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Tag: fellowship

You’re a Saint!

June 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I knew a couple who were a fairly unique pair of individuals. Each one had their own quirks to say the least. But one of them was less unique than the other. Ok so I’ll shoot straight here – one of them was just a bit much and was a hard person to get along with much of the time. This individual would tend to over share information, and life needed to be their way all the time!

I often said that the less hard to get along with spouse was a saint for how they dealt with the other. A saint in this case isn’t someone who died centuries ago and is now remembered for all eternity. Rather a saint in this usage is someone who was willing and able to put up with a lot of baggage out of love for the other person. They were a good person.

In my experience it seems as if we tend to throw the saint word around a little bit too easily in my book. We tend to miss the point of what a saint really is. I don’t think a saint is necessarily a genuinely good person. That diminishes the real value of what a saint truly is. Instead a saint is someone who has experienced the goodness of God.

Do you see the difference? It’s not about my goodness that makes me saintly, rather it’s about knowing I’m not all that good and still experiencing the goodness of God’s great love for me.

There’s something kind of special about being this kind of a saint. When we can acknowledge our “not goodness,” it makes the grace of God that much more powerful and amazing. When I recognize the tremendous amount of grace I’ve required from so many people, the easier it is for me to see the goodness in others.

Being a saint doesn’t mean we have it all together, or even that we’re necessarily all that good of people. It means that we’ve experienced something that not everyone realizes. We’ve experienced the goodness of God in immeasurable ways.

So have you experienced the goodness of God? Then you too my friend are what I call a saint!

Smaller or Sent Out?

August 11, 2021 / / 0 Comments

There’s an interesting shift happening in the landscape of the church today. Interesting in what has felt to be a very disturbing way. Interesting in a way that is scaring leadership of many mainline denominations. Interesting in a way that appears to be, by all outward appearances, the great shrinking of the institutional church. But I am curious.

Is the church decreasing or is it decentralizing?

The shift for churches to an online presence throughout the pandemic has drawn many would-be church goers to stick around at home and watch from a distance. While there are some issues here that we can go into at a later point, we need to resist the urge as pastors to jump to the negative on this one.

Is this a hurdle or an opportunity?

The short answer is yes! This is a hurdle in the sense that many of those who are not joining in the worship experience in person are missing out on some massively beneficial aspects of what the church is supposed to be. They’re missing the family connection when they join worship together with other believers. They’re missing out in many cases on participation in communion as a body of Christ. They’re missing out on the realization that they are part of something significantly larger than themselves.

But it is also a wildly exciting opportunity if we just take time to engage the possibilities. Through the pandemic, as many churches shifted to online worship or made their current online options more robust, the increase in those who participated in some form of worship engagement was astronomical! The church I serve saw an online engagement that was 200% or more higher than our normal Sunday attendance pre-pandemic.

Additionally, now that we are online many of our members who were unable to attend for a variety of reasons from health to mobility to job requirements all have the chance to participate in worship.

So what would happen if we looked at the shift that’s happening as an opportunity? How can we empower and equip these members of our churches to be missionaries in their communities when they’re not at church? Newsflash but when the church first got rolling in the New Testament they didn’t have brick and mortar buildings or programs out the wazoo. They had people to love and hold accountable. They met in homes and in neighborhood settings.

A word of caution to you pastor type people. Don’t lower the quality of your online option to make people come back to in person gatherings. I’ve heard that and it makes me sick to my stomach. How underhanded is that really!?

A word of caution to those of you not willing to engage in worship in person. The longer you’re gone from in person gatherings with your church family, the harder it will be to get back with them. You’ll find any excuse in the book not to come, and we’re already seeing it.

Love one another well. Serve one another without expectation of repayment or without a what’s in it for me attitude. Just be the church (the people of God) for goodness sake and watch what God will do when his people are faithful to his call on their lives!

The church is not shrinking. It’s moving to places we never let it go before and it is terrifyingly exciting! We’re witnessing the great decentralization of church away from institutional into incarnational.

Right Place, Wrong Reason

August 10, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Have you ever missed something right in front of you because you were looking for the wrong thing? I mean you’re standing there, looking at the shelves in the grocery store, staring right at the item you’re supposed to buy and you can’t even see it because it’s not what you had imagined in your head it was going to look like. I’ve been there more than once, sadly to say.

This week we took time to be honest with ourselves about what we’re looking for when we come to Jesus and when we go to church. Are we looking for the things that Jesus promises to give us? Or are we looking for the things that will make us feel better? Because to be honest, these are not generally the same things.

In the bible there’s a time when the people came to Jesus looking for food. Instead of feeding them in some cool and miraculous way, he told them he was going to give them something better than food. They were astounded, and stammered in disbelief. What could be better than food they thought.

Jesus told them that he was going to be more to them than mere food. He was there to be their bread of life. It seems an odd statement but when you realize what Jesus was doing it makes sense. The short version here is that Jesus was showing them that when we come to him and his church looking for him we’ll find him and we’ll have many of our others needs met or at minimum refocused. When Jesus is our focus and growing in him is our number one priority, we’ll soon realize that the things we’ve been looking for all along have left us hungry for more of the wrong thing.

It’s like eating a snickers candy bar. You eat one and you’re not hungry for carrots or a steak. You eat that sugary goodness and you’re just hungry for more sugary goodness. But if you get your fill of something good and healthy for you, you won’t be craving the things that are not going to do you any good.

Jesus is the same way. When we long for him and find our fill in him, the other things of life: physical needs, financial needs, social and relational needs, belonging needs, questions about our purpose in life – all these things get refocused when we’re in it for the right reason.

Here’s a message I gave on this idea of looking for the wrong thing in the right place.

It’s Time!

May 13, 2021 / / 0 Comments
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Well I don’t know what things are like where you live but in our neck of the woods we were just told that things will return to a more open feeling the first part of June. What an amazing relief that will be for so many! Many are starting to dabble in life as some form of normal but they’re just hesitant with any restrictions still in place.

Many pastors and church leaders have been struggling to see how they can gather their people, serve their communities and establish a sense of rhythm and community with their neighbors. But the question is where do we start?

I by no means am an expert in this matter but I do spend a lot of time reading trends and studying demographics and having conversations with neighbors and community members. I’ve compiled a list of things that could be simple starts to get you and your friends/neighbors reengaging as a community again. Take any, all or none of it. And even for those of you who are not believers in Jesus, you can still do many of these in the context of your relationships too!

  • Walk to get the mail and say hello to your neighbors.
  • Walk your pet at the same time of day to meet neighbors regularly.
  • Sit on your front porch while your child plays outside.
  • Have a cookout on the patio.
  • If invited, attend!
  • Gather neighbors for a fire in the fire pit.
  • Do an open meal night with a few neighbors.
  • Gather to watch sports together.
  • Have a _____ cook-off around your block.
  • If you like your neighbor’s landscaping, tell them.
  • Go for walks or runs with your neighbors.
  • Coach a child’s sports team.

The point of each of these is simple – find space and time to gather with and reconnect with those around you. Pick one or two or come up with your own. This summer in the church I serve as pastor we’re going to bring back our summer parties. We just need to get people back together and celebrate our life lived in fellowship and love for one another. Share what you do. Share your new ideas or creative thoughts. I’d love to hear from you!

Power Of Habits – Supper For 2

December 9, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Yesterday we started talking about how small habits done over time can change things in a big way in our lives. We’re going to look at daily and weekly habits over an eight day time span here. These habits come from a book that I’m reading titled The Common Rule by Justin Earley.

The premise of the book is that our habits are the waters in which we swim. The more intentional we are about choosing our habits, the more we can direct the flow and pattern of our lives. The first habit we looked at was setting your Daily Frame. You can go here to read what was all about. Today we look at a habit that is best done on a daily basis.

Supper For Two

Some of the greatest rhythms in life happen when we’re with other people. And some of the most powerful moments of conversation and friendship develop over food. This habit is pretty simple. It’s the combination of people and a good meal.

Simply put find time to eat at least one meal a day with other people. From the lunch table at school or work to the supper table at home to the coffee shop or local pub we can always find a way to be with other people.

Practical Ideas

  • no phones at the table
  • If you’re at a bar and around other people you don’t know, don’t bury your head in your device so you can have the opportunity to talk with those around you.
  • Let one person share something going on in their life as you eat together.
  • Do highs and lows around the table.
  • Share your good, bad and funny stories of the day.
  • Read a devotion together.
  • Pray for one another.

The possibilities are pretty much endless. The point however is very simple. Life was meant to be shared in rhythm with other people. Let people into the daily parts of your life even if only once a week. This will establish the rhythm of community into your life.

Come To The Table

July 25, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Have you ever felt like you just didn’t belong? Maybe like an outsider? Perhaps you were in the middle of a crowd of people and you still felt all alone. Imagine a time when it seemed no one cared, no one even noticed you were around. Imagine the heartbreak you would feel. Imagine sitting all alone at the table in the cafeteria at school. Then hear the invitation.  Continue reading

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