Count the Cost Pt.2

Each of us has had opportunities that we’ve passed up.  For some, you may even wonder, what could have been?  What would skydiving have been like?  Would I have flourished at that job, did I miss out on a great relationship?  Since we chose no, we never found out what could have been.  There are times that we get the feeling we passed up something good.

Would you believe that each day God presents each of us with opportunities to bless us, and use us to change our own life as well as others lives?  Opportunities to encourage someone, start a conversation, invite someone to church, or see miracle happen.  Often we don’t think of the opportunities God has placed before us as something we missed out on, it’s just something we chose not to do, or didn’t see.

Scripture is clear though that God is at work all around us, and ready to do amazing things, but we have to be ready, and sometimes we have to ask.  Jesus says it this way to his followers, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, TNIV)  Jesus is not suggesting God is an ATM who just gives you all that you want on demand.  Jesus is reminding the disciples of something important, if you want something ask for it, if you want to experience something, you have to engage.  We also hear from 1 John, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15, TNIV)

Do you want to see transformation in your brother who struggles with self-confidence, and hasn’t been to church in 20 years?  Pray and ask God to transform his life in a way only God could.  Pray that God would connect your brother with people who would share their faith with him in a meaningful and relevant way.  Pray daily, and pray with confidence, that God will hear your prayer.

Do you want to grow in knowledge of God’s word, to know the bible better to help you in your life?  This may sound silly, but get out the bible and start reading it.  Talk with other Christians about passage that challenge you, or leave you with questions.

Maybe you have a passion and heart to see people come to know God who has never met him before, but you have never done a evangelism class.  Great!!!  Invite them to come with you to church.  Pray that God gives you an opportunity to tell them your story of God’s grace in your life.

I don’t want to look back on my life and think, what could have been?  Instead my prayer is that we can all look back and say WOW, look what was, look at all the powerful ways that God worked in our midst.  And think, it all just started with a little asking and doing.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is one opportunity God has placed before you that you need to engage, or ask God for help and guidance in?
2. What might cause you to hesitate or pass up the opportunities God places before you?
3. Who could walk with you on the journey as you seek to ask God in prayer, and follow God in action?

Watch This

You have heard the conversation between kids before.  I bet I can throw this ball over the house.  I can bend my foot up and lift it over my head.  I can run faster than you, I can jump over that puddle.  I can lift 100 lbs; well I can lift 300lbs.  The conversation just gets bigger and bigger with the kids one upping the one who came before them, and all the other kids sit around saying, “Whoa, no way you can do that?  Really?  I don’t believe it.”

In Matthew 17 the disciples are trying to heal a child that is possessed by a demon, but they are unable.  So the family brings their child to Jesus, and Jesus heals the child.  Immediately the disciples begin to speak, “Whoa Jesus, how did you do that, we couldn’t do it, so how did you do that?”  Jesus looks at them with all seriousness and says to them “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21).  Last summer Amy and I planted our first garden!   I remember getting all the packets of seeds for our soon to be veggies: tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, bell peppers, basil, and cilantro.  As I got home to help plant them I took them out of the packs with disbelief…that’s it?  Our big tomato plants are going to come from this little thing?  This is what Jesus is trying to say to the disciples, if you have faith, just a little tiny bit of faith like that, you will have the ability to move mountains.  No wonder the disciples didn’t believe Jesus.  Faith that small can do something so BIG?  Are you sure?

Jesus can’t mean that we can do that, can he?  Isn’t Jesus just talking to the disciples, who were power houses of faith, of course they will be able to do stuff like that, they hung out with Jesus.  Jesus did not qualify this statement like that at all.  In fact I believe he intentionally said this as a reminder that the power, the strength, the amazing work is done by God, not us.  But do we really believe this? Even today we often think, don’t all big things of faith happen through people with BIG faith?  Isn’t it the pastor, the elders, the deacons, the lay leader’s job to do all the heavy lifting?  They are the ones who can do that stuff, not me; my faith is too small, my faith could never do anything of significance.

You might be sitting reading this thinking of all the mountains that have been a part of your life for far too long, mountains that have been crushing you, and mountains that you are unable to get rid of no matter what you have tried (and you have tried about everything).  Mountains of debt, fear, depression, broken relationships, addiction to pornography, drugs, or gossip.  But Jesus message is clear, faith the size of a mustard seed, faith that God can do it, is able to move mountains, to change the world, to change your life.  The question remains do you believe it?

Pastor Bill

Discussion Questions:

1. What mountains and obstacles are you facing in your life right now?
2. What makes it challenging to believe that mountain can be removed?
3. What would moving a mountain out of your life look like?  How would you know it was moving?

Can We Talk?

Can we talk?  This may be the most dreaded line that is ever used in relationships of any sort.  Before you even answer, you begin to dream up all sorts of awful what-ifs, about all the terrible reasons that you may need to talk with that other person.  It is not often that we ask, “Can we talk?” for positive reasons.  We are reminded often that our relationships live and die on communication.

This week at church we are going to begin a series on those sacred conversations that we have with God in prayer.  How often do we communicate with God, both in listening or speaking?  Throughout Scripture we are told that prayer is integral to our lives, it is the air that we breathe, and a cornerstone to our relationship with God.

As we reflect on our own prayer lives, when or how do we speak with God?  Like in many relationships I think that we can fall into ruts of doing things the same way.  Are you in rut when you speak with God?  Do you offer the same prayers, in the same way day after day?  Do you listen to God or just talk?  Do you offer prayers of thanksgiving and adoration, or a laundry list of needs and wants?  Do you even speak with God outside of times of crisis?

Throughout the history of the Church thousands of different ways to pray and communicate with God have been used, many of which I learned about for the first time as I attended seminary. Often our picture of prayer is shallow.  We envision closing our eyes, bowing our heads, or praying a memorized prayer like the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostles Creed.  If we believe that prayer is communication with God, then prayer is much broader and deeper than most of the ways that we currently pray.  Prayer can involve listening or being loud, we can pray through music, writing, drawing, and dance.  We can pray with our minds, our hearts, and our bodies.  How we communicate with God can be as unique as each of us.

I encourage you to think about how you communicate with God.  For some, prayer involves meditating on scripture to hear his leading, playing a musical instrument, writing out prayers in a journal, praying out loud, and more.  Take time this week to think a bit about your prayer life, and perhaps how you can improve how and when you talk with God.

“Sacred Conversations” Series

July 25^th Psalm 121 – “Trust”

August 1^st 2 Chronicles 7:11-18 – “At the Core of it”

August 8^th Matthew 6:1-14 – “More than Me”