not a fan

For the past three weeks, we have been doing a study about being a follower of Jesus, not just a fan. We started this by watching a movie called, appropriately, Not a Fan. Following the movie, we have had small groups meeting throughout the week to watch a clip looking into the lives of some of the characters more closely. Our pastor has been preaching from the book of Luke as we look at the last days of Jesus. He taught his apostles that to follow him meant to give up everything.

This week’s sermon was based on Luke 14:25-35. We find Jesus talking to a large group of people who had been following and listening to him preach. He wasn’t concerned about just having fans though. Jesus wanted the people to understand that to really follow him meant that they must give up everything or they cannot be his disciple.

When I think about Jesus, I know that I have him to thank for every blessing in my life. I love Jesus and I love my family, which he has blessed me with. But to think that I must love Jesus more than my own family is pretty tough to swallow. I can’t imagine what Abraham must have felt as he took his son to sacrifice him as God had commanded. Yeah, I know he was sure that God could bring Isaac back to life, but that wouldn’t make it any easier to sacrifice your own son. Not that I’m being asked to sacrifice my loved ones, it just makes me think about it, you know?

Our pastor, Matt, asked us this morning if we ever really longed for Jesus the way we long for our family when we’re apart for a time. Is there a hole in our heart that can’t be filled by anyone or anything else, but him? Sometimes we try to fill that hole with all kinds of things because we don’t realize that Jesus is what we’re looking for.

I love going to my church. I am challenged every Sunday to stretch my faith and trust that God cares about me. To find a way to reach out to others. To give a little bit more of myself to help fulfill the great commission. To study the Word and grow in  knowledge of God’s will for my life. I try to live my life so that I set an example for others as to how I think God wants us to treat others, but I know I fall terribly short. I’ve not given up though. I’ll continue trying to be the person God made me to be. Thanks, Matt, for helping to challenge me every week to be that person!

Why is America Going Down the Tubes?

This question was posed to us this morning in the sermon. Our scripture today comes from Acts 21 & 22. The text is about Paul returning to Jerusalem and how he is greeted by the Israelites.

As Christians we tend to blame the demise of the U.S. on those other people who don’t love God any more. I know I have been guilty of making those kinds of remarks, but of course, Matt, our Pastor has a way of making you look at things another way! How many times have you looked at the clock on Sunday morning and rolled over thinking you can sneak in a few more minutes. You may do this a couple of times and then when you look up at it again, you realize you fell back to sleep and now you don’t have time to get ready. You reason that God won’t care if you miss just this one Sunday. Then the next week there’s another reason and another until you are out of the habit of going. Don’t let that happen to you! It’s so much easier to stay in the habit of going to church. There’s never a question of whether or not you need to get up. Everyone in the family just knows that you are going and they need to get up and get ready!

So, what kind of things do we need to be doing? Well, you know. Things that you intend to do that you never get around to. Maybe you intended to stop in and visit an elderly person that doesn’t get out much any more or that person that you have been meaning to invite to church. We have good intentions, but for one reason or another we just never get around to it.

Is God real to me and do I always give Him the praise? I think it’s human nature to think that we get the credit for what we’ve accomplished in life. But, when we become Christians, we have to know better! We know that all good things come from God, so why do we tend to take credit when things go well? We must be willing to do whatever it takes, short of sinning, to win people to Jesus. If we are going to share the gospel, we have to relate with people. We can’t just sit in our church on Sundays and expect to share the gospel with the lost. We have to go out and find them! I know that may sound intimidating, but that’s the Great Commission, isn’t it? We don’t all have to travel half way around the world, because there are people right here in our home town who don’t know Jesus. Those are the ones we need to reach out to!

But, how can I do that, you say? There are opportunities to help with Kids Night Out that we are starting this fall or help out with the food pantry. How about the people that you work with? Let them know that you are willing to share your faith with them. Not in a preachy way, but just let them know what Jesus has done for you. Share what a difference he’s made in your life. I can’t remember a time that I didn’t know about God, but there were times in my life that I certainly didn’t feel close to Him. Sometimes, though, it’s the toughest things in life that bring us closer and allow us to feel that He is there for us whenever we need him. We must be willing to ask for Him to be a part of our lives. We’ve got to remember to open the door and let him in.

Was there someone in your life that introduced you to Jesus? Share your story here if you feel inclined. Maybe it will make a difference in someone else’s life. That’s my take on this week’s sermon. You can hear Matt’s sermons by going to the website at www.milanchurch.com and clicking on the podcast link. Until next week, may God bless you and keep you safe!

Pam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acts 17:16-42 : My Take

This past Sunday’s sermon was about Paul preaching to those in Athens. He was angry about the idols that he found people to be worshipping there. Can we compare this to our society today? Sure we can! We have many idols that we worship. Maybe not in the normal sense, but think about it. We talk about the things that we love the most, don’t we? When you talk to others, how often do you talk about Jesus, the one who died for us to save us from eternal damnation? We talk instead about the sports teams that we follow and can get all fired up about, or about last night’s episode of “American Idol”, even the most recent movie star or hobby. There are many trivial things that take up our time and clutter our lives.

I’m not saying I’m perfect. Don’t tell my husband I said this, but I tend to spend too much time on the computer. That could be time that would be better spent studying my Bible or talking face to face with someone about the Good News. We do need to be more like Paul was and get out of our Christian bubbles more often! How can we share with non-Christians if we don’t get out there and rub elbows with them and find out what makes them tick. We have things in common that God can bring out so that we are able to connect with them. God will open doors if we give him the chance, we just have to recognize that and take advantage of the opportunities he provides!

Many are confused about who God is. They may worship something-an unknown god-that they don’t know what it is. We need to understand and challenge prevailing philosophies of today that may oppose the Good News. There is a void inside of us that only God can fill and many people are trying to fill it with drugs, sex, or gossip. People must understand that God gives life and breath. We all came from Adam, whom God created. We are all children of God, created in his image.

Yes, idols come in many forms and we battle them all the time. Realize what the idols are in your daily lives and realize that they will let you down. They can’t help you, but God can! We need to know God, repent of our sins, and know that through the resurrection, our God is THE LIVING GOD!

Your challenge this week: What has God dropped in your lap to use to share the good news? Find a way to use it and tell someone about our savior, Jesus Christ!

The God Who Came Down, Acts 14: My Take

For the past few posts, I have been giving my take on the pastor’s sermon. You can listen to the sermon yourself if you missed it by going to the website at www.milanchurch.com and clicking on the sermon icon. After doing so, share your take.

My husband and I usually walk away from church with very different takes on the sermon. Actually today, we came away with the same message. The scripture is about Paul and Barnabus preaching at Lystra to unbelievers. When Paul performed a miracle and made a man to walk, the people thought they were gods that had come down to earth. But this was very troubling to them. Paul pled with them to see that they were putting their faith in worthless things and sharing the good news of a living God and that he loves and provides for them by providing rain for crops to feed them and filling their hearts with joy even though they hadn’t even believed in Him.

One message from this sermon is that God forgives us no matter how many times we turn our backs on him. Compare this to the way a spouse would react if you walked out on them. Yes, they might forgive you and take you back once, maybe even twice. But, if you walked out and came back a year later, after turning your back on your family, would they be so eager to forgive you then? Not likely. But this is the kind of love that God has for us. So much love that he gave his son in our place to pay for our sins. It’s hard to wrap our head around that much love!

Paul was the recipient of an angry crowd that threw stones at him and left him for dead. Rocks are still thrown today but instead of actual rocks, they are words that are used to ridicule and mock believers. But our freedom wasn’t free. Jesus paid the way for us.

Some of us like to believe in fantasy. Take some of the books and movies that are popular today. Why should we not believe in fantasy? Doesn’t God promise us a place in heaven if we believe in him and accept Jesus as our savior? Can you imagine what that place looks like? It may seem unreasonable for someone who doesn’t believe in God. It may seem like fantasy to them, but as believers, we know that our God is a God who is true to his word. And even though it may seem far fetched, we have faith that there is a place for us in heaven and that some day it will all be as He originally created in the Garden of Eden.

So what does this all mean for us Christians? What can we do to help win others for Christ? Get involved in the lives of others around us. We need to show them God’s love. Instead of telling unbelievers what they are doing wrong, or what they should be doing, we need to get out there and do for others the way Jesus would have us to treat others. While we are giving others our time and show them our love, we take the opportunity to share the gospel with them.

Our church is a base to come back to, but home is out there collecting people for Jesus. Don’t let Sunday be the only day of the week that you think about God. Make him be a part of every day of your life. Let others know by the way you live your life that you are a child of God and you want them to know that he loves them and wants them to come into the fold and accept the gift of salvation that he is offering.

Well, that’s my take. What do you think?

Persecution of the Church, Acts 8

I know that we each may interpret the pastor’s sermons a little differently. I know that because my husband and I never come away from church with the same message, and yes, we heard the same sermon! This Sunday, his take was simply: the more Christians that are martyred, the more Christianity is spread. That may be a very abbreviated, simplistic interpretation, but it’s his.

Matt, you always challenge us in ways that seem to be very bold. “To be disengaged and not sharing the gospel is to be against Jesus.” No matter how much I think of myself as a Christian, I find myself realizing that I need to continually grow and reach out to others to spread the gospel. “The church has way too many spectators today”. It’s easy to come on Sunday morning and think that that’s enough, but Jesus loved us so much that he went to the cross for us. That must be the driving force for us, too: love. How much do you love Jesus? Remember that it’s not necessarily your church attendance, but spreading the gospel needs constant refreshing and a church family is a great place for the renewal that we need.

After Saul began his assault on the those present in Samaria, those who were able to escape spread the gospel to the surrounding areas. This is where my husband got his take on this sermon. Spreading the gospel became something of great importance for these new Christians despite the threat they must have felt for their lives. Would we think of spreading the gospel at this traumatic time in our lives? Is that the first thing you think of when you feel Satan trying to mess with you? Amazingly, I do believe that at the times in my life when I have been going through tough times, I do feel closer to God. If I am going to lean on Him in times of trouble, I need to learn to stay in tune with Him during the good times as well.

Matt’s final message today was, do you love Jesus enough to share the gospel with others? Well, do you? Share with someone this week: that is your challenge!

That’s my take…if you missed this sermon, catch it on the podcast which can be found on the webpage at www.milanchurch.com .

Pam

Devotion or Not

Yesterday’s sermon really made me stop and think…

Matt posed this question: “Is a Christian who is not in the Word a Christian at all? I’ll be quite honest, I don’t read or study the Bible like I should. But, yes,I have considered myself a Christian. I mean I’ve been baptized. I go to church every Sunday. I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. You mean I have to do more than that? I pray, but do I pray the kinds of prayers that I should be praying?

Matt has been covering the book of Acts in his sermon’s, and we looked Sunday at what happened after Pentecost. To be devoted to God, we must give ourselves away. As Christians, we must give ourselves to the Word of God. The Jews at Pentecost who were baptized at that time listened intently to the teachings of the apostles. That is not possible for us, so we must pour ourselves into studying the Bible. After all, that is God’s instruction book for us to follow. How can we know what God wants of us or how we should live if we don’t read his Word?

Can you recite John 3:16 from memory? This is the scripture that you see even on scoreboards at ball games. Only 50% of Christians have committed that simple scripture to memory! Only 14% of Christians can accurately describe the Great Commission. And you’ve heard the saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” Which great teacher of the Word shared that quote with us? It didn’t come from the Bible at all! That was Benjamin Franklin!

So, okay, Matt, I get the message! Jesus died for me and I have accepted him as my Lord and Savior, so I should want to know more about him and want to know more about what is a expected of me! Ignorance is not bliss in this case. I need to take this one step at a time. I will start by committing  myself to studying my Bible for at least 15 minutes every day. Who is with me?

Pam

The Holy Spirit is Working in Us!

Now that things in my life have settled back down to what is normal for us, I need to get myself back into my ministry of writing the church blog. Don’t hesitate to give me some feedback and let me know if what I’m writing is useful to you or makes a difference in your day.

It’s coincidence that I had started reading Acts about the same time Matt started preaching about it (or is it?). Studying what is being preached about is really helpful in understanding the biblical text. When I’m reading, I don’t always know the background around the passage. I’ve never really studied the book of Acts before. I find the scriptures about the Holy Spirit coming to dwell within us to be very interesting. There are times in my life when I feel the Holy Spirit has been more active than other times. When you read the Bible, the Holy Spirit helps you to understand it. I think it’s pretty cool that God loves us so much that he sent the Holy Spirit to be with us!

If you haven’t been to church lately, we’re growing! I’ve seen new faces lately, and that’s great. We continue to strive to be more like Jesus and to spread the gospel. Matt challenged us this morning to be bold in sharing our faith and telling others about Jesus and the sacrifice that was made on our behalf. It’s not always easy to take this step to share our beliefs with others who are not believers, but this is the task Jesus gave us. We must overcome our reservations and believe that we will be given the boldness to do as Jesus commanded.

Check out the podcast or the live stream at our website www.milanchurch.com . You’ll find Matt’s recent sermons there. I think you will find yourself challenged!

I’m stepping out in faith…

Pam