Jesus & Black Friday

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Every year Thanksgiving’s festivities seem to be more and more the prequel to the real holiday of “Black Friday”.  As soon as the turkey has been stripped, the pumpkin pie sliced, and we’ve given thanks for our many blessings, the shopping ads cover the table in anticipation of tomorrow’s shopping frenzy.  And it seems to start earlier and earlier every year.  Some stores started lining their shelves with Christmas decorations as Halloween pumpkins and costumes were coming out.  Our television shows began to be interrupted with upcoming “Black Friday” specials and deals (though I’ll have to admit I laugh every time that crazy Target shopping lady comes on with her stretching and exercising getting ready for the big day).  This year retailers even felt they couldn’t wait until “Black Friday” but many sales began Thursday evening.  But I say all of this to ask: “What is your reason for celebrating Christmas?”

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those “anti-present” people who think that having material stuff is wrong.  God created things for us to enjoy.  My wife and I actually had most of our Christmas shopping completed before Thanksgiving this year.  We’ve learned that waiting until the last minute it not healthy for our pocketbook.  But buying gifts for one another is simply one small tradition that has been added to the true meaning of Christmas.  There would be no “Black Friday” for retailers to get their balance sheets out of the red and for us consumers to get excited about if it weren’t for that first gift that God sent to earth in the form of a baby.

Think of all the wonderful things that happen during this time of year: the excitement of buying gifts for people you love, the fun of seeing family members get together, children and adults singing Christmas carols, the stringing up of lights for others to enjoy, and on and on and on.  There are so many traditions and things we enjoy during the Christmas Season, but none of it would have ever came to be if it weren’t for Jesus and the gift that God offers through his son.

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For those who have already accepted this gift, don’t ever take it for granted.  Live every day as if you’ve just received it.  And for those who haven’t experienced it yet, all I can say to you is don’t leave it unopened.  Speaking from personal experience of being on both sides of the story, it’s the greatest gift you could ever receive.  Don’t leave it unopened.  As you get ready for December 25th pause and ask yourself “What is my reason for celebrating Christmas?”  So from myself and the rest of us at Cedar Point Church, we truly hope that you and your family experience the joy of God’s greatest gift this Christmas season!

 

Are You a Builder or a Wrecker?

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At Cedar Point we’re getting close to finishing up the book of Romans.  A couple weeks ago we looked at Romans 14 which talks about Christians arguing over “disputable matters.”  I believe that as you grow in your faith you’ll discover that there are actually very few essentials of our faith, things that are worth dividing or separating over.  Yet so many things these days tend to separate us, not only Christians from the “world”, but those within the church.  Paul addresses some of these things in chapter 14 and it got me wondering, “Have I done anything in the past to divide the church?  What have I argued about with other believers that wasn’t worth arguing over?  Or, what disputable matter have I allowed to separate me from reaching others?”

Below is a poem entitled “A Builder or a Wrecker.”

 

A Builder or a Wrecker

As I watched them tear a building down
A gang of men in a busy town
With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell
They swung a beam and the side wall fell

I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
And the men you’d hire if you wanted to build?”
He gave a laugh and said, “No, indeed,
Just common labor is all I need.”
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“I can easily wreck in a day or two,
What builders have taken years to do.”
And I thought to myself, as I went my way
Which of these roles have I tried to play?

Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by rule and square?
Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan
Patiently doing the best I can?

Or am I a wrecker who walks to town
Content with the labor of tearing down?
“O Lord let my life and labors be
That which will build for eternity?”

-Author unknown

So, what role do you play?  Is your life spent as a builder or a wrecker?

The B.E.L.L.S. — Missional Rhythm & Accountability

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As those at Cedar Point know already, I have been thinking a lot about the church, the mission of God, and the countless calls in Scripture for Christians to look like Christ (some say the term ‘Christian’ originally meant ‘little Christs’ and was used as a negative slur but became a badge of honor to followers of Christ).  Since 2008 and feeling the call to plant a church I have hoped to see the church become more, more than most American Christians have settled for.  Countless authors and church leaders have felt the same, that the American church/Christians are not entirely what God had intended, evident by the church’s poor condition in society and rampant closing of doors.  So back to our founder we go…

I first came across the formula given by Alan Hirsch in his book The Forgotten Ways, which impacted me greatly, which goes as:  Christology →  Missiology →  Ecclesiology.  Our God/Christ is the one who determines the mission (God’s Mission) which then determines or shapes the church.  It is to say “the church doesn’t have a mission, but the mission has a church.”  Our God is a missionary God.  The Church is God’s tool in fulfilling His mission in the world “to seek and to save that which is lost” (Lk 19:10; 1 Tim 2:4).  Our churches need to be centered around God’s mission and the mission should shape everything we do.  At the same time we have been chosen as God’s ambassadors to the world to fulfill the mission.  Our lives should resemble our Christ.  As Christians the Living God resides within each of us through the Holy Spirit.  We reflect (or reflect poorly) the image and character of God to those around us.  If you are a follower of Christ, do people see Jesus when they look at you?

So to help those at Cedar Point engage in the mission of God and reflect Christ more fully I suggested we adopt the BELLS missional rhythm and accountability.  BELLS is an acronym from Michael Frost’s book EXILES and gives practical steps in becoming salt & light to our communities while aligning our lives to be more like Jesus.

The B.E.L.L.S. : Missional Rhythm / Accountability (adapted from Michael Frost’s book EXILES)

BLESSING—The Hebrew for “blessing” (barak) means “to empower to strength”.  We seek God’s blessing and pass that blessing on to others.  *Bless 1 person this week (preferably a non-Christ follower)

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LISTENING—We believe that God is capable of speaking to us.  We do not confine Him to any particular medium, but we try to be attentive to His voice, wherever and whenever it speaks.  *Take time to listen to God for 1 hour/week (listening, not talking)

LEARN—We desire to take on the image of God and to participate in His plan.  We seek out knowledge about God to help us to do this.  *Study Jesus’ life a little bit each week from the Gospels.  How did he live?  With whom did he interact?  What were his commands?  Then “go” live like Jesus did.

SENT—We are ambassadors who bear God’s image in the world.  Remind yourselves regularly that we are “sent” to participate in God’s activity and mission in the world.  *Take time each day to reflect on the question: “How have I worked with or resisted Jesus today?”

Living a missional life is not a new add-on, but a way of life focused on others and the mission of God.  Try the BELLS for a month and see how your life and others are changed.

“Conditional Christianity”

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So often we tend to set the criteria for how or when we’ll follow God.  We’ll follow Him as long as we determine the outcome or as long as He doesn’t ask us to do something we’re not ready for.  There are a million excuses we’ve all probably given for not following God, but He doesn’t bend to our conditions

The Apostle Paul says we are either slaves to our sin, the things that keep us separated from God, or we are slaves to Christ and all the wonderful things he wants for us.  Which are you?  What conditions have you put on following Christ?

I’m not much of a poet, but this poem by Adrian Plass really hit home.  I shared it last Sunday during my sermon and wanted to share it with you.  Have you said “Amen”?

 

When I Became a Christian: By Adrian Plass

When I became a Christian I said, Lord, now fill me in,
Tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin.
He said, your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen – I think.
I think Amen, Amen I think, I think I say Amen,
I’m not completely sure, can you just run through that again?
You say my body may be killed and left to rot and stink,
Well, yes, that sounds terrific, Lord, I say Amen – I think.

But, Lord, there must be other ways to follow you, I said,
I really would prefer to end up dying in my bed.
Well, yes, he said, you could put up with the sneers and scorn and spit,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen – a bit.
A bit Amen, Amen a bit, a bit I say Amen,
I’m not entirely sure, can we just run through that again?
You say I could put up with sneers and also scorn and spit,
Well, yes, I’ve made my mind up, and I say, Amen – a bit.

Well I sat back and thought a while, then tried a different ploy,
Now, Lord, I said, the Good book says that Christians live in joy.
That’s true he said, you need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow,
Do not forget to see their experience, registry and round the clock http://nichestlouis.com/cialis-7535.html order levitra online availability. Present day women are no longer confined to nichestlouis.com cialis 50mg house. Repeating the dosage before discount levitra the completion of 24 hours in the dose. I suggested that they stop wasting energy trying to ‘turn around’ Max, but that they should instead let Max do what he does best, and pair him with someone who excels at customer service. cheap cialis nichestlouis.com So do you want to follow me, I said, Amen – tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Lord, I’ll say it then, that’s when I’ll say Amen,
I need to get it clear, can I just run through that again?
You say that I will need to joy, to bear the pain and sorrow,
Well, yes, I think I’ve got it straight, I’ll say Amen – tomorrow.

He said, Look, I’m not asking you to spend an hour with me
A quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity,
The cost is you, not half of you, but every single bit,
Now tell me, will you follow me? I said Amen – I quit.
I’m very sorry Lord I said, I’d like to follow you,
But I don’t think religion is a manly thing to do.
He said forget religion then, and think about my Son,
And tell me if you’re man enough to do what he has done.

Are you man enough to see the need, and man enough to go,
Man enough to care for those whom no one wants to know,
Man enough to say the thing that people hate to hear,
To battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear.
And listen! Are you man enough to stand it at the end,
The moment of betrayal by the kisses of a friend,
Are you man enough to hold your tongue, and man enough to cry?
When nails break your body-are you man enough to die?
Man enough to take the pain, and wear it like a crown,
Man enough to love the world and turn it upside down,
Are you man enough to follow me, I ask you once again?
I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said Amen.

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen, Amen,
I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said, Amen

Church?

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Jesus Marketing 101

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So how far is too far?

I was just working on this week’s lesson for our POINT 180 youth group which talks about “colliding” with other people who are not like us and the things we could possibly learn from them.  So for an illustration I put together a PowerPoint slideshow with various ways the Christian world has taken everyday items and Christianized them.  In some sort of an attempt to… (I don’t know, make money?) we’ve created an “us vs. them” mentality that only turns people against true Christ followers and Jesus.  Are we really supposed to be marketing and capitalizing off of Christ and those who follow him?  I won’t name names, but some denominations have tried that before.

The Christian has everything these days in order to keep oneself pure from the filth of the world, and it’s all working so well (insert sarcasm here): Christian music, Christian radio, Christian movies, Christian theme parks, Christian home decor, Christian water bottles, Christian board games, backpacks, jewelry, t-shirts, hats, silly bands, even car seat covers!  The Christian music industry alone is enough to make my blood boil, but do we really need to play “Bible Scrabble”?  What’s wrong with regular Scrabble?  Are only the good words found in Scripture?  I’m going to go throw up now.

Now, I may have gone a bit too far.  There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with Christian products.  You won’t see me wearing a “God’s Gym” t-shirt or an ichthys on my car but I do enjoy my Christian music.  But seriously, how far is too far?  If Jesus came back I think he’d be incredibly disappointed.

 

 

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Point 180 Youth Group Kickoff

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Just a quick shout out about our new Point 180 Youth Group that starts this Wednesday, September 7th.  Point 180’s purpose is to point youth to Christ in a fun environment designed just for students (5th grade – 12th grade), with music, games, and small groups where friendships can grow.  We want to see them do a 180 and start following Jesus.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation; the old has gone the new has come.”  – 2 Corinthians 5:17

There are three areas we’ll focus on in helping students in their journey with God: wonder, discovery, & passion.  We want all students to find “wonder” in the power and mystery of an amazing God who created everything, and who loves them and desires to be in a relationship with them.  We want students to “discover” the life changing forgiveness that God offers in a relationship with Him as well as who He has created them to be in light of His truth.  And finally, we want all students to unleash a “passion” for serving others, even around the world, in a way that God wants them to revealing Christ to those around them.  Wonder, discovery, & passion.

Our leaders are looking forward to what God has in store.  It all starts with a fall kickoff this Wednesday night, 6:30-8pm at the ISU Borlaug Learning Center and will meet every Wednesday after that.  There will be lots of fun special events along the way too.  So grab your friends and come check it out!

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The Myth of Baptism

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This past month I’ve had a couple different people ask me about baptizing their children.  One was an old high school friend who grew up in the Catholic church but doesn’t really attend anymore.  But since he knew me he thought I could just baptize their kids.  The other was a mother in her forties, an old classmate of my sister’s, who stopped in my office to see if I could possibly baptize her older kids.  She said they had never done it and she really wanted to see them baptized.

And honestly, it all really makes me kind of sad.  First of all, sad to think that so few people who would call themselves Christians really don’t know what God’s word says.  I grew up in the Lutheran church and have come to respect greatly what Martin Luther did for the church (though he kind of went off his rocker later in life).  One of Luther’s greatest achievements was to get the Scriptures, God’s word, into the hands of ordinary people so that we could read and understand it for ourselves without having to depend upon the interpretation of priests.  Yet so few people today take advantage of it and that is one of the greatest travesties of American Christianity.  I will be the first to say don’t ever take my preaching or teaching (or anyone else’s for that matter)  for granted, but read the Bible for yourselves!

At this point, you are either going to do one of two things. a) People will not believe that they are, much less could be, http://bananaleaf.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-Catering-Menu-v2-web.pdf cialis 5mg sale battered by a “little” woman. They develop committees to create criteria of approval to create new drugs, using members of the industry, not disinterested 3rd party scientists, http://bananaleaf.com.ph/location/ levitra 10 mg to draw these protocols and approval systems. But what makes these tablets so effective? Well first things first, the secret behind Tadalafil’s buying viagra in canada success is the main ingredient. Articles, known as ‘intel’ for intelligence , are first screened and voted getting viagra prescription informative pharmacy store on by 12 other members after which they are published or rejected. Secondly, I’m saddened to think that so many people have been taught and believe in the lie that “If I can only get my kids baptized then they’ll be okay and will be able to go to heaven” when it simply isn’t true.  Let me say that again… having your children baptized will not send them to heaven.  It is not true and is nowhere taught in Scripture.  Just stop and logically think about it for a minute.  If you’ve ever been a parent, or ever been a kid for that matter, how many decisions do you really get to make for your kids?  Really?  Actually none.  As parents we can only lead and guide and teach and discipline and pray the lights out, but at the end of the day our kids will make their own decisions.  So why in the world do some parents think that they get to make the most important decision for their kids… the decision on where they’ll spend eternity?  Parents don’t.  They don’t get to make that decision just like every other decision our kids make.  Again all we can do as parents is to lead and guide and hope that at the end of the day our children choose to follow Christ.  But it’s up to them to decide, just like it’s up to every individual to decide what they’re going to do with Jesus.

And really baptism isn’t what saves us from an eternity in hell.  While an extremely important step in following Christ it isn’t the “magic bullet” that gets us in.  They didn’t pull the thief on the cross next to Jesus down and dunk him in some water and yet Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Lk 23:43).  The thief is in heaven and he wasn’t baptized!    What saves us, or makes us right in God’s eyes, justifies us, is our own personal faith in Jesus Christ alone.  Another idea that Luther got right by reading the book of Romans.  It’s personal.  It’s our decision to make, not our parents.  A few weeks ago I had the priveledge of baptizing six people, both old and young, in the Little Cedar because they had made the personal decision to follow Christ as their Lord and Savior and wanted to unashamedly identify themselves as his followers. As parents it’s our responsibility to raise our children in a way that is pleasing and honoring to God so that they can make their own choices to hopefully do the same.  And that I hope you do.

A Biblical Vacation Griswold?

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This past week we loaded up everyone into the van for a short family vacation to South Dakota.  Leaving Sunday morning we made it to the Badlands that afternoon and stayed in Wall.  Monday we then went to Reptile Gardens where Titus tried talking to the tortoises, then on to Mt. Rushmore in the afternoon.  Tuesday morning we headed to Bear Country USA and after it decided to start heading home around 1pm.  So of course being a male I decide that we’re going to drive straight home and finally got there around midnight.  Maybe not the wisest move for my wife’s sanity with our youngest, Kelly, screaming “mama, mama” the entire 10hrs strapped into her government required car-seat.  But we all made it home and had a great time.

So on the way home as Deedie and I talked about the progress of the church and how things have been going, having just celebrated our first year of ministry, it made me think about summer vacations and how they affect our walk with Jesus.  The trend has always been, summer comes and church attendance lowers drastically, and I think that’s extremely sad. Summer vacation has become synonymous with vacation from church & God.  So why?  Why do so many Americans seem to take a vacation from God during the summer as if the school calendar dictates our walk with Him?

Now I realize summer may be a busier time for many families, with ball games, vacations, summer festivals, and just a lot more to do outside.  The vast majority of those attending CPC have done pretty well this summer, but overall in American Christianity people pull away from church at this time of year and get plugged back in when school starts back up, but that’s not how it should be.  The illustration I love is that of the burning coal.  When you remove a burning coal from a fire and hold it out on it’s own, what happens?  It begins to die out and lose its glow.  Stick it back into the fire and it shines brightly again.  The same can be true for our faith in Christ.  When we are not involved with the church, the body of Christ, our faith withers and becomes less important.  We don’t get the opportunities to grow in our walk with God and can fade out and lose our glow.  There are, of course, those who will say they don’t need to go to church to be a “Christian” and to an extent I agree.  I have always been one who would be perfectly fine if dropped in the middle of the Rocky’s all alone.  But the more I grow in my walk with God the more I realize I can’t do this thing on my own and God has created us to need each other and live in community.  So really those who say they don’t need the church really don’t understand what it means to “be” a Christian.  When we take vacations from God it halts our growth to the point where we can become as dysfunctional as the Griswold family.  Times of refreshing, yes.  But a vacation from the church and God, no.  Faith is active and we need to be involved with the body if we’re going to continue growing in our walk and understanding of Christ.

 

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Remembering…

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On Sunday, July 17th, Cedar Point celebrated its first birthday by having our service at the River Ranch Campground with a potluck and river tubing afterward.  We also celebrated the commitment six people made to Christ by baptizing them in the river.  Thanks to everyone who came out and made the day special.

While my opinion may be biased a bit, 🙂 , I thought it was a great day!  My favorite part had to be baptizing six people in the river.  I love watching people declare to those around them through the step of baptism that they are indeed a follower of Christ, that their faith is no longer some game but impacts the way they live.  Being a part of those moments will always be special and something to be remembered.

But to think back a year, even two years, to where we were and where God has brought us is also an amazing thing to remember.  He has been incredibly faithful and deserves all the credit for where we are today as individuals and as a church.  The remarkable thing to think about is God will ALWAYS be faithful.  It’s a promise He’s made to us.  His word is full of them.  And so as I mentioned in my sermon that Sunday, what is it you may need to remember about God?  What promises have you forgotten?  Or maybe you haven’t been following Christ like you know you should be; where was it God tried gaining your attention?  What’s happened in you life recently where He wanted you to turn to Him?  We all have something we need to remember.  As I get older and am able to look back and remember all the things in my life I’m becoming more convinced that everything happens for a reason and that reason can be found in 1 Timothy 2: 4; God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”  No matter where we’re at in our journey with God, whether we’ve been walking with Him for forty years or whether we’re still avoiding Him, He loves us and longs for us to follow Him.
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While Cedar Point has had a great first year, this is just the beginning.  I look forward to looking back twenty years from now and remembering again the faithfulness of God.  I hope you’re ready for year two!