Devil can't make you sin, he'll
make you busy because both sin and business have the exact
same effect -- they cut you off from your connection to God, to
other people, and even to your own soul.”
4. John Ortberg said, “For many of us the great danger is not that
we will renounce our faith, but it is that we will become so
distracted, rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a
mediocre version of it.”
5. Let me add another danger that I have been guilty of. It is this
– equating busyness with significance.
a. I have to be busy and let others know how busy I am so that
both they and myself will think that I am important and
making an impact on the world!
b. I have especially wrestled with that as I face retirement.
c. For me I have seen the need for significance through
busyness as a sickness of my soul that God needs to deliver
me from!
• There are many benefits that come from slowing down our activities
and hearts but one of the greatest benefits is transformation at the core
of our being, a change that comes from the Spirit of God and last
forever! Turn to
II. 2 Corinthians 3
A. Let’s set up the context quickly
1. In 2 Corinthians 3, after talking about God having made us
adequate as servants of the new covenant, then he draws a
contrast between the glory of the old covenant and the glory of
the new covenant.
a. He teaches them that the glory of the new covenant “far
surpasses” the glory of the old covenant, the Law of Moses.
2. Then he moves to the story of God showing Moses his glory up
on the mountain but when Moses came down his face shone
because he was speaking with God.
a. So in a sense Moses beholding the glory of the Lord caused
him to get a tan on his face made by the radiance of the glory
of God.
b. But Moses put a veil over his face so the people would not
see the fading of glory of God on his face.
c. Then when he went back into the presence of God, his face
again would be tanned by the radiance of the glory!
3. Then in verses 14 -17 he says Israel still has a veil, which
prevents them from seeing and understanding, the glory of God
as revealed in his word.
4. Read v16-17
B. Now “we” come to the passage that relates to us today v18. Read
1. “Unveiled face” because we know Jesus that veil has been
removed from over our hearts so we come with an unveiled face
to behold the glory of God.
2. “Beholding as in a mirror” the glory of the Lord
a. People debate over the meaning of this
1. The context just before talks about looking into God’s
word would cause us to lean towards seeing God’s glory
in his Word as we read it.
2. But the tense of the Greek word would lean towards
reflecting something like a mirror reflects an
image. Much like Moses reflected God’s glory to those
around him.
b. Pat Peglow’s unique interpretation of this verse – as we
behold the glory of God, see him in his Word, our life is
tanned by the radiance of that glory and we reflect his glory
to others around us.
3. Then note what he says in v18c-d, read
a. With us rather than God’s glory fading away after we meet
with him, we are transformed by his glory!
b. Instead of fading it even increases all the more from one
degree of glory to the next.
c. All of this is from the Spirit of God
C. This is a very inspiring passage about the benefits of us meeting
with the Lord, and there are various different ways we can meet
with him and get a glimpse of his glory.
1. In other words, there are many different ways we can put
ourselves in a place where the Spirit of God can transform us.
2. Again, Sabbath is one of those but we will share in this series a
few others as well.
• So stopping to meet with God does amazing things within us that
impacts others around us as they see the glory of God reflected in our
lives! So in closing I want to tell you
III. My story
A. When I first came in touch with the impact that hurry and busyness
had upon my life it was many years ago but a lesson that has stayed
with me.
1. It was on a 10-day missions trip to Montana where two vans full
of people from MVC went out to help the Hunters in their
ministry to Indians.
a. So I was pulled out of normal life for two weeks while my
insides were running, noisy and shaking from the impact of
all the hurry and busyness in my life. Illustrate with my
body
2. I was a young pastor with a young family and was probably at
the height of busyness in my life with pastoral, parental and
marriage responsibilities.
3. On the first day there, Jim Hunter took Vince Galante and me
up into the mountains that were full of these trees and there was
a breeze blowing through them.
a. Jim said, “Do you hear that?” I said, “Hear what?” He said,
“The whistle from the breeze.” I could not hear it. I really
did try hard to hear it but nothing!
4. After ten days of being out in the middle of nowhere, where life
slowed down to a crawl Jim took us up to the same place again
before we left.
a. This time with a slowed down and quiet heart I heard the
whistle of the breeze immediately and clearly
5. The only difference this time was the condition of my
heart. Slowed and quieted it allowed me to hear the still small
whistle of the breeze in the mountains. Illustrate with my body
6. 1. I had to step outside of the hurried and busy life I was
living and slow down to see just how out of sorts and unhealthy
my heart was.
B. A slowed down heart will allow us to hear the still small voice of
the Spirit of God when we meet with Jesus.
1. A hurried and busy heart will never be in a place to hear the still
small voice of God on a regular basis.
2. Instead, he will need to hit us with a sledgehammer for us to
slow down to hear him.
C. Join us as we not only study this during this series but I trust as we
practice it we will experience deep connection with Jesus and
transformation for our own hearts!
D. Josh …
Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
Love One Another
John 15: 9-13 January 22, 2023
I. Introduction:
A. Jesus said some very radical things at times where you might
wonder did Jesus really say that. Did he really mean that?
1. What we are going to look at today could fit in that category
because the truth is so mind blowing you cannot help but say
“really?”
B. We are jump starting this year with a three-week series regarding
the new discipleship paradigm we are using at MVC. Pastor Mike
spoke of that last week as our three key lenses for looking at
discipleship is Be, Become, Do
1. Be with Jesus
2. Become like Jesus
3. Do what Jesus did
• This morning’s message we will see two of those lenses – being and
doing. Turn in your Bibles to John 15:9 where we find this truth ….
II. Being
A. Read John 15:9 –
1. Did you catch that?
a. In the exact same way that the Father loves Jesus, is the way
that Jesus loves us!
2. The words “just as” is a marker of similarity, comparison,
something being in accordance with something else,
a. Here the similarity, the comparison is in the area of
love. Jesus’ love for us as being in accordance with the
same love that the Father has for him!
b. In other words, Jesus loves each one of us in the same way
and with the same love with which the Father loves him.
c. So the kind of love which the Trinity shares with each other
is the same kind of love that Jesus shares with us!
3. Turn to John 17:26 where we see a very similar idea
expressed. Read.
a. The love with which the Father loved Jesus would be in us
as well.
b. So not only would we experience that Trinitarian love but
we would also express it back to Jesus!
4. As mind blowing as that is, and no matter how bad you feel
about yourself and what you think about God’s love for
you. This is how much Jesus loves you and me!
B. But the passage and truth does not stop there. Read 15:9c-10
1. This is the being part of the passage as we see we are to abide,
remain in Jesus love.
2. Abide means to remain. He is actually commanding us to stay
within the realm of his love. Do not step outside of that but stay
there and bask in it! Be in Jesus’ love
3. Then he tells us that the way we remain in his love is the same
way that he remains within the Father’s love – by walking in
obedience to Jesus’ commands.
C. So there is the catch – Jesus only loves me if I walk in obedience
and I have fallen way short of that. No!!
1. Note Jesus has already told us that he loves us in the same way
the Father loves him – that love precedes my obedience or
disobedience.
2. So while God’s love for us is not dependent upon our behavior
or obedience, the ongoing enjoyment of that love is dependent
upon our obedience. Read v11.
3. How many of you have been to Niagara Falls before? God’s
love is like the falls - his extravagant love lavished upon us
a. But as we move away from the Falls to the parking lot and
drive away we are no longer under the influence of that
splash or mist.
b. There are only two ways to walk away from experiencing
the joy of God’s love being lavished on us.
1. Rather than remaining in it, staying there and enjoying
Jesus’ love we try to earn it.
2. The other is blatant disobedience.
a. A little stumble or mistake or the growing pains of a
Christian learning to walk with Jesus is not what he
is referring to here.
b. But rather an intentional turning my back on and
walking away from him in disobedience.
i. Then guilt and shame take over rather than the
enjoyment of Jesus’ love for us!
• Next is the doing portion of the passage as Jesus tells us what we are
to do with this amazing love we are to remain within.
III. Do
A. Jesus takes this teaching a step further in the next verse. Listen
1. Read v 12
2. This special kind of love is not just something that is between
me and Jesus but actually is supposed to spread to one another.
a. The exact same kind of love with which the Father loves
Jesus, is the exact kind of love with which Jesus loves us and
is the exact kind of love with which we are to love one
another in the body of Christ.
b. This amazing kind of love starts with the Father to Jesus and
from Jesus to us and from us to one another!
B. We see this same truth earlier when Jesus was speaking to
them. Read John 13:34
1. The newness of the command is not to love one another that
they had heard before.
2. The newness of the command is the standard that Jesus attaches
to that love – love one another just as, in the same way that I
love you!
C. Then he finally explains what this love looks like.
1. Read v13
2. This love is a sacrificial love. A love that cost you personally in
order for you to bless/benefit someone else
3. Just like it cost the Father the sacrifice of his own Son to love us
it will cost us the sacrifice of something precious to us to love
each other in the same way that God loved Jesus and Jesus loves
us!!!!
D. So this whole section could be summarized like this “Jesus loves us
the same way the Father loves him thus we should love each other
like that as well!”
• So what do we do with all of this?
IV. Application
A. If you are struggling personally with enjoying God’s love for you –
you need to know that the ability to experience and enjoy this kind
of love is a work of the Holy Spirit deep within one’s heart which
comes about in the context of prayer.
1. Read Ephesians 3:14-19.
2. If you are personally struggling with experiencing God’s love at
the core of your being more than trying to figure it out, counsel
it out or even study it out begin to pray about the Holy Spirit
doing this supernatural work in your life.
3. Romans 5:5 tells us it is the Holy Spirit who pours out within
our hearts the very love that God has for us! Romans 5:5
B. This is a very high standard regarding the way we love one another
– the same way he loved us. That bar is set too high for me and I
have failed at that many times.
1. The capability to love like that does not come from me but it is
within me. Maybe better said than “it” is within me – “he” is
within me – the Spirit of Jesus expresses his very love through
me to others!
2. It is Christ living in me. It is Jesus expressing his love through
me. Read Galatians 2:20
3. So what I do is walk moment by moment not trying hard to love
like Jesus did but rather trusting and depending upon the one
who lives in me to express that through me.
C. A special word for MVC regarding loving others – Paul tells the
church in 1 Thessalonians 4:10 that they are loving one another
well but he wanted them to excel still the more in their love! I
believe MVC is doing it well but I also want to encourage us to
excel still the more in our love.
1. Often I hear people tell me what a welcoming and friendly place
MVC is. I think it is true! But there is a big difference
between a church that is friendly and good at loving our friends
and one where people can actually make friends that they can
build relationships with and loving those who are outside our
circles (who may have come to MVC for twenty years already)
or are new to MVC in just the last twenty days.
2. Actually the world can do that as well as we do! Listen to what
Jesus said – read Matthew 5:46-47
3. Our responsibility to love one another the same way that Jesus
loved us expands beyond just our friends and we need to be
available to love those outside our circles and those new to
MVC in a way that is more than just being friendly.
4. I can tell you from experience as a pastor who gets to know
those who are outside our clicks and those new to MVC there is
richness that comes to us when we include them in our lives and
circles.
a. Illustration of us being in missionary housing in the Amazon
(those younger not the online shopping link) coming out for
breakfast and Kim wanting to sit with these two older
women. I was too cool for the old ladies.
b. Turned out these two ladies were the ladies that followed
Elizabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint in living with and
ministering to the Acua Indians in Tonampare, Ecuador right
in the middle of the Amazon.
c. It turned out to be the most exciting and interesting breakfast
I ever had in my life as they told us story after story about
living and ministering in that place for decades!
D. Our Sabbath small groups provide an opportunity to learn how to
be with Jesus but a byproduct of that is the opportunity love others
at MVC who are new people to us that desperately long to
experience that love and connect with us; and for us to enrich our
own lives as we meet them!
1. Josh …
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Mortgage Burning - Looking To the Future
1 Chronicles 28-29 January 15, 2023
- Intro
- Please turn to I Chronicles 29. As you are turning I want to share with you an image that illustrates what we learned this morning regarding the ultimate impact that our giving has.
- 1t's like a kernel of corn, the seed-giving, is planted in the ground. A corn stalk is grown the plant; building, programs, events, services, which results in husks of corn. The fruit of people impacted, lives-changed, God's work and God's glory and from there it is multiplied as each person ministered to here takes that seed out to the world they live in and the process goes on!
- 2. That's the impact of our giving!
- 1 Chronicles 29
- Let me give you the context behind this passage.
- King David is aging and God is transitioning the kingdom over
to his son Solomon.
- David’s heart is to set things up so Solomon can thrive in building the temple for the Lord.
3. His heart is just like mine for our next senior pastor. Their situation is just like ours as a church
- So listen to what David says to his people 29:1 Read
- He says the work of building the temple is great because it is for the Lord.
- What makes a building, a program, an event or service great is
when it is done for the Lord!
- Then he talks about how he has given to it
- This section becomes a great example of 2 Corinthians 9:7 where it says God does not want us to give grudgingly or out of obligation, but rather he loves a cheerful giver!
- Read 2a - with all my ability, he already has given very large gifts to this work.
- Now in addition to that gift - out of his delight for God's work and house he now is going to give another generous gift over and above what he already given. Read v3
- Then he invites the people to join him in giving - but only those whose hearts are willing and joyful to give to this work! Read v5b
- First, the leaders respond willingly- read v6
- Then rest of the people responded by giving with joy, willingness and whole heartedly- read v9
- Today we are rejoicing and celebrating over the fruit of our giving- to them the very act of giving was a reason for joy and celebration!
So ...
III. Application
A Like David invites his people who were willing and joyful to join him in giving, today 1 feel led to invite you to do the same.1 do not want anyone here today to feel guilt or obligation. But I speak only to those who want to give willingly and joyfully to what God is doing here.
- I invite you to give because while today is a pivotal day of celebration for MVC, it is not the return of the Lord nor the end of our work and giving.
- We have two opportunities in front of us as we move forward in our transition
First is our weekly ministry offering!
- The reality is that our weekly offerings have suffered significantly since Covid hit. Last year alone we came around $230,000 short of our budgeted need
- When resources are not available it is no different than it is in our own homes - new opportunities and ideas normally start with no and you stop dreaming because you know you just can 't afford it.
- The second opportunity is with our switching our mortgage fund to building the future fund!
- Many. but not all, of the expenses for building the future are connected with the transition: training, coaching, consulting startup costs, special events, introduction meetings, retreat — staff and leadership, searching and hiring costs, baton passing salaries, ministry opportunities, and on…
- Bottom line, a smooth transition is extremely important for the health of MVC, as many churches trip up at this point and are set back for years.
So here are
- The opportunities
- for those who want to give with delight to what God is doing here. I would ask you to prayerfully consider the following:
- To begin or increase your giving to our weekly ministry offering.
- That is where our giving makes its greatest impact
- Those who have been giving to the mortgage fund like Kim and have - would you continue your giving but now to the Build the Future Fund
- Or if you have not been giving to that fund, you may want to join us in doing that above and beyond your weekly ministry offering.
- Finally - are there some who willingly and joyfully would
want to give a large legacy gift to impact the future to either our weekly ministry offering or Building the Future Fund. That would accelerate what God is doing here.
B. I love you guys and appreciate what God has done
over the past years through you and excited to see what he is going to do in the future years.
- Let’s celebrate!
1
Mortgage Burning - Looking To the Future
1 Chronicles 28-29 January 15, 2023
1. Intro
A. Please turn to I Chronicles 29. As you are turning I want to share with
you an image that illustrates what we learned this morning regarding the
ultimate impact that our giving has.
1. 1t's like a kernel of corn, the seed-giving, is planted in the ground. A corn
stalk is grown the plant; building, programs, events, services, which results
in husks of corn. The fruit of people impacted, lives-changed, God's work
and God's glory and from there it is multiplied as each person ministered to
here takes that seed out to the world they live in and the process goes on!
●●
2. That's the impact of our giving!
●
11. 1 Chronicles 29
A. Let me give you the context behind this passage.
1. King David is aging and God is transitioning the kingdom over
to his son Solomon.
2. David’s heart is to set things up so Solomon can thrive in building the
temple for the Lord.
3. His heart is just like mine for our next senior pastor. Their situation is just
like ours as a church
B. So listen to what David says to his people 29:1 Read
1. He says the work of building the temple is great because it is for the Lord.
2. What makes a building, a program, an event or service great is
when it is done for the Lord!
C. Then he talks about how he has given to it
2
1. This section becomes a great example of 2 Corinthians 9:7 where it says
God does not want us to give grudgingly or out of obligation, but rather he
loves a cheerful giver!
2. Read 2a - with all my ability, he already has given very large gifts to this
work.
3. Now in addition to that gift - out of his delight for God's work and house
he now is going to give another generous gift over and above what he
already given. Read v3
D. Then he invites the people to join him in giving - but only those whose hearts
are willing and joyful to give to this work! Read v5b
1. First, the leaders respond willingly- read v6
2. Then rest of the people responded by giving with joy, willingness and
whole heartedly- read v9
3. Today we are rejoicing and celebrating over the fruit of our giving- to them
the very act of giving was a reason for joy and celebration!
So ...
III. Application
A Like David invites his people who were willing and joyful to join him in
giving, today 1 feel led to invite you to do the same.1 do not want anyone here
today to feel guilt or obligation. But I speak only to those who want to give
willingly and joyfully to what God is doing here.
1. I invite you to give because while today is a pivotal day of celebration for
MVC, it is not the return of the Lord nor the end of our work and giving.
B. We have two opportunities in front of us as we move forward in our transition
First is our weekly ministry offering!
3
1. The reality is that our weekly offerings have suffered significantly
since Covid hit. Last year alone we came around $230,000 short of
our budgeted need
2. When resources are not available it is no different than it is in our
own homes - new opportunities and ideas normally start with no and
you stop dreaming because you know you just can 't afford it.
C. The second opportunity is with our switching our mortgage fund to building
the future fund!
1. Many. but not all, of the expenses for building the future are connected
with the transition: training, coaching, consulting startup costs, special
events, introduction meetings, retreat — staff and leadership, searching
and hiring costs, baton passing salaries, ministry opportunities, and on…
2. Bottom line, a smooth transition is extremely important for the health of
MVC, as many churches trip up at this point and are set back for years.
So here are
IV. The opportunities
A. for those who want to give with delight to what God is doing here. I would
ask you to prayerfully consider the following:
1. To begin or increase your giving to our weekly ministry offering.
a) That is where our giving makes its greatest impact
2. Those who have been giving to the mortgage fund like Kim and have -
would you continue your giving but now to the Build the Future Fund
a) Or if you have not been giving to that fund, you may want to join us in
doing that above and beyond your weekly ministry offering.
3. Finally - are there some who willingly and joyfully would
want to give a large legacy gift to impact the future to either our weekly
ministry offering or Building the Future Fund. That would accelerate what
God is doing here.
B. I love you guys and appreciate what God has done
over the past years through you and excited to see what he is going to do in the
future years.
C. Let’s celebrate!
Monday Jan 09, 2023
Monday Jan 09, 2023
A New Season Together
Various passages January 8, 2023
- Introduction:
- Last week I spoke about how a new year has a way of hitting the reset button on our lives to clear out the clutter in our lives in order to restart us with new hopes, new dreams, and new commitments.
- Today we are going to talk about the same restart with us as a church because as 2023 starts it starts for us a new season of ministry and transitions at MVC which should produce in us new hopes, new dreams and new commitments
- We are calling this year a new season together because the transitions and changes that we are going to go through will impact all of us and we will go through them together.
- The more of us who commit to go through these together the greater chance we have of our hope and dreams becoming a reality!
- There are many changes going on at MVC over the next few years and by our 80th anniversary, two years from now, MVC is going to be a very different church, but I believe very different in a good and better way.
- Last week we spoke about us individually not looking backwards in our lives and dwelling on what God did for us in the past but looking forward in faith to the new and miraculous thing God is going to do for us as individuals in the future.
- This is not only a posture we should take for our individual lives but also for our corporate life together here as MVC!
- Before I tell you what changes are coming, let me tell you how we have gotten to this place!
- These changes really started about four years ago as we were getting ready for our 75th anniversary and launching a spiritual initiative that was designed to help us be better in the spiritual formation of our lives and our outreach beyond the walls.
- Everything was in place and ready to go for a launch at Easter in 2020 then Covid hit and threw our whole world and our ministry at MVC into disarray
- In many ways, Covid not only hurt MVC as a church but also hurt many, many churches across America.
- But something good came out of Covid for us as a church. As we had to shut down all of our ministries and go to an online service for Sundays there was something very interesting that we realized during that time.
- We realized we were pretty good at holding events, programs and services but we were not near as good at making disciples of those who came into those events, programs and services.
- That caused us to begin to ask ourselves some hard questions about our ministries and the way we minister, and that has driven us since that time.
- These changes really started about four years ago as we were getting ready for our 75th anniversary and launching a spiritual initiative that was designed to help us be better in the spiritual formation of our lives and our outreach beyond the walls.
- Last week I spoke about how a new year has a way of hitting the reset button on our lives to clear out the clutter in our lives in order to restart us with new hopes, new dreams, and new commitments.
- So what are some of the changes that we will be facing together in this new season
- Changes
- First, there was one major internal change that impacts what we will be experiencing in the next few years!
- We have made a shift in how the staff operates by restructuring the staff team in a way that better fits our gifts and addresses some of the internal problems of communication, working in silo’s and even helps us better address being a multigenerational church that wants to emphasize reaching the next generation.
- Much of the discussions, directions, and decisions about what will be going on the next few years started and flowed from those meetings.
- That team consists of Mike Locke – executive pastor of ministries, Josh Weaver – executive pastor of worship, group lives and Eric Bihl – executive director of operations here at MVC. Finally, we were coached by our consultant Ted Vaughn
- Video of meeting that was captured – video of SLT meeting
- We have made a shift in how the staff operates by restructuring the staff team in a way that better fits our gifts and addresses some of the internal problems of communication, working in silo’s and even helps us better address being a multigenerational church that wants to emphasize reaching the next generation.
- Externally there are five major changes that will be coming our way this year
- Paying off the mortgage-
- This will allow us not only to retire a debt, a responsibility that we have had and pay off our building but also to begin to change our focus of funds to investing in the future building of the ministry.
- We will hear more about that and celebrate that next Sunday when we celebrate this together!
- Church registration
- We desire with this to find out just who is at MVC right now and who is committed to this body so we can even identify who we are, better minister to those who consider MVC their church home and build off that!
- We have a database of people that is literally decades old that has listed thousands of names connected to MVC. The nature of the software has limited our ability to clean it up
- But we will be getting new software that will allow us to find out who MVC is right now and not everyone that was ever connected to MVC.
- A new discipleship strategy
- It will be built around three key words – be, become, do. That is
- Be with Jesus – communion and union with Jesus
- Become like Jesus – transformation both spiritually and in our whole being, especially emotionally in these turbulent days
- Do what Jesus did – putting feet to our life with Jesus so as not just to be with him and more like him but be the hands of feet of Jesus to those around us.
- This will be the main paradigm we will be looking through at the ministry of MVC and looking through at our personal and corporate discipleship
- It will be built around three key words – be, become, do. That is
- Small groups – Josh share here
- Transition of leadership
- As I told you last week, our original plan was to have a new senior pastor in place by the start of next year so there should be a flurry of action that takes place here at MVC in that arena.
- While on one hand, I am leaving a privileged position of service here at MVC, one that I love. On the other hand, I believe from the core of my being, that MVC’s best days are ahead of us because of the foundations that have been set in place over the past year and a half, as well as the things you heard this morning
- Also, things like next week when we celebrate the burning of our mortgage, the fact that we can focus more on ministry and people opportunities than paying for buildings. I will share next week on the opportunity for us to build our future together!
- Paying off the mortgage-
- All of these changes will impact all of us and will provide all of us with a chance to grow as individuals and as a church. I also believe they all will provide for us a reason to celebrate.
- First, there was one major internal change that impacts what we will be experiencing in the next few years!
- So how do we respond to all of these changes? Turn to
- Ecclesiastes
- The first response is in Ecclesiastes 7:10
- Read
- To grieve the good old days and the way things used to be. This is a very unhealthy and unwise response to these changes and transitions
- The other response is to see God in all of these changes and look forward, as we learned last week, to the good new days! Turn to Ecclesiastes 3 where we learned early last year three truths about God’s involvement in everything
- Everything is under God’s sovereign control and timing Read 3:1
- God makes everything beautiful in its time even when we do not understand it. Read 3:11
- God works in everything in a way that causes us to fear him, to stand in awe and reverence of what he has done! read 3:14
- Yes, things will be different at MVC in the future and even this year but things will be better as we watch God do some beautiful things at MVC, in his timing in a way that should cause us to fall down and worship him for the things he has done. Repeat
- 2023 should be a great year of worship and celebration!
- The first response is in Ecclesiastes 7:10
- Finally
- What will these changes require of each one of us?
- In one word - ownership - that simply means I buy into MVC’s mission and where MVC is going, taking responsibility for and care about the success of MVC. MVC is not just a church, or their church but my church. You put your hands to and give your time, talents and treasures to the work, mission, the problems and needs of MVC as if they were your own.
- There is a big difference between just sitting in the crowd and being a part of, taking responsibility, caring about and putting your hands to what is going on. Let me illustrate that
- I was sitting at the airport in Harlingen, Texas with 25 people from our MVC team waiting for a flight to take us home from a missions trip we when they announced that the flight was canceled!
- My first thought was “I wonder what ‘we are going to do.”
- My first thought was “I wonder what ‘we are going to do.”
- About two minutes later it hit my mind, “I’m the senior pastor and I’m responsible for this group. It was not a matter of what “we” were going to do; now it’s a matter of what am “I” going to do.” Even though I didn’t know what to do, I immediately stepped into action beginning to find out what I needed to.
- Of course others jumped in and helped too because they realized this was not just my problem but our problem.
- That started three full days of juggling and changing -van rides, rentals, flights, hotels, sleeping in airports etc., to get all 25 home safely!
- I learned in a deep way at that time the difference between being part of the crowd to being an owner!
- I was sitting at the airport in Harlingen, Texas with 25 people from our MVC team waiting for a flight to take us home from a missions trip we when they announced that the flight was canceled!
- Great picture in John 10 of the difference between and owner (shepherd) and a hired hand. Which one reflects your heart when it comes to MVC? Do you distance yourself from the work, the needs, the opportunities and trouble at MVC or do you lay down your life, time, talents, and treasures?
- Turn - read John 10:10-13
- Which one reflects more your heart towards MVC?
- 2023 I believe is going to be a very exciting and fruitful year for MVC that will set us up for decades to come. The degree of our fruitfulness is dependent upon how many people move from being part of the crowd of MVC to being an owner!
Monday Jan 09, 2023
Monday Jan 09, 2023
A New Year, Something New
Isaiah 43-16-21 January 1, 2023
- Introduction:
- Transitioning from one year to the next always seems to bring with it new hopes, new dreams, new commitments (that normally last only a few days to weeks).
- It’s the one day of the year when we seem to hit the reset button on our lives which clears out all the junk that has piled up over the last year and gives us a fresh new start on the year ahead of us.
- That is the way it is for me and I suppose that is the way it is for most of us and it is even true as a church.
- Few would deny that the last few years has put a lot of clutter in our lives, minds and emotions!
- Some people get stuck in that clutter expecting more of the same this coming year.
- But God wants his people to look forward not expecting the same old, same old but rather expecting God to do something new, something miraculously new!
- That was his encouragement to the people of Judah in the book of Isaiah. Now we as a church, after the series People of Promise, are equipped to better understand it.
- Transitioning from one year to the next always seems to bring with it new hopes, new dreams, new commitments (that normally last only a few days to weeks).
- Turn in your Bible to
- Isaiah 43
- The book was written to the southern kingdom, Judah, to confront them with their sin and call them to repentance so God would bless them.
- Because they would not repent God told them of the upcoming captivity in Babylon into which they would go, but he also told them of the blessing they would receive if and when they repent!
- In the immediate context we get the setting for the passage we want to look at today
- Chapter 42 we see:
- A people who are unresponsive to God and his Word. Read v18-20
- Then we see God is going to give them over to his discipline. Read v24-25a
- Finally we see the response of the people even to this discipline that is yet in the future for them.
- Read v25b
- Even when they are under God’s discipline in Babylon they will not recognize nor pay attention to what God is doing.
- In chapter 43 the tone changes:
- In v 1-4 – God’s love and presence with them even in difficult times!! Read
- Then in v14-15 – God is basically telling Judah that while he will use Babylon to discipline them, there will be a time when God will judges Babylon and they will be captives. Read
- Chapter 42 we see:
- Now to today’s passage. Remember they are not in Babylon yet, but God is speaking to them about when they will be.
- God is reminding them of the way he miraculously delivered them in the past out of Egypt by opening a way for them through the Red Sea and then killed the Egyptian army by the same sea as they pursued Israel. Read v16-17
- Now here is God’s word for them as to how to think when they are in Babylon and it is God’s word for us on how we should think moving into 2023.
- Read v18-19
- Rather than like the last exodus from Egypt with God making a way through the Red Sea, in this future exodus from Babylon he is going to make a way, a roadway through the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give his people water to drink!
- The book was written to the southern kingdom, Judah, to confront them with their sin and call them to repentance so God would bless them.
- So what does this have to do with us?
- Application
- The action item for them in this passage is the same action item for us as we look forward to this year. Read v18-19a
- Do not keep thinking about and remembering the things God did in the past for you but rather look for new things God will be doing!
- Then watch expectantly for it! Read v19b.
- We have to let go of the old things before we can pick up the new ones, not just outwardly but inwardly.
- It is a transition into something, not just a transition from something
- (Illustrate it with a trapeze performer)
- This speaks big to me
- You have heard me say over the last few years that I am in the fourth quarter of my ministry. Well today starts the two minute drill.
- As I told you last year we hope to have a new senior pastor by the end of this year
- Now most people retire, to move from what they have to do to provide their livelihood; to do what they love and always wanted to do.
- For me it is just the opposite – I am doing what I always loved and wanted to do with people I love.
- So for me there has been some grieving and hard to let go of this.
- God, through some of his people, has challenged me that I am not retiring but reenlisting into a new way and new focus of serving and living life. I am not moving into retirement but into “life two”
- It has reenergized my faith to believe God for something new, something just as exciting, something just as joyful and something just as fulfilling in “life two”
- I have been intentional to focus upon God’s future goodness and miraculous working rather than on the past I am leaving behind.
- You have heard me say over the last few years that I am in the fourth quarter of my ministry. Well today starts the two minute drill.
- How about you?
- Maybe for you it is a transition in relationships, work, financial life, your health, inner changes, or season of life or even sovereign acts of God that change the direction of your life
- Like high school girl to a college student to a single woman, to your first job, to being a newly married woman, to being a new mother, a mother of junior high and teen, to empty nester, to grandparent to widow.
- All of these are times of letting go of the old/past and embracing the new/future by faith.
- Look at these opportunities as an invitation from God to embrace the changes, trust and watch for him do something new and miraculous in our lives
- Like high school girl to a college student to a single woman, to your first job, to being a newly married woman, to being a new mother, a mother of junior high and teen, to empty nester, to grandparent to widow.
- Maybe for you it is a transition in relationships, work, financial life, your health, inner changes, or season of life or even sovereign acts of God that change the direction of your life
- But in closing I want to challenge you to not set your mind on the golden days of the past and live off the glory and joy of those past blessings from God.
- But rather look to God’s future blessings, to do something new, something just as miraculous, something just as fulfilling something just as, if not more so, glorious and joyful to you!
- Take just a moment alone and consider what is one thing from your past that God wants you to let go of with your heart and mind and to grab hold of him and not let him go until he brings a new miraculous blessing into your life
- Then talk to him about it!
- The action item for them in this passage is the same action item for us as we look forward to this year. Read v18-19a
Monday Jan 09, 2023
Monday Jan 09, 2023
Love on Display at Christmas
1 John 4:9-10 December 25, 2022
Introduction:
- This Christmas we have done a series we have called the rest of the story as we have looked at other reasons Jesus was born other than the one that is most often referred to and that is “Jesus was born to die!”
- But the statement “Jesus was born to die!” is a very true statement
- “Jesus was born to die!” in order to forgive our sins, bring us into a relationship with God, and to give us a new and eternal life.
- The rest of the story behind that is that God not only loves us but he sooooo loved us!
- That means God loves you so so much to an extremely high degree!
- Turn to 1 John 4:9
- God put his love on display
- As I read this verse, we are going to see that God put his love on display for all of us to see.
- We are told over and over again in the Bible that God loves us but he also made it his business to not only tell us he loves us but to show us as well
- Read v9
- God displayed his love by sending Jesus into this world. That is referring to his birth.
- As I read this verse, we are going to see that God put his love on display for all of us to see.
- Love is one of those vague words that we know it when we see and experience it but it is hard to simply define but in v10 we see
- The ingredients of love
- Just like when we read the ingredients on the side of a food package so we know everything that food is composed of so in v10 we learn what ingredients that make up God’s love. Read
- The first ingredient is this: God takes the initiative to love us first and does not wait for us to love him before he loves us!
- We often call this unconditional love – where God places no conditions on his love. His love is not a response to something we do, but his nature is to love us first.
- As 1 John 4:19 says we love, because he first loved us.
- The second ingredient is this: God sent his Son. – we just saw in v9 that God put his love on display when he sent Jesus to be born into this world
- The third ingredient is this: read 10c
- Simply Jesus was sent into this world to die to satisfy what God required of us because of our sins.
- As we saw in v9, this has resulted in life for us! His death was for our benefit!
- So the three key ingredients of love are:
- Taking the initiative, making the first move to love someone else
- It cost something – love requires some kind of sacrifice just as it cost God to sacrifice his son.
- The third ingredient of love – it benefits someone else.
- Repeat those three benefits: initiative, cost, benefit
- So my simple definition of love: love takes the initiative, at your own expense to bless someone else!
- Now listen to what he says: read v11a
- God sooooooo loved us. – here we see that God’s love was a love – to a great degree, he loves us sooooo so much because he took the initiative at the great great cost of giving his Son to die for us so that we can be blessed with life
- Two applications come out of this
- First, v11 is using God’s love as an example of how we are to love others!
- Read v11b
- Will you, this Christmas day or this next week take the initiative, the first step at a personal cost to yourself to bless someone else!
- Second – read John 3:16
- God sooooo loved us in sending his Son and he sooooo loved us in sacrificing his Son for us so that we can live.
- This is all he asks of us – to believe, rely, trust, and lean on what Jesus did for you on the cross to give you eternal life.
- It is not what we do first but rather he took the initiative at the cost of his own Son to give us the gift of an abundant life now and an eternal life that goes throughout eternity!
- If you want to begin the journey of loving God, then begin by responding to his love gift this morning by trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin and for a brand new and eternal life!
- First, v11 is using God’s love as an example of how we are to love others!
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Expecting a Kingdom
Various passages December 18, 2022
Introduction:
- This Christmas we are looking at the rest of the story of Christmas as we learn that Jesus came for more reasons than just to die for our sins!
- Last week we learned that Israel was waiting for a king whom they called “Messiah,” the New Testament calls him the “Christ.” Even getting a bit closer to home with our personal lives, we call him Lord!
- You cannot have a king without a kingdom
- A kingdom is simply made up of a territory or realm, and people over whom a king rules.
- That means the kingdom of God is simply the territory, the realm and the people over whom Jesus rules as king.
- Therefore, at the first coming of Christ Israel was not only waiting for a king but a kingdom that he was going to set up as well!
- Today I want to try to better understand what the kingdom is turn to Matthew 3
- The kingdom is at hand
- Jesus and John the Baptist both began their preaching with the same message: the “kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
- Read Matthew 3:1-2; 4:17.
- Jesus and John were saying that the kingdom of heaven was so close to appearing that they could reach out and touch it, they could smell the aroma of it like a fine cooked meal in the next room.
- It is interesting to note also that neither one of them felt a need to explain just what that kingdom was or what it would be like
- That is because when they heard John and Jesus preach about the kingdom of heaven the Jew could not help but think about God’s covenant promises and what the prophets said in the Old Testament.
- The one that Daniel 2 would simply summarize as a kingdom that would crush all the other earthly kingdoms! Read Daniel 2:44 (note heaven)
- People try to make a distinction between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God –
- I think that is reading our current theology into the text rather than letting the text inform our theology!
- What they would have known is what we learned in the series of the people of promise and particularly the sixteen promises we summarized for you on the handout we gave you. Review quickly:
- Abrahamic
- a land forever
- innumerable descendants that would be
- blessings
- in his seed all the nations will be blessed
- God will be their God forever
- Deuteronic
- future repentance of Israel
- restoration to the land
- regathered from dispersion
- nation converted
- Israel’s enemies will be judged
- nation receive full blessings in the land
- Davidic
- king forever
- kingdom forever
- reign forever
- New covenant
- Spiritual blessings – forgiven, new heart, the Holy Spirit.
- Abiding material blessings in the land
- Abrahamic
- Jesus and John the Baptist both began their preaching with the same message: the “kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
- This is the nature of the kingdom that John the Baptist and Jesus were offering, this is the kingdom the Jews were looking for but something significant happened in Matthew 12
- The kingdom has come upon you
- Turn to Matthew 12:28. Context is that Jesus had just cast a demon out of a man and the Pharisees said, “He cast out demons by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons.” Listen to Jesus’ response. Read v25-28
- No longer is the kingdom at hand but now it has come upon them. Jesus said when he cast out the demon by the Spirit of God, and then the kingdom has come upon you.
- The Old Testament taught that during the kingdom the Holy Spirit would be doing extra ordinary works. Right here is one display of that.
- Listen to Luke 17:20-21 when the Pharisees were questioning Jesus as to when the kingdom of God was coming. Listen to what he said.
- Read Luke 17:20-21
- The word “in your midst or within you” cannot be referring to the fact the kingdom is residing in their hearts because Jesus was talking to a largely unbelieving group who rejected him!
- What Jesus was saying is that the kingdom of God is in your midst. The kingdom of God is standing right here, right now, right in the middle of all of you. The king and the kingdom go hand in hand. Where King Jesus is, the kingdom is.
- Turn to Matthew 12:28. Context is that Jesus had just cast a demon out of a man and the Pharisees said, “He cast out demons by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons.” Listen to Jesus’ response. Read v25-28
- In the parables Jesus teaches them and us the …
- Mysteries of the kingdom
- Read Matthew 13:10-11
- A mystery is something that has not been revealed before but now is going to be. New revelation comes in light of the fact that the religious leaders have just rejected and denounced Jesus, their Messiah.
- The parables are the mysteries of the kingdom!
- Jesus is going to tell them and us something new about the kingdom of God, and it is much different from the kingdom they expected and learned about in the Old Testament.
- The parables teach us the nature of God’s kingdom from the time of Israel’s rejection of him as their king until the time he returns to set up his kingdom here on earth, the kingdom they expected from the Old Testament.
- I will only read a summary of what the parables teach us about the kingdom, as it would take a whole series to understand it all. See passages in the notes!
- The parables teach us new features of the kingdom that have been in operation from the rejection of Jesus as Messiah by Israel and will continue until the judgment at the end of this age (Matthew 12:28; 13:30, 39-40, 49). During this time the righteous and wicked will co-exist (Matthew 13:24-30) and Satan himself will be very active (Matthew 13:39). At the end of this age, no one else can enter the kingdom (Matthew 25:10-13) and there will be judgment for the wicked and rewards for the sons of the kingdom at that time. (Matthew13:30, 40-43, 47-50; 20: 1-16; 25:14-30). The kingdom will start very small but powerful and will grow and advance until it surpasses all other kingdoms (13:31-33). But it is a kingdom of supreme importance and value, worth everything a person has (Matthew13:44-46). Because Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah /King, the kingdom is taken away from them and given to a people producing its fruits ( Matthew 21:33-44; Luke 13:28-29) the invitation to this kingdom will now go out beyond the people of Israel to many others (Matthew 22:1-10). People will respond differently to the word of this kingdom (13:18-23), since many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). Entrance into this kingdom will not be based upon bloodline or religious heritage but rather upon repentance and belief (Matthew 21:28-32). This kingdom will be an internal invisible powerful spiritual kingdom. It is a kingdom of receiving and giving forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35). Where Jesus is, the kingdom is, because the king and the kingdom go hand and hand. (Matthew 12:28; Luke 17:20-21). Because no one knows the day or hour when Jesus will return and bring a close to this age, everyone should be prepared, watching, and serving the Master by doing his will until he returns (Matthew 25:1-30)
- Jesus told his disciples that his literal earthly kingdom would not be right away but in the future, after the king takes a long journey and they will be rewarded according to their faithfulness during that time. (Luke19:11-27)
- Simply stated, the kingdom of God during our time is the rule of God by his Spirit over the hearts and lives of men and women. I believe the visible manifestation of this kingdom during this time that Jesus must be in heaven is the church.
- In reality, the kingdom has already begun but it is not fully here yet! Theologians call this already but not yet!
- The “already” part is the fact that since the kingdom is where the king is and the Spirit of Christ dwells in our hearts right now, then he is king over a group of people who have been born again by the Spirit of God. It is a spiritual kingdom “right now” where Jesus rules as king over his people.
- The “not yet” part is the fact that when Jesus returns to earth, he is going to set up a literal earthly, kingdom where he will be king over all the earth from Jerusalem.
- Application
- As believers, we are not just waiting for a kingdom but we are a part of God’s powerful invisible kingdom right now with our King Jesus ruling over his church as its head and over his people as their lord!
- Here is the reality that we live in. We live in the midst of two kingdoms, each with their own kings – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan- the god of this world.
- Each kingdom has its own program/system, ways, pattern, mold, basic principles, standards, philosophy, values, goals, methods, wisdom, viewpoint, loves, and use of its money. etc.
- The world puts constant pressure on us to squeeze us into the mold of the world we live in buying into its ways and values
- God’s kingdom is seeking to transform us into the mold of Jesus Christ.
- Each kingdom is vying/competing for our allegiance to its ways and its king
- While we are in the world, we are not of the world as God transferred us out of the kingdom of Satan and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son.
- Read Colossians 1:12-13
- Believers – which kingdom are you living by? Which one reflects more of your thinking, values. loves and lifestyle?
- This is not about how many Bible studies you go to, how many times you go to church or even how much worship music you listen to!
- This is about who really is your king and which kingdom is influencing your life.
- If you do not know Jesus, today you can transfer your membership from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Jesus!
- Turn and listen to what Jesus said in John 3:3
- You must be born again! Born again by the Spirit of God. Read John 3:7-8
- Turn to John 1 and listen to what John the apostle said in v11-13
- Note what it is not – read 13b
- It is by God through faith in Jesus. Read 12b
- Simple as ABC and invite