LOVE WEEK-Generosity Unleashed

Life moves so quickly, and if we are not intentional, we can become motionless in time. Physically, we may remain active. However, there comes a point when one must wonder, “Am I living a life of purpose, or am I just going through the motions to reach an end?” Living with tunnel vision is a scary place to be. The rest of the world can begin to dissipate around us, and the goals we once held can transform into ideals that isolate us from life itself.  I can’t help but wonder how many times I have allowed myself to slip away from living a life of purpose to simply living for the sake of living.

The fact is, as God’s creation, we are called to more than merely living. We are called to connect, grow, serve, and love. As Christians, we have a responsibility we cannot take lightly. What is sometimes disguised as the mundane day-to-day is often an abundance of opportunity. There are conversations we are a part of, people we encounter, and situations we face every day that allow us to respond. The question is, how are we viewing these moments? Do we see them as opportunities to connect, grow, serve, and love, or are we missing them entirely?

What if we were to take notice of the little things? What if we were to allow the Holy Spirit to direct our paths outside what may seem ideal? What if we were to let love invade our beings?

God is present in every moment. However, if we don’t shift our focus beyond the tasks of day to day life, we can miss our chance. We can miss our chance to connect. We can miss our chance to learn something new. We can miss our chance to serve someone who desperately needs it. We can miss our chance to love those around us.

 I’m so excited for the focus our church has put on our community this week, but let’s not make this just “Love Week.” Let’s take this mindset into the mundane. Let’s not just live for the sake of living. Let’s live to serve, connect, grow, and love.  

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant
Edited by: De Ann Sturdivant

LOVE WEEK

“But as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he wept over it. And he said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.’ ” Luke 19:41-42

Now, I don’t really do feelings. Rarely do I cry at a funeral and never have I at a wedding. I enjoyed the rationalists and realists in my humanities courses more than the romantics, and will gladly talk weather or sports scores with other men to avoid anything heartfelt.  I even kept a small vigil earlier this year over the passing of Leonard Nimoy, the fanboy gold standard of emotional inaccessibility. So when we’re going to discuss our Lord and Savior crying, I know I’ll be uncomfortable. But that’s a good thing; His ways are higher than mine, so let’s get out of comfort zones and see a more excellent way.

Jesus, as the message addressed Sunday, grieves in the Gospels alternatively for people and for specific places where they dwell – and not for the reasons we suspect when we witness it. He famously and succinctly wept at Lazarus’ death, prompting the bystanders at Bethany to proclaim, “Look how deeply (Jesus) loved him!” (John 11:36 MSG).

But the text tells us Lazarus’ resurrection is a fait accompli before Jesus reaches Bethany, so his grief is more for the hearts of those who cannot yet hope in Him. And with the same dramatic irony, Jesus wept at what should be the apex of his popularity, as crowds of people throw down coats and palm leaves to enter Jerusalem. Why? Because once again, we humans just don’t get it.

Jesus goes on later in Luke 19 to describe a fate for Jerusalem that mirrors the destruction of the temple in 70 AD by the Roman legions under future Emperor Titus. And the implication here is that welcoming a Prince of Peace, rather than a potential earthly liberator from Rome, would have changed the city’s fate.

There is some sense to that – it is after all this misguided political zeal that spurred two failed revolts and scattered the Jewish people, razed the temple and made Jerusalem a pagan Roman city. Just a few chapters later in John, Pilate questions Jesus on whether he is that sort of insurrectionist, and He responds, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place,” (John 18:36). It’s possible that if the people of Jerusalem were to understand this point, it may have spared Jesus some undue attention from Rome and the city from ruin.

This may sound like a lot of arcane history, but it applies directly to us today. It even ties back to the previous week’s message, on early Christians who cared for the ill during plagues of the second century. We fail often as God’s people when we want a political solution to the woes of our day – one that requires less personal effort, like winning an election or a court ruling, rather than stepping up personally and meeting a need the world has neglected. We may win more of the lost by what we do rather than what we don’t do – or what we ask others around us not to do.

So if I’m not going to be a crier, myself, then I pray at least to keep the Lord from weeping any further, over the ways I ask Him to make life easier on me. If it spares him some tears over the lost, maybe it’s about time I got something in my eye.

Written by: Chad Halcom

Edited by: Jaime Hlavin

Shining Light into Darkness

Sometimes my friends swear on my Facebook page.

And, naturally, it could make me self-conscious, or keep me on my toes, knowing that whoever “from church” that was scrolling through Facebook now knows I associate with someone who does not live every moment like Jesus Christ. Recently, I have stopped feeling the need to apologize for it.

Before I continue, I assure you this blog is not about Facebook. I’m not here to talk about complacency either. And, NO, I’m not even CLOSE to trying to tell you what is acceptable to say and what is not. I am not a Bible, but I suggest you consult one if you ever do find yourself coming to my blogs for answers on how you should live [because you’ll be broke in a month and probably somewhere in Africa.]

Rather, I’d like to highlight an issue that comes to mind every time a friend of mine has dropped a four letter bomb in the comment section of my Facebook. It’s the issue that comes up every time I don’t go home when a friend of mine starts recounting a “wild weekend.” It’s the fact that every time I get into a friend’s car with a rap song playing on the radio, I don’t plug my ears and shout, “LALALALALALA.” The issue lies in culture, the Holy Spirit, and our reaction to both.

On Sunday, Pastor Aaron mentioned the subculture of Christianity that formed after the Scopes Trial decision. Becoming of this was a collection of Christian-specific media, education, business, and overall interaction that many of us participate in. In no way is it wrong to listen to a Christian artist or buy from a Christian-based business. However, we have a tendency to abuse it, making it a fortress from the outside instead of an invitation to come in.  As Christians, we love to talk about how we are “in the world but not of it.” The problem is we often seem to forget that we are IN the world. For me, many times this comes from forgetting where my own faith comes from; within.

We should not be afraid to live in the world in which we exist. The strength and salvation of Jesus, along with the power of the Holy Spirit, dwells IN us. It is internalized in us every day we make the decision to trust and follow Him. In this way, it is possible for us (as followers of Christ) to walk in truth and righteousness. We don’t need to live in a Christian bubble. Because we have been given authority, through the gospel and the power of Christ, we can carry His presence with us regardless of our environment. If we truly believe this, we have no room to fear that living in an environment of less than holiness with less than holy people who do less than holy things will defeat our own spirits. WE have been transformed by an alive, victorious God.

It is because of this transformation that we can go boldly, just as God challenged the refugees in Jeremiah 29 to do. In verses 5-7, Jesus challenges the captives with the command,

⁵ “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. ⁶ Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! ⁷ And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare. (NLT)

Like the refugees, we are to make our homes, settle in, and make connections with the broken world around us. We are not to fear going deeper. Though we, ourselves, have not come FROM it, the world is where we are supposed to be. So let’s be present. Let’s be impactful.

No longer do I feel shame for my friends who say dirty things on the internet, or my friend who dresses a certain way, or my friend who lives a life that disobeys a God they don’t fully know yet. Rather, I have found that if things aren’t a little messy, you’ve been still for too long.

This week, I encourage you. Let’s examine our lives, and see what we have become reliant on. Is it our own “bubbles” we have created, or the Savior that lives within us? Let us go boldly, as we have been given authority to, to be a light not in more light, but in darkness.

Written by: Brianna Vanderveen

Edited by: Tamara Sturdivant

Truth

I am kind of a nerd. In fact, when I realized it was my week to blog on the topic of “truth” it was all I could do to not focus my writing around a catchphrase from my all-time favorite conspiracy theory- based sci-fi show.

But I decided to spare the readership that torture.

However, I will torture you with my current nerdy obsession: talk radio podcasts. I love podcasts about science and technology or criminology or just the art of storytelling. This week, incidentally, two days after Sunday’s message, I began listening to one particular podcast that examines thoughts and how these shape human behavior.

In the first episode, the story followed a man struggling with very dark thoughts that were bombarding him – violent thoughts about harming and even killing people he loved. He began to worry that these thoughts defined who he was and that he’d eventually succumb to the actions suggested by his brain. These thoughts began to disrupt his normal life.

The young man began seeing a psychologist who helped him understand that these thoughts did not define him. The psychologist taught him various techniques to drive away the troublesome ideas and thus resume normal life. He had to come to the realization that these thoughts were not true.

Our message this past weekend centered on “truth.” We learned that the idea of absolute truth is a fleeting notion in a postmodern society. The “relativity of truth” is rampant and creating “one’s own truth” is the norm. In 2015, the lie that society has accepted is that our thoughts determine our truth.

On Sunday, we also learned that absolute truth can be found, it must be acted upon and anything untrue must be rejected. If you missed the message and haven’t had a chance to listen to it, I would encourage you to do so!

As I further meditated on Sunday’s message and then began listening to the aforementioned nerdy podcast, I was also reminded of part of the life group teaching from our Transformed series on mental health: Don’t believe everything you think.

Yes, our thoughts are not always to be trusted, as obviously demonstrated in my opening story about the man in the podcast. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” The world would tell us, follow your heart. Do what you think is right for you. The Bible tells us just the opposite.

Scripture also tells us that we need to take action over untruths that pop into our heads. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us that we are to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

It is increasingly vital as Christians that we study the word voraciously. We need to know exactly what it says in an effort to battle not only the onslaught of ideas and worldviews that press in on us from every side, but also our own internal thoughts that attempt to formulate false truth for us.

So this week, let’s focus on the truth of God’s word and let it sink deep into our way of thinking:

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11.

Written by: Jaime Hlavin

Edited by: Jenelle Kelly

Righteousness

I grew up in church, so I can remember oo-ing and ahh-ing at the “ultra-holy” prayers spoken by many of my leaders in children’s church and youth group. The more “Father-God’s” thrown in there, the more likely it was that their prayers were reaching God. The whole concept is a bit ridiculous, but I always admired someone who could pray “well.” For years, if I knew I was going to have to pray in front of people I would rehearse in my mind what I was going to say. I wanted to sound righteous, after all! The more I did this though, the less sense it made. The God I had heard about and grown to know was someone who was considered my counselor, my teacher, and my friend. So why was I talking to Him in such a way? My prayers may have been eloquent, but they weren’t always real. I often spent more time thinking about the words I was saying than I did the recipient of the prayer.

This type of attitude is more common than we’d like to admit in Christianity. Although you may not have jumped over this particular hurdle, perhaps you have acted in other ways to display your “righteousness.” Have you ever had an explosive argument in the car on the way to church, then waltzed in with a smile on your face and a Bible in hand, looking ready for a little Holy Ghost Hoedown? Or perhaps you’ve lifted your hands during worship just at the right time with the sole purpose of ensuring that nobody knows you’re really just daydreaming about what’s for lunch.

Artificial righteousness could be a little more discrete though. You may even follow everything a Christian is supposed to do. You may read your Bible, pray, and attend church with good intentions, but never put anything you learn into action. It’s far too common for Christians to sit on the outside of society and criticize, meanwhile putting no effort whatsoever in to change the flaws within themselves.

Whatever category you may fall into, I think we could all bear to be a little more real with ourselves, and a little more real with God. In Matthew 6:9:15 (The Lord’s Prayer,) we are taught four important principles. To have a good relationship with God, we need to:

1.       Honor His name (Matthew 6:9)

2.       Follow well (Matthew 6:10)

3.       Learn dependence (Matthew 6:11)

4.       Remember forgiveness (Matthew 6:12-15)

Incorporating these principles in our day-to-day life is vital to our spiritual health. In order to grow and get to know God better, we really have to put in the work. That means praying and spending time in the Word when nobody else is around to see it. That means abiding by His direction in circumstances where we could easily get away with doing our own thing. That means trusting God even when it doesn’t seem to make sense. That means forgiving people even when they don’t deserve it.

To be righteous is not to sound or look like you’ve got it together. To be righteous is to be real, and to be free from guilt or sin. I challenge you to examine your life this week, and see if you can find an area to work on that you may have a righteous exterior, but lack a truly righteous interior. 

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant

Edited by: De Ann Sturdivant