Tunnel Vision

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm.  “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” Nehemiah 6:2-3

 

The town of Jerusalem was in shambles.  The walls had fallen down, the temple was ravaged, and people had no jobs, no money, no food, and no hope.  Nehemiah heard a call from God to go rebuild the wall in Jerusalem.  As he worked, two neighboring governors sent a message along.  They asked for Nehemiah to take some time away from his project: the one God called Nehemiah to, so they could talk with him.

 

But Nehemiah held fast and simply said what I am doing is too important to stop and do something else.  The work God has called me to do has such high priority; it cannot be stopped for any reason.  Nehemiah was offered a chance to meet with high-powered people, yet he said, no, I have to stick with what God has called for me to do. He held fast to the most important thing he had to do, unapologetically and God blessed His work. 

 

Your life is filled with distractions.  Each moment you face distractions, more “important” things do to, that may not be all bad, but are they the most important thing, or do they take away from what is truly most important in your life? 

 

As a parent you will have to work to make your children a priority over and above other things, so when other good things come that take away from your children, you can say, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”  Because your children are a blessing from God, not to be taken for granted.

 

What about your spouse?  A marriage is like a garden, it needs time and regular attention, and it only flourishes with intentional work spent on it.  So when something “good” comes up that takes you away from that priority you can declare, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

 

Your relationship with God should not be stagnant, but dynamic, always changing and growing, but it requires work.  Life is going to place some “good” opportunities before you that would put God in the rearview mirror, and you will have to say, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”  Distractions will come, but will you have the focus and discipline to understand what priorities God has placed in your life, and be able to declare like Nehemiah, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is that one priority in your life?
2. What challenges keep you from focusing on the most important things?
3. Who or what might help you to keep the best things in focus?

One Big Dysfunctional Family

^“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought…One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul.

1 Corinthians 1:10-13

 

This is a passion plea written from a pastor to his people at a local church.  We hear there is division in the group caused by some who align their faith with a specific person.  Not everyone agrees with each other and some in the church even engaged those conversations in a way that had led to division.  People are drawing battle lines and choosing their loyalty, to some person vs. another.

 

The plea here is to not lose focus on what the church is the body of Christ.  The church should be a group of people following after Jesus with all of their hearts, minds and souls.  You notice there is no suggestion of following a person or thing outside of Jesus as a central purpose of the church.  This argument had reached a fever pitch and word got out about it through the grapevine to the broader community.

 

Paul’s (the author) reminder is that the church is based on Jesus alone.  There is no one or no thing that should ever be mentioned in the same sentence as Jesus when talking about the purpose of the church.  Not another person or leader, not a program, not a method, not anything.  You may sit next to someone who votes for another party, lives in a different neighborhood, shares different hobbies and passions in life.  You may serve alongside someone who thinks your hobby is silly, who is quirky and annoying, or who wears perfume you are allergic to.  What holds it all together is not any of those things, but only Jesus.

 

The church in Corinth thought they were on different teams, some for Cephas, some for Paul, others for Apollos, but Paul reminds them, you are all on Jesus’ team.  We hear this in Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”  We are one big, dysfunctional, broken, caring, loving, and wonderful family.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What are some modern issues that can divide Christians?
2. How can you help keep Christ at the center of all things?
3. How would you handle someone who says, “I am for Paul or Cephas?”

Love Your Family

As I said good bye to by wife for a few days as she went on a trip, I quickly realized how much I appreciate her and love her.  Yet for so many of us we don’t share those thoughts with one another very often.  We don’t let those closest to us know how we feel, that we appreciate and love them, that we are blessed to have them around.  So how do we change that so our family and friends know that they are appreciated and cared for?  I might buy my wife some flowers just because, or clean the whole house to surprise her.  I might take a day off of work just to spend time with my family or friends, take them out to dinner, or to see a movie that they want to see.  We take time to thoughtfully do things that would show our affection and appreciation for our loved ones.

As I thought about this I reflected on times that I have neglected my friends and family, but then I thought what about my family at church?  Read these words from 1 John:

“We love because God first loved us. If we say we love God yet hate a brother or sister, we are liars. For if we do not love a fellow believer, whom we have seen, we cannot love God, whom we have not seen. And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love one another.” (1 John 4:19-21, TNIV)

I stopped for a moment to think, if someone asked around today would this church know that their pastor loves them?  Would they know that they are loved by one another?  Just like our own families I think it can be easy to forget to show love and affection for our church family.  We can begin to see one another as obstacles, hindrances, and frustrations, instead of people that we love deeply in our church family.

Have you ever thought about encouraging someone in the pew next to you, or reminding them that you appreciate or love them?  There are so many people that I appreciate deeply in this church because they are gifted and skilled in ways that I could only dream about.  There are others that I love because they are patient, compassionate, thoughtful, or a servant.  God commands us in this passage to love one another as part of our church family as fellow believers.

Send a card to someone to let them know you are praying for them.  Invite someone over for dinner that you appreciate and get to know them better.  Take a moment after the worship service to thank our musicians for sharing their gifts.  Be creative with this, but take the challenge seriously to encourage one another and build up this body.  God continues to bring a unique group of people to this place to do his work and be his people in this community.  Take a moment this week to let another church family member know how much you mean to them, and how much you appreciate them.