Chutzpah

We concluded our series on "Parables" yesterday. I wish we could have taken more more time on the parables as there are so many of them and they are all so important. Yesterday we talked about 'chutzpah' faith. It is a bold, persistent, shameless faith that presses in until we receive an answer. Jesus taught in His parables that God is moved by this type of faith. There are times in our prayer lives that it seems that God is not listening and may seem that when we pray things don't get better but they get worse. It is in these times that people tend to give up. They may give up on prayer or worse yet give up on God. Jesus told us that it is in these times that we press in and hold on to the promises of God. Jesus said at the end of the parable in Luke 8 that we need to ask, seek and knock until the door is opened. I want to encourage everyone to not give up on whatever you are asking from God. God is faithful and He is moved by our persistent prayers.

Leaders Meeting

We are our first all leaders meeting on Sunday night and I am very excited about what the Lord is doing in our church. This past October I was challenged by the author of "Good to Great" to get the right people on the right seats of the bus to move the vision forward. I feel that God is definitely putting the right people in the seats. John Bushong has just took over our Christian Education and I am very excited about the possibilities of what we can do with Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and other events this year. My wife Jennifer is also doing a great job with our children's ministry department and we are moving in the right direction with new curriculum and a vision for outreach. Our youth team is becoming stronger and I believe that over the next few months we will see strong leadership arise to take over this ministry. I was very excited to hear reports from our Missions Team as well as they are seeing the needs in the community and world and taking action. God is doing some great things and I believe the vision is moving forward and best is yet to come.

Desiring God

Last week I got the opportunity to got to Minneapolis to the Desiring God conference. One of the speakers was Matt Chandler and Matt did a great job explaining the role of ministry. Here are the seven things he taught from 1 Timothy chapter 4.

1. The Gospel matters- If we don't get the Gospel right people will conform to a pattern of religion not the pattern of Christ.

2. Avoid myths and train in godliness

3. The Gospel will be a stench to some- I think we sometimes forget this principle. Not everyone accepted the message of Jesus. Some turned away and did not receive the truth. If we are offending some with the Gospel we must be doing something right.

4. Be the example- As a leader I must be devoted to the scriptures and not what every other church is doing.

5. Pastoring is a part of sanctification- Our calling is to Christ not the church.

6. Practice the Word- If we are not careful our faith can stagnate. As I grow the church will grow.

7. Pay attention to myself and my teaching- If I pay to attention to my own life and my teaching I will be able to save myself and those who hear what I teach.

Valentines Outreach

This will be our third year that we will be doing our Valentine Cookie Outreach. I am always amazed on how a simple thing like handing out plates of cookies to people in our community makes a huge difference. This year we will be inserting our new Hope Cards (more on that on a later time.) in each plate. If you know someone who could use a plate of cookies, make sure you mark their name down and put it in the offering as it passes by. We will be delivering the cookies the week of the 9th. Can't wait to see what God is going to do through this outreach!

Faith vs. Works

I was reading in my devotion time this morning from Romans 4 when Paul is talking to the Jews about forcing circumcision on the Gentiles. I am not going into details on the chapter but I encourage you to read it. The point of the chapter was Paul was telling the people that circumcision was just an outward sign of what God had already done in the heart. Paul uses Abraham as the example. Abraham was a man of faith and had faith in God and His promises. God told him to go to a land where he had never been and Abraham went. God told Abraham that he would have a son in his old age and Abraham believed. Paul makes the point that Abraham had faith before he had circumcision. It was faith that allowed him to receive God's promises not circumcision. The point is simply this; God doesn't judge us by our outward works but God judges us by our faith. This is so important! As a pastor, I am simply judged by many outward things; whether or not my sermon was good on Sunday, what was our attendance as a church and even our budget and finances. These are all measurable things that we can look at and say whether or not a pastor is a success or not. If you are not a pastor you have other measurable outward things that people possibly measure about you. Here is the point: God doesn't measure our outward works, He measures our faith in Him. Here are some questions I am asking myself:

1. Am I doing something right now that requires faith? Something bigger then myself and something I cannot do on my own.
2. Am I trusting God's promises and His Word as my resource?
3. Am I believing that God will come through and am I taking action towards that thing that requires faith?

I would rather be known as a person of faith then any other outward works. If this matters to God then it should also matter to me.

Prophecy Series

Pastor Weets wrapped up week three in our prophecy series. Pastor Weets has given us so much information the last two weeks to possibly make your head hurt. I would encourage you to listen to the podcast or pick up the CD and listen a few times through to let the message sink in. This Sunday he spoke of the coming Anti-Christ and the Mark of the Beast. It is interesting that the number 6 means man and three is perfection. The Mark of the Beast is a picture of man's attempt to be God. We see this today in our culture. There is a spirit of anti-Christ in which people no longer want to have anything to do with God and take God out of everything we do. As we move towards this we can see how this will eventually set up the things to come with an eventual ruler and system. I am so thankful that the Word promises us that as believers we have nothing to fear. These things will take place during the Tribulation period where the church will already be raptured. We will be with the Lord in heaven during these terrible days. One of the things that Bible prophecy should move us towards through is a heart to reach those around us who do not know Christ. You may know some that if Christ returned they would not go and have to go through the Tribulation. It is our job to reach them and share the love of God with them. Bible Prophecy should give us that compassion and heart to win people for Christ.

Girls Basketball

Just started helping with the 1st-3rd grade girls basketball league this month. We are holding practice in Monte which resulted in thirty some girls attending. Last year we practiced in Grinnell and only had around eight. We have broken up into four teams and we are practicing twice a week. It has been a blast to help with the girls. The coolest part of all is the league is Bible based. As we get into the season the girls will learn Bible verses and at the half-time of games they will learn a Bible story. What an awesome way to present the Gospel and reach families. Looking forward to the year and getting to know the girls and seeing God do some great things.

Year and Review

Sorry I haven't posted in a while as it has been crazy the last few weeks with weather and wrapping up 2008. Last night we had our year and review meeting where we went over the previous year, casted vision for the new and looked at finances as well. God has truly blessed us. I reminded everyone last night the importance of our core values as a church. As we look ahead to the future it is important that we keep our focus on the things that have got us here. Our values are as follows:

Biblically Based
Kingdom Focused
Missions Minded
Reaching every generation
Every person can minister
No one stands alone.

I challenged us that in this coming year our focus needs to be evangelism. I was posed with this question a few months ago and it has always stuck with me. "What would happen if our church left our community? Would it be missed not by those who attend the church but by those who do not?" That is an important question for us this coming year. This coming year we need continual focus on reaching the people outside our doors. In the coming weeks I will be posting some ideas and things we can do to be an influence to those outside our church. I am believing God for a great year and seeing people come to know Christ as Savior.