Transformed- Physical Health

Every season of life seems to come with various potential stressors. Whether you’re a mom feeling burdened by the many responsibilities of parenting and working, a student struggling to earn good grades while balancing a job and school, or a retiree battling illness, we all face obstacles in life that can bring us stress. However, allowing these things to seep into our thoughts, emotions, and actions can be detrimental to our physical well-being. Stress is incredibly taxing and can leave us feeling defeated.

As someone who tends to err on the side of negativity, I have to be so careful in regard to stress. Although eliminating the stressor(s) is not always an option, I’ve learned that there are healthy ways to deal with stress, as well as unhealthy ways. Last Sunday, Pastor Aaron listed 7 ways to reduce stress in our lives, and I think they all go hand in hand.

7 THINGS THAT HELP TO REDUCE STRESS:

1.       Look to God for your needs.

2.       Obey God’s instruction about rest.

3.       Recharge your soul with beauty.

4.       Go to God for guidance.

5.       Trust God in the dark alleys.

6.       Let God be your defender.

7.       Expect God to finish what He starts in you.

Each of these has a common theme. God. You see, sometimes I think we forget that God is present amidst our stress. Furthermore, when we look to Him, He brings us rest.

Not too long ago, I remember feeling completely overwhelmed with school, work, and finances. I found myself focusing on the worries, which in turn, spilled into my thoughts and speech. In a conversation with my mom one day, she asked me, “Have you prayed about this?” Although it’s a simple question, it was exactly what I needed to hear. In the stresses of life, I had tried to fight on my own.  However, God was right there all along. I just didn’t see Him.

God meets the needs of those who love Him. God gives us rest. God has created beauty all around us to bring us tranquility. God can guide us through our struggles. God can comfort us through painful times. God defends us when we are weak. God has a plan through the stress, and He wants to continue a work in us. Are you willing to invite Him in? 

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant

Edited by: De Ann Sturdivant

Transformed- Spiritual Health

When I was a young girl, I can remember my mom telling me one day not to touch the stove because it was very hot and would burn my finger. Yet, the mischievous and rebellious part of me decided I was going to touch it anyway. To my surprise, the stove did, in fact, burn my finger. I will admit that sometimes, it’s easy for me to want to respond like this in my relationship with God. There are times when God will convict me or lead me to do something, but I don’t want to listen because I feel my way is better (as wrong as that is.) As followers of Christ, God holds us to a high standard. He is incredibly forgiving and indescribably loving, however He wants us to GROW. That means that sometimes, we need to follow instruction we may not like. Therefore, instead of doing what we want because it is more thrilling or enjoyable at the time, we must choose to trust God’s direction because He has our best interest in mind. Whether it is a conviction or call to action, God guides us with the intention of protecting us as well as helping us to mature and grow.

As great as it is to become spiritually aware of where God is guiding us, (as mentioned earlier) it is just as important that we put this knowledge into action daily. I can’t imagine what the church would look like if we all simply accepted Christ as our Savior, but never really applied anything from Scripture. I partially wish this series was simply titled, “Transform,” because in reality, we are never done being transformed by God. The more we study His word and hear Him speaking into our lives, the more we should be allowing Christ to remold us.

Pastor Aaron mentioned four steps on Sunday that we must do in order to grow:

1.)    Get fed up with our lives.

2.)    Own up to our sin.

3.)    Offer up ourselves.

4.)    Lift up praise.

I think these steps are so important to incorporate into our routine. In order to grow, we must be intentional. We must choose to recognize when there’s an area of life where we just aren’t following God’s plan. We must admit when we screw up! We must be willing to make a change. Finally, we must praise God for all He has done and is doing in our lives. I encourage you to analyze yourself this week and throughout this series. Are you allowing God to completely transform you, or are you selfishly holding back? 

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant

Edited by: De Ann Sturdivant

Transformed: Part 1

According to Merriam-Webster, the word transform means to “change something completely – and usually in a good way.”

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

This verse indicates that in order to be changed completely in a good way, our minds have to be renewed. When I first gave my life to the Lord, Romans 12:2 shaped my entire walk with Jesus. At that point in time, my life was so externally out of control that it was obvious that transformation was necessary. The longer I was a Christian, the less I focused on transforming.

As time goes on, in one’s Christian walk, it’s easy to forget to continue in the transformation process. The external chaos isn’t as obvious; therefore we assume that we aren’t in that much need of transformation. I believe if we aren’t constantly being transformed then we’re conforming. We stop allowing our minds to be renewed.

This is why I am seriously excited about this series: I am going to set some long-term goals that will enact transformation in my life and the ongoing renewal of my mind. Goals are crucial to transformation. Goal setting is a spiritual responsibility and is a statement of our faith. Goals focus our energy and keep us going. They build our character. Goal setting is instrumental in the renewing of our minds.

To fully benefit from the Transformed series it is crucial to participate at a very intentional level. Each weekend, Pastor Aaron will present a Transformed message that will be reinforced by the Life Group curriculum. Transformed Life Groups will be meeting once a week, so make sure to be faithful to attend your group. Also, stay current each day in your Transformed devotional book. The devotional book and Life Group Curriculum will begin after next week’s message (April 19) – Transformed in my Spiritual Health.

I truly believe that if we stay diligent and focused over these next seven weeks and set some very intentional goals, we will experience transformation to a brand new level! I am looking forward to doing this with you.

Written by: Jaime Hlavin

Edited by: Brigit Edwards

For Whom Have You Stopped Praying?

Growing up, did you ever respond to your mother’s requests or commands with the statement, “But mom….(fill in the blank with your favorite excuse)? I know I did. Oddly enough, however, my mom was not often interested much in the reasoning and justification as to why I was unable to do something. She simply wanted me to be obedient. This is something I thought I had outgrown. However, Pastor Jeff’s sermon this Sunday brought to my attention that we, even as adults, often respond to God’s instruction in the same way.

I am grateful for Samuel’s example of consistent obedience to God, as it displays all He can do if we are simply willing vessels. To give some context to the situation, while Samuel was serving as a judge over the nation of Israel, the Israelites were intentionally sinning. They knew better and feared God, but they didn’t want the accountability and responsibility attached to being a follower of Christ. Eventually, the Israelites went as far as to undermine the authority God had over them by demanding a king.

This is the point in the story where I’d probably be tempted to give up on Israel. I think my complaint would go something like, “But God…they already had their chance!” After all, they had previously been warned to turn from their evil ways, and now have the audacity to give God a sort of ultimatum? Samuel, however, is not so quick to lose hope in God’s people. He prays, and the Lord tells Him to give the people what they want (1 Samuel 8:7.) God is patient with the Israelites, and He wants Samuel to learn to be patient as well.

It isn’t until the new king (Saul) is in position and Samuel is stepping down as a judge that God’s plan begins to supersede the Israelites’. As Samuel gives his final cautions to the country of Israel, he tells them to fear the Lord and revere His power, because He is greater than any other King (1 Samuel 12:14.) As a final illustration, Samuel draws the Israelites attention to something no earthly king could do—produce rain and thunder in an instant during wheat harvest season (1 Samuel 12:17.) This miraculous act was a turning point, as it began to wake the Israelites back up to God’s power.

However, they still had a lot of work to do and many trials to face. Likewise, Samuel doesn’t stop caring after stepping down. Rather, he commits to continuously pray for the nation of Israel (1 Samuel 12:23.) I can’t help but wonder what would have happened to the people of Israel if Samuel had lost faith in them? Would incredible leaders like David ever be used by God? Would Israel have ever regained power over the Philistines?

Although we are often quick to write people off as a lost cause, God demonstrates His patience and ability to redeem His people time and time again. The Israelites made a lot of mistakes, but don’t we all? Rather than ceasing our prayer for those who seem too far from salvation, let us choose to be patient. Let us choose to pray. Let us choose to have faith. Because God hasn’t given up yet.  

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant

Edited by: De Ann Sturdivant

The Worth of One

A wise man named Sir Laffy Taffy once posed this question and answer:  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

I was reminded of that question as I pondered the challenge we heard from Nathan Kollar on Sunday morning.  See, there’s a problem that I have become aware of in myself — a problem I’m sure many of you have encountered, as well.  This problem is called paralysis justified by scale (a term I made up just now, as I typed it).  Perhaps an example will be helpful.

Several months ago, Anna and I were enjoying a nice dinner out in Corktown.  As we exited the restaurant, we passed a grizzled man huddled on a doorstep, clearly not dressed properly for the bitter cold of this particular evening.  He asked if we could spare a few dollars, and I replied with my near-reflexive response of, “Oh I’m sorry man, I don’t carry any cash.”  I’ve learned that this is a great way to shut down these interactions and not put myself in a position to lie, because truthfully I don’t often carry cash.  So we walked on and my conscience was still intact.  However, as we slid into our car and desperately grabbed at the knobs which would direct heat onto our frozen noses, Anna started to question if we should’ve done something to help.

“Maybe we could go back and buy another burger to give him,” she said. 

I thought about it and replied, “Perhaps if there was a McDonalds nearby or something, but we can’t go buy him a $15 burger from Mercury.  We can’t feel responsible for every homeless guy we see in Detroit.  I’m sure there’s a shelter he could go to if he wanted to.”

And we drove home.

This is a classic example of the issue I mentioned above.  I had used the scale of the problem of city-wide homelessness to justify my inaction to help just that one man on just that one night.  By scaling up the problem to every man, I was able to make it so I didn’t feel so bad about betraying the sense that I should help that man.

I think that somewhere inside of us, we often do this same thing when it comes to sharing the love of Jesus with the world around us.  We have a sense that we should help these people that are a part of our lives by showing them The Way of Christ, but we often scale up the problem to help justify our inaction.  We say things to ourselves like,

“Well, I can’t honestly be expected to be sharing Jesus with EVERYONE around me right?  How would I ever get anything done?”

When you scale the problem of people not knowing Christ to global proportions, of course you’re going to feel like you can’t do anything to make an impact.

But what if we started scaling down the issue instead?  What kind of impact would that make?

The other day Anna and I were walking to our car as a man approached us asking if we could help him with bus fare.  I started to respond in my usual way, but for some reason I felt a shift in my heart. I began to scale the problem down instead of up.  I thought,

“You know, I actually have some cash in my pocket and it’s not going to hurt me any to just give this guy five bucks and help him out.”

So I did and then we went on our way.

I thought about this on Sunday when we were challenged to make sure we are making room in our lives for the lost people around us.  I may not be able to get to know every person in my condo complex, but I bet if I tried I could get to know that one guy I pass on the sidewalk most days.  You might not be able to show the love of Christ to everyone in your workplace, but I bet if you made an effort you could find an opportunity to invest in the person who occupies the cubicle next to yours.

See, I think if we start to scale the problem down to one, we can humanize something that once seemed so daunting and let our hearts be moved to action.  Perhaps Jesus understood this about us when he gave us the parable of the lost sheep.  He didn’t say that the shepherd would give up everything to find every lost sheep in the world, did he?  No.  He simply said that he would give up everything to find the one.

You can’t feed every hungry person, but you can feed one.

You can’t help every friend with a broken marriage find healing, but you can help one.

You can’t mourn with every person in your neighborhood who’s experiencing a crisis, but you can mourn with one.

You can’t invite everyone from your school to dinner, but you can invite one.

You can’t introduce everyone you encounter to your community of loving Christian friends, but you can introduce one.

How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

Written by: Pastor Travis Buerky

Edited by: Tamara Sturdivant

Epaphroditus

On Sunday, the lessons of a man buried in the pages of Philippians 2 offered some insight on the way we should live as Christians.

Epaphroditus.

He is described by the Apostle Paul as a brother, a fellow worker, a messenger, a minister, an empathizer, a comforter and an honorable man. Paul wanted to let him (and everyone else who would be reading this letter) know how he felt about Epaphroditus.

This particular message gave me a little Holy Spirit anxiety because I possess a couple of troublesome traits: 1.) I’m intensely task oriented and 2) I play my cards very close to the vest.

You probably already know this about me because 1.) I’ve flown past you in the hall without saying “hi” while carrying a binder or a “to do” list and/or  2) I’ve given you a blank stare or some other cold, stand-offish reaction after you’ve shared a deep thought with me.

To say that I don’t love these particular aspects of my temperament would be a gross understatement. In fact, they have caused me immeasurable amounts of relational trouble over the years. I have often wondered if there was some type of therapy or a procedure – like a personality transplant – that I could undergo to help me in these areas.

On Sunday, to my great delight, I discovered that help is probably much easier than I originally thought. I don’t need to change my personality (which is a huge relief, because I’m fairly certain this is impossible). I just need to adjust some behaviors.

First, I need to tell the Epaphrodituses in my life what they mean to me!

I once wrote a blog post that was kind of Paul and Epaphroditus-y. Here it is if you’d like to read it.

Check that off my to-do list. Last year, I let my Epaphrodituses know what they mean to me. So, I’m good, right?

Nope. This needs to be a regular part of my life. So help me, if I need to write “Tell your Epaphroditus what she means to you” on my to-do list in order to get it done, then I will. Has someone been a fellow laborer in the Lord’s work? I should let her know. Did someone deliver a timely message in my season of need? She needs to be encouraged in that. Have I enjoyed someone’s comfort or empathy? They need to know. I can’t just mentally stockpile these occurrences and then write about them all at once on the internet. More importantly, I can’t assume that each person just knows how I feel. I have to purposefully tell each one.

Second, I need to be an Epaphroditus – a sister, a fellow worker, a messenger, a minister, an empathizer, a comforter, an honorable woman. All of those can be accomplished by doing three things:

1. Love God
2. Love God’s people
3. Love God’s work

As I work each one of those items out in my life, it’s impossible for me to remain physically and emotionally isolated. Biblically, those three things can’t be done in a vacuum because loving God will automatically result in loving people. If I don’t love His people, then I need to seriously evaluate my love for Him. Jesus’ teachings are full of these truths. And because I love Him and I love His people, I will naturally want to serve His people and do His work.

I am greatly looking forward to modeling some Paul and Epaphroditus-like behavior today. I hope you are, too. Let’s do this together.

Written by: Jaime Hlavin

Edited by: Tamara Sturdivant

Samuel- Part 6

If you think of the Bible as a love letter, a tome about God’s passionate heart for you as his creation and his ongoing relationship with us as His people, then maybe 1 Samuel is narrating that stage of a romance when you get to meet the parents.

I say that because this is not only the first really multi-generational narrative of the Bible since Genesis, but one of only a few where we get an introduction to at least one parent or child of every major character. And the results are unsettling.

Pastor Aaron has recounted a few of these meetings in service the last few weeks: Hannah encountering Eli before she becomes Samuel’s mother (1:9-19), the wickedness of Eli’s sons (2:12-24), and later the shortcomings of Samuel’s sons (8:5).  This is one of my favorite books of Scripture, and the teaching on it has been rewarding. However, the writer in me wishes we’d tackled two sticking points:

1) Why do we have two whole books named Samuel when the title character is already dead three-quarters of the way through the first book (and pretty inactive halfway through that book?)

2) Why do so many great men of God seem to be poor fathers?

Literary scholars would call this father-son theme a motif, because it repeats throughout 1 Samuel. Eli is earnest in his priestly duties, but his sons are so lecherous and corrupt that God has Samuel prophesy as a child against them (3:11-17). Likewise, they die in battle (4:11). Yet God redeems Eli’s legacy, in a way, by letting him raise Samuel into one of Israel’s most righteous judges.

But Israel’s elders ostensibly want a king to succeed Samuel because, blameless as he is, his own sons are unfit for his role (8:4-8). Samuel still gets to anoint David, arguably Israel’s greatest and godliest king. Do all of David’s sons prove worthy of his legacy?  In fact, you could make a case that the only man in 1 Samuel who raises a righteous son is Saul, because Jonathan befriends David and his faithfulness helps him to rout a camp of Philistines with his armor-bearer (14:6-14).  Yet Saul is the same king who starts out insecure, grows disobedient, and eventually deteriorates into killing priests and consulting a witch; only to have his and his sons’ deaths foretold (28:15-19). Rough stuff.

Wouldn’t it be easy to infer you can either be a godly man, or a good father, but not both? I can even feel a twinge when my daughter tells me, “You’re the best Daddy,” and fear my judgment is coming! (OK, not really, but after reading 1 Samuel I’ve had to wonder if I seek the best gifts as a father).

But this of course isn’t Samuel’s message at all.  Consider how easy it would have been for God to strike down Saul but spare his righteous son. Then Jonathan is king, and no wars or civil unrest are necessary--the easiest transition yet to a godly leadership for Israel. Right?

    

Maybe that’s easier on Jonathan, but not the best way to build character and faith in God’s people. What God has tried to make so simple and clear is the fact that we cannot arrive at His perfect will through human institutions and conventions. This is not a book about godly men being terrible parents, so much as learning to trust that God alone decides where the lessons we learn and teach pass down beyond our own lifetimes. There is always an anointed leader in God’s design to carry out His plan, even if the next voice of leadership does not come where we would expect it.

God can, and often does, pass the mantle from a righteous father to an equally righteous son like David to Solomon or Abraham to Isaac. But maybe He doesn’t make a habit of it, because we’d get dependent on the tradition or a preordained lineage rather than seek His will for the future. We may each get to have spiritual descendants as well as biological ones, in that sense – just as long as we don’t err by assuming we get to build our own legacies without Him.

Written by: Chad Halcom

Edited by: Brigit Edwards