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Episodes
Tuesday Apr 04, 2023
Monday Mar 27, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Discipline of Solitude and Silence
March 19, 2023
I. Introduction:
A. I will never forget the first time that I experienced solitude and
silence at the same time. It was before I knew Jesus Christ.
1. I was about 18 years old. It was not an intentional time to be
alone and in quiet but a time that came because of a broken
radio.
a. There were many times before this that I was alone but I
always had some kind of noise around me, the radio, TV,
some kind of music.
b. However, one day I had to drive up to Michigan, which was
about a three and a half hour trip. When I got into the car,
my radio did not work. I remember that about the time I
crossed the Michigan border on interstate 94, for the first
time I recognized that while my car was quiet at the same
time there was much noise going on in my head, and for the
first time in my life I came face to face with my own
thoughts.
c. It was frightening to me because my thoughts were shocking
to me. It became a very disturbing and uncomfortable trip!
2. To be honest with you, until that day I was totally out of touch
with my heart and I did not know the truth about what was
going on deep within my heart because it was always buried
under busyness and noise! And it was not pretty!
B. I love the passage in Psalm 51:6 that God desires truth in the
innermost being.
1. This is a psalm where David is confessing his sin. Read psalm
51:5-8
2. We will never find joy and gladness only with external
conformity but must have a clean heart filled with and
controlled by truth!
3. Many have the truths of this book in their heads but there is a
big disconnect between what is in their heads and what is in
their hearts.
C. I remember many years ago that I was deeply troubled about some
lies that were spreading around about me that could destroy my
reputation as a pastor.
1. A group of leaders got together to pray for me and I remember
Pastor Bill Mills prayer as it was clearly from the Lord for
me. He said this “God, I am not so concerned about the lies
going around about Pat, I am more concerned about the lies in
his heart that he is believing”
2. Wow – did he hit it. The guy with a degree from Moody Bible
Institute, Dallas Seminary and preaching every week where
truth was filling my mind and coming out of my mouth but in
my heart there was a bundle of lies about myself and God that
were not consistent with God or his word.
3. I love what Psalm 15:1-2. Read
D. Frankly, this is my concern. I think that there are many good
biblical Christians here today whose lives are so busy, so full of
demands and responsibilities, so full of noise that they have never
come face to face with their own hearts before God.
• I want to speak to you today about two practices that can help us get
in touch with our hearts and ultimately with the Lord at a deeper level
than we have ever known before. The practices are called
II. Solitude and silence
A. Solitude simply means being alone and silence means quiet.
B. They can each be done individually by themselves but are best
done and most powerful when done together
1. Often they can become watershed moments where there is a
turning point in the course of our whole lives!
2. That happened to me a number of years ago when I was leaving
for work and I slipped on some black ice – did a 180 degree and
came straight down on my back. That hurt!
a. I was home laid up in my bed for a week and I prayed, “God,
if I have to go through all this pain please use it somehow.”
b. I decided that week to read while in bed – “Hudson Taylor’s
Spiritual Secret” and God met me powerfully and changed
my life from that time on!
1. He showed me for the first time not just in my head but
to see it with the eyes of my heart that Jesus lives in me
and is my life. And that the Christian life is not about me
living for Jesus but rather Jesus living in and through and
for me!
2. Trust me it is life changing when the truth of Christ
living in you moves from your head to your heart and
you realize that the resurrected and powerful God, the
spirit of Jesus is living inside of you to be with you every
step of your life!
C. We see some examples of life changing times like this in the
Scripture:
1. Hagar alone at a spring in the wilderness when God met her and
gave her direction for her future and spoke to her about the
future of her unborn son Ishmael (Genesis 16:6-16)
2. Jacob alone wrestling all night with God where God gave him a
new name and blessed him. (Genesis 32:24ff)
3. Moses at the burning bush where God gave Moses the mission
of bringing God’s people out of Egypt and promised to be with
him in that mission. (Exodus 3:1ff)
4. Elijah in the cave when he heard the voice of God speaking to
him in the sound of the gentle blowing (1 Kings 19:11-13)
5. Jonah watching Nineveh from afar and God confronting him
about his sin (Jonah 4)
6. Paul spent 3 years alone in Arabia after he was saved where
God personally taught him about the gospel and the implications
of Jesus Christ.
D. Definitions
• in solitude – seeking aloneness, in a place free of distractions
for the sake of reflection and communion with God along
with personal refreshment
• in silence – creating an atmosphere of quiet in a place free of
noise and the constant barrage of stimulation in order to
listen to God and reflect on spiritual matters and your life
E. Some of their values:
1. To break in our hearts and life the stronghold of busyness and
the need to achieve;
2. To gain a better perspective as to how the world and man’s
opinions has gripped your heart
3. To get in touch with the deepest needs and thoughts of one’s
own heart
4. To be alone with God to get in touch with God and hear the
prompting of the Spirit.
E. Here is a quote that inspires me that this practice is well worth the
time and effort:
• “Slowing down to hear God as you make decisions, will keep
you from spending years of your life painfully repairing the
damage of mistakes.” Jimmy Evans
III. Interview with Ava Perry
A. Ava, you have been trying to practice solitude and silence
recently.
1. Could you each tell us what your time of solitude and silence
looks like and how it contrasts with your normal life?
2. When you first enter this time how did your heart respond and
how long was it before your heart settled down?
3. What was the biggest benefit you received from this
experience?
4. What would you tell others who have never done this before?
III. Application
B. This can be as simple as taking your lunch break to taking a whole
afternoon away at a place like Lake Kathrine to be alone with God
to talk to him in prayer and meditate on his word and just reflect
about your heart and life!
C. John 10:10 says this
1. Jesus came to give us an abundant life, a life that was
overflowing and fulfilling.
2. Solitude and silence is a great practice by which we can shake
off the effects of all that the world and other people put on us
and take hold of the eternal abundant life from Jesus, which is
life indeed.
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
The Shepherd
Ephesians 4:11 March 12, 2023
I. Introduction:
A. Many of you do not know that Gary and I go way back and have
followed each other around for years.
1. I first met Gary here at MVC years ago as we both just attended
here, Gary was a newly married man working at the steel mills
and I was a single who started attending here after the military
2. While going to Moody I became the custodian here at
MVC. When I left for seminary, Gary took my place as
custodian as he was going to Moody.
3. As Gary worked here, they recognized in Gary pastoral gifts and
invited him onto the staff of MVC.
4. About the time, I graduated from seminary Gary was feeling led
to take on a senior pastorate out in Montana and moved out
there. I was invited to come back and take Gary’s position as a
pastor at MVC
5. When Pastor Bill retired from being the senior pastor at MVC,
he recommended me as his replacement and my first move was
to bring Gary Olson on the staff to take over my position, which
was his original position as the shepherding pastor.
6. Now Gary is retiring and I will be following him in that!
B. Gary has had an office next door to mine for literally decades here
at MVC. Because I know him so well and have seen him in action
I have had a nickname for him that I have called him for years – it
is “parexcelant”
Parexcelant is a use in Greek grammar of the definite article
“the”. It stands for a special class where they stand alone, a
one of a kind of thing or person!
1. Well, Gary is the pastor par excellent – as a pastor he stands
alone in a class of his own, a one of a kind of pastor!
2. Pastor Gary stands at the door every Sunday looking for new
people or someone who looks like they are in need and asks,
“How is life in your world today?”
3. Actually he does that all week with staff members, people who
come into the church and people within the congregation who
are hurting in some way or have been gone for a while whom
Gary contacts and pours out the love of Jesus upon them in
various different ways.
• Now that we know what par excellent means
II. What does pastor mean?
A. Actually, the English word pastor only shows up one time in
Scripture and that is in Ephesians 4:11. Turn and read 11
1. This is a group of special leaders that God has given to the
church, pastor-teacher
2. According to this passage, this will be hard for you to accept
Gary but I think the rest of us see it.
a. Listen – read v8, 11 – he gave
b. Gary you have been a gift to MVC and me from Jesus Christ
in the way you have pastored us!
B. This same Greek word is used in other portions of Scripture and
gives us a different window to understand the work of a pastor.
1. Turn to John 10:11 – this is the exact same Greek word as
Ephesians 4:11 – read
2. Could be read like this, “I am the good pastor/shepherd, the
good pastor/shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
3. Jesus is not only a pastor/shepherd parexcelant – he is the
parexcelant shepherd/pastor in a class of his own, a one of a
kind of shepherd/pastor! Read
C. The word pastor and shepherd are the same word in the Greek!
Shepherd is a figure of speech that is an image taken from the
world of caring for sheep to communicate a similar truth in the
world of God’s people, God’s flock!
1. When we look at the work of a shepherd as revealed in
Scripture we understand the work of a pastor!
2. I could take you to many many verses but let me summarize
some of what the Scripture says about a shepherd.
a. They seek out and bring back the sheep who have wandered
away
b. They tend to the needs of the flock, especially the hurting
and weak
c. They feed the flock so they will stay healthy
d. They lead the flock, especially with God’s word and God’s
heart
e. They protect and deliver the flock from danger.
3. I could tell you story after story of the way that Gary has done
each of these at MVC for the people of MVC.
D. So now that we know what a pastor is the big question is how do
we move on without pastor/shepherd/care-taker who has gently
cared for and led the people at MVC?
1. You can have the best preaching, best worship, the best vision –
mission and strategy and the best programs, but if you do not
feel like someone cares for you, you will eventually be gone.
2. As the old saying goes – people do not care how much you
know, until they know how much you care.”
• So …. I want to suggest three ways
III. How does MVC replace someone like Gary Olson
A. While we cannot replace the person of Gary, we can replace the
work Gary did as a shepherd by caring for one another.
B. First, by the elders along with the staff, because staff have many of
the same responsibilities and duties as elders,– living out the
following passages:
1. Passages - read 1 Peter 5:1-4
2. It is one of those times, you do not replace what one person
does with another person but you need to get a number of
people to do it.
3. Elders and staff – that is a responsibility that God has given us
in his Word.
C. One anothers –
1. That phrase that the New Testament uses to teach us the
responsibilities that we have towards one another in the body of
Christ. When you study it, you find that the bulk of it has to do
with shepherding and caring for one another.
a. Things like: being devoted to, subject to, teaching,
encouraging, admonishing, greeting, being hospitable
(loving strangers not entertaining our friends), accepting,
stimulating to good deeds, bearing with, serving, loving and
confessing your sins to.
b. These are all ways we are to relate to one another and if we
took on these responsibilities seriously, we would be well
shepherded as a body.
2. One of the best ways that can be done is by joining small groups
where we get to know others and have opportunities to care for
one another like that.
3. But not only small groups – if we are only friends loving friends
then we will fall short of what the Scripture is calling us
to! Each one of us needs to take on the responsibility of seeing
someone we do not know or who looks like they are hurting and
say, “How is life in your world today?”
D. Finally, every one of us needs to learn to rely upon the Chief
Shepherd to guard and shepherd our own souls!
1. Read 1 Peter 2:25
2. The spirit of Jesus works deep within us watching over our
souls, which are prone to wander and guarding us in deep war
within where our flesh desires war within our souls.
E. When a church’s leaders pastor/shepherd/care for their people like
that, and the people pastor/shepherd/care for one another like that,
and all of us learn to let Jesus pastor/shepherd/care for us in the
deepest core of our being then even people like Pastor Gary say I
want to be pastored/shepherded/cared for by a church like that!
Thursday Mar 09, 2023
Thursday Mar 09, 2023
Devotional Life/Quiet Time
Various passages March 5, 2023
I. Introduction:
A. What I am going to talk about today is a practice that Jesus did that
I think is the one practice of Jesus that most of us already do!
1. So my goal today is not to teach something that is new to you
but hopefully be able to add some new dimension or tweak it
just a little bit so you can excel still the more at it
2. Simply raising water temperature a single degree means the
difference between just having hot water and creating energy.
At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils and you
can generate enough force to power a train, a ship or a large
machine.
3. Thus I have made one of my life values this “to excel still the
more” to take something I already have and make it even better
B. So today I want to talk about our devotional lives, many call it our
quiet time, where we set apart time on a daily or regular basis to
spend time with God.
1. My hope is to maybe help you find that one-degree
improvement or a new and different aspect of it that can move it
from being something good to something that boils and
produces the energy of the Holy Spirit in your life.
C. For years, I had time set aside to do my quiet time with God where,
if I was honest, it fell way short of what I believe God desires of us
and what we learned last week is the purpose of these practices!
1. Remember last week we learned that the purpose of these
spiritual disciplines is an intentional wholehearted seeking after
God where we connect with him resulting in a transformation
that makes us more godly!
2. That is not what happened with me.
a. Instead, I spent time studying God’s word, getting to know
the text better and more accurately but never coming a bit
closer to God or meeting God through his word.
b. Instead of talking to God through prayer, I said my list of
prayers for others, the church and myself.
c. Instead of worshipping God, I was singing or listening to
Christian songs without my heart engaging and my mindelevating
God, telling him how true those words are about
him!
3. So it is possible to have a quiet time where I get the text right,
say my prayers and sing or listen to Christian music and never
connect with God in a way that I am transformed in the core of
my being by his glory and his Spirit!
D. We learned last week that Sabbath is a day or a few hours a week
where we stop everything, we are doing to connect with God and
ourselves in a way that we can reorient our entire life around
God.
1. That is a major gift that God has given to us to address the
stronghold that busyness and hurry has on our lives.
2. In the same way, a quiet time is a daily time where we stop to
connect with God to reorient our upcoming day around him and
to be recharged by his Holy Spirit.
• So to start we need to know that this was a practice that Jesus did that
would be to our benefit to imitate.
II. Jesus’ quiet time
A. Turn to Mark 1
1. Context –
a. Jesus had just finished a very full day of ministry – he taught
in the synagogue in the morning, after church, so to say, he
cast a demon out of a man. As a result of this, immediately
news about Jesus was spreading everywhere around there
b. Then he went to Simon’s house for lunch, he healed Simon’s
mother in law of a severe fever.
c. When evening came, they described it as the whole city had
gathered at his door bringing those who were sick and
demon possessed. Jesus healed many of the sick and cast
out many of the demons.
2. Now we come to the passage I want to read – Read v35-38
a. Now the way I would have responded is look at the golden
opportunity God had given us with everyone looking for
me. Revival has broken out; we need to take advantage of
this while God is moving. Or they would have found me
still asleep in my bed from being so tired from a long day of
ministry the day before
b. But Jesus – reread v35.
B. Turn to Luke 5:15-16
1. Context – this is another time where Jesus had healed a leper
and news was spreading about him.
2. Read v15-16
3. As demands and opportunities grew, Jesus’ response was often
to slip away into the wilderness to pray.
C. We even see in Israel a similar pattern
1. Read Exodus 33:7
2. Slip away from the busyness and hurry of everyday life to be
alone with God!
D. Four foundational principles to a devotional life
1. Often or regularly
2. Busyness, hurry, opportunities and things to do should not stop
us from doing this!
3. A place that is secluded (free of distractions) from others and
the busyness and hurry of life.
4. Do it to seek God.
• So with the time I have left I want to share with you
III. How I do and recommend others quiet times!
A. The goal: to enter the presence of God without any agenda except
to build my relationship with him and enjoy him. I want to listen to him,
seek after his agenda for my life, share my heart with him and worship
him
B. The method is one that Martin Luther, the great reformer,
used. We learn of his method in a letter that he wrote to his barber
when his barber asked him how he prayed. His prayer life was built
around praying through the Scripture. I call his method WAR
C. So the first thing Martin would do is capture the heart of the
text. Before you pray through a passage, you need to know what it
is saying.
So here is the process I recommend you do before you war through
the passage.
1. Capture the heart/big idea of this passage
a. Open with prayer – Psalm 119:18
b. Read and reread the passage.
c. Watch for key turns points in passages with conjunctions
d. Ask these two key questions
• what is he talking about – subject
• what is he saying about what he is talking about –
complement
e. Summarize the heart/big idea of the passage in your own
words.
2. Anything your heart is drawn to in this passage.
3. What is God speaking to you about your life from this
passage?
4. What are you going to do about what God is speaking to you
about?
D. Next WAR/pray through the passage
1. Worship, praise, and thank God from things in the text about
him and what he has done.
2. Admit/confess sin in your life that is inconsistent with the text.
3. Request/petition/ask God to do things for you in light of the
text.
IV. Communion
A. Communion is all about remembering Jesus and his death for us.
1. In preparation for communion today, I want you to turn to
Romans 5:6-9.
2. Listen as I read this.
B. What I want you to do to prepare for communion today is to WAR
through this passage. So in light of this passage
1. Worship, praise and thank God
2. Admit/confess sin in your life (ways of thinking, attitudes, and
actions, inconsistent with God’s love for you)
3. Request/petition/ask God to do (in your life in light of his
amazing love for you)
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
How to Attain the Unhurried Life
Passage February 26, 2023 1189, 1330, 1735, 2210
I. Introduction:
A. As many of you know, I am a very slow walker because of a
physical limitation that I have. My wife Kimberly, on the other
hand, is a much faster walker than I am.
1. When we walk together almost every time, we start enjoying
being together and talking but as time goes on Kim gets further
and further ahead of me because her natural walking pace is
about double mine.
a. Often she does not even recognize the distance between us
so I holler out to Kim, “If you want to walk with me Baby,
you need to slow down.”
2. You need to know that God is a slow walker! No one has ever
referred to our relationship with God as running or speed
walking with God but walking with God. If we want to walk
with God then we need to walk at his pace.
B. But we live in a culture and have been squeezed into its mold
where we are driven by busyness and hurry. We have thousands of
voices and ideas coming at us every day so, our interior life, our
soul, it not only runs out of control but also it is very noisy on the
inside.
1. As we learned a few weeks ago - in that condition, it is very
very hard for us to hear and discern the still small voice of God,
a God who walks slowly and speaks softly.
C. Sabbath is one way that God has given to us by which we can learn
to slow down to walk with God at his pace by stopping from all our
work, resting, delighting and worshipping him. But it is not the
only way.
1. One of the premises of this series is that we not only learn and
experience God by learning and following his teachings; but
also by learning and following his lifestyle, his walk. Doing
the things Jesus did, practicing the things Jesus practiced,
making habits in our life of the things of which Jesus made
habits. Many people call these spiritual disciplines.
2. In our small groups we are learning about and practicing one of
them, Sabbath.
3. In this series, we want to give that some larger context and learn
a few other key practices that will help us live an unhurried life!
• So today, I simply want to answer two questions: what is a spiritual
discipline/spiritual practice and why do we do them. First…
II. What is a spiritual discipline
A. Turn to 1 Timothy 4:7. Read.
1. The word discipline in the Greek is an “active present verb.” –
a. The “active voice” of this verb indicates that this is an action
that we actually do ourselves
b. The “present tense” indicates that the action we do is to
happen continuously or repeatedly so as to become a habit.
2. The word discipline simply means to train, which means to
make oneself prepared for something by repeated exercise or
practice.
B. There is a big difference between trying to do something and
training to do something.
1. How many of you, who have never trained for a marathon,
believe that you can get up tomorrow morning and run a
marathon?
a. I could “try” tomorrow, but I clearly will either fail or die
trying because I am in no way prepared to run a marathon
because I have not been training for it.
b. However, if we were to take the next year with a plan and
making space in our lives to train for a marathon, our
chances would be much greater.
2. Dallas Willard said, “Training has to do with arranging my life
around those activities that will enable me to do what I cannot
now do by direct effort.”
3. My very first Greek class my professor, John Best said this.
“That which you wish to do with ease you must first do with
diligence.”
C. So this is my definition of a “spiritual” discipline –
1. PBP - arranging my life around practices that allow me to
connect with God in order to experience God’s transforming
grace by his Spirit. Repeat
• So that answers our first question – what is a spiritual discipline. The
second question is
III. Why do we do them?
A. Look at what he says right here in 1 Timothy 4:7b-8. Read
1. Discipline yourself for “godliness” or another way to say it is
repeatedly practice disciplines that will make you godly.
2. Many of us will invest all kinds of time and energy into
disciplining ourselves for our physical lives, but little to none in
our spiritual lives.
a. Bodily discipline is only of a little profit but disciplining
ourselves for godliness is profitable for all things since it
holds a promise for both this life and the one to come.
B. Daniel pictures for us the goal of every discipline. Listen to Daniel
9:3
1. So disciplines are ultimately a way to seek after God with all of
our hearts!
2. Listen to what God promises to those who do so
a. Read Jeremiah 29:13
b. He promises we will find him when we seek after him in that
way!
3. As we saw a few weeks ago that when we find him and behold
the glory of God we are transformed by his Spirit more and
more into his image from one degree of glory to the next!
C. When we connect with God through these practices and disciplines
that help us pull away from hurry and busyness – things like - a
quiet time on a regular basis, or a Sabbath day once a week, or a
time of solitude or silence, etc. it is ultimately so we can reorient
our entire lives around him and live the rest of our lives in light of
that.
1. The Bible is very clear that God’s desire for our lives is not to
have special times carved out in our schedules for him but rather
wants to be at the center of our entire lives, all the time, in all
we do.
D. We think of the Christian life like a pie rather than a hub.
1. We cut a pie up into eight different pieces, which do not touch
or impact the other pieces. – so we give Jesus a slice of time in
the morning for a quiet time but it does not impact the rest of
the day, or we give him a day a week in Sabbath, but it does not
impact the rest of the week. Image
2. But a hub, like the hub at the center of a bike tire, is at the
center of everything, impacts everything else and holds it all
together. If that hub is removed for just a moment, the entire
wheel falls apart. Image
E. Mark Buchanan wrote a wonderful book on the Sabbath called The
Rest of God – Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath. I want
to read just a few things he says about this as it has been very
helpful to give me perspective
1. Most of us live afraid that we're almost out of time. We are not
short of days; we just need to number them a right.
2. Sabbath keeping is more than time management. It is a fresh
orientation to time, where we think with holy imagination about
how the arc of our moments and hours and days intersect with
eternity.
3. The Swahili word for white man is mazungu. It literally means
one who spins around.
a. That's how east Africans see westerners - turning ourselves
dizzy; a great amount of motion without direction; we are
people going round and round aimlessly –
b. Sabbath time invites us to stop turning round and round. It
invites us to remember who we really are. It is the necessary
groundwork for reflecting well our lives
F. This last fall, as Kim and I met with a man named Doug Slaybaugh
to talk about our future one thing he talked about were things that
refresh and renew us. We were talking about Sabbath when he
asked to me “When do you plan to start that?”
1. This is what I said, “I do not have time to do Sabbath right now,
my plan is to start when I retire.”
a. My thoughts were I will just drag on with this deep tiredness
and out of control heart until I have more time and energy to
do something about it
b. As the words were coming out of my mouth I felt the
foolishness of what I was saying as the Holy Spirit
whispered into my heart “the very reason I created Sabbath
was to be a gift of rest and refreshment in the midst of your
work”
G. The very first week back, on Friday I have begun to do
Sabbath. Put my phone away, do no church or sermon work and
not even work projects around the house. Rather a time to refresh,
renew, delight, workout, and reconnect with the Lord.
1. This has been the effect on me after four months. My schedule
and demands have not changed, actually in many ways they
have grown.
2. But, I can honestly say that in the midst of my demands and
busyness I do not feel as tired, I do not feel like my heart is
spinning out of control, I do not feel overwhelmed but instead I
have a deeply composed and joyful singing heart.
H. Let me ask you – are you too busy and have too many things to do
that you cannot take advantage of the gift that God gave to his
people – the gift of Sabbath a time to stop and rest, refocus and
reconnect, and delight!
1. A gift that not only impacts one day of your week but a gift the
transforms the way you live your live 24/7, 365!
2. No, it is not a command, it is not a law for us – it is just a gift
that God created for his people. As Jesus said, “the Sabbath was
created for man and not man for the Sabbath”
3. It’s a matter of wisdom! It is a matter of composure! It is a
matter of joy! It is a first step toward reorienting your entire life
around Jesus as the hub or your life rather than just as the one
who gets a slice of your life!
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 …