Nike

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him (Jesus) who loved us.

Romans 8:37

 

How did you feel this morning when you woke up?  I don’t know about you, but I would not likely put the word conqueror on the list.  I wouldn’t use that word to describe myself almost ever.  Me?  A conqueror?  That word evokes images of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser as he looks at the bad guy and says under his breath, “You’ve been erased!!!”  Conquerors are strong, they are smart, they have muscles, and power.

 

Romans makes it clear though that you are more than a conqueror.  Not that your muscles are something to write home about, or that you can overpower others, but  this fact is true about you because of Jesus.  The sentence doesn’t say you are more than a conqueror, but you are through Jesus.  He is the one who loves you, the one who died on the cross for you.

 

Tomorrow when the alarm goes off, read this verse out loud to yourself.  In all these things I am more than a conqueror, not because of my strength.  I can barely keep track of all the things going on to make it through the day let alone to conquer it, but I am more than a conqueror through Jesus.  It’s His strength, His encouragement, His wisdom that will get us through the challenges, the frustrations, and confusions that life throws at us daily.  When you get stuck in traffic, behind at work, or in tough conversations, just remind yourself, because of Jesus you are more than a conqueror. The Greek word here is hyper-Nike, which means that through Jesus you are a Hyper, total defeater.  So when life throws you a curve remember that in Christ, you are more than a conqueror.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. Is there any area or place in your life that this passage helps speak to?
2. What do you think of this passage?  Do you believe it whole-heartedly, a bit skeptical?  What makes you feel the way you do?

Where’s Waldo?

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

Psalm 139:1-2, 7-8

 

One of my favorite books as a child was Where’s Waldo?  Each page placed the red striped shirt hero in another complex and busy setting and our job was to locate him.  Waldo was crafty; he would hide near people wearing clothes like him or even behind props and parts of the setting.  Many of you may feel that God and Waldo share a lot in common.  You feel like God only shows up at certain times and in certain ways.  That to “locate” God is a skill and a challenging one at that.  You only get that “God” feeling sporadically, you only “find” him on occasion and question where he is the rest of the time.

 

But the psalm is pretty clear about God’s presence all around us.  It reminds us that God is more than an emotion or character who makes sporadic appearances.  God is more than a fuzzy feeling that you get as you listen to special music, or go on a retreat, or attend a Christian concert.  God is not just present in good or bad times.  God is the one who made everything you see and experience, including you.  He is always present, always around us, always there for us; sometimes we just don’t take the time to notice him.

 

Are you on the lookout for God’s movement?  Are you ready for God to show up in ways and places you might not ordinarily look for him?

 

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is one place that you don’t typically look for God?
2. How have you seen God in your life recently?

Your Platform

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Matthew 22:36 ESV

 

As we wade deep into election season 2012, we are bombarded with the platforms of the various candidates, and how their platform is different than the other person’s platform.  In this verse the person essentially is asking Jesus, what is your platform as a rabbi? Jesus what is the most important thing for you as a rabbi?  Where is your passion at, what issue or law are you most concerned with?  Jesus’ reply was this:

 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:37-40

 

Jesus’ platform is simple.  Love God, love others.  Sounds a bit simpler than what many are taught throughout religious institutions.  We are taught about laws, rules, and regulations.  We are told about special clothes to wear (or not to wear), things to say, and styles of music that are good and bad just to name a few.  When Jesus is put on the spot and asked to identify what is most central to His work and ministry, He keeps it simple, love God, and love others.  Let your life be guided less by rules and patterns, but instead by Jesus calling, love God and love others.  As simple as it may sound, these two things transform everything you do, if we really take them to heart.  It asks the question does everything I do or say reflect my love of God or love of others?  This election season, you know well what Jesus stands for, what he considers most important: love God and loving others.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is your platform in life?  What is most important to you?
2. How do your priorities guide your life?
3. How do you believe your priorities compare to God’s for your life?

Down for the Count

“25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.” Acts 16:25–26 (ESV)   Paul and Silas had just been beaten, and arrested for preaching about God.  Their track record was not good; they had been beaten on more than one occasion, arrested, derided, and threatened regularly.  They saw more struggle than success, more obstacles than encouragement.   Sound familiar?  You are asked to work more hours and produce more for less pay.  Something always seems to break at just the wrong time around the house, stretching your already thin finances even more.  You feel like for every step you take forward, you are pushed two steps back.  You feel like you got hit with a sucker punch in the gut and you are struggling to breath.  You wonder how you will get back up.   Paul and Silas’ reaction is clear.  They turn to God.  They don’t pretend that everything is ok, but turn to God honestly in their struggle.  They open their heart to God and cry out in the midst of their circumstances for God to intervene.  Their worship is heartfelt and honest, they pull no punches, and God hears their cries.  God intervenes in a powerful way to set them free from prison.  God frees them from prison but makes no promises they won’t get knocked down again.  They will still get beaten, discouraged, arrested, and mocked, but they were survivors.   Life will knock you down, you will hit tough patches, you will get discouraged, and breaks will not go your way.  But God will be there to pick you up, dust you off, and get you back on track.  God made you to get back up, to keep your eye on the prize, to run the race of faith with all of your being.  So on that day, when you are looking up from ground, turn to God, cry out in prayer, put your Hope in a God who hears his people’s prayer and answers them immeasurably greater than anything you could have ever asked for.   Pastor Bill   Discussion Questions Is there something in life that is knocking you down, discouraging you, and pushing you to your limits? Take time before you walk away from this to pray, to honestly open your heart up to God and be vulnerable. How can you support others who are struggling right now?

Power of a Name

Have you ever had a nickname?  Maybe it was something your teammates called you, or your parents, or a significant other.  I used to have a number of nicknames.  I bet you didn’t know one of my nicknames was Booey.  When y younger brothers were growing up and learning to articulate, Bill was just too hard, so what came out was Booey.  Even to this day, my younger brothers will call me Booey.  It has come to be a term of endearment they have for me.  Think for a moment about all the names you call your best friends, your spouse, or family members, or nicknames you have had. 

 

There is something significant in our names, even our nicknames.  Our names and nicknames reflect something about our relationship with the person you are talking with.  I can tell in a moment when a telemarketer is calling because they always ask for Mr. William Flavin.  Let’s be clear, no one ever calls me that, so if you are calling me that, you must not know me very well or at all.  If you know me you might call me Pastor Bill, or if you know me better you might call me Bill.

 

Names play an important role throughout Scripture.  God changes people’s names on occasion to make significant changes, to redefine their future.  Abram becomes Abraham, Sarai becomes Sarah, Saul becomes Paul, and Jacob becomes Israel.  Their names defined something about them.

 

Take a minute to think about the names you use when you talk with God or talk about God.  The way you talk about God begins to reveal a bit about your relationship and understanding of God.  If you primarily talk about God as judge, you might struggle to think of God as anyone but a stickler to rules, a cosmic bully who is watching to see if you do right or wrong.  It then might be hard to envision God as healer and miracle worker.  If you talk about Jesus as a teddy bear, your best buddy, you might struggle to see God as just and powerful.

 

God is not just a judge or a teddy bear though. We hear in Scripture that God is our strong tower (Proverbs 18:10), the great physician (Mark 2:17, Jeremiah 33:6), peace (Romans 16:20a), powerful (Matthew 6:13), King (Psalm 10:16), and River of Life (Revelation 22:1) just to name a few.  This lengthy list of names for God reveals the depth and richness of who God is. 

 

Does the way we talk about God reflect what we believe about God?  Does it reflect our relationship with him?  Are the names we use to label God just that or are they true terms of endearment?

 

Discussion Questions

1. What names do you most often use for God?  What does that say about how you think about God?
2. Take time to pray using different scriptural names of God.  What was it like?
3. Are there some names of God that are hard for you to use and pray?

Prayers that Rock

I remember learning to pray as a kid, and learning not just how you pray, but what you are supposed to pray about.  You should pray to God about “small” things, but not too small, God is busy you know, so don’t bother Him with things that are too little.  On the other hand, you should pray about “big” things to God, but not too big; I mean if everyone asked God for a million dollars or to win the lottery, what would happen?  As I continue to grow, this model of prayer just did not seem to fit with the biblical model of prayer laid out for us in the Bible.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray for daily provision (daily bread), a seemingly small prayer.  Jesus teaches the disciples that prayer can cast out demons (Matthew 17:21), and that God will give them great gifts and answers to prayer if they just ask (Matthew 7:11).  One verse on prayer that stands out to me is Matthew 21:21-22, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt…but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

I do not want to suggest God is our holy ATM, giving us all sorts of stuff if we ask right.  Instead I wonder if we ever pray like these verses suggest.  Take a moment and think about your prayers.  How many of our prayers would make heads turn if God answered them?  How many of our prayers require God’s supernatural involvement?  How many of your prayers are BIG?  I believe this is the kind of prayer Jesus is talking about.  The kind of prayer where God’s answer is so dramatic, people would not even consider giving you or another person the glory, but instead would just look and say WOW God.

Consider lifting up a prayer to God that requires an answer only God could provide, and God would get the glory and honor from.  Don’t be mistaken these prayers don’t have to be “big” in terms of money, numbers, or influence. 

A family prays for a sister dealing with cancer, praying God it is only you who could heal her, may her life be a witness to the medical staff by your healing touch.  She was healed of her cancer, and was a powerful witness to the staff at the hospital.  Her healing left doctors and specialist scratching their heads wondering, how could that happen?   But the family knew, by God’s power alone. 

Jesus makes it clear, ask whatever you want in prayer, and have faith that God will answer.  Pray big, and have faith that God will answer, and God will show up.  Pray big because God wants to show up in our lives.  Pray big because we worship a God of unlimited possibilities.

 

Pastor Bill 

Discussion Questions

1. Why do think we hesitate to pray big prayers?
2. If you had to look at your current prayers on a scale of 1 (small request) to 10 (only God could do that, it would make people’s heads turn), where do most of your prayer fall?
3. Take time to consider what might be a BIG prayer you can lift up to God for your church, your family, and your relationships.  Pray that same BIG prayer for at least 3 months, and journal about how you see God answering it.

Selling God Short

Scientists know that human beings are capable of doing far more then they believe they are capable of.  When it comes to endurance activities (running, lifting, etc.) most people can do 20-30% more than they have ever done before.  Think about that for a moment, you can do 20-30% more than you have ever done.  If you have lifted 10lbs, you likely can lift 12lbs, if you have biked 10 miles, you could do 12.  We continually sell ourselves, short, underestimating our ability to do a number of things. I believe that is not the only arena of life that we underestimate.

In Matthew 19:26 Jesus is talking with His disciples and he says this, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  With God all things are possible, but with us, of course there are a number of things that impossible.  Do we sell God short though?  Jesus was speaking to the disciples because they knew what Jesus proposed was impossible by human standards, so how could God do it?  We often ask the very same question.  We talk about the importance of humility, of not being boastful, but in reality what we are often doing is selling God short.  For someone to say, it is impossible for me to lift 400lbs is both humble, and a realistic statement.  To say that God could not move those 400lbs, because I cannot do it, is not humble, it is almost prideful.  Essentially it is saying, “God can’t do that because I said so, because I can’t understand how it would even work.”  Remember though, faith is not believing what we have already seen and done or what we can comprehend and put parameters around, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)

Scripture is filled with story after story of God doing things that have never been done before: making the sun stand still in the sky, changing water into wine, raising people from the dead, restoring sight to the blind, and providing food and refreshment in the middle of a barren desert, just to name a few.  God has a habit of reminding His people not to place Him in box, because God will just show us how much bigger He is than any box we could construct.

The next time you look at a circumstance or even think it can’t, it won’t.  Stop for a moment and think, just because I can’t or am not able, who says God can’t or won’t?  Faith looks at challenges and instead of seeing trouble and challenge, instead understands an opportunity to learn greater dependence on God, and to see God at work in a powerful way.

Pastor Bill

Discussion Questions

1. What is one place or situation in your life that seems impossible?
2. What are your greatest challenges to believing that God can?
3. Where are you eager to see God do “impossible” things in your life?  Take a moment to lift that up to God in prayer.

Go Big or Go Home

Think back to all the prayers you have prayed or heard in the last week.  I had a meeting earlier this week where we took time to pray for our church and for God’s guidance.  As we prayed I had this sense of frustration in my heart; and I thought God, why am I frustrated that people are praying to you?  As the prayer continued this verse came to my head, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you…If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11, ESV)  One way you could translate this is when you pray, “Go big or go home.” 

The disciples learned about the lesson of “go big or go home” from Jesus in a story you may know well.  One day Jesus is teaching, and as the sun begins to set the disciples say to him, Jesus these people are hungry, we don’t have enough money to feed them all, and there is no grocery store near here with enough food to feed them either.  Essentially, Jesus let them try to go find a snack on their own, let them fend for themselves; there is nothing we can do to help them.  Jesus asks them to gather what they can.  Then Jesus turns 5 loaves and 2 fish into enough food so that they all eat and there are a dozen baskets of leftovers for people to take home.  Disciples asked for the people to find a snack on their own, Jesus says watch this; I will feed them till they are full, I will answer your request with something much more than you ever asked for.

I think that we have resigned ourselves to snack food when God is ready to offer a feast.  Often I hear people talk about other people, other families, and other churches that God is doing something amazing in, but resign themselves to “oh that will never be me” .  We call it humility, but instead do we lack the courage and faith to pray for something bolder and greater?  Why is it always someone else?  Why can’t it be you, or your family, or your church?  Let me be clear this is not about coveting what someone else has, it’s not being greedy, but having faith that God could do something amazing in your midst.  This is about faith that says, God if it’s your will, do something greater than I could ever imagine.  So when you pray, it’s simple, go big or go home.  Pray with great faith that God can and will do something big in your midst.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is one big prayer that you could pray today?
2. What is it like for you to pray a “big” prayers?  Challenging, scary, exciting?
3. What holds us back from praying big prayers?
4. Before you walk away from this note, take a moment and pray.  God if it is your will, do something amazing in my family, my life, my church.

Not Fair

Life is not fair.  If you are like me this is phrase you have heard a number of times before in a workplace, a family, or with friends.  It is a phrase that often draws all sorts of frustrated and angry responses.  We feel that things should be fair, that it is a God-given right.  If we are not careful we will begin to think fairness is something to worship and protect.  Yet as Christians we worship a God who does not reflect fairness in His work.  I know that is hard to swallow, but honestly Jesus does not reflect fairness in his work or ministry.  Just take a look through scripture.

Jesus is preparing to call the twelve men that He will pour his life into for the next three years, the twelve men who will start the church.  Jesus looks around and finds a political extremist, a cheating lying tax collector, some fishermen, and a high school kid, all of whom have little or no religious or ministry experience.  Having called the twelve Jesus calls his inner circle complete and begins his ministry.  Jesus, you did not have open auditions, you didn’t interview candidates, and then you called people that no one would have hired to run a church.  Jesus that’s not fair.

Jesus is walking along the road and a woman reaches out and touches his cloak, and she is healed of internal bleeding that has been an issue for decades.  But Jesus does not stop to heal anyone else in the crowd he just moves on, this doesn’t seem very fair.  Jesus what about all the other people that needed healing, why didn’t you heal all of them?

Jesus is on the cross with two other criminals hanging besides him.  Remember these are men who have committed acts strong enough to warrant the death penalty by the government.  As they hang there one man mocks Jesus, and the other one repents of his sins, and Jesus says to the repentant man, “Today you will be with me in paradise,” (Luke 23:42).  Jesus tells a man who is dying the death penalty that he will be going to heaven, that doesn’t seem very fair.

The best part, it’s a good thing God is not fair.  At the end of the day, each of us are broken, sinful people.  Were we to truly get what is coming to us for our sins, we would not be joining God in heaven, because only prefect blameless people belong there with God.  Instead, Jesus died on the cross as a go between for us, to say I will take the punishment they deserved, so that they can be with us in heaven, and stand before God as blameless, clean because of what Jesus has done.  I love you enough to be unfair, to do special work in your life unlike anyone else’s.  Fairness may be nice, but I am sure glad God is not fair with us.

Pastor Bill

Discussion Questions

1. Why do we believe fairness is important?
2. Can you think of other places in the bible where God does something “unfair”?
3. Have you experienced God’s “unfairness” in your life?  How

The Magic Word

If you read this letter beginning to end, the contents found here, will change your life.  I know you may be skeptical, but trust me, life changing stuff is found here.  This amazing biblical principal can be boiled down to a single key word that illustrates this entire principle – NO.

How many of the struggles and issues that we deal with each day could look different if tapped the power of no?  Many families are struggling financially right now with crippling credit card debt and underwater mortgages.  How did we get to this point?  We refused to say no.  We didn’t say no to spending beyond our means, no to buying a home that was a little ambitious based on our incomes and budgets.  We see more and more people reporting stress related disorders; we are burned out and stretched thin, too busy and there is just not enough time for what really matters.  Often because we didn’t say no when the school asked for volunteers to help with the play, no when we were asked to lead a third ministry, no to a healthy balance between work and our personal lives.

Grab a Bible and open it to Acts 16.  Paul is off on his missionary journeys to preach the Good News all over the world.  In verses 6-8 we learn a bit about their itinerary for the trip, “And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.” (Acts 16:6-8, ESV)  Paul sets off to do God’s work, to share the Good News, and God says, “No.”  Twice in this short passage God told them no to the mission they felt called to be on.  Is anyone else shocked by this?  Wait a second God, they are doing good Christian work and you tell them no, what’s up with that?  We are reminded here that just because there are many good ministries and opportunities, it does not mean that we should always say yes to them.

Kids are really important to our church.  Should we spend every dollar we have on it; stripping all other ministries from their funding?  Not so much.  What about missions, that is such important work; should we focus 99% of our money to that ministry, to the point it cripples our entire ministry?  No again.  You get the call.  A women’s group is without a leader and unless you lead, the group will have to disband.  You don’t have the skills or the passion to lead the group, and you don’t want that on your conscience.  The appropriate answer is NO, thanks for thinking of me, but NO.

As I said earlier, life changing stuff.  God sets a precedent for us in scripture to say no, even if what is before us is a godly ministry, a good cause or a great need.  As humans we are finite, we have limitations, time constraints and budgets, all of which God gave us as a humble reminder that we are not God.  So maybe next time you will think of responding no, a little differently.  Perhaps next time you will remember that no is less about hurting someone’s feelings and more about following God, not trying to be God in every area of our lives and churches.

Discussion Questions

1. What is most important in your life, faith, church?  Does your time and financial management reflect that?
2. What is one area of life that you are stretched too thin (time, money, family, work)?
3. What is one place that you need to say no?
4. What challenges do you have to saying no?