Bob’s Blog

I write to you as my church family with a heavy heart. What transpired last Sunday in the calling of an Associate Pastor clearly spoke to me that we are presently a church searching for direction. When I hastily left the Worship Center after the results of the vote was announced by our Council Chairman, I did not leave in anger or with the unwillingness to talk with anyone in our body. On the contrary, I was fulfilling an important duty as Senior Pastor to talk confidentially with the Associate Pastor candidate and his wife in his office concerning the results of the vote.

I am disappointed that the results of our vote did not affirm the call of our Associate Pastor candidate. However, I understand that life is difficult. Even in the church of Jesus Christ we face the probability of dealing with challenging and changing circumstances. There is a risk that takes place when we leave the ongoing life and ministry in hands of a congregation. But this is the covenant partnership we have committed to in this church for over 100 years.

I believe in a sovereign God who is in control. The Scriptures say that he never sleeps nor slumbers. So those of us who carry heavy hearts at this time for our church can rest assured that God will exercise his perfect will in this situation. This means that we can look forward to the Spirit’s leading in the days ahead to bring healing and wholeness to Christ First Baptist Church.

I am so grateful to God for our Search Team and Church Council who served our Lord with the Spirit’s discernment. I’m thankful to God as well for each member of our church who voted with a conviction directed by that Spirit.

As Sue and I are away on vacation these next few weeks, rest assured that we will be praying for our church—members, leadership and staff. We love this church so dearly. After a time of rest and renewal, we will return to our place in helping to lead this church to God’s desired will. So I close with a verse of Scripture from Psalm 105:4…

Seek the Lord and his strength;

Seek his face continually.

Blessings in Christ!

Warmly,

Pastor Bob

The church needs to be prayerfully engaged in renewing and living out the message of Christ by executing God’s vision in today’s ever-changing culture.

Wherever we go today, everyone is talking about vision. Vision is the current buzzword. It’s the discussion in boardrooms, in executive offices and in management-consulting firms. It’s the leading topic of discussion in denominations, and in leadership board meetings. Any good list of books about successful organizations, leadership practices, or management strategies focus on the essential need for vision and vision-casting.

And rightfully so! Vision has correctly been identified as the central guiding motivation for any organization. Likewise, a God-given vision to the church of Jesus Christ is essential for fear that we perish (Proverbs 29:18), or as the TNIV translates it, we “cast off restraint” and all go in our individual directions.  Vision is crucial to the church.

In fact, as prayer is our very first vital sign as a church as a means for renewal, we are going to be taking a look at prayer over the next four weeks.  And this morning, I would like to ask you, “If God would answer ‘one prayer’ for the church, what would you pray?” “Lord, Make Us”…  I would offer that it would be, “Lord, grant us vision!”

Why is vision so important? What is it that vision gives and does that nothing else can accomplish?

• Vision motivates
• Vision stretches
• Vision gives unified direction
• Vision initiates and validates change
• Vision brings commitment

 
Walt Disney, the visionary of the Magic Kingdom, said, “Around here, however, we don’t look backward for very long.  We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Vision in the church is the heart and soul of bringing together hundreds of individual people, with individual lives, with different thoughts and uniting them under a God-given directive to accomplish God-given goals through a God-empowered process.

George Barna’s popular definition says, “Vision is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to his chosen servant, based on an accurate understanding of God, self, and circumstances.” 

Vision describes a place we need to get to, a thing we still need to do, a significant advance that God still wants us to accomplish or become…tomorrow. But a vision without an implementation strategy is merely a dream—a vision that gets blurry and dim, and too distant to compel passionate commitment.

Prayer is God’s tool that becomes a catalyst for any implementation strategy of change.  In fact, at the heart of prayer is the ability to bring about change and any vision that truly comes from God is going to require significant change. When it comes to change, there are three seasons of timing.  People change: (1) when they hurt enough that they have to, (2) when they learn enough that they want to, and (3) when they receive enough that they are able to.

Prayer offers the spiritual empowering necessary to see our dreams become our destiny in Christ.  All who desire God to work for the benefit of Christ’s church must place a high priority on prayer.  Vision works in harmony with a blend of prayer and action.

Paul’s prayer for spiritual empowering in the church is recorded in Ephesians 3:14-21…

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.   ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

The Ephesian believers lived with a lot of pressure.  Their faith was born in a crucible of riots, courtroom conflict, and economic change.  So Paul prayed that the Ephesian believers would be aware of, comprehend and experience the realities of God’s power.  He also prayed that their identity would be rooted in eternal truths and in God’s present power in them. 

Benefits of Prayer

 

Why is prayer so important to the vision process?  Here are four reasons from Paul’s words for God’s spiritual empowering of the Ephesian believers:

 

1.  Prayer makes us wait

 

 ¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

 

We cannot pray and work at the same time.  So we kneel before the Father and we wait to act until we finish praying.  Prayer forces us to leave the situation with God.  It makes us wait.

2.  Prayer clears our vision

 

¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being…

 

Prayer gives us the spiritual empowering to see clearly.  Southern California often has an overhanging weather problem in the mornings because of its coastal location until the sun “burns through” the morning fog.  Later in the day if it’s not the marine layer that clouds our vision, it most likely will be the smog that sits in the valley.  So prayer is like the sun—it burns through all the fog and smog that blocks our spiritual vision.  When we first face a situation, is it foggy or smoggy?  Prayer will give us the spiritual empowering we need.  Our vision will clear so we can see through God’s eyes.

3.  Prayer quiets our hearts

¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love…

We cannot worry and pray at the same time.  We are doing one or the other.  Prayer makes us quiet.  It enables us to allow Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith.  It enables us to be rooted and established in love.  It replaces anxiety with a calm spirit.  Our knees don’t knock when we kneel with them!

4.  Prayer activates our faith

 ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

After praying we are more prone to trust God.  We have the power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.  We know this love that surpasses knowledge and enables us to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now this power activates our faith.  How petty and negative and critical we are when we don’t pray.  Prayer sets faith on fire.

Paul closes his prayer with this incomparable benediction…

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

We don’t just fill the margins in our Bibles or our message notes outlines with words and thoughts about ways a person prays.  We do it.  We don’t stop with just a sterile theology of prayer.  We pray!  Prayer is the first major step in seeing clearly God’s vision.

Now David is going to help us answer some very important questions regarding three connections that captivate and compel all generations in the church today.

The Connection

Jesus said in John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Think about that for a minute, Jesus said – the reason that he came to earth was so that you and I could have a full life. Who doesn’t want that? Isn’t that what we are all looking for? Isn’t that what our friends and colleagues and family members are all looking for?

Well, if we are talking about vision – and a prayer for the church… what was Christ’s vision for you and I? What was his prayer for the church? And if we looked at Christ’s prayer for the church… what kind of a church would we become? Would we become a church that draws lost people? Would we become a church that is relevant to all generations?

Well, people today are mostly interested in three crucial areas concerning their lives and they all center on a word our church is very familiar with, “Connecting.” In your bulletins right now you have a ‘prayer connection’ – every month or so our church publishes a ‘Connection newsletter.’ So what are 3 major connections that everyone needs? Not just Christians, or church-members, but everyone….

1. CONNECTING WITH GOD.  The church needs to help people today know the truth of Jesus Christ, and in worshiping the Creator of all things. And this happens in forming ways in which people can engage with God through the bible and through worship. 

On his last night before his arrest, Jesus prays for this for his church.

John 17:3

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Jesus says that eternal life comes from having a connection with God. This connection offers life.  We must create a culture of life in our churches and ministries.  We must teach, model, and create environments that breathe life into a broken world. Connecting with God brings life to the world, and it answers Christ’s prayer for the church and it fulfills God’s vision for his creation.

2. CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE.  The church needs to help people develop lasting relationships in a community of people who are on the same path. I think the West has had the wrong idea about church for a long time. It’s true that church is one avenue where we connect with God, but in all truth, it’s mainly about where we connect with people. If you decide to sleep in or watch the game, or go to Disneyland – guess what? It’s not God that missed you in service. No, it was me. I missed you. I need you. And the way this happens is through Sunday School classes and small group relationships.  As the church we worship God in here through our songs and the discerning of his word, but it is in the times when we meet together in homes, or over coffee and laughter where we share our pains, unburden our souls, and affirm one another and I just gotta say if that is missing from your life right now – go and get it.

 

Christ’s prayer in John 17:21-23 continues…

That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

 

Being a person of faith in the world can be confusing, and lonely and messy - So Christ offers an environment of relationships, of love, and of support where God’s people mature in him.  This connection brings love. 

 

And don’t miss what Jesus is saying here. What is the vision and the purpose behind a unified church? Why does Christ want us to be “one” in each other?

 

So that …the world will know that you sent me. That’s the church, that’s the bride of Christ! How does a broken world experience God’s love? A church that loves people. How does healing take place in the church? A church that connects with people.

 

The writer of Hebrews writes, Hebrews 10:24-25

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another”

 

A church that shares Christ’s vision connects with God and it  connects with people and lastly it

3. CONNECTING WITH THE WORLD.  The church needs to help people fulfill their God-given purpose by serving others with their gifts, personal styles, and passions. And the way this happens is through service and ministry.

Jesus prays in John 17:15-18

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

 

This connection offers us a purpose.  Christ’s prayer is not that we separate ourselves from the world is it? He doesn’t pray, ‘Father take them out of this world so that they don’t have to experience temptation or heartbreak or debt or hunger’ does he? No, in fact he says to his Father – as you sent me into the world… in that same way….I send them.

 

We have a responsibility to the world; we have the same mission and vision Christ had when he was here. Let me ask you, and let’s be serious here for a minute – let’s pretend like all of this is true and that it matters in our lives ok? Did Christ die on the cross for your life? The  promotion at work? Did Christ die on the cross so that you could make more money? Did Christ die on the cross so that you could spend 12 hours a week watching tv? How are we spending the life that Christ died for? Because Christ’s prayer is that we are sent out into the world – to be his hands and feet in the world to continue his vision and to answer his prayer. Is God going to answer Jesus’ prayer? Is the Father going to listen to the prayer of His son? You bet he is. So I have to wonder, well am I going to be a part of it?

 

You and I can serve God and connect with the world through our spiritual gifts, personal styles and our passions.  Every Jesus-follower has a God-given design—a spiritual DNA to change their world for Christ. 

 

1 Peter 4:10

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms”

 

When God’s message of purpose is stamped upon every believer, each generation of new disciples - who understand the context of their culture - are born.

 

The deeper the roots; the higher the reach. These three connections with God, others, and the world provide the starting place for believers to grow in Jesus Christ.  Paul in Colossians also affirms the importance of being rooted and built up in Christ Jesus as Lord…

 

Colossians 2:6-7

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 

 

God’s kingdom spreads, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like….” a mustard plant, hidden treasure, a net cast into the ocean, a wedding, a huge party, like hidden talents, …like a tiny seed that multiplies out many branches that give shelter to many birds and then produces new seeds that produce new trees.

 

Our prayers, as a church, should be that we have vision.  Vision that aligns us with God and vision that makes us aware of his people and his world. 

 

We should be praying, “Lord, grant us vision!”

 

Bob is going to now share an experience of vision. 

I remember when I was a kid, some 50 years ago, playing on a Little League Baseball team.  One of the things our coach did was host a picnic for the team at the beginning of the season.  After we ate hot dogs and hamburgers, he passed out the team uniforms.  Then he sat us down for a pep talk.  He asked, “How many of you have a dream to one day play in the Major Leagues?”  Almost every hand shot up.  Every kid with his hand up believed he could do it.  You could see it in their eyes.  He then told us, “if that is to happen—that dream begins now!”  I was so inspired by that challenge—all of us were—that we practiced and played hard and we had winning seasons for the next few years.  All-Star teams from other leagues would play us and lose!  In fact we were just one out away from going to the Little League World Series in Cooperstown’s one year before we lost in the bottom of the seventh inning. 

15 years later I coached kid’s teams.  I brought all the kids together at the beginning of the season to give them a pep talk—the same one my coach had given me.  I asked my team the same question, “How many of you have a dream to one day play in the Major Leagues?”  Not one hand was raised.  Not one kid believed he could do it.  You could see it in their eyes.  I was speechless.  So the rest of my talk was meaningless, so I said, “Really?  Nobody?  Well, go get your gloves and let’s throw.”  I thought about that day for a long time. What had happened in the 15 years since I was a kid?  What had come into their lives to steal their dreams?  What had convinced them they would never be more than what they were?

We need to ask ourselves at Christ First Baptist a similar question. 

“How many of us have a vision from God that affirms that our best days as a church are ahead of us?”

Anybody?  Well, it’s been about 17 years since I was called to be Senior Pastor of this church.  My vision is still the same.  That we will become the kinds of attractive Jesus-followers who draw lost people into the family of God like Jesus did. For some of us today that dream begins now.  It’s the vision that we will become the kind of church that captivates and compels emerging generations to follow Jesus. It takes a spiritual partnership of pastors and people to do the work of God together so that the kingdom of God is developed and deployed into God’s world.

It is a known fact that fewer churches numbering fifty to a hundred people are thriving, much less surviving in today’s post-Christian context.  So as God’s Spirit moves across the face of this land, it would seem that congregations numbering in the hundreds are increasingly extraordinary. Churches like this, that have a vision to see beyond the horizon of their present obstacles, know that revised vision strategies that are spiritually empowered through prayer are required to meet new challenges.

Alfred B. Smith writes the words to an old gospel hymn…

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?  Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things though timpossible, He does the things others cannot do.

The Lord is the Specialist we need for these uncrossable and impossible experiences.  God delights in accomplishing what we cannot pull off.  But God awaits our cry. God listens for our request.  Are we quick to call for help?  Are we willing to pray, “Lord, grant us vision!”  A prayer for our church must always begin in the kneeling position!  Amen.

The church needs to be prayerfully engaged in renewing and living out the message of Christ by executing God’s vision in today’s ever-changing culture.

Wherever we go today, everyone is talking about vision. Vision is the current buzzword. It’s the discussion in boardrooms, in executive offices and in management-consulting firms. It’s the leading topic of discussion in denominations, and in leadership board meetings. Any good list of books about successful organizations, leadership practices, or management strategies focus on the essential need for vision and vision-casting.

And rightfully so! Vision has correctly been identified as the central guiding motivation for any organization. Likewise, a God-given vision to the church of Jesus Christ is essential for fear that we perish (Proverbs 29:18), or as the TNIV translates it, we “cast off restraint” and all go in our individual directions. Vision is crucial to the church.

In fact, as prayer is our very first vital sign as a church as a means for renewal, we are going to be taking a look at prayer over the next four weeks. And this morning, I would like to ask you, “If God would answer ‘one prayer’ for the church, what would you pray?” “Lord, Make Us”… I would offer that it would be, “Lord, grant us vision!”

Why is vision so important? What is it that vision gives and does that nothing else can accomplish?

• Vision motivates
• Vision stretches
• Vision gives unified direction
• Vision initiates and validates change
• Vision brings commitment

Walt Disney, the visionary of the Magic Kingdom, said, “Around here, however, we don’t look backward for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Vision in the church is the heart and soul of bringing together hundreds of individual people, with individual lives, with different thoughts and uniting them under a God-given directive to accomplish God-given goals through a God-empowered process.

George Barna’s popular definition says, “Vision is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to his chosen servant, based on an accurate understanding of God, self, and circumstances.”

Vision describes a place we need to get to, a thing we still need to do, a significant advance that God still wants us to accomplish or become…tomorrow. But a vision without an implementation strategy is merely a dream—a vision that gets blurry and dim, and too distant to compel passionate commitment.

Prayer is God’s tool that becomes a catalyst for any implementation strategy of change. In fact, at the heart of prayer is the ability to bring about change and any vision that truly comes from God is going to require significant change. When it comes to change, there are three seasons of timing. People change: (1) when they hurt enough that they have to, (2) when they learn enough that they want to, and (3) when they receive enough that they are able to.

Prayer offers the spiritual empowering necessary to see our dreams become our destiny in Christ. All who desire God to work for the benefit of Christ’s church must place a high priority on prayer. Vision works in harmony with a blend of prayer and action.

Paul’s prayer for spiritual empowering in the church is recorded in Ephesians 3:14-21…

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

The Ephesian believers lived with a lot of pressure. Their faith was born in a crucible of riots, courtroom conflict, and economic change. So Paul prayed that the Ephesian believers would be aware of, comprehend and experience the realities of God’s power. He also prayed that their identity would be rooted in eternal truths and in God’s present power in them.

Benefits of Prayer

Why is prayer so important to the vision process? Here are four reasons from Paul’s words for God’s spiritual empowering of the Ephesian believers:

1. Prayer makes us wait

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

We cannot pray and work at the same time. So we kneel before the Father and we wait to act until we finish praying. Prayer forces us to leave the situation with God. It makes us wait.

2. Prayer clears our vision

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being…

Prayer gives us the spiritual empowering to see clearly. Southern California often has an overhanging weather problem in the mornings because of its coastal location until the sun “burns through” the morning fog. Later in the day if it’s not the marine layer that clouds our vision, it most likely will be the smog that sits in the valley. So prayer is like the sun—it burns through all the fog and smog that blocks our spiritual vision. When we first face a situation, is it foggy or smoggy? Prayer will give us the spiritual empowering we need. Our vision will clear so we can see through God’s eyes.

3. Prayer quiets our hearts

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love…

We cannot worry and pray at the same time. We are doing one or the other. Prayer makes us quiet. It enables us to allow Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith. It enables us to be rooted and established in love. It replaces anxiety with a calm spirit. Our knees don’t knock when we kneel with them!

4. Prayer activates our faith

18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

After praying we are more prone to trust God. We have the power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. We know this love that surpasses knowledge and enables us to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now this power activates our faith. How petty and negative and critical we are when we don’t pray. Prayer sets faith on fire.

Paul closes his prayer with this incomparable benediction…

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

We don’t just fill the margins in our Bibles or our message notes outlines with words and thoughts about ways a person prays. We do it. We don’t stop with just a sterile theology of prayer. We pray! Prayer is the first major step in seeing clearly God’s vision.

Now David is going to help us answer some very important questions regarding three connections that captivate and compel all generations in the church today.

 

Jesus said in John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Think about that for a minute, Jesus said – the reason that he came to earth was so that you and I could have a full life. Who doesn’t want that? Isn’t that what we are all looking for? Isn’t that what our friends and colleagues and family members are all looking for?

Well, if we are talking about vision – and a prayer for the church… what was Christ’s vision for you and I? What was his prayer for the church? And if we looked at Christ’s prayer for the church… what kind of a church would we become? Would we become a church that draws lost people? Would we become a church that is relevant to all generations?

Well, people today are mostly interested in three crucial areas concerning their lives and they all center on a word our church is very familiar with, “Connecting.” In your bulletins right now you have a ‘prayer connection’ – every month or so our church publishes a ‘Connection newsletter.’ So what are 3 major connections that everyone needs? Not just Christians, or church-members, but everyone….

1. CONNECTING WITH GOD. The church needs to help people today know the truth of Jesus Christ, and in worshiping the Creator of all things. And this happens in forming ways in which people can engage with God through the bible and through worship.

On his last night before his arrest, Jesus prays for this for his church.

John 17:3

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Jesus says that eternal life comes from having a connection with God. This connection offers life. We must create a culture of life in our churches and ministries. We must teach, model, and create environments that breathe life into a broken world. Connecting with God brings life to the world, and it answers Christ’s prayer for the church and it fulfills God’s vision for his creation.

2. CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE. The church needs to help people develop lasting relationships in a community of people who are on the same path. I think the West has had the wrong idea about church for a long time. It’s true that church is one avenue where we connect with God, but in all truth, it’s mainly about where we connect with people. If you decide to sleep in or watch the game, or go to Disneyland – guess what? It’s not God that missed you in service. No, it was me. I missed you. I need you. And the way this happens is through Sunday School classes and small group relationships. As the church we worship God in here through our songs and the discerning of his word, but it is in the times when we meet together in homes, or over coffee and laughter where we share our pains, unburden our souls, and affirm one another and I just gotta say if that is missing from your life right now – go and get it.

Christ’s prayer in John 17:21-23 continues…

That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Being a person of faith in the world can be confusing, and lonely and messy - So Christ offers an environment of relationships, of love, and of support where God’s people mature in him. This connection brings love.

And don’t miss what Jesus is saying here. What is the vision and the purpose behind a unified church? Why does Christ want us to be “one” in each other?

So that …the world will know that you sent me. That’s the church, that’s the bride of Christ! How does a broken world experience God’s love? A church that loves people. How does healing take place in the church? A church that connects with people.

The writer of Hebrews writes, Hebrews 10:24-25

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another”

A church that shares Christ’s vision connects with God and it connects with people and lastly it

3. CONNECTING WITH THE WORLD. The church needs to help people fulfill their God-given purpose by serving others with their gifts, personal styles, and passions. And the way this happens is through service and ministry.

Jesus prays in John 17:15-18

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

This connection offers us a purpose. Christ’s prayer is not that we separate ourselves from the world is it? He doesn’t pray, ‘Father take them out of this world so that they don’t have to experience temptation or heartbreak or debt or hunger’ does he? No, in fact he says to his Father – as you sent me into the world… in that same way….I send them.

We have a responsibility to the world; we have the same mission and vision Christ had when he was here. Let me ask you, and let’s be serious here for a minute – let’s pretend like all of this is true and that it matters in our lives ok? Did Christ die on the cross for your life? The promotion at work? Did Christ die on the cross so that you could make more money? Did Christ die on the cross so that you could spend 12 hours a week watching tv? How are we spending the life that Christ died for? Because Christ’s prayer is that we are sent out into the world – to be his hands and feet in the world to continue his vision and to answer his prayer. Is God going to answer Jesus’ prayer? Is the Father going to listen to the prayer of His son? You bet he is. So I have to wonder, well am I going to be a part of it?

You and I can serve God and connect with the world through our spiritual gifts, personal styles and our passions. Every Jesus-follower has a God-given design—a spiritual DNA to change their world for Christ.

1 Peter 4:10

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms”

When God’s message of purpose is stamped upon every believer, each generation of new disciples - who understand the context of their culture - are born.

The deeper the roots; the higher the reach. These three connections with God, others, and the world provide the starting place for believers to grow in Jesus Christ. Paul in Colossians also affirms the importance of being rooted and built up in Christ Jesus as Lord…

Colossians 2:6-7

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

God’s kingdom spreads, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like….” a mustard plant, hidden treasure, a net cast into the ocean, a wedding, a huge party, like hidden talents, …like a tiny seed that multiplies out many branches that give shelter to many birds and then produces new seeds that produce new trees.

Our prayers, as a church, should be that we have vision. Vision that aligns us with God and vision that makes us aware of his people and his world.

We should be praying, “Lord, grant us vision!”

Bob is going to now share an experience of vision.

I remember when I was a kid, some 50 years ago, playing on a Little League Baseball team. One of the things our coach did was host a picnic for the team at the beginning of the season. After we ate hot dogs and hamburgers, he passed out the team uniforms. Then he sat us down for a pep talk. He asked, “How many of you have a dream to one day play in the Major Leagues?” Almost every hand shot up. Every kid with his hand up believed he could do it. You could see it in their eyes. He then told us, “if that is to happen—that dream begins now!” I was so inspired by that challenge—all of us were—that we practiced and played hard and we had winning seasons for the next few years. All-Star teams from other leagues would play us and lose! In fact we were just one out away from going to the Little League World Series in Cooperstown’s one year before we lost in the bottom of the seventh inning.

15 years later I coached kid’s teams. I brought all the kids together at the beginning of the season to give them a pep talk—the same one my coach had given me. I asked my team the same question, “How many of you have a dream to one day play in the Major Leagues?” Not one hand was raised. Not one kid believed he could do it. You could see it in their eyes. I was speechless. So the rest of my talk was meaningless, so I said, “Really? Nobody? Well, go get your gloves and let’s throw.” I thought about that day for a long time. What had happened in the 15 years since I was a kid? What had come into their lives to steal their dreams? What had convinced them they would never be more than what they were?

We need to ask ourselves at Christ First Baptist a similar question.

“How many of us have a vision from God that affirms that our best days as a church are ahead of us?”

Anybody? Well, it’s been about 17 years since I was called to be Senior Pastor of this church. My vision is still the same. That we will become the kinds of attractive Jesus-followers who draw lost people into the family of God like Jesus did. For some of us today that dream begins now. It’s the vision that we will become the kind of church that captivates and compels emerging generations to follow Jesus. It takes a spiritual partnership of pastors and people to do the work of God together so that the kingdom of God is developed and deployed into God’s world.

It is a known fact that fewer churches numbering fifty to a hundred people are thriving, much less surviving in today’s post-Christian context. So as God’s Spirit moves across the face of this land, it would seem that congregations numbering in the hundreds are increasingly extraordinary. Churches like this, that have a vision to see beyond the horizon of their present obstacles, know that revised vision strategies that are spiritually empowered through prayer are required to meet new challenges.

Alfred B. Smith writes the words to an old gospel hymn…

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible, He does the things others cannot do.

The Lord is the Specialist we need for these uncrossable and impossible experiences. God delights in accomplishing what we cannot pull off. But God awaits our cry. God listens for our request. Are we quick to call for help? Are we willing to pray, “Lord, grant us vision!” A prayer for our church must always begin in the kneeling position! Amen.

The Old Rugged Cross boldly proclaims there is no other way but the way of the cross—grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

As we begin this message let’s look at some of the last words Jesus ever uttered on earth from the cross before he died. These are the final words that Jesus Christ spoke while hanging on the old rugged cross. On that cross we see our Lord’s greatest work, and on that cross we hear our Lord’s greatest words. Some words live on!

 

I read about a lady who died in Kansas and on her tombstone were these words: “I told you I was sick.” Some words live on! 

I read about a man who owned a restaurant for years, and he was about to die. He had always been known for being stingy! As he lay on his bed, he began mumbling something. So the family leaned in to hear his final words. Very faintly he said, “Slice the ham thin,” and then he died. Some words live on!

I read about a wealthy man who died and the family gathered together to hear the reading of his last will and testament. The family all sat in a circle trying to look sad as the attorney read the will. They were all anxious to learn what their portion of the inheritance would be. The attorney began reading, “I, Sam Jones, having made a large fortune, being of a sound mind and proper judgment, want to reveal to my family that I spent it all.” Some words live on!

 

However, if there were ever words that lived on, it would have to be some final words of Jesus Christ as recorded in Luke 23:34…

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

 

The cross of Jesus must be either the darkest spot of all in the mystery of existence or a searchlight by the aid of a forgiving God of which we as sinners may penetrate the surrounding gloom and doom of our day. Jesus died on the cross as atonement for our sins and extended to us forgiveness as sinners.  Sam Jones spent it all, but Jesus paid it all! Yes, some words live on!

If we look inside any church, we are likely to find a Christian Cross. Typically it is made of stone, stained glass, polished hardwood, some type of polymer or metal, and occasionally covered with gold leaf. Very rarely is it a cross of roughly hewn timbers, which is odd because Jesus was not crucified on a cross of polished hardwood, polymer or metal, and certainly not a cross covered or painted with gold leaf.  But the cross in his mind was no gilded icon; it was coarse, cruel, blood-stained structure. Thus the title: The Old Rugged Cross.

Around a hundred years ago, an American called George Bennard (no, not George Bernard Shaw) spent quite a while contemplating this variance, and came up with a new hymn: The Old Rugged Cross. Hymn writing was one of his passions—he wrote over 300—and The Old Rugged Cross became one of the 20th century’s most popular songs, with over 20 million copies sold in the first 30 years. He was born to a coal miner in Youngstown, Ohio, on February 4, 1873.  After finding his faith through a revival meeting, George became a full-time minister as a Salvation Army officer. Later, he became a Methodist evangelist and was ordained by the Methodist Episcopal Church. He preached all over Canada and the North America, in particular Michigan and New York. After a campaign in New York, George penned the words and music to The Old Rugged Cross. The reason for this spectacular success is probably because of its catchy tune and words that are easy to learn. The music fits the lyrics so well because Bennard wrote the words and music together.  The first verse and refrain have been put to memory by many Jesus-followers today:

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

Bennard had been preaching around a passage in the Bible from Galatians 6:14…

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

What did this mean to George? The words were written by Apostle Paul, who did not expect glory from power, fame or riches. For him true glory could only come from the atoning sacrifice of Christ’s crucifixion.  Paul’s ground for boasting is not in the flesh of humanity, but in the cross of Jesus Christ.  On that cross the world died to Paul and Paul died to the world. 

When we are saved, the world says goodbye to us and we say goodbye to the world.  We are spoiled as far as the world is concerned because we are no longer interested in its fleeting pleasures, power and possessions; the world has lost the attraction for us, because we have found One who completely satisfies.  The cross is a great dividing line between the world and the child of God.

When I made the commitment of engagement to my wife Sue for marriage, it became a dividing line between loyalty to my single lifestyle of choosing my own time and relationships, and total allegiance to Sue.  I can’t imagine Sue welcoming my previous selfish pursuits and girlfriends.  I said goodbye to the things that were mostly important only to me, and I certainly said goodbye to all my previous girlfriends!

So by extension, this implies that if we as Jesus-followers expect glory from material things of power, fame and riches then that is discrediting, or even repudiating, the crucifixion. And those who take on the world’s philosophy of power, fame, and riches, differ from Paul’s beliefs. Therefore, Paul uses the phrase “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”.  We can only find glory through God’s grace—opening our hearts to God. George could see that the message from the cross was central to the whole Christian faith, and was moved to write the hymn.

 

The New Cross vs. The Old Rugged Cross

Many of today’s Jesus-followers want a new cross, not the old rugged cross of the Bible.   They want a faith that makes no demands, creates no conflict and which raises no controversy.  As well, many of today’s Jesus-followers want a Christianity that does not ask them to make sacrifices or do things that will make them feel uncomfortable. That type of Christianity is not Biblical Christianity.  It is called self-absorption.

This Christianity adopts a new cross as its symbol. The new cross is slick and polished like the new Christianity that gives birth to it. Its likeness to the old rugged cross of the Bible is superficial. Its differences are fundamental. Those differences have been devastating to the cause of Christ and the missional outreach of local churches.

A.W. Tozer writes…If I see aright, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament.  It is, rather, a new bright ornament upon the bosom of a self-assured and carnal Christianity.  The old cross slew men, the new cross entertains them.  The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses.  The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it.

Jesus spoke clearly regarding the sacrifice of the old rugged cross in Luke 9:23…

Then he [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

To take up the cross means a willingness to make any sacrifice, suffer any pain, to do whatever may be required to maintain identity with Jesus Christ.  To be a disciple of Christ means the willingness to constantly live under the shadow of the old rugged cross.  Being a Jesus-follower means the willingness to die for the cause of Christ, but the great difficulty is to live for him.

It is the old rugged cross we are called to “take up” and follow Christ. It speaks of the condemnation of sin and the wrath of God on the unrepentant. It proclaims God’s pending judgment on this world, on lost sinners and on Satan and his demons. It speaks of the moment in history when the love of God met the wrath of God and paid the wages of sin for the whole world in the Body of Jesus Christ. It is totally opposed to the philosophy of this world. The new cross wants to be this world’s friend. The old rugged cross demands a life of denial, self sacrifice and obedience to Christ.

So what are the fundamental differences in the preaching of the old rugged cross?

1.  It asks for repentance, not toleration.

2.  It makes demands, not requests.

3.  It teaches separation, not access.

4.  It promotes Biblical evangelism, not political activism.

5.  It condemns the sinner; it doesn’t redirect the sinner.

6.  It is in the regeneration business, not in the remodeling business.

7.  It is a symbol of guilt and shame, not innocence and fame.

The old rugged cross demands extreme sacrifices and makes absolute, unbending demands. The old rugged cross slams the door in the face of compromise. But most of all, the old rugged cross gets in our face with truth, pulls no punches and boldly proclaims the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ.

George MacLeod writes concerning returning the cross to Calvary’s hill…

“I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace, as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a high cross between two thieves: on the town garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write His title in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek…. At the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that’s where He died. And that is what He died about. And that is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen should be about.”

Therefore, before we observe the Lord’s Supper, we must affirm the reality of The Old Rugged Cross.  It is a cross-style of life to which Jesus-followers are called.  The God who so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son for it expects the church likewise to be in the world, but not of the world.  The words of the Lord’s Supper commission us: my body, my blood.  The Spirit of Christ is given to us to enable us to love with his love, to die in his death, to give our body and blood for others.  The great expression of the Spirit each day is to get the cross out of the church and into the world; to have the power and presence to say not only in liturgy but in life, “This is my body, this is my blood.”

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down.  I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.  Amen!

Shift: Jesus-followers must make room for expanded hearts to be more like Jesus and embody a genuine love for those who are far from God.

The little things do matter…

Shifts not only have a big impact in the crust of the earth, but also in every area of our lives.By making these small adjustments in the right places, we can set off a chain reaction – much like the earth’s seismic forces that result in an earthquake – but in this case small changes can make a BIG difference in the most important areas of our lives. 16:Shifts can take place almost anywhere: in the workplace, the school, the family, the church, the community, and in our spiritual and personal lives. In our last message, God disclosed to us the importance of Shift #13: The Shift from Flattery to Truth-Telling.

SHIFT #14: From Us to Them

We celebrate today Mother’s Day. As we think about the shift from Us to Them, Mother’s are the embodiment of “Them.” Mothers most often think of others, not themselves.

Mother, on a winter’s day, milked the cows and fed them hay, hitched the mule, drove kids to school…did a washing, mopped the floors, washed the windows and did some chores…Cooked a dish of home-dried fruit, pressed her husband’s Sunday suit…swept the parlor, made the bed, baked a dozen loaves of bread…split some firewood and lugged it in, enough to fill the kitchen bin…Cleaned the lamps and put in oil, stewed some apples before they spoiled…churned the butter, baked a cake, then exclaimed, “For goodness sake!” when the calves ran from the pen, and chased them all back in again…Gathered eggs and locked the stable, back to the house and set the table…cooked a supper that was delicious, then washed and dried all dirty dishes…fed the cat and sprinkled clothes, mended a basketful of hose…then opened the organ and began to play: “When You Come to the End of a Perfect Day.”

A teacher asked a boy this question: “Suppose your mother baked a pie and there were seven of you–your parents and five children. What part of the pie would you get?” “A sixth,” replied the boy. “I’m afraid you don’t know your fractions,” said the teacher. “Remember, there are seven of you.” “Yes, teacher,” said the boy, “but you don’t know my mother. Mother would say she didn’t want any pie.”

Motherhood and compassion are intertwined. In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament the word for “compassion” comes from the root word, “womb.”The picture is of a birthing. Something new is being born. If we apply this in a human experience, it means that our compassionate acts always give the other person another chance. We offer a fresh start. Such compassion will dramatically change the way we relate to each other.

This shift from Us to Them must not only take place in the family, but also in the church community. Often a community of Jesus-followers assumes that making serious efforts to reach out to those who have not yet come to know the love of Jesus suppose their own church community will be forgotten and their needs won’t be met. This imagining reveals fundamental misunderstandings about God, the church, and the call to share God’s love with the world.

There are those in the church today that have legitimate concerns regarding the meeting of their needs in the local body of believers. However, when believers who are already receiving quality worship, study, fellowship, and service opportunities in the church say, “What about us? In your reaching out to new people please don’t forget us!” We must ask in return, “What do you need that you don’t already have?” We are not talking about physical needs like clothes, a car, or a place to live. We are talking about the spiritual blessings and eternal inheritance we have in Jesus.

The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1:3…

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

God has been so good to us when we remember the marvelous grace God has lavished on us and the sacrifice he made to show us his love. Once we have reflected on all we have as God’s children, we can look at one another as Jesus-followers and ask ourselves, “What do we need that we don’t already have in Christ?” The answer must be, “Nothing!”

In Jesus’ day, there were many cultural barriers between various groups of people. Jews had no dealings with the Gentiles. Most men would not speak with women in public. No one wanted to be seen with the tax collectors. No one in their right mind would dare touch a person with leprosy. So we might say that there was a huge “us versus them” mentality.

Since Jesus was an aspiring Jewish rabbi, most people knew that for him, some people were off limits if he wanted to maintain a good reputation in the religious community. But in full view of the public, Jesus systematically knocked down the cultural barriers. He questioned the norms and customs of the day.

Love That Risks

Jesus took a huge risk when he had a theological conversation with a Samaritan woman who had a questionable moral history. However, we don’t want to focus upon the encounter with this woman as much as we need to center upon Jesus’ discussion with his disciples after they rejoin him from buying food in town. This dialogue with the disciples helps us as Jesus-followers understand the “us versus them” way of thinking. It helps us to have expanded hearts for lost people. It enables us to take an honest look at how we function and discover if there are patterns that are counterproductive to reaching out to those who are not yet part of God’s family.

Let’s pick up the narrative with Jesus and his disciples in John 4:31-38…

When the disciples are concerned with their own physical needs, Jesus confronts them with the shift from Us to Them in two compelling and challenging ways:

1. Satisfying needs by doing the will of God

³¹ Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” ³³ Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” ³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Jesus’ ultimate source of nourishment is that divine, eternal relationship he shares with his Father who has sent him. It is in obeying God and doing his will that he finds fulfillment, his most satisfying food. And Jesus will see that work through to the end. It is Jesus’ great desire that we should be as he was: to do the will of God is the only way to peace; to do the will of God is the only way to fulfillment; and to do the will of God is the only way to power.

Thus, to have ministered to this Samaritan woman’s need was as food to his soul; it was doing God’s will and accomplishing his work. For most of us our hunger for two or three nourishing meals a day takes precedence over everything else. Jesus spoke of satisfying another hunger: ministering to God’s needy and lost people. To Jesus it was exciting and immediate. It is also true that any one of Jesus-followers who have been caught up in God’s mighty work, however small it may have seemed, discovers food in an entirely different dimension than any physical lunch.

2. Securing the harvest by developing the kingdom of God

³⁵ Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶ Even now those who reap draw their wages, even now they harvest the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷ Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

It is Jesus’ unrestricted obedience to his Father’s will which has brought Jesus to a great harvest. The response of this one Samaritan woman which has made her an uninhibited witness among her own people, despised and rejected as they are, now brings them running to hear and believe.

In God’s period of grace, which Jesus is ushering in, all the neat calculations about harvesting four months after sowing, as the ancient proverb put it, are upset and transcended. We are now dealing with God’s timetable. This is the Greek word kairos for “the proper time”—that the time of great opportunity is at hand; it is ripe for the harvesting. In this time, no one can carefully project who will receive the greatest wages, sower or reaper. Their work is intertwined, interdependent, and the wages are the same for both, the joy of eternal life. This is the time of grace.

We often want to wait in our churches—“four month until harvest”—when God says—“open your eyes and look at the fields”—the harvest is ripe now! We can only reap a harvest now because others have faithfully sown the seed of God’s Word. Is not the costly ministry of those who have ministered before us a part of this? So like the disciples, we are entering today into the faithful labors of others. Only then can sowing take place. But we must not wait; the harvest is ready right now, for “the proper time.”

In these verses, Jesus is challenging us in the church as Jesus-followers to shift from Us to Them by reminding us of an occupation—to do the work of the Father, and reminding us of an opportunity—to reap a harvest for God. These are the times in history when people are strangely sensitive to God. What a tragedy it is if Christ’s church as such a time fails to reap Christ’s harvest!

It would have been safest for Jesus to minister only to those who were on the cultural and spiritual inside track. In the same way, it is easier and safer for us to extend our love and compassion to those who are already part of God’s family. We can lock the doors of our churches, and forget the broken world Jesus died to save. But where is the excitement in that mindset? Where is the adventure? How does this put us in a place where we have to cry out for the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit? Jesus took huge risks when he moved his attention from the “us” of his day to “them.” He also calls each of his followers to enter into this same risky journey!

Moving from Us to Them is one of the great disciplines that allow God to speak to our heart through his Word. Our series on 16:Shifts highlights the verse from John 3:16…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

…God loves…God gave…We believe…We live.

Prayer: Father, I believe you love this world. You gave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, I die. With you, I live. I choose life. I admit I need a Savior. I believe Jesus is my Savior. I choose to walk with Jesus and become a worldchanger.

From Clean to Messy.Since this is Mother’s Day, let’s return to honoring our ladies. Mothers learn to live with a balance of order and chaos in their lives. They move from clean to messy in so many ways. What mothers do in this life puts them in the tension between chaos and order, between clean and messy. This same tension exists in the church when we desire to make the shift from Us to Them.

So let’s encourage our ladies with God’s Word and an affirming word:

In the words of the King Lemuel in Proverbs 31:30…

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who reveres the LORD is to be praised.

In the words of Nehemiah 8:10…

…the joy of the Lord is your strength.

An affirming word (bookmark)…

A mother strengthens us with her prayers,

Encourages us with her hope,

And blesses us with her unending love.

• Prayers

Lorne Sanny of The Navigators once wrote of his mother: “My mother gave birth to me in a frontier house on a Midwestern prairie. On the kitchen counter she placed a list of the ingredients necessary for my formula. At the top of the list was ‘prayer,’ and that remained at the top of her list for me throughout her life…I have her to thank for firmly establishing my spiritual roots.”

A mother strengthens us with her prayers.

§ Hope

Ann Lamott is a mother who wears everything on her sleeve, including her toils with young children, her poor motherhood skills, and her struggles with faith and her church. She writes, “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”

A mother encourages us with her hope.

§ Love

Washington Irving writes, “The love of a mother is never exhausted. It never changes–it never tires–it endures through all; in good repute, in bad repute, in the face of the world’s condemnation, a mother’s love still lives on.”

A mother blesses us with her unending love.

May we end this message as we began. Mothers most often think of others, not themselves. There is no more influential or powerful role on earth than a mother’s. Stay at it, dear ladies. Never doubt the value of the shift from “us to them.” Without your prayers, hope, and love, the family and church simply could not survive! Amen.

Shift: Jesus-followers must grow servant hearts by serving the people God has placed in their lives, following the example of Jesus with compassion and helpfulness.

The little things do matter…

Shifts not only have a big impact in the crust of the earth, but also in every area of our lives. By making these small adjustments in the right places, we can set off a chain reaction – much like the earth’s seismic forces that result in an earthquake – but in this case small changes can make a BIG difference in the most important areas of our lives. 16:Shiftscan take place almost anywhere: in the workplace, the school, the family, the church, the community, and in our spiritual and personal lives. In our last message, God disclosed to us the importance of Shift #11: The Shift from Burning to Building.

Jesus said in Mark 10:45…

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

These words of Jesus set the standard of servanthood. Jesus’ mission statement upsets all the accepted standards of the world. Categorically rejecting rank and power, Jesus establishes servanthood as his standard of greatness. By rank, a servant is last of all. In power, a servant has none.

SHIFT #12: FROM SERVED TO SERVING

I remember when I was a little spud in elementary school. Across the street from our school was a Texaco Star Service Station. In fact, the first day of school my mother dropped me off and expected me to find my way home about a mile away. Now, not knowing now to get home, I went across the street to the Texaco Star Service Station. A man in a dark brown shirt and pants, wearing a cap with a big star on it, asked me if he could help me. Yes, I told him I was lost and didn’t know how to get home. So he asked me a few questions concerning the whereabouts of my home, and invited me to ride in the side car of his motorcycle. It was only a matter of minutes that he drove me to my home on Emerson Avenue. What an impression of caring and service that man set upon the life of one small boy.

You see, the place where you got your gas in those days was called service stations, not merely gas stations. Attendants rushed out to your car and literally serviced your vehicle with gas, water, oil, and a clean windshield. You never had to leave your car. Now days, the attendant never leaves the booth so you pump the gas, service your car, and pay your own bill by a credit card directly attached to the pump. From full-service stations to self-serve gas stations. My, has service changed!

Jesus made the shift from served to serving. Jesus as the Son of God could have arranged life entirely to suit himself, but as the Son of Man he spent himself and all his rank and power in the service of others. He has come “to give his life as a ransom for many.” This saying of Jesus is a simple and pictorial way of communicating that it cost the life of Jesus to bring lost people back from their sin into the love of God. It means that the cost of our salvation was the cross of Christ. It defines what Jesus-followers need to focused upon in these last days, making the shift from being served to serving.

“Servant” in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms. Both words denote those who are not at their own disposal, but are their master’s purchased property. Bought to serve their master’s needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the servant’s sole profession is to do as he or she is told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a servant relationship to one’s Savior.

What work does Christ set his servants to do? The way that they serve him, he tells them, is by becoming the servants of their fellow-servants and being willing to do literally anything, however costly, irksome, or undignified, in order to help them. This is what love means, as he himself showed at the Last supper when he played the servant’s part and washed the disciples’ feet.

A little background information on foot-washing in first century Palestine will help us to understand the significance of this act of service. Foot-washing was not primarily a ceremonial custom. It was practically important because people walked in sandals through dusty and manure-filled streets. Feet simply got dirty and stinky.

Not surprisingly, washing someone else’s feet was regarded as one of the most demeaning tasks anyone could perform. It was reserved for the lowest of the household servants. It would be similar today to the entry job of a United States forest ranger. All rangers begin their work by cleaning toilets in the national parks. They don’t begin by sharing their knowledge of the awesome wonder of creation by leading nature walks.

We must place in contrast the fact that even though the task of serving was demeaning; the servants were well cared for by their masters. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the youngest of the sons requested his share of the inheritance and left for greener pastures. He scoots with the loot, and found himself penniless among the pigs, the detested swine of Jewish custom. When he came to his senses, he considered the fact that many of his father’s hired servants had food to spare, and he was starving to death (Luke 15:17).

So on this night before Passover, since there was evidently no household servant present at this private meal, who would perform this task? Jesus’ disciples were not about to do it. Luke says they were in the midst of their favorite argument–”which one of them was regarded to be the greatest” (Luke 22:24). Those who washed feet in this setting would be admitting they were the good-for-nothings of the bunch!

Compassion and Helpfulness

When the New Testament speaks of ministering to the saints, it means not primarily preaching to them but devoting time, difficulty, and substance to giving them all the imaginative compassion and practical helpfulness possible. The essence of Christian service is loyalty to the king expressing itself in care for his servants.

So John sets the stage of this act of service by telling us it was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus was fully aware that his hour had come for him to leave his disciples and go to the Father. Jesus loved those who followed him supremely. He would love them to the end. So the evening meal was in progress in the Upper Room.

Jesus models for us the shift from served to serving as he washes the disciple’s feet in John 13:3-5, 12-15.

In the likeness of Jesus…

1. Servants are dependably aware of their origin and destiny

³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

Jesus knew the source of his authority came from his Father. He knew that his incarnation of becoming flesh was ordained by his Father, and he would ascend back to heaven when he completed the work his Father gave him to do. So he was fully aware of his mission and ministry. He was able throughout his life and ministry to constantly recognize his work with humility, obedience, compassion and gentleness.

Servants must know the origin and the destiny of their authority. It is important that we as Jesus-followers know our roots. Our heritage is important because it helps us know who we are, but most importantly, whose we are. When we know we are God’s children, and one day we are going to spend eternity with him, then our service takes on a new dimension than the social services of our day. When we serve with loyalty to our Master, expressing care for his servants, then our service embodies eternity. We have a foundation and a future upon which to base our service. Our service has the stamp of eternity upon it.

2. Servants are dutifully observant of the task before them

⁴ …so he [Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him… ¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.”

Jesus was both observant and sensitive to the fact that the household servant either was lax in the assigned duties or was no where to be found. The disciples entered the place of dining, and the servant did not do the customary act of washing their feet. No doubt, Jesus was the guest of honor.

How strange it must have been for the disciples to witness this act of compassion and helpfulness coming from their Teacher and Lord. But Jesus takes off his outer coat, wraps a towel around him, pours water into a basin and washes their feet. Jesus then returns to his place of honor. He asks them if they truly understood what he had done for them. They were right in calling him Teacher and Lord. Would they be responsive to move from served to serving?

Servants must be observant of the task before them. Jesus calls us as Jesus-followers to minister to one another in his name. There is no excuse for us to sit back and wait for God to show us the need for service in our lives and ministry. Jesus sets the example and calls us to observe the commitment it takes to serve him, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. So we make the shift from served to serving.

3. Servants are devotedly obedient to the commission assigned them

¹⁴ “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

Jesus called his disciples servants, not consumers. He commissioned his disciples to serve one another in the likeness of his service to them. Jesus set the example. Jesus provided a model. One who models has the willingness to go first. Jesus will never ask his disciples to do anything that he first isn’t willing to do.

Servants must be devotedly obedience to the call of servanthood. In a culture where people are most often concerned about their own well-being, we are charged to follow the lead of our Master. We begin our service to those who we are called to love, care about, and be concerned for. Only the Holy Spirit can create in us the kind of love toward our Savior that will overflow in imaginative compassion and practical helpfulness towards his people. Unless the spirit is training us in love, we are not fit persons to serve with that creative compassion and sensible helpfulness in the church.

All in the Family–

Let’s envision the following scenarios…

First, let’s picture a church where everyone wants to be served. (video clip, second service).Each person believes the church exists to serve their needs, to make them happy, and to cater to their whims and tastes. Imagine a church where everyone has a “take care of me” attitude and is quick to grumble whenever things are not as they should be. It becomes a church of self-absorption. Sadly some people don’t have to use their imagination to picture such a church. This kind of church will NEVER have a positive impact on their world.

I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,

Real service is what I desire.

I’ll sing you a solo any time, dear Lord,

Just don’t ask me to sing in the choir.

I’ll do what you want me to do, dear Lord,

I like to see things come to pass.

But don’t ask me to teach boys and girls, dear Lord,

I’d rather just stay in my class.

I’ll do what you want me to do, dear Lord,

I yearn for your kingdom to thrive.

I’ll give you my nickels and dimes, dear Lord,

But please don’t ask me to tithe.

I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,

I’ll say what you want me to say.

I’m busy just now with myself, dear Lord,

I’ll help you some other day.

Now, let’s imagine a church where every person has a passion to serve others. What could God do through such a church? The church was never meant to be a bunch of people watching on as a few exhausted people strain to carry the burden of a whole congregation. Football has been likened to service in the church. Thousands of fans are watching, desperately in need of exercise. Twenty-two players are exercising, desperately in need of rest! The wise saying from Ecclesiastes 4:9, “two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor” is true. It becomes a church of self-sacrificing. This kind of church is filled with people who will CHANGE their world.

Brother Lawrence lived in the 17th century. He remained 40 years in the uninterrupted awareness of God’s presence. He walked in the humility of depending on God and the purity of doing everything for the love of God. It was observed, that in the greatest hurry of business in the kitchen, he still preserved his recollection and heavenly-mindedness. He was never hasty or loitering, but did each thing, even the washing of dishes, in its season with an even uninterrupted composure and tranquility of spirit. “The time of business,” said he, “does not with me differ from the time of prayer. In the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Supper.”

Moving from served to serving is one of the great disciplines that allow God to speak to our heart through his Word. Our series on 16:Shifts highlights the verse from John 3:16…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

…God loves…God gave…We believe…We live.

Prayer: Father, I believe you love this world. You gave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, I die. With you, I live. I choose life. I admit I need a Savior. I believe Jesus is my Savior. I choose to walk with Jesus and become a worldchanger.

Shift: When words become a fire, the Spirit convicts Jesus-followers to have the courage to open their mouths and build others up with their words.

The little things do matter…

Shifts not only have a big impact in the crust of the earth, but also in every area of our lives.By making these small adjustments in the right places, we can set off a chain reaction – much like the earth’s seismic forces that result in an earthquake – but in this case small changes can make a BIG difference in the most important areas of our lives. 16:Shifts can take place almost anywhere: in the workplace, the school, the family, the church, the community, and in our spiritual and personal lives. In our last message, God disclosed to us the importance of Shift #10: The Shift from Anxiety to Peace.

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” –Psalm 19:14.

SHIFT #11: From Burning to Building

We who have lived in Southern California in the fall, we know we don’t get much change in our weather. No, instead we’re stuck with the same boring eighty-degrees day in, day out. But fall in Southern California does have one major drawback. Fall is fire season. It happens every September, October, and November. The gentle winds shift from the standard off-shore afternoon breezes to the warm, whipped up Santa Ana desert winds. And every time they do, a high alert goes out for wildfires. We have watched these infamous, fall fires on the evening news. For some, we know of family or friends who have literally been evacuated from their homes. In recent fires near Malibu, the flames literally jumped eight full-size lanes of a massive freeway in an instant. The fire left a charred and flattened path twenty miles through Malibu Canyon and down to the beach. It is a frightening experience. Each year, hundreds of thousands of acres are burned, homes are lost, and lives are threatened by fires that often get started with a simple “spark.” [video clip on start a fire].

There is another force to be reckoned with when it comes to our speech. One of the most startling passages in the Bible was written by Jesus’ younger brother, James. Describing the power of our words, he writes in James 3:5-6…

⁵ … the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

James seems to be going to extremes. He thinks the tongue is like a fire, that a whole world of evil lives in this tiny pink organ, that it can corrupt us through and through, that it ignites the very fabric of our lives with flames that must be quenched, and that all of this fiery mess has been ignited by hell itself.

Is the tongue really as dangerous as James thinks? Do our words have the potential for the kind of destruction he seems to be worried about? Well, we as Jesus-followers need to respond to these questions with consciences open and hearts softened by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. When considering our words, we need to make the shift from burning to building.

Words that burn cause emotional battle scars. We don’t have to walk long on this earth before we discover that some of our deepest wounds are the result of careless or hurtful words. It is also true; words that build produce lasting relationships. When people speak words of love, affirmation, and blessing, we experience some of the most precious memories in this life.

So it is no surprise that God gives us all kinds of warnings about how we use our words. God inspired Solomon to speak on this topic from the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 18:20-21 ²⁰ From the fruit of their mouths people’s stomachs are filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied. ²¹ The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Solomon understood that words have the potential to burn or to build. They have the power of life or death. We all know how refreshing it is to hear words of life, hope, and encouragement. They can help our performance and brighten our attitudes. The right word at the right time can bring us renewed vigor for a task and can challenge us to improve. Young or old, people blossom under the influence of encouraging words. Too often we do not hear encouraging words. Too often, yet we do not speak words that build, only burn.

The truth of the matter is that if we are not careful, our words tend toward the negative. If we push the default button, we tend to use words in ways that destroy relationships and fracture community. God has something very different in mind. God longs to see us build healthy and lasting relationships. But to accomplish this, we must learn to control our speech.

Can we imagine what it would be like to have a full-time grumbler following us around for a day? Perhaps some of us can say, “For a day? I’ve got one that follows me around everyday!” Well, we would soon discover that our house is too small, our job is no fun, we have bad taste in restaurants, and our clothes don’t match…that is, if we survived the day without going crazy. Grumblers can scorch the life out of just about any circumstance. At work, a grumbler can change a dream job into one of drudgery. At home, a grumbler can turn a place of rest into a place of stress. At church, a grumbler can twist a ministry that thrives into a ministry that only survives.

The apostle Paul wrote in Jude 16…

¹⁶ These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

There is a danger in grumbling. The forty-years Israel spent wandering in the desert was a time they would have preferred to forget. When Paul brought up this topic, it would have been as comfortable as asking someone to talk about their root canal surgery during the second course of a dinner party. Some things are better left unsaid. However, Paul brings up this awkward topic and lists four sins the people of Israel committed while they wandered in the wilderness during those agonizing years.

Let’s note these sins in 1 Corinthians 10:6-10…

⁶ Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” ⁸ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹ We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

Here are the four sins:

Idolatry… Sexual immorality…Testing the Lord…Grumbling

Now, Jesus-followers take a strong stand on idolatry, sexual immorality, and testing the Lord. The question then becomes, why do we practically ignore the fourth sin Paul addresses in this passage? We simply ignore this one as seriously as the other three. Paul is basically communicating God’s heart on this topic. This sin of grumbling not only plagued the people of Israel all through their history, it was damaging the church in Paul’s day, and it still runs rampant in the lives of too many Jesus-followers and churches today.

Therefore, we need to constantly draw near to God and ask him for the right words to speak, words that will satisfy the soul of every listener. Words that encourage and not discourage those who hear us speak. That God might help our tongues to nourish life and not to torch others. And perhaps most important of all, help us to encourage others to be encouragers.

So how do we make the shift from burning to building?

Words That Matter

Grumbling burns, consumes, and destroys relationships; speaking words of blessing can heal, strengthen, and rebuild them. If we desire to experience dynamic and lasting relationships, we can begin by committing to use our words as a source of blessing and encouragement. We need to declare our lives Zero Tolerance Zones. We must not tolerate the poison that grumbling brings into our relationships. God wants us to celebrate the good we see in others. We can speak uplifting words face to face, and we can even become ambassadors of “good gossip.”

Paul writes to the believers in Ephesians 4:29-32…

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

When we develop the habit of affirming others, a shift from burning to building occurs. In a modern culture where the tongue is often used to burn, we create a culture of blessing. Paul prohibits burning and permits building in his wise counsel:

1. Paul disallows all “trash talk”

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths…

Burning permits are not granted. It’s too dangerous to take the chance. Also, he urges us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the guide of life. When we act contrary to the counsel of our parents when we are young, we hurt them. In a similar way, to act contrary to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is to grieve the Spirit and hurt the heart of God who, through the Spirit, sent his word to us.

So burning permits are not granted by God. The conditions are too dangerous to take the chance. Why? Here are ten modern-day examples from culture…

· There are a lot of ugly people out there, too bad your one of them

· I hear you are connected to the Police Department — by a pair of handcuffs

· Save your breath, you are going to need it to blow up your date tonight

· Try not to let your mind wander - it’s too small to be left out alone on its own

· I hear the only place you’re ever invited is outside

· Don’t you need a permit to carry that much stupid around?

· Your family tree is nothing but a rest stop for dogs

· You’re so stupid that if brains were taxed you would get a rebate

· Your teeth are so yellow when you walk into church the choir sings “let it shine, let it shine, let it shine”

· Your breath is so hot when you sneeze you start forest fires

2. Paul allows “building permits”

²⁹ … but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Paul goes on to put the same thing positively. He wants us as Jesus-followers to take out “building permits.” The Jesus-follower should be characterized by words which help, not hinder. Building permits are granted.

Here are ten affirmations that bless…

· You are God’s special gift in my life

· Your smile brightens my day

· Your friendship means the world to me

· Is there something I can do for you today?

· Be strong because God is on your side

· Your words keep me on my feet

· I thank God for you

· I need some guidance; can you help me?

· God is doing a good work in you

· I love you

So Paul comes to the summing up of his advice. He tells us to be kind. The Greeks defined this quality as the disposition of mind which thinks as much of its neighbor’s affairs as it does of its own.Kindness has learned the secret of looking outwards all the time, and not inwards. Paul tells us to forgive others as God forgives us. So, in one sentence, Paul lays down a rule for personal relationships—that we should treat others as Jesus Christ has treated us. Forgiveness is the standard Jesus modeled for how we treat one another. And this treatment of others surely includes the words we speak!

Moving from burning to building is one of the great disciplines that allow God to speak to our heart through his Word. Our series on 16:Shifts highlights the verse from John 3:16…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

…God loves…God gave…We believe…We live.

Prayer: Father, I believe you love this world. You gave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, I die. With you, I live. I choose life. I admit I need a Savior. I believe Jesus is my Savior. I choose to walk with Jesus and become a worldchanger.

Triple-Filter Test

Let’s bring a summation to our message. When we think about what we say and how we say it, there is a very simple test for guiding our speech. There are three things we can ask ourselves before we speak:

• Is it kind?

• Is it true?
• Is it helpful?

We have affirmed in this message the fact that speaking mindfully is not a simple task. We are used to blurting out and presenting our opinions, grumblings and thoughts, sometimes to the detriment of others and ourselves.

Is it kind, is it true, and is it helpful? I didn’t make those questions up. We might be familiar with them already—they were first used in a poem in 1835, and the Rotarian 4-Way test is similar. Some people use the word “useful” or “necessary” instead of “helpful.” I think these three simple tests of our speech bring together the meaning and purpose of many of the laws in the Bible about right speech.

Maybe the questions of “kind, true, helpful” were in the mind of Paul when he gave his advice concerning our speech to the believers at Ephesus.

Ephesians 4:25

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”

Gossip can be very malicious—telling lies, or secrets about someone to anyone who will listen. But it is also interesting to note the fact that the word gossip was not always a negative word.

The word gossip came from the early English word “God-sibb.” A god-sibling, like a god-parent, was a member of a religious community, someone who shared faith. We were truly kindred in God. Therefore, the original meaning of gossip literally was speech within the church.

So if it seems like a lot of gossiping happens in church…we are right! Gossip can be good. Gossip is the way a community tells its story. Gossip can be the way that people get the help they can’t ask for, the forgiveness they didn’t know they needed, and the affection that comes with being loved with all our faults. Thus, not all “gossip” is bad. Some of it is just sharing stories and connections so that we humans can better care for each other, and better understand the world we live in. The difference between good gossip and bad gossip comes when we ask ourselves…

Is it kind?

Is it true?

Is it helpful?

If we really take this “triple-filter test” into our lives; really think before we speak (or type) and ask ourselves if what we are about to say—is kind, is true, is helpful—there would be a lot less talking in the world. It would be a calmer, quieter, kinder place.

I have attempted personally to take this “triple-filter test” into my life in the past two weeks, but it’s hard. I’m not used to thinking before I speak. I have to wonder if incorporating kindness, truth and helpfulness into my communications is really such a great idea. However, small talk, discussion of the weather, asking people how they are doing even though you may not care or listen or know who they are, is a very important part of human interaction. And let’s face it; refraining from speaking the truth is sometimes the only way to be kind. Kind, true and helpful, for me is like anything I enjoy: ice cream or chocolate, fine in moderation, but we have to know when to stop. We can have too much of a good thing.

So let’s make the shift from burning to building. We are members of one another, kindred with all we meet. May we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

May the words of all our mouths be a benediction and a blessing to those we encounter daily. May what we say be kind, true, and helpful! Amen.

Shift: We cannot hear God until we reduce competing noise in our modern culture. We spend solitary time listening to our Shepherd’s words when he calls.

[Bob]

The little things do matter…

Shifts not only have a big impact in the crust of the earth, but also in every area of our lives. By making these small adjustments in the right places, we can set off a chain reaction – much like the earth’s seismic forces that result in an earthquake – but in this case small changes can make a BIG difference in the most important areas of our lives. 16:Shifts can take place almost anywhere: in the workplace, the school, the family, the church, the community, and in our spiritual and personal lives. In our last message, God disclosed to us the importance of Shift #7: The Shift from Sacrifice to Celebration.

SHIFT #8: From Monologue to Dialogue

This message will be presented in the form of a dialogue to highlight the importance of communication that embodies a verbal exchange of thought and feeling between two or more persons. We might take a moment and define the contrast between a monologue and a dialogue.

Monologue =

“a stirring sketch presented by one performer”

Dialogue =

“a captivating conversation between two or more persons”

In essence, dialogue is a channel of communication. Two or more persons are able to be open with one another, whether that exchange is pleasant or the cause of conflict. It is a two-way process in which people discuss issues that concern them. Dialogue calls a person to be vulnerable, to engage in the process of self-disclosure and feedback.

People in dialogue:

– try to receive feelings and thoughts of others without attempting to change them;

– can let others be themselves even when they are different;

– listen without trying to refute or argue down the other person;

– listen to understand;

– ask questions to check out or ensure understanding;

– don’t sit in judgment;

– are open to being changed should the evidence point in this direction.

Now when it comes to our relationship with God, a dialogue with God involves a natural two-way conversation similar to our conversation with others. We seek to share our dreams, desires, needs, fears, and praises. God in return encourages, redirects, challenges, teaches, and blesses us. Dialogue moves our relationship with God from dependence to interdependence, to a sense of belonging and bonding to the life-giving relationships for which we are created by God.

Our culture today finds it difficult to accept the fact that we as Jesus-followers can actually experience a conversation with God who still speaks. Years ago comedian Lily Tomlin asked, “Why is it that when we talk to God it is called prayer, but when God talks to us it is called schizophrenia.” The bottom line truth is, talking to God and listening to God are both acts of faith. Talking and listening are two sides of the same coin. It is imperative for those of us who call Jesus our Good Shepherd to learn how to recognize his voice and to follow where he leads.

The gospel writer Mark records an example of Jesus’ relationship with his Heavenly Father in Mark 1:35…

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

So Jesus models for us how he consistently observed a communal relationship with his Heavenly Father. Jesus kept in check a discipline of quiet in his own life and ministry. Like Jesus, we can prepare for our Shepherd’s call by first learning the discipline of quiet.

[David]

Hearing God’s Voice

The gospel writer John records an example of how crucial it is for us to hear God’s voice through the illustration of the Good Shepherd in John 10

John 10:1-6

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep….”

Most people during the time of Jesus would understand this illustration, though we in the west may not. When shepherds gathered their sheep, they would put them into a sheepfold. A sheepfold was a designated area, usually made with mud walls and only had one entrance, the gate, used for protection against thieves and wolves. And since the area would hold the sheep of many shepherds, a doorkeeper was hired to guard the sheep and open the door for those who were allowed.

v.3 “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

Ok, that part sounds weird…right, sheep with names? What doe she do? “hey Jim!” C’mere, Steve.” But this corresponds exactly with what we know of Eastern shepherds. They gave names to sheep as we do horses, cows, and dogs. Even today, witnesses have claimed to watch shepherds walk up to a flock of sheep which would be several hundred, call a particular one, and that sheep will actually break from the flock and come to the gate.

v.4 “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

This is also true; when a stranger has changed clothes with the shepherd for an experiment, the sheep still follow the disguised shepherd’s voice and refused to listen to the voice of a stranger whose wearing the clothes of their shepherd.

This passage also says that the sheep “follow” the shepherd. Again, in the West shepherds drive their sheep from the back with dogs, but in the East, shepherds lead their sheep – and all of the sheep simply follow them.

So how will we know we are listening to the voice of the True Shepherd or a thief who has come to destroy us? Following the wrong voice can be extremely painful, and possibly deadly!

Jesus says in, Matthew 7:15

“Watch out… for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

The biblical warning for our day is clear. We are all a part of the sheepfold; and if we listen, a time will come when a voice calls us to follow.

v.6 “…Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.”

The Pharisees, as the religious leaders, should have known and been known by their followers. But they had ceased to be shepherds who cared for their sheep and they had become thieves who only wanted to “acquire” more sheep to increase their own status.

The prophet writes, Ezekiel 34:3

“You eat the curds [the food], clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock”

See the relationship between sheep and shepherd was quite different in Palestine. In America sheep are largely kept for killing, for food; but in the East they are kept mainly for wool. Jesus doesn’t use us …or deplete us. Our True Shepherd wants a shared relationship with us.

So how do we get to that point? How can we be like sheep? For a sheep to recognize its master’s voice, or to learn to come when it’s master calls, sounds like it would take months or years for a relationship like that to develop.

Possibly, but then what else is there to do out in the fields all day? How complex is the life of a sheep? For that matter, how difficult is the life of a shepherd? As we saw last week, in our need to do more, be more…we pack our lives with so much business, that we inevitably drown out the master’s voice.

Jesus says in, Matthew 6:5-6

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.

Jesus says, we cannot hear until we become still and block out all competing noise. And you might remember that in older translations, this used to say, “Go into your closet” and it’s actually a more accurate translation. This is a Hebrew prayer shawl, the same that would have been worn by a Middle Eastern Rabbi, and Jesus. And one tradition of wearing it is like this…. And this was called your “prayer closet.”

But, it seems this discipline becomes more and more difficult in our “modern” age. We must spend the necessary time getting to know the voice of our Shepherd when he calls. Fortunately, his words are recorded and preserved so we need never be deceived. Make the shift in your life to observe moments of solitude. Know His words; recognize his voice. There is no greater pursuit in life.

Do we speak to God in monologue or dialogue? Do we expect him to reply? Do we wait on God and listen for him to speak? And do we then respond to his promptings?

Some people may hear God speak with their ears; others with their heart. Still others simply feel divine nudges. God chooses to speak in various ways to different people. The key is for us to encourage the conversation and to follow his leading.

God speaks to Jesus-followers today through…

The Bible

Other People

Circumstances

A Still, Small Voice

Dreams and Visions

[Bob]

Learning to Listen to God

Let’s practically discover now how we as Jesus-followers can determine if something is really a word from God. It is a four-step process:

Step 1: We Identify the Source

First, we determine the origin of what we are hearing when we sense God is speaking. There are usually three possible sources. The voice speaking can be of God, Satan, or self. We need ask ourselves, “Is what I am hearing the kind of thing that I would say, that God would say, or that the Enemy would say?

Step 2: We Use the Scripture Test

Next, we need to take the source of what we are hearing and test it against the teaching of the Bible. God’s Holy Spirit will never lead us to do anything contrary to his will revealed in the Scriptures. Never! So we constantly evaluate what we hear and filter it through the standard of God’s Word.

Step 3: We Take Action

Then, once we have determined that God is the most likely source of what we are hearing and we have tested it against Scripture, we are now ready to move into action. Taking action could be seen through performing an act of service, changing a behavior, giving a generous gift, seeking reconciliation in a broken relationship, or many other things.

Step 4: We Evaluate, Reinforce, and Remember

Finally, we make sure we evaluate what happened. The key is that we learn to look back and remember how God communicated to us. Just like a sheep, we record this in our memory banks so the next time God speaks, we recognize his voice with greater clarity. We give God praise when we look back and are confident God was leading.

Shift Suggestion: Growing in our ability to hear from and follow God is a skill we must acquire. We will never sharpen this ability unless we use it. So the next time you feel God is prompting you, use the four-step process outlined above. You might want to invite a wise Jesus-follower friend to pray for God’s leading in this area of your life. And seek his or her input as you press forward.

Moving from monologue to dialogue is one of the great disciplines that allow God through prayer and solitude to speak to our heart. Our series on 16:Shifts highlights the verse from John 3:16…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

…God loves…God gave…We believe…We live.

Prayer: Father, I believe you love this world. You gave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, I die. With you, I live. I choose life. I admit I need a Savior. I believe Jesus is my Savior. I choose to walk with Jesus and become a worldchanger.

[David]

Listening to God through times of prayer and solitude is a learning and growing experience. We will never rightly understand the love of our True Shepherd until we learn to understand the bitterness and the enmity of the human heart. We will never rightly understand the beauty of the tranquility of our True Shepherd, until we have learned a little bit of the unbelief and of the frustration of the human heart. We will never rightly learn to understand our True Shepherd’s blessed love and the love of the Father in giving his Son until we see it in contrast.

[Bob]

In the Arms of Jesus. We want to close this message with a picture that captures praying in our heart of hearts. It comes from a confession that many Jesus-followers make over the years: “I feel guilty because there are many evenings I try to pray but end up falling asleep right in the middle of my prayer time.” These people feel they let God down each time they doze off before uttering their official amen for the day.

This is what we can tell them. Hopefully, this response will speak to our hearts.

Imagine a mother cradling her five-year-old girl in her arms. It is the end of the day, and the two are talking. The mom is telling her about the plans for tomorrow. The little girl is talking about the fun she had that day. As the daughter talks, she yawns and rubs her eyes. They keep chatting, but the little girl is fading quickly. The mother looks down at the one she loves so tenderly. As they are talking, in midsentence, her little girl falls asleep, right in her arms. How does the mother feel? Is she angry? Disappointed? As the mother looks on her precious child, she smiles and rejoices. There is no other place she would rather have her little girl fall asleep.

When we end our day talking with God and we happen to doze off, God is not angry or disappointed. God holds us in his arms, embraces us, and gives us a kiss on the forehead. God loves to be with us, to speak to us and hear what is on our hearts. And if we happen to fall asleep in God’s arms, it brings joy to his heart. It’s the shift from monologue to dialogue—there is no other place for us to end a busy day! Amen.

Shift: Easter’s celebration is at hand. Those standing by Jesus when everything seems to be falling apart will see Jesus in all his power and glory.

The little things do matter…

Shifts not only have a big impact in the crust of the earth, but also in every area of our lives. By making these small adjustments in the right places, we can set off a chain reaction – much like the earth’s seismic forces that result in an earthquake – but in this case small changes can make a BIG difference in the most important areas of our lives. 16:Shifts can take place almost anywhere: in the workplace, the school, the family, the church, the community, and in our spiritual and personal lives. In our last message, which focused on Good Friday, God disclosed to us the importance of Shift #6: The Shift from Top to Bottom.

SHIFT #7: From Sacrifice to Celebration

I guess it was inevitable. Growing up in northern California, I guess it was predestined that I would become a San Francisco Forty-Niner football fan—a faithful Forty-Niner fan. Even in the season when they won only three games, and even when they had a string of bad seasons. Even when the airplane flew over the stadium with the banner that said, “Thirty years of lousy football.” What used to really annoy me was when friends who claimed to be Forty-Niner fans kept “crossing lines of allegiance” when they kept losing. Oh, then came the playoff Forty-Niners, and then the Forty-Niners that won the Super Bowl. The Forty-Niners then called the “dynasty of the eighties” with a string of five Super Bowls. Suddenly, there were gazillions of Forty-Niner fans everywhere, jumping up and down, celebrating the champions. But they could never know the joy of fans like me—fans who never lost hope, and who never stopped rooting for their team. Yes, the losing seasons are back once more, but I’ve never stopped rooting for my team!

It’s true in sports; it’s true in life. Celebration is sweetest for those who were loyal through all the sacrifice. Let’s note the shift from sacrifice to celebration on this Easter Sunday.

Let’s look at the perspective of sacrifice. On Good Friday night it appeared as if evil was the master of life. The holiest and most lovable One who had ever lived was dead and in his tomb, crucified by the order of a tyrant without either doubts or regrets. He who had raised the highest hopes among people had died by the most shameful means. A cross, two nails, a jeering mob of corrupted souls, and a quick thrust of a spear had ended it all. Those hours when his voice was stilled and his hands were quiet were the blackest through which the human race has ever lived. If Caesar could put an end to Jesus, then no one could ever dare aspire or hope again. Hope, in such a world, could be nothing better than a mockery. Christ was crucified and buried. Yes, it is called sacrifice.

Now, let’s see at the viewpoint of celebration. Then came Easter morning and the glorious word: ‘He is Risen!’ And evil’s triumph was at an end. Since that hour when Mary in the garden first discovered the staggering fact of victory, those whose hearts were pure and whose labors were honest have never had reason to fear or despair if they believed in the Resurrection. Christ was crucified and buried, but he wouldn’t stay dead. The tomb could not hold him—and because of him—the tomb cannot hold us either. Yes, it is called celebration.

Where the gospel according to Matthew ends, the Christian faith begins—in the resurrection of our Lord. The resurrection exhausts our capacity to imagine and it pushes our reasoning ability to the breaking point. But we don’t have to explain the resurrection. Rather it explains us; it establishes who we are and why we are here today. Because Easter happened, because the resurrection happened, the church happened. The simplest meaning of Easter is that we are living in a world in which God still has the last word.

From Anguish to Alleluia

Like Mary Magdalene, taken directly from the glorious Easter story. Mary made the shift from sacrifice to celebration. Mary had been there at the cross, when all but one of Jesus’ disciples had disappeared like scared rabbits. She had gone to the tomb for Jesus’ burial. And now, after having been, along with some friends, the first one at Jesus’ tomb that early Sunday morning, she just can’t leave. She has found the tomb empty and now sunk to even greater despair, believing that someone has now stolen her Master’s body.

The story of Easter is so familiar that we sometimes fail to perceive some of the details of the account. These details provide for us a shift from sacrifice to celebration. It’s a detailed portrait from anguish to alleluia.

Let’s look at three of those details of the first Easter morning as found in the gospel account from Matthew 28:1-10…

1. Easter is Power

The Stone was rolled away—not to let Jesus out—but to let us in

1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

We can say this because the idea that God rolled the stone away from the door to let Jesus escape is inconsistent with the resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded elsewhere in the scriptures. Appearances in which he suddenly appeared in the midst of the disciples, even when they were behind closed doors. Closed doors never kept Jesus in or out.

Matthew makes this clear in his account of the resurrection it was after Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had come to the tomb that “there was a great earthquake and an angel

of the Lord rolled away the stone and sat upon it.” For centuries the curious have always wanted to look into the dark depths of death, but the tomb has been sealed with secrecy. The tomb has always mocked us. It has always stood as the “dead end” of all our efforts to peer beyond this life into the life to come.

A three-old girl was as anxious for Easter to come as she had been for Christmas to come. She announced to her Daddy, ‘I can’t wait for Easter!’ ‘Her Daddy asked her, ‘Do you know what Easter means, honey?’ She replied, ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, what does Easter mean?’ In her own sweet three-year-old way, with arms raised, a smile on her face, and at the top of her voice she said, ‘Surprise!’ What better word could sum up the meaning of Easter! Surprise, death! Surprise, sin! Surprise, grieving disciples! Surprise, modern culture! He’s alive!’

It’s a surprise—for God in his power at Easter rolls the stone door of the tomb away for us so that we might penetrate the mystery of death. It makes of the tomb a tunnel—a tunnel into the heart of the eternal and shows us that the holy heart of God is love and life. God rolls the door of the tomb away not to let Jesus out—but to let us in—to allow us to see that Christ’s promises are true.

2. Easter is Promise

The tomb is not completely empty—for the place is filled with the words of the angel

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Matthew records that Christ’s body is not there, but the place is filled with the words of the angel. The angel tells the two women on the first Easter morning to look inside the tomb saying to them “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” If the women on that first Easter morning had looked into an empty and silent tomb, then our resurrection faith would be a belief based on human speculation, an assumption of the moment, an argument based on negative evidence. But no! Our faith is based on a word spoken to us by God. It is based on God’s holy promise, spoken by Christ before he died, and upon God’s holy assurance—spoken by the angel on the first Easter Sunday.

If Easter means anything to us in our modern culture, it means that timeless truth is eternal. We may nail it to the tree, wrap it up in grave clothes, and seal it in a tomb. But truth crushed to earth will rise again. Truth does not perish. It cannot be destroyed. It may be distorted. It has been silenced temporarily. It has been compelled to carry its cross to Calvary’s brow, but with an inevitable certainty after every Black Friday of sacrifice dawns truth’s Easter morn of celebration.

So it is always the third day! Wasn’t that the essence of the angel’s message at the empty tomb? The angel wanted the women to know that the anguish of Friday and the gloom of Saturday had passed. If God has defeated death, the third day is forever! This same promised word that echoed and re-echoed in that Easter tomb still fills the emptiness of our world today. “He is risen”. The tomb has become a trumpet of truth promising the victory of life over death, and the continuation of Christ’s presence and mission in this world—first in Galilee, and ultimately to the ends of the earth.

3. Easter is Purpose

Because of Easter we can turn our backs on the grave

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, having heard the angelic assurance, “He is risen”, turned their backs on the grave and ran “with great joy” to tell the disciples. Joy is the key word here. Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the good news. We can bet she had seen the living Christ—as no one had ever seen him before. Who did Jesus choose as the first one to ever see him alive again? The one who had been loyal to him in many losing “seasons” when every reason to be loyal seemed gone—those are the people who see Jesus in ways his fair-weather fans will never see him. Those are the people who make the shift from sacrifice to celebration.

Christ was buried, but he wouldn’t stay dead. The tomb could not hold him, and because of him, the tomb cannot hold us either. This indeed is what Jesus promised to us before he died, a promise that seemed at the time totally incredible, a matter, at best, of metaphor, and hyperbole, but which because of the first Easter morning, we now know to be a matter of fact and substance.

The stone was rolled away from the tomb, not to let Jesus out, but to let us in, to show us that death is not the end, but rather a new beginning. This new beginning gives us a purpose for living. It’s a beginning that proclaims the victory of life over death, and which allows us to turn our backs on the grave. We face our future with faith and hope, confident that all of God’s promises will indeed bear fruit.

One trouble we face in our culture today is that too many people want to have Easter without Calvary—Celebration without Sacrifice. Philip Yancey, in his book The Jesus I Never Knew, writes about Easter being incomplete without the scars.

One detail in the Easter stories has always intrigued me: Why did Jesus keep the scars from his crucifixion? Presumably he could have had any resurrected body he wanted, and yet he chose one identifiable mainly by scars that could be seen and touched. Why? I believe the story of Easter would be incomplete without those scars on the hands, the feet, and the side of Jesus.

When human beings fantasize, we dream of pearly straight teeth and wrinkle-free skin and sexy ideal shapes. We dream of an unnatural state: the perfect body. But for Jesus, being confined in a skeleton and human skin was the unnatural state. The scars are, to him, an emblem of life on our planet, a permanent reminder of those days of confinement and suffering. I take hope in Jesus’ scars. From the perspective of heaven, they represent the most horrible event that has ever happened in the history of the universe. Even that event, though, Easter turned into a memory. Because of Easter, I can hope that the tears we shed, the blows we receive, the emotional pain, the heartache over lost friends and loved ones, all these will become memories, like Jesus’ scars. Scars never completely go away, but neither do they hurt any longer. We will have re-created bodies, a re-created heaven and earth. We will have a new start, an Easter start.

Maybe we’re going through some losing seasons—times that could be a major test of our loyalty to Jesus. It’s dark, plans have been shattered, it’s tempting to desert because of a tragedy, a loss, or an awful hurt. Perhaps we don’t understand why we have experienced a number of losing seasons. Many others maybe have deserted Jesus. God seems silent and things seem to being getting worse instead of better. Our hopes have just been sealed in a tomb.

This Easter is the moment of truth in our relationship with the Christ who gave his life for each of us. Jesus did not abandon us when it meant a cross. Now, will we abandon him? It’s Mary Magdalene time—time to stand by Jesus, to stand firm in our commitment to the risen Christ—even when it feels like there’s no reason to sacrifice. The wisdom of many a veteran of many a spiritual battle still rings true today—“Never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light.”

Shift Suggestion: Take some time this week to reflect upon the celebration of Easter. In the view of some, the bodily resurrection of Christ is not an essential Christian belief. Do you agree or disagree? If the orthodox teaching about the Resurrection is denied, what implications does this have for how Jesus-followers are to think about the body in this life and beyond? What propositions does this belief have for how you live out the shift from sacrifice to celebration? Refer to 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 in responding.

Moving from sacrifice to celebration is one of the great disciplines that allow God to give us the power, promise, and purpose of a new beginning in our lives. Our series on 16:Shifts highlights the verse from John 3:16…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

…God loves…God gave…We believe…We live.

Prayer: Father, I believe you love this world. You gave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, I die. With you, I live. I choose life. I admit I need a Savior. I believe Jesus is my Savior. I choose to walk with Jesus and become a Worldchange.

Yes, perhaps it’s a Good Friday sacrifice for us right now. But Easter has come and the celebration is at hand. Those who stand by Jesus in the losing seasons when everything seems to be falling apart are the ones who are going to see Jesus in all his power and all his glory. Celebration is sweetest for those who have tasted sacrifice—those who never leave him!

Listen to the words of Annie Johnson Flint…

Some of us stay at the cross,
some of us wait at the tomb,
Quickened and raised with Christ
yet lingering still in the gloom.
Some of us ‘bide at the Passover feast
with Pentecost all unknown,
The triumphs of grace in the heavenly place
that our Lord has made His own.
If the Christ who died had stopped at the cross,
His work had been incomplete.
If the Christ who was buried had stayed in the tomb,
He had only known defeat,
But the way of the cross never stops at the cross
and the way of the tomb leads on
To victorious grace in the heavenly place
where the risen Lord has gone.

So we make the shift from sacrifice to celebration, and we proclaim with certainty…

Thine is the kingdom and the power, O Lord, and the glory forever. O, Thine is the kingdom and the power, O Lord, and we’ll give You all the praise! Hallelujah, Christ is Risen! Amen.

[listen to the podcast]

Shift: It is time to slow down as Jesus-followers, take a deep breath, rediscover God’s presence, reconnect with people and learn the secret of Sabbath.

The little things do matter…

Shifts not only have a big impact in the crust of the earth, but also in every area of our lives. By making these small adjustments in the right places, we can set off a chain reaction – much like the earth’s seismic forces that result in an earthquake – but in this case small changes can make a BIG difference in the most important areas of our lives. 16:Shifts can take place almost anywhere: in the workplace, the school, the family, the church, the community, and in our spiritual and personal lives. In our last message, God disclosed to us the importance of Shift #4: The Shift from Snacking to Feasting.

SHIFT #5: From Rushing to Slowing

Lots of activities, long hours, and never-ending to-do lists. In today’s world, that life has become the norm—for everyone from beggars to kings and all those in between. And many of us aren’t complaining too loudly; we thrive on the pressure that life at warp speed brings. We learn early in life to set our lives upon multitasking.

Multitasking = the ability to execute more than one task at the same time; a task being an agenda, program or plan in everyday life.

Multitasking may be one of the hot bywords of the New Millennium, but several studies show it can be hazardous to our health.

Let’s consider the case of the Illinois man who left the snow-filled streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida. His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him there the next day. When he reached his hotel, he decided to check his email, make a quick call on his cell phone, and quickly respond to all correspondence while also checking out the latest news on CNN. We can say that this man was multitasking.

It’s wise to remember how easily email can be misused, sometimes unintentionally, with serious consequences when handling more that one task at a time. Unfortunately, when typing his wife’s email address, he missed one letter, and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher’s wife whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her email, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint. At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen: “Dearest Wife, Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow. P.S. Sure is hot down here!”

When considering multitasking in plain terms, studies show people can only do so many things at one time before everything starts to slide downhill. People who love to talk on their cell phones while driving should be aware, for instance, that the Federal Aviation Administration and University of Michigan researchers discovered that the time involved in switching back and forth between tasks while driving or flying may be critical to avoiding an accident. Virginia Tech researchers using “black box” data confirmed these findings, proving that distractions, including the use of hand-held portables, contributed to 80 percent of all crashes in their study.

UCLA research shows we don’t learn as well when dividing attention between learning new information and watching TV or listening to the radio, or talking on our cell phone, for that matter. Such diversions, they found, don’t allow us to be as flexible in the use of the new information as we would have been with full attention giving to the learning, whether that information is for passing a Bar exam or Real Estate exam, or learning to safely operate a new power saw or electric carving knife.

There is in addition hidden health harm caused by multitasking, even if we escape car and plane crashes, manage to operate our new saw or knife without losing fingers, and don’t burn the house down: the stress involved in multitasking takes a toll on our body by producing the stress hormone cortisol. Over a period of time — and if the level of stress is great enough — cortisol can set us up for obesity and inflammation, which in turn lead to numerous physical problems including neurological changes and heart conditions. Perhaps the new hot byword should be “minimize multitasking.”

So it is not uncommon for us to be multitasking on a daily basis. If we walk into the rooms of our average teenagers, it is possible that we will see multi-tasking taking place as they talk on the cell phone, email responses on the computer, have their homework nearby and the TV set or CD player turned on. It is more than likely for me as a pastor to be answering my correspondence and email, taking that important phone call, setting up that appointment, working on a Bible study or message for Sunday’s worship, and rushing to the next meeting all within a matter of 30 minutes.

A God of Rest

But in the midst of all this multitasking, we still desire a deeper spiritual life. How can we find it? Into this frantic time famine, God speaks with startling hope. We must confess that we need a summons to rest; a shift from rushing to slowing. God gives us that call to rest in the understanding of the Sabbath.

In 1981 the motion picture, Chariots of Fire, won the Academy Awards’ best picture. It is based on a story about two very different runners — one a devout Christian, the other a proud Jew — who are teammates and competitors on the Great Britain squad in the 1924 Olympics. Due to his convictions of Sabbath, this devout Jesus-follower, Eric Liddell, refuses to run on the Sabbath [Chariots of Fire clip].

Sabbath =

a weekly day of rest and/or worship that is observed in the Judeo-Christian faiths.

The term derives from the Hebrew shabbat, “(to) cease”. The term was first used in the biblical account of the last day of creation. It was repeated, as a commandment, as the fourth of the Ten Commandments. A number of other religions have a similar practice, and the term has also been imported into secular usage. Sabbath is a rest-filled activity that is different from what we do on the other days of the week. The Sabbath embodies three basic elements: (1) it is a time to connect with God; (2) it is a time to experience the blessings of community, connecting with those we love; and (3) it is a day that is dramatically different from the rest of the week.

So do we feel weary? Is our burden too heavy? Are we tired of carrying our load alone? Do we need rest for our soul? It may be surprising to us, but Jesus doesn’t ask us to leave the world. He simply asks us to live in it with a new sense of priorities. He doesn’t always ask for a change of lifestyle; what Jesus wants is a change of heart. We’re in the middle of a time famine. And we need an invitation to rest in order to get us through. Our bodies, minds, and souls long for rest.

Well, Jesus extends to us an invitation to rest as recorded in Matthew 11:28-30…

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus gave us three commands in this invitation to rest. We are told to…

Come to Jesus

–we must be willing to move from rushing to slowing and center down before Jesus. It takes a change in mindset. It warrants a change in our schedule and activity. Being willing to come into close touch is prerequisite to growing and learning with Jesus.

Do plow work with Jesus

–we must be willing to take on Jesus’ yoke in service. A yoke harnessed two oxen together to plow as a team. In the day when Jesus shared this truth, the yoke was a tailor-made for the neck and shoulders of the particular oxen that would use it.

Learn from Jesus

–we must be willing to make ourselves available to Jesus for this learning process. We come to Jesus with hearts that are willing to change. We take on the characteristics of Jesus: gentleness and humility.

We must not have hearts that are hardened toward God. God said to Moses concerning the children of Israel in Exodus 32:9…

“I have seen these people…and they are a stiff-necked people.”

To the contrary, we commit to a renewing relationship with God. Therefore, a promise complements hearts willing to shift from rushing to slowing:

We will find rest for our souls. We will experience a Sabbath in our lives—a weekly day of rest or worship to replenish our bodies, minds, and souls.

Those of us who refuse this shift from rushing to slowing become “minimalists.” We take on so many tasks at once (multitasking) that we seek only to accomplish the minimum expected in order to complete as many demands upon our time and energy as possible. During Passion Week Jesus took on only one task. He devoted his time, energy, schedule and relationships in preparing to become the Savior of the world. Jesus moved from rushing to slowing as he obediently went to a cross to take on the sins of the world, including each of our sins.

Jesus said to his Heavenly Father in John 17:4…

“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work [task] you gave me to do.”

Let’s note from John’s perspective how Jesus intentionally moved from rushing to slowing before Good Friday in order to be willing to complete this one task assigned to him by his Heavenly Father. During Jesus’ final days called Passion Week, he experienced a Sabbath rest. He took time to connect with God. He took the time to experience the blessings of community, connecting with the disciples he loved. He experienced a week that was dramatically different from any other week in his life.

Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (John 12)

Jesus explains his death and summarizes his message (John 12)

Jesus washes his disciples’ feet (John 13)

Jesus and the disciples share the Last Supper (John 13)

Jesus instructs his disciples about dwelling and the Holy Spirit (John 14-16)

Jesus offer his priestly prayer to his Heavenly Father (John 17)

As we review Jesus’ Passion Week from rushing to slowing we see the spiritual priorities that were in our Savior’s heart: the glory of God; the sanctity of God’s people; the unity of the church; and the ministry of sharing the Gospel with a lost world. We today would be wise to focus on these same priorities.

Three Secrets of Sabbath…

God has given us a wonderful gift of Sabbath to show us a way to freedom and rest. We have turned this freedom into bondage with a culture that runs counter to God’s intentions. God wants us to rediscover the secrets of Sabbath. If we let God’s truth about Sabbath rest change our hearts, we will begin as Jesus-followers to make the shift needed from rushing to slowing—the enduring refreshment our hearts really long to experience.

Observing Sabbath is an affirmation that we trust God is capable of running the universe without us. Each time we experience a Sabbath rest, we confirm the fact that our confidence is in God not in ourselves. We don’t take on the Messiah complex. We remember, “it’s not about me; it’s about God.”

Observing Sabbath shows that we are convinced that God can provide all we need in six days. When we order our lives around a Sabbath day of rest, God promises to take care of us. Each time we stop our usual activity, turn eyes to heaven, and experience God’s rest, we declare to a watching world that we know God can provide all that is required in just six days of labor.

Observing Sabbath shows our understanding that slowing down and meeting with God and his people is a priority in our lives. A weekly Sabbath day allows us to make time in our schedules to connect with God and with God’s people.

When we take a Sabbath rest, we are able to make private and corporate worship a priority and connecting with people in unrushed moments a possibility. Again, Sabbath rest is a gift from God. It enhances the two most important priorities in life, loving God and loving people (Matthew 22:37-39).

Shift Suggestion: If we work out, we occasionally stop and check our pulse. If our heart is beating too fast, we know we need to slow down. So we also stop and check our life-pulse. When have we allowed time to stop and meet with God this Lenten season before we celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection? If our schedule is too fast paced – slow down.

God took a day off as an act of love. God rested so that he could model a rhythm of life essential for the health and well being of his children. The very first Sabbath was not for God; it was for us. So we model a rhythm of life by taking a day off as an act of love.

Moving from rushing to slowing is one of the great disciplines that allow God to speak to our heart through his Word. Our series on 16:Shifts highlights the verse from John 3:16…

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

…God loves…God gave…We believe…We live.

Prayer: Father, I believe you love this world. You gave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, I die. With you, I live. I choose life. I admit I need a Savior. I believe Jesus is my Savior. I choose to walk with Jesus and become a worldchanger.

Sharpen Your Axe. A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. “That depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you cut down this tree.” The young man stepped forward, and skillfully cut down a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, “You can start Monday.” Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by — and Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your pay check on the way out today.”

Startled, the young man replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.” “Normally we do,” said the foreman. “But we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today in chopping down trees.” “But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected. “I arrive first, leave last, and even have worked through my coffee breaks!” The foreman, sensing the young man’s integrity, thought for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your axe?” The young man replied, “No sir, I’ve been working too hard to take time for that!”

Our lives are like this young man without a Sabbath. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to “sharpen the axe.” In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp? We fail to shift from rushing to slowing.

Jesus entered Passion Week with a parade and faced Good Friday with a prayer. Jesus chose to slow down to connect with God and his people. The following poem helps us to reflect on the importance of a Sabbath rest—from rushing to slowing.

Slow me down, Lord

Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory. Teach me the art of taking minute vacations — of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to smile at a child, to read a few lines from a good book.

Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values that I may grow toward my greater destiny. Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing its speed. Let me look upward to the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.

–Orin L. Crain

One day, each of us will have to give an account of our life and ministry. It is a sober thought that we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give our “final report.” May we be able to confirm the shift from rushing to slowing. May we be able to say, “Father, I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the task you gave me to do!” Amen.

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