Words matter because words have meaning. We taught our daughters when they were younger to not say "I hate you" when they were simply displeased about something. Not liking a decision is much different than hating a person. Words matter. That's why I'm done with asking someone, "Where do you go to church?" Instead, I'm going to ask them, "What church are you a part of?" Now it is possible — you have the option – as a Christ-follower to waste your life. To spend it fiddling around with the mundane. You also have the opportunity to invest yourself in a movement that matters and that movement is the church. But it will require a shift in thinking for many of us. We often get asked, “What church do you go to?” It's just like asking, “What grocery store do you go to?” or "Which recreation center do you work…
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Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us ... There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect…
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Let's be honest: The biggest obstacle between God and people trying to find him has often been Christians. It’s unfortunate, but it’s rare that a drunkard, drug addict, or prostitute would think of going to church because he or she just needed to feel loved and accepted.These people may turn to bars, fellow addicts, drug dealers, or pimps to find refuge and acceptance, but they would not think of going to a church. Perhaps it's because many Christians are better known for what they are against than what they are for. Our message this weekend reminds us that the distinctive mark of the reign of God in a person's life is how they love and do good to people they agree with and disagree with, to people who treat them well and to those who mistreat them.Hatred does not win the day. Liking someone is not the answer. Love makes the difference.
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What does it mean to glorify God? The first part of our 3G mission statement challenges us to be a church that Glorifies God. That means individually and as a church, our words and deeds should honor God. We exist to make his name famous. Sometimes the best way to honor God is by refraining to do what comes naturally. Self-control is a way to glorify God. At other times, God is glorified when we act with bold faith, doing what might be unnatural for us. Either way, our overriding purpose as Christ-followers and as a Christ-centered church is to live in such a way as to bring credit to God. If you were to ask yourself the following question, how would it change your life? Here it is: Does what I'm about to say or do bring glory to God?
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In a previous post, I challenged you to consider how you're living life ... aimlessly or on purpose? The challenge was taken from these words of the apostle Paul: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). For those of us who are in the communication business, I'd like to reframe the challenge: are you an aimless communicator? I'm not sure how many sermons, presentations, or classes I've sat through in my lifetime. My guess is, I've…
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