Rules of Engagement

Each day we have hundreds or even thousands of interactions with other people.  We talk on the phone, send emails, text messages, tweets, Facebook likes, and even talk in person.  Think back to all of your interactions from today so far.  If you had to place them in three bins: positive, negative, or neutral – how full would each bin be?  Researchers have been looking at this topic for some time, and asked, what is the magic ratio needed for healthy and positive relationships?  This question has been tested by a number of different researchers and they concluded that you need a ratio of either 5:1 or 7:1 of positive to negative interactions for a healthy relationship.  1:1 is a little unhealthy and anytime the negative outweighs the positive is dysfunctional.

I took some time to look through scripture to see what God had to say about how we interact with one another, and I found that God says a lot in the Bible about this. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up,”(Ephesians 4:29 ESV) “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” (Proverbs 12:18 ESV) “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.” (Psalm 34:13 ESV)  “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” (James 1:26 ESV)  These are just four out of numerous texts that I found all dealing with our interactions with each other.  The scriptures are clear, our words carry a great deal of power, and we need to handle them with care as we interact with one another.

Think back again to all your interactions and the bins you placed them in.  Now take a moment to think about your relationships with your family and friends.  What about with your co-workers?  What kinds of interactions do you have most often with your church leaders, or other Christians?  If we are honest with ourselves, we often have far more negative interactions with those around us than good.  We are quick to complain, offer “suggestions,” and otherwise call into question everyone and everything.

Today is a new day though, and we hear in scriptures that God’s mercies are new each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).  Keep these verses in mind as you walk through your day today.  I don’t want to suggest that you need to pretend to be positive to meet some magic quota, but instead to bring a different attitude to your day.  If you are looking for a reason to complain, trust me you will find it, but if you are seeking to encourage, you would be surprise what God will show you to be encouraged about.

Let me get this started…have I told you recently how much I like you?

Pastor Bill

Discussion Questions

1. Where do you struggle the most with negativity in your life?
2. What relationship do you believe would see the greatest impact by a change in attitude?
3. Do you feel different when you are having positive interactions vs. negative ones?  How?
4. Take a moment right before to send a short note of encouragement.

To Preach or Not to Preach

Each week pastor’s stand before churches all over the world and preach.  So what is it that they are trying to accomplish?  I can only speak for myself, but I want to share what it is that I believe I am called to do when I preach from God’s Word.  First of all, I am not trying to add to or modify God’s Word, we are told clearly in scripture that God’s Word is a, “lamp to my feet and a light for my path,” (Psalm 119:105) and that God’s Word is, “Sharper than any double-edged sword, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

As a parent, you are faced with a significant challenge, teach and mold your child so that one day they can grow up and live on their own as an informed and mature adult.  But you also know that as parents you can not prepare you child for each and every specific situation.  Instead as a parent you work from an early age to teach your child a number of foundational principles and thoughts to guide their life by.  That way when they encounter a situation they have a foundation to stand on as they make decisions.  Parents who have prepared their children to be adults well have children who have learned to maturely think and process, and to make their own thoughtful decisions.

For the message to be a place for the pastor to shed light and give all the answers about anything scripturally related is just not accurate.  As a pastor I have been given lots of training, and spent plenty of time studying God’s Word, but there is still a lot that I don’t know, and don’t have the answers to.  But what I do know is that each week we open God’s Word, and that can change our lives.

There is no way that we can cover every topic and answer every question in church.  But instead the hope is that each week in the message I take time to bring a deeper understanding of the bible, the language it was written in, and the context it came out of to everyone listening.  Each week the message is meant to be a place to allow you grow in your biblical foundations, so that you have firm ground to stand on as you make decisions and figure our living a Christian life looks like.  I hope through preaching I can help to prepare you to see the world through a mature, developed biblical worldview.  I hope you can reflect each week on God’s word in a new and deeper manner than the week before.  And I pray that together we might spur one another on to keep learning and keep growing in our knowledge of scripture, and our relationships with God.  So next time you wonder, what is he doing up there during the message, you have a little glimpse into what I pray is happening.

Rejoice, pray, encourage

This week I was reading through 1 Thessalonians and came across this verse, “Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, TNIV) This is a part of Paul’s final instructions in the letter for his church in Thessalonica, and is written to a church known to have a number of new believers in it. Paul as their pastor is seeking to teach the new believers what Christian community looks like so they can embody it themselves. Take a moment, and reread these verses from Paul, hear Paul the pastor pleading with and encouraging his new community to take up these words, to embody this as a church.

Envision what this might look like for you. “Rejoice always.” Pay attention to your conversations this week and see if you hear fellow Christians rejoicing always. Paul is not suggesting that they need to always put on a happy face, but to be aware of all that God is doing all around you. Take a moment at the end of the day to ask this question of yourself or others, “How have I (or you) seen God at work today? What has happened today that is especially life giving?” It is amazing the power of remembrance, of taking a moment to think about that basic question. Suddenly we remember and notice the work of God all around us that we may have missed before.

“Pray continually.” Prayer is not simply a set of words that we use with our eyes closed in a dark room, but can be a conversation with God that continues throughout our days. Take a moment this week to pray for your pastor, that God would grant me discernment as I seek to lead Trinity, pray as we approach of 50th anniversary that God would use this as a opportunity to share fellowship with old friends and with new ones. Pray for our visitors who have been joining us in worship week after week, pray that God might meet them in a real and powerful way at our church, and pray that we might encourage them and help them grow in their faith.

Paul’s central point is that we are called to build up the body of Christ in all that we do. The body of Christ at its best builds up one another in our faith. We encourage one another of how we see God at work in our own and in one another’s lives. We cover one another in pray during the good times and the bad. We encourage each other to use our gifts for God’s glory, to build up and serve this body of believers.

Pastor Bill

Rejoice, Pray, Encourage

This week I was reading through 1 Thessalonians and came across this verse, “Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, TNIV)  This is a part of Paul’s final instructions in the letter for his church in Thessalonica, and is written to a church known to have a number of new believers in it.  Paul as their pastor is seeking to teach the new believers what Christian community looks like so they can embody it themselves.  Take a moment, and reread these verses from Paul, hear Paul the pastor pleading with and encouraging his new community to take up these words, to embody this as a church.

Envision what this might look like for you.  “Rejoice always.”  Pay attention to your conversations this week and see if you hear fellow Christians rejoicing always.  Paul is not suggesting that they need to always put on a happy face, but to be aware of all that God is doing all around you.  Take a moment at the end of the day to ask this question of yourself or others, “How have I (or you) seen God at work today?  What has happened today that is especially life giving?”  It is amazing the power of remembrance, of taking a moment to think about that basic question.  Suddenly we remember and notice the work of God all around us that we may have missed before.

“Pray continually.”  Prayer is not simply a set of words that we use with our eyes closed in a dark room, but can be a conversation with God that continues throughout our days.  Take a moment this week to pray for your pastor, that God would grant me discernment as I seek to lead Trinity, pray as we approach of 50^th anniversary that God would use this as a opportunity to share fellowship with old friends and with new ones.  Pray for our visitors who have been joining us in worship week after week, pray that God might meet them in a real and powerful way at our church, and pray that we might encourage them and help them grow in their faith.

Paul’s central point is that we are called to build up the body of Christ in all that we do.  The body of Christ at its best builds up one another in our faith.  We encourage one another of how we see God at work in our own and in one another’s lives.  We cover one another in pray during the good times and the bad.  We encourage each other to use our gifts for God’s glory, to build up and serve this body of believers.

Pastor Bill