Beautiful Exchange (Getting Ready for Easter)

We started a sermon series leading up to Easter called Beautiful Exchange.  Why is it called that, you may ask?  Because there is an incredible song out right now by Hillsong with that name that captures the message that we want to get across this Easter.  Here are lyrics to said song:

Beautiful Exchange

You were near, Though I was distant
Disillusioned I was lost and insecure

Still mercy fought, For my attention
You were waiting at the door, Then I let You in

Trading Your life, For my offenses
For my redemption, You carried all the blame

Breaking the curse, Of our condition
Perfection took our place

When only love
Could make a way
You gave Your life
In a beautiful exchange

My burden erase, my life forgiven
There is nothing, that could take this love away

My only desire, and sole ambition
Is to love You just the same

Holy are You God
Holy is Your name
With everything I’ve got
My heart will sing how I love You

Part of me feels like that anything that I would add to those lyrics would be pointless ramblings. (But that’s what you do best!  Hmm, if you think that then you have never seen me balance books on my head.)  These are powerful lyrics that describe quite well why we celebrate Easter.  Our sin has left has helpless and hopeless and dead, and then in a “beautiful exchange” we trade our death for Jesus’ death and his life for our life.

I really enjoyed our 1st week in the series yesterday (listen here) where we looked at a pivotal moment in the Gospel of Luke (read here) where Jesus shares with his disciples that he is going to be arrested and killed and then the Gospel says that “he resolutely set out for Jerusalem (Luke 9:51)”  He voluntarily and purposefully set out to die for us so that we may have life, demonstrating a deep and powerful love for us.

My favorite part of the day was that there was at least one person at the Grove Church yesterday that accepted that beautiful exchange yesterday and chose to give her life to Christ. Incredibly excited about her. My guess is that there were more than that.  Here also is what I believe, there are more to come.  There are people out there who are from God who desperately need Him.  They need to hear and believe.  You know what else? You know these people and they will come with you one of the next couple of weeks.  You just need to invite them.  We are going to provide an opportunity each week for everyone to hear the gospel and respond.

People want to come to church on Easter.  They want you to ask them, and come with them.  You want them to know Jesus, to make that exchange.  We have an incredible opportunity.  I’m glad that you are a part.

Trust God, Dream Big and Stop Sinning (Nehemiah Wrap-up)

We just finished 2.5 months of Nehemiah.  Thanks for all the good feedback on the series.  Nehemiah is an incredible book that tells a powerful story of an incredible leader and a nation trying to restore its relationship with God and break the cycle of sin.

I just wanted to take a moment and review all the different pieces of the story and what we learned from Nehemiah.

We first meet Nehemiah and we see an influential leader in Persia being called by God to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem.  The plight of his people broke his heart and he had to take action.  Follow the passions that God put on your heart and believe that God will do incredible things through your life. Way too often we settle for ordinary with God, and don’t believe that God even wants to do great things in our lives.

In Nehemiah, we see a man who was devoted to prayer.  He knew that the only way anything significant was going to happen was if God moved.  God moves through prayer.  However, he was also a very deliberate planner.  He wasn’t just one or the other.  He prayed and planned.  I’ve often heard it said that we should pray like it depends only on God, and work like it depends completely on us.  I don’t know that I like that, because even in our planning there should be a built-in dependence on God. So, we should pray like it depends only on God, and plan like the God of the universe is calling you to do it.

In the actual building of the wall, we see a lot of different people playing a role.  The job could never depend on one person.  People were focused on building their one section of the wall.  No one did anything spectacular on their own, but together they did something incredible.  When we each believe that God wants to use us and we all work together, we see God do amazing things.

However, in the middle of all of this we see a ton of opposition from the outside and struggles within.  Anything worth doing for God will find opposition and skeptics. Our success will depend on who we listen to.  We need to listen to God’s call on our life more than we listen to critics. We also need to take care to not be divisive.  What God has called us to is too important and significant for us to fight over little things. How big the things are that divide us depends on what we compare them to.  If God has called us to reach the world, just about everything else becomes fairly small.

After they rebuilt the wall, we see the greater work of rebuilding the people begin.  It begins with Ezra reading the Law to the people.  They respond with great sadness for their sins.  However, first the leadership wants the people to take time to celebrate.  They have been reconciled and brought back. They must rejoice.  We have to take time to celebrate the fact that we have a relationship with the God of the universe. It is a very serious thing to walk with God, but serious doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t celebrate.  We must celebrate.

Next comes the time to repent.  Sin is a big deal, and the Israelites realize that it is their sin that has separated them from God and they rightly respond with repentance.  Although God is gracious to us, we must realize that sin hurts us and offends God, and we must repent. Saying “sorry” is one thing, being sorry and changing is another.

After the time of repentance we see the Israelites desiring to make commitments to try and break the cycle of sin.  Sin-sorry-forgiveness…sin-sorry-forgiveness…and on and on it went.  They wanted to break that cycle, and so they pledge to not intermarry, to honor the Sabbath and to give sacrificially.  It takes great sacrifice on our part to see God do incredible things among us in the long-term.

In Nehemiah, we have a great leader, and as he is wrapping up this task, we see his leadership skills and those of the leaders he is leaving behind.  We see leaders taking initiative, doing what others won’t. The leaders are the ones to move to the new rebuilt city.  We also see a great party to celebrate and dedicate the wall.  The people are inspired, because that’s what leaders do.  Leaders inspire people.

You really do wish that the story could have ended there, but it doesn’t.  Despite their desire to not fall back into the cycle of sin, they quickly do and Nehemiah has to rebuke and correct them when he comes back to check on the people.  Regret and feelings last a little while.  We need to be people that desire long-term repentance.  This doesn’t happen quickly.  This comes when in our hearts we commit to doing what it takes to be the men and women God has called us to be.  We become a part of a community.  We are committed to God’s word and prayer.  We often reflect on the power and love of God demonstrated in the Gospel.

There is much to be learned in Nehemiah.  I’d encourage you to read the book (again, I hope).  Listen again to some of the sermons on the chapters that you most need to apply.  Let’s allow this time in Nehemiah to impact us not just for now, but for years to come.

How Did We End Up Here? (Nehemiah 10 preview)

Have you ever asked that question?  “How did we end up here?” or “How did I end up here?”  This is not a post about how guys don’t ask for directions or women can’t read maps.  (Gender stereo-typing.  Fastest way to make friends) Although, I could make some quippy metaphors about needing directions, being lost, but I won’t. (Sure. We’ll see.)

We wake up one day and we don’t like where our life is.  At one point, things were great with you and God.  You were growing spiritually.  Your family was strong.  You felt like God had a great plan for your life and you were following it. Then…here you are.  How did you get here?

Typically what we can do is decide that we want to do better.  We’ll stop the bad habit.  We go back to church.  We pray more.  We make good solid decisions to improve our life, in the present.  But what about the future?  What will keep us from going back to the dark place we were in?  How do we prevent that?

The way to do that is to ask “How did I get here?”  What did I do to start this?  What started me on this path?  What kept me from turning around?

Making surface changes are good for the short-term.  We need to dig deeper and find out what causes us to fall away.  Change those things as well.

Through the first 9 chapters of Nehemiah, we have seen the people rally together and build a wall as a symbol of renewing themselves as God’s people.  Then they celebrate the Feast of Booths to celebrate God’s deliverance from their exile.  Then we see them repent of their sins.  Those are incredible action steps that help turn the people toward God.

But now they are asking what got them here and how can they prevent.  They got here through their sin and God’s judgment upon them.  Their ancestors refused to follow after God and chose their own path.  They followed other gods, they neglected God’s temple, they didn’t pass their faith on to their children, they refused to be a light to the nations around them.

We will see in Nehemiah chapter 10 doing more than being sorry and trying to be better.  We will see them take some steps to help insure a long-term following after God.

They aren’t just asking for directions, they are learning how to use a map.

Parking

I decided to go with the least interesting blog post title ever.  Hopefully it’s lack of catchy title will be catchy enough to make you click on the link anyway.  Well, I guess you clicked on it anyway, so it worked for you.  So there you go.

This winter has been exciting at the Grove.  The Nehemiah series has been going well.  Miller and the Millerettes have been doing an incredible job leading us in worship.  We have seen a lot of new people coming to the Grove.  We started some new curriculum in the Greenhouse and our teachers have been doing a great job loving and serving our kids.  Thanks to everyone who makes our services possible and incredible.

But you know what they say, “Mo’ people, mo’ problems.”  (Wait. Who says that?  Well, you know, they do.  Who they?  Well, no one says that.  Leave me alone.)

I know I have said this before, but we need to think about where we park.  I had the owner of the used car lot next to us come and talk to me on Sunday after church.  We was very gracious, but also concerned.  He had a trailer that he needed access to and it was blocked in.  He kindly asked if we could no longer park in his lot.  I told him that we would do our best.  So, we are trying to get the word out.  We also are going to try and put cones out and block it.  (I was going to use cone as a verb.  Would that have been ok?)

Where should we park then?  If you want to be an All-Star, park on the north side of Braums.  (Sorry, I’m directionally challenged.  Which way is north?  If you don’t have a compass, just think the side that is closest to the Grove.  There’s a median, park on the Grove side of that median). The street behind the Grove is good as well.  There is no traffic on that street.  Park far down. Walking is good for you.

We want to reserve the best spots for new people and late people.  It’s a small thing that can make a big difference.  A new person can find a spot and we make our neighbors happy.

You know what they say, “There’s a special blessing for those that park inconveniently.”

World Record for Sermon Application (Nehemiah 6 Follow-up)

My normal sermon routine is this.  While I am prepping for a sermon, I put my points together that I want to make.  At some point during the  week, something happens to me that shows me that the someone needs to preach the message to me.  My sin seems to creep up on me during the week leading to a sermon.

This week was different.  Nothing in particular interesting happened.  Well, I take that back.  I got violently sick late Sunday night and spent most of the day on Monday and Tuesday in bed.  However, that would have been a great illustration for a completely different sermon.

Anywho, instead of a pre-sermon exposing of my sin, it was a post-sermon exposing.  It wasn’t long after the service was over, in fact.  I do believe that it may have been a world record for the amount of time it took for me to try and apply my own sermon.

You see, in Nehemiah 6, Nehemiah is dealing with critics.  What I said is that we need to brush aside critics and not let them distract us from what God has called to do.  The goal of the critic is to stop you.  When you obsess over their criticism, you have, in fact, stopped.  Easier said that done.

Enter the critic Sunday afternoon.  You know, I have grown accustomed over the years to people challenging something I said.  I have also grown accustomed to people not liking my style of ministry and teaching.  I can appreciate that my style is different and difficult for some.  That’s why I’m glad that there are so many churches.  However, this was not a sermon tweak or an “I don’t get you.”  This was..well it doesn’t really matter what it was.  I don’t want to talk about it, because I don’t want it to be interpreted as a pity party or a backhanded way of seeking attention or compliments.

Suffice to say, what the person said hurt, badly. I let it bother me, for quite a while in fact.  Part of it was exhaustion.  (Did I mention that I had been sick? Also, did you know this was play performance week for Maylee?  Long, tiring week.)  Regardless, I did the opposite of what I was encouraging others to do.

I ultimately shook it off, but I do find myself asking whether there were some practical things that I could have done differently to shake it off sooner or not let it bother me at all.

In no particular order:

1) Don’t beat yourself up that it hurt.  Hurtful things hurt.

2) Understand that most critical people are hurting and need compassion from us.

3) Ask yourself, “What is the truth from this that I could apply?”  There is probably a nugget of truth there, which is why it hurts.

4) Pray for them

5) Read verses that show you how much God loves you.

6) Call a friend/family member and ask for encouragement. (Don’t be afraid to act hurt and needy.  You know, since you are hurt and needy)

7) Did I mention pray for them?

I could list a whole bunch of don’ts, but you’re doing them already and you know you shouldn’t.  OK, I’ll put one.  Don’t play out “the next conversation” in your mind.  It’s not worth it.  It’s obsessive.

Why yes I am preaching to myself.  Why do you ask?

Honesty, Transparency and Other Things Christians Shouldn’t Do (Nehemiah 4)

I heard from a handful of people yesterday that they appreciated me being honest and transparent during my sermon yesterday.  Yesterday, we talked about dealing with discouragement.  During that sermon, I admitted some particular struggles that I was having in that regard last week.  I had a high level of anxiety and frustration about the old house won’t sell thing.  I openly talked about it.

Apparently, honesty about struggles and being transparent while teaching is a rare thing.  It is rare enough that when it happens, we notice it. Unfortunately, it is quite rare.  Way too often, Pastors feel the need to put up a front that says, “While you people may struggle with this, I’m living ‘in victory.’” (Great churchy phrase, that one is)  Pastors should stop.  You’re not fooling many people, and those that you are, you are discouraging because they feel all alone.

I digress, because cloften.com is not blog for pastors.  Seriously, what pastor in his right mind would read this blog?  “Hmmm, where can I get some 2nd class jokes, inane ramblings and pointless pop-culture references to use in my sermon.  I know…”

The problem is that when pastors and leaders pretend to have it all together, we take our cues from them whether we know it or not.  We don’t think that they’re perfect (we are smarter than that).  However, we do mimic the behavior of pretending.  “If he pretends, so should I.”

Then what happens is that we don’t admit to anyone when we are discouraged, anxious or fearful.  We won’t admit it to people who can help us.  We won’t admit it to ourselves.  We won’t admit it to God, who would gladly give us peace, if we were to ask.

The first step toward dealing with trials and discouragement in our lives is to admit that they are happening.  Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?  However, if we never do that, we will never take the other steps we need to take–focusing on God, prayer, enlisting friends, etc.

If we fail to admit it, we could end up like this guy.  Come on.  Click it. You know you want to.

Grove Weather/Parking Update

Hey Everyone,

If you are reading this then you probably know that we are having both services at The Grove tomorrow.   Some people want to know if there is an official inclement weather policy.  If I were the kind of guy to have an official policy, it would be something like, “Unless it’s really bad, we are having church.  Even if it’s bad, we’ll probably still have one service.”  How’s that for official?

This is not our way of saying, “We don’t care how dangerous it is, you had better come to church.”  It’s more like, “Be safe out there.  If you can make it, we are here.”

If you haven’t been out, most of the main roads are doing great.  Some of the side roads still have gunk on them.  Drive slowly and you should be OK.  The Grove parking lot, on the other hand, is a bit of a mess.  We’ve been working this afternoon on it, and our pledge is that the walkways will be safe.  Outside of all 3 entrances will be clean.  We suggest that you drop your crew off at the front door and go park somewhere and be careful.  If you have kids, you can drop off kids at the back by the playground or the side door that we don’t typically use.  There will be guys in the parking lot to help you out. (If you want to be one of those guys, let me know)

Whatever you do, be careful.  We will be here at both services: 9:15 and 11.  Hope to see you there.

Sticks and Stones… (Nehemiah 4 Preview)

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  I’m not sure where that ranks on the all-time childhood taunts, but I have it pretty high.  However, it’s definitely behind, “Nanny, nanny, boo-boo,” and “I’m rubber and you’re glue…”

Actually thinking about it, it really isn’t that great of a taunt, because it’s not remotely true. (Well I guess neither is “I’m rubber…” but as always, I digress.)

I have fallen and hurt myself many times, including onto sticks and stones.  I have even broken a bone.  You know what?  I really don’t remember what it felt like.  If I think about it, it doesn’t hurt me again.  On the other hand, there are things that people said to me over 30 years ago (including a sob story that I will tell on Sunday), that I still remember and still hurts when I think about it.

Sticks and stones break bones.  However bones heal much faster than feelings.  We will spend the bulk of our time on Sunday talking about how we deal with discouragement.  I wanted to take a little time here to look at it from the other side.  Don’t be a discourager.  I think that there are way too many Christians who fancy themselves as having the gift of “prophecy” or “exhortation” which is really just Christian-ese for I like to line people out and rebuke them and tell them what I don’t like about them.  You can say that you have a “prophet’s heart,” but prophets spoke from God.  Often we speak out of being annoyed or bothered personally.

Ask yourself this question before you say something that will hurtful.  Hold on, a good first step is to stop and think about whether or not it will be hurtful.  Then think twice before you say it.  Then ask yourself this question, “Will this encourage them to get better or discourage them to even try?” Then ask, “Am I doing this because I care about them or because I care about me?”

God wants us to be involved in each others’ lives and help each other get better, but far too often we are motivated out of our own hurt and frustration and a neck-rolling “I’m gonna tell them something.”

What if the discouraging hurtful thing you were going to say would stick with them 33 years later and it still stuck in their gut and hurt, would you still say it? (seriously, it’s a great story)

Building the Wall

That was a great word from Nehemiah yesterday (That’s a throwback expression for good sermon). Thanks Pastor Gonzo, or should it be Brother Gonzo, or just Gonzo.  I don’t know, but let’s agree that it’s not Aaron.

Upon first glance, Nehemiah 3 can be kind of a boring read, like it is one of the genealogy lists.  So and so built this piece of the wall and what’s his face built this piece and Jimmy WhoCares built this…and on it goes.  But behind all of that is a great story of how a large group of people work together.  Each person does a small part and when they all work together something really big happens.  We will soon see some obstacles and discouragement that they face, but for now it is an incredible team working together.

To me that is a picture of both the way a church works and the way the Church works, if you catch my meaning.  (If you don’t, you are in the majority.  No one ever knows what I’m talking about.)

A church works this way on Sunday morning.  From the greeting team, to the coffee folk, to the tech crew, children’s ministry, the band, the pastors, everyone is playing a small role and when it is all put together, God uses it to create incredible experiences for people to worship and find God.  Without any one of the people, it would be less friendly, less clear, less powerful.

In the same way, each church plays a role in reaching different people in different ways with different types of ministries.  When we all work together, God does incredible things in our community, region and world.

The interesting thing about building a wall is that is really only strong when each section of the wall is strong.  If one section is weak then it doesn’t matter what the rest of the wall looks like.  A wall is only as strong as each section.

The last thing I want you to feel is some negative feeling like, “Don’t be the weak link, you slacker.” (Unless that motivates you, then OK I guess)  What I would rather you feel/know is that we need you.  Our wall (church, ministry, world) will be stronger when you use the gifts and passions that God has given you and use them.

What is it that God is calling you to do? How can you serve? How can you be used? What is your piece of the wall? If you don’t know, just jump out there and start building (serving).  We need you and we’ll be all the better for having you.  God wants to use you to change the world and draw people to him.

Unpacking the Packed House

No, this doesn’t have anything to do with us buying or selling a house (although we did have a 2nd showing last night, if anyone feels inclined to pray in that regard).

This has to do with the overwhelming number of people that were at the 2nd service at the Grove on Sunday (if your church is full or fullish in the service you attend, feel free to keep reading)

I have been a part of services where I’ve said, “that was packed,” or “we were full.”  I will try from here on out to not use that expression any more, because I was at a service on Sunday that was packed and full.  We counted yesterday and we have ~210 chairs.  There were over 220 people in the room.  For you non-math majors out there, that means there were people there that didn’t have chairs. I know that people who hate math especially hate story problems.

Anywho, there are a couple of things that people can walk away from a service like that thinking, “Wow, that was cool.  There was a lot of energy,” or “that was crowded, hot, and if I’m going to be honest, smelled a little bit.”  Now I’m guessing that most of the members/regulars are in category 1.  Also, I would hope that most of the new people were in category 1.  Something like that is cool, once, maybe twice.  After a while, it can for some begin to be uncomfortable.  Again, this isn’t regulars, it’s people that are new to church, often the most spiritually vulnerable.

We certainly don’t want to do anything that would discourage people from coming or inviting a friend. (Why would I invite a friend if there is no room?) So what can we do?  Welpst, we can look for a new place to meet, which we are doing (Pray for that by the way. Hoping to have some good news soon).  You can also (gulp) come to first service. It starts at 9:15, by then on most days you are up, ready, at work or class, and have 10 games of minesweeper under your belt (Is that a dated reference?).

If you are bringing friends and they want to come at 11, come at 11.  If it’s just you, try and come to the early service.  New people will almost always come to the later service.  Let’s make room for them by worshipping early.

Speaking of that, drop your kids and wife off at the door and then go park in the worst place imaginable.  Braums lets us park in the northern part of their lot. We can park across Sunbridge at the strip mall. We can park down the street behind the church and Braums.  I think no one uses that street but us anyway.

People have always said to me in situations like this that “it’s a good problem to have.”  Agreed. But that still makes it a problem, a problem we can fix.  Come early and park inconveniently.  I’ll talk to you again about what to do when both services are 200+.

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