Monday, January 26, 2015

The Next Thing Now-Moving into Outer Space

Several years ago, while we were on a family vacation, I was a first time guest at church for the first time in a very long time. (As a pastor’s wife, I don’t have this opportunity very often. And when I do, it’s usually at a fellow pastor-friend’s church or my husband is guest speaking so the whole “first time guest” experience isn’t quite the same.)

On this particular Sunday, after we awkwardly found our way into the building, I parted ways with Aaron and fumbled around for the children’s wing. After traversing check-in procedures and getting my kids settled in, I attempted to find the correct Worship Center (yes…there was more than one.)

En route, I found the ladies room and locked myself in a stall where I promptly burst into tears. And that immediately made me feel angry and foolish, because I am a pastor’s wife for heaven’s sake! I’m just visiting a church! Why am I acting like this?!

It occurred to me that attending a church for the very first time is hard. And awkward. And uncomfortable. And people are rarely ever just visiting a church. They are making a life decision for themselves and their families.

I know you’re thinking, “Duh. Like I don’t know that. I’ve done that a dozen times!” And for what it’s worth, now, so many days, weeks, months or years after the fact, I hope your first time experience at Freedom was free of difficulty, awkwardness and discomfort…once you finally found a parking space.

And there it is. A parking lot. The last thing on earth anyone truly wants to be excited about raising funds for.

But that parking lot is the first thing a guest experiences at Freedom. THE. VERY. FIRST. THING.

And it’s not just for the first time guest.

It’s for that lady who’s been coming to Freedom for quite some time now, and has been through the most difficult year of her life. This past week, life has completely beat her up. And this Sunday, she just needs to be in church. With her friends. With her children. With her Jesus.

But she’s running late this morning and she pulls into the parking lot ten minutes after service has started.  There are no parking spots left. She could park over at the elementary school…and traipse her young children on this blistering, cold, messy January day across the sidewalk, down the driveway and into church.

Instead, in defeat, she decides to turn around and go home…as her kindergartener cries in the backseat because he was so excited to turn in his Buddy Barrel today to help meet one of the big BGMC Goals that Glo has set this year.

So, it’s not just expanding a parking lot. It’s not just big giving goals. It’s creating a place and an opportunity. For people. For you. For me. For your family. For that guy sitting across the worship center who is broken and lonely. For that person who just pulled into the lot who is on the verge of salvation.

Faith and sacrifice are often two sides of the same coin. If I have faith that God is going to do something big, often my first action step is to make a sacrifice. Our family is taking steps, cutting back, taking on special projects and finding creative ways to make money so that we can give sacrificially, too. We are standing together with you as we move forward into the next thing…now.

Written by: Jaime Hlavin
Edited by: Tamara Sturdivant

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Next Thing Now-SERVE


Today I want to share a little thought with you that has been nagging at me for quite a while now.  Its a little two-word thought with big implications.

Something we do continually in Christendom is sing, pray, and even tearfully cry out for “more of the Holy Spirit.”  You do it.  I do it. We all do it together, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  But one day, as I was crying out to God to let me experience more of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, I had this thought:

“What for?”

I had been meditating on one of my favorite sections of scripture, John 14-16, and I was becoming troubled by my reaction to something Jesus had said.  Jesus was telling the disciples that it was better for them that He goes away so that they could receive the Holy Spirit.  If you had asked me any time before if I would rather have the physical, flesh-and-bones Jesus walking and living beside me, or the Holy Spirit living within me, I would have answered that I’d rather have the Holy Spirit. I knew intellectually that Jesus had said it was better.  But this time, I forced myself to really face the reality of whether or not I really believed it was better.

I love Jesus.  I cannot express in words how badly I want to see him face to face, to hear what his voice sounds like, to laugh with him, to share a meal with him.  If Jesus physically lived with me, and spent every day with me, and taught me personally, would I ever feel distant from God?  Would I ever worry or be afraid?  Would I ever be lonely or discouraged?  Would I ever lack boldness?  Not likely. 

So I asked myself, “Honestly, can I really say that what I’ve experienced in my relationship with the Holy Spirit is better than that?”

I knew instantly that I had a problem.  My experience hadn’t been better than that.  To be honest, I was still choosing physical Jesus.  So either Jesus was wrong, or I didn’t have a right understanding about what kind of relationship was available to me with the Holy Spirit.

How could I experience more in this relationship?  How could he help me do the “greater things” Jesus had promised in the book of John?  To see what I was missing in my relationship with the Holy Spirit, I turned to the book of Acts. It didn’t take long for me to discover an interesting trend.

Acts 1:8 says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…”  On the day of Pentecost, Peter, the recent three-time denier of Christ, preached the Gospel and 3000 people were saved (Acts 2.)  Later, after being arrested, “Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,” stood trial before the Jewish council and gave a defense of Christ that left them “astonished.”  Upon their release, the believers prayed, “and they all were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”  (Acts 4)

As displayed in scripture, the people who were experiencing the power and presence of the Holy Spirit were the people who were actually doing things

That day I had to face the harsh reality that I wasn’t really doing anything for Christ.  I went to church, asked God to give me more power, and then I did….nothing.  Could this be why I wasn’t experiencing the fullness of my relationship with the Holy Spirit?

On Sunday, Pastor Aaron pointed out that the only people who knew a miracle had taken place at the wedding (in John 2) were the people who were serving.  In the same way today, let us understand that the pathway to seeing “more of the Holy Spirit” at work in our lives is not found in a lifestyle of quiet church-going.  The call to follow Christ is not a call to comfortable, safe, consumption. It is a call to action.  If you want to experience more of the power of God, put yourself in a position where you need that power and see how God comes through.

The next time you find yourself in a place where you just don’t “feel God” anymore, the next time you’re crying out and asking for more power from the Holy Spirit, consider this:


What for?

Written by: Pastor Travis Buerky
Edited by: Brigit Edwards

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The Next Thing Now-GROW

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

If you give me a flower or a bouquet, I will kill it. I am not a gardener. I am terrible at tending to things if they don’t make noise when they aren’t taken care of or haunt me every waking moment. Plants fall in both of those categories. My desk is essentially a graveyard where innocently cut flowers have gone to die a lot quicker than they should. I. Am. Not. A. Grower.

 I cannot even begin to describe to you then, the peace and security this verse brings to me. To know that my inadequacies can be covered by the glory and goodness I know is almost unfathomable at times. No, God has never made any house plant of mine flourish against all odds, but He has done so with me many times. Whether I had planted myself at the bottom of an ocean of apathy, or in dry, hot sands of disobedience, He has taken me time and time again (once I am willing to tear up my roots) and brought me back to life. But more than living, He has made me come alive.

What’s so absolutely AMAZING about this little verse is that it has taught me that my failures and mistakes in this process of growing do NOT have to equal stunted growth. There’s no Spiritual Snakes n’ Ladders for every time we falter. God has provided so much through the Holy Spirit and the redemption of the Cross that we can be confident in our ability to grow as we serve Him.

To be open enough with people of faith in so many different stages of life is such a unique thing in the church world today, and I truly believe one of the things “His divine power has given us” is our congregation. It’s so encouraging to go to a church that is now embracing this idea. I get so excited talking about the “next thing now” because I imagine all of these people thriving in the spaces of life God has created for them, and helping one another find the tools needed for growth- no matter what that path of growth may look like.

Written by: Brianna Vanderveen
Edited by: De Ann Sturdivant

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

The Next Thing Now- CONNECT

John 13:34-35 states, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 This verse can be a bit challenging. It’s easy to love those who love us, but what about everybody else? God instructs us to go far beyond loving friends and family. In fact, He commands us to love those we don’t even know (Hebrews 13:2.) Furthermore, the world will know we are His based on the love we show. In other words, how we treat others is a direct reflection of our relationship with Him. This is so important. Jesus is teaching us here that in order to reach people, we need to love them first.

I think we have all stepped foot into a place before where nothing was familiar—whether it be a classroom, a workplace, a new church, or someplace else. Regardless of the environment, it’s natural for one to desire to feel a part of the community. Likewise, we all know what it’s like to feel alone. As Christians, we have the opportunity to show God’s love to those that are feeling isolated and detached from their environment. Sometimes this can be easier said than done. However, it’s so important that we choose to not grow so comfortable with the familiar that we miss these moments. Jesus created us to connect with others, and love them like we love ourselves. When it comes down to it, Jesus loves us all equally even though we sometimes like to think differently. Therefore, it’s time for us to see others with the value that He sees.

It is part of our church’s vision to carry out this principle, as it is vital to our growth both personally and outwardly. I challenge you, this year, to get a little uncomfortable. Go out of your way to love, care for, and welcome someone you have never met before.  Practice hospitality. One of the strongest human desires is to feel loved, and God demonstrated His love for us greater than any man ever could have. Therefore, let us follow His example and show the world how much He loves each and every one of His children.

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant
Edited by: Jenelle Kelly