Amazing

Every now and again I am caught up in awe and wonder over the gift that God has given us in this great country of ours. I am especially amazed that we can freely and without fear gather together to worship and study God's word without having to worry that we will be harmed. We do not have to worry that the government will tell us how to worship or mandate what our theology should be. This is something that is so easy for us to take for granted, but it is really a big deal. What an amazing blessing to be able to do this freely. To be able to talk about our faith without, at least without the fear that normally comes when we talk about our faith.

Most of us will never ever have to see a battle field in our lives. That is because so many brave men and women put on a uniform and go and fight so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have in our lives. As you get ready to celebrate the 4th this weekend, be sure to thank God for those who serve in our armed forces. Ask him to guide them and protect them. Ask him to send them chaplains to care for them and to share the gospel with them.

We enjoy some amazing freedoms. Thanks be to God. May this 4th be a joyous and blessed celebration for you.

Sincerely,
Pastor CJ

At Just the Right Moment

Timing is important. Timing is everything. Or something like that. We live in a world where timing is very important. Or at least it can be sometimes. Do you have a planner? A pocket calendar? PDA? Do you have a calendar on you, or within arm's reach at all times? Do you have multiple calendars that you try to juggle? Why? Probably because timing is so very important. There are many things going on, and we want to be able to have time for everything and so we endure the burden of the calendar because it allows us to do this.

Timing is important. Timing is everything. A Pastor who loved golf decided that one summer Sunday he would skip church to get in a game. He made all the arrangements necessary for him to leave, but was too embarrassed for the congregation to know why he wasn't there. He even set up a tee time at a course that was over a hundred miles away, just so that he wouldn't accidently run into anyone. The fateful Sunday morning comes and he gets up really early and heads out for the course. He gets there and has the best game of his life. And then, as if things were not already interesting enough, on the ninth hole, just after he hits the most beautiful drive he has ever hit, God sends a wind that carries the ball right to the green, where it bounces three times and rolls in. An angel is watching all of this and looks over at God and says, "God, what did you do that for? This guy skipped out on Sunday morning to play golf and you help him to get a hole in one? Of all people, he should know better. Aren't you just encouraging this kind of behavior?" God looks at the angel, smiles and says, "Think about it. Who can he tell?"

Timing is important. Timing is everything. This is something that you know well. We experience this kind of thing quite frequently in our lives. No part of our life is immune from it. You look at your family budget, the money comes in just before the bill is due. It's almost too close for comfort. But timing is everything. You form a call committee to call a new pastor. Timing is everything. You go to get a Michigan Driver's license because you are moving here from out of state, well that's not timing that is just plain complicated. But timing is everything.

Of course the issue with timing is that it can be difficult to tell if we have control of the timing or if the timing of things has control of us. If we are not careful our lives can be so caught up in moving from one moment to the next that we lose sight of what is really important. We forget about what really matters. Or even worse we fall into the trap of thinking that we are in control and that we can handle things on our own. And even if we don't actually say this, I think that more often than not, we can catch ourselves living as if this were the case.

When this happens we want God to move and act according to our will and in our timing. We want God to do things our way and along with our desires. Our prayer is no longer "Thine will be done." Instead it is "My will be done." This is the kind of situation that was facing the members of the churches in Galatia. This city was in modern day Turkey, and there were primarily two types of Christians. There were those who were from a Jewish background, the Jewish Believers and those who were not from a Jewish background, the Gentile believers.

This is actually quite a significant and important thing. Because Jews and Gentiles, do not have a history of getting along very well. And yet, the gospel in all its beauty and power unities both Jew and Gentile and together they are members of the body of Christ that is the church. So these two groups come together and of course a debate arises between them.

Those who are of the Jewish descent say that the those who come from the Gentile background need to actually adhere to the laws, signs and customs of the Jews, including circumcision. And the Gentiles say, "I don't think so." And suddenly there is this tension and debate among the churches in Galatia. Both sides are logical. Both sides make sense. The only problem is that one side is missing the point of the power and freedom that is ours because of and for the sake of Jesus.

Now this debate was not unique to Galatia. It pretty much arose wherever Jews and Gentiles came together. It is with this scene in mind that Paul is writing his letter that is our text for today. In the chapters preceding our lesson Paul makes the case that we are not justified, not made right with God, through our ability to keep and follow the law, but rather through faith in Jesus. It is in Jesus that we are forgiven of ours sins, restored to God and made right in his eyes. This is not something that we do on our own, or have because we have somehow earned it. But it is something that we have because our God is gracious, loving, merciful and forgiving.

And so in the midst of this great debate between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, Paul talks about God's timing. He paints a few pictures in order to illustrate how the law works and relates in the lives of God's people. After all the Jewish Christians have some pretty compelling arguments on their side of the debate.

He begins by describing the law as a Guardian. Just as a minor in Paul's day would need someone to watch out for them until they reached the age of maturity and adult hood, so the law is Guardian, until that right moment when Christ came.

Jesus comes at just the right moment, in the fullness of time God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption. And so we live as God's own dearly loved sons and daughters. Not as slaves but instead as heirs. In Paul's day an adopted son had all the legal rights and privileges as a first born son. And in Jesus we have this same adoption.

It is really cool if you think about it. Here is a debate among Christians, and they are arguing based on the merits of their actions in their relationship with God. And Paul says, "No. It's not about us. It is not about what we do at all. Actually it is about Jesus and what he has done for us. It is for his sake that we are righteous. It is because of him that we are made right with God. But it is certainly not because of us."

And this message and these words are just as much for us today, as they were for the Galatians all those many years ago. As we consider this and what it means, we begin to realize that timing may in fact not be everything. Actually the more we focus on and get caught up in things like timing, the more we find ourselves being frustrated. What is everything is God's timing. And the incredible and awesome ways that God works in our lives.

At just the right time, at just the right moment, when the fullness of time had come, God. When we are talking about timing that is the most important thing to remember. God. The timing is his. When the fullness of time had come, God acted. He acted in the greatest most awesome of acts, in that he sent his son, who became a human being, he became one of us. In order that you and I would be redeemed, and so that we would be adopted. This means that we live confidently in relationship with our God. Not as servants and slaves but as heirs as his dearly loved sons and daughters.

Living life in this relationship means that we can trust in God and in his acting at just the right moment. Of course sometimes it can be tough waiting for that right moment, waiting for that fullness of time can be quite difficult at times. Bills need to be paid, homes need to be sold, the right person needs to be found, the right solution to the issue that we are facing has to be found. A cure needs to be discovered. But in the midst of all of this. Our God is faithful. He is faithful. On the cross he forever defeated the powers of sin, death and the devil. He promised to always be with us. He gives us everything we need to support our bodies and lives, therefore we know peace and joy and hope. We know that at just the right moment, when the fullness of time comes, God… God will act and it will be awesome.

Because we are heirs, because we have been adopted by God through baptism, we received the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, and by that Spirit we cry out Abba, Father. Not too shabby of a verse for Father's day. Although that is kind of a coincidence. But it is the reality of a relationship that we can live in every day of our lives. We don't just worship and talk to God because we want to be on his good side. But we call out to him as dearly loved children, confident that he will hear us and act. And he will, at just the right moment. When the fullness of time comes…God.

It was a sense of timing that I felt when I came to visit with you. It was something that I believe the Spirit worked through in bringing us together. At just the right moment, in the fullness of time…God. And now that we are together, we begin life and ministry together. I am excited to see what God will do in our lives, and through us as we work together to make his love and grace and mercy in Jesus known to the people around us. No matter what we face, no matter how big the challenges, we have a God who is faithful and will never give up on us, and so we can be confident that he will always act at just the right moment. And so we give thanks and celebrate.

May God bless our ministry together, and may we grow closer to one another and to him as we live life in relationship with him as his own dearly loved daughters and sons. Now and always. Amen.

Update Number 2

I can't believe how fast everything is going, and yet, at the same time, it feels like things are moving in slow motion. This is probably because we aren't able to get done the things that we want to get done in the time that we want them to get done. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is just a little bit odd. Kind of one of those things you pick up on.

The people at Faith are awesome. They have welcomed us with open arms and have gone above and beyond in taking care of us. The installation was absolutely beautiful and my first two days in the office have gone very well. Even had the first elders meeting last night, and I am excited by the potential that I see there.

The older two kiddos will attend VBS next week, and they are looking forward to that. The house is slowly getting organized and it is all good. We are happy to be here and are excited about what God is doing. Blessings to you all.

Sincerely,

Pastor CJ

Update Number 1

The next couple of weeks will be a little bit odd for us as we are transitioning from Centennial, CO to Port Huron, MI. So I thought I would post a couple of updates to let you know how things are going and where we are at. After next week's post we will get back to some more regular type of posts.

Today we bought our house in Port Huron. Holy cow. It is such a nice house. We are really happy with it, and are excited to get all of our stuff moved into it. Who knows how long that will take though. The truck had three other stops in Chicago. So it should be here at the end of the week.

So for now we are waiting. It is interesting to go through such an experience that causes one to realize how dependent we are on our stuff. It is not that having stuff is bad. It is just interesting to realize how attached we get to it. Being without it for a few days is a good opportunity to re-evaluate our priorities.

Installation is Sunday, and I am looking forward to that. It is all very exciting kind of stuff. We are very grateful for this time and all that we see God doing in it. Thanks for all your love, and prayers and support.

Blessings,
Pastor CJ

A God of Relationships

I thought that I would try something new with the old blog. Let me know what you think. Blessings.

 

Pastor CJ

Trinity Sunday Romans 5:1-5

My grandma is one of the neatest ladies I have ever met. As I have grown up she has been a pillar of strength for me. She modeled for me what it is to live life as a child of God. She walked with me through some of the most difficult times of my life. I love my grandma more than words could ever express. I would not be who I am today if it were not for my grandma. But when I was a freshmen in high school she would torture me. It was mean. It was cruel. It was motivational.

She would come downstairs to my room early in the morning. It would be 6:30 or 7:00. You know really, really early. And she would come down and say, "CJ it is time to get up for school." And then the torture would come. She would say, "Enthusiasm." Just like that. It was awful. It wasn't what I wanted to hear that early in the morning. And to make things worse she would say "Enthusiasm" with enthusiasm. If you ever want to torture a high school student, I believe that this would be the perfect way to do it.

    If you are grumpy, or in a bad mood, when things are out of sorts and you kind of have the blues, the last thing you ever want to do is to hear someone be happy and cheery. After all, the phrase is "misery loves company," not "misery loves being around someone who is happy." I don't know about you, but sometimes things just seem bad and out of sorts. Sometimes things happen and go on in life that leave you feeling…well it just leaves you in a bad mood. Sometimes those things are really truly actually bad, and you aren't just in a bad mood, you actually find yourself in wrestling match with depression.

    You are waiting for the test results to come back. You keep playing in your mind over and over all the different possibilities. Waiting and not knowing is just awful. You fill out application after application. You send resume after resume. And nothing. Waiting is just awful. You don't want to go to school, but you know you have to. The other kids are so mean. No one seems to understand and you just wait for summer. Waiting is just awful.

    It seems to me that when we find ourselves in these kinds of situations or any situation in life that leaves us feeling down and out, it seems to me that it is in those moments that we most need to hear the words in our text from Romans 5. Of course the problem is, that in those moments, these words can be like grandma's "enthusiasm" torture. They can be words that we don't exactly want to hear.

We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Boasting in sufferings? Endurance producing character? Right. You know the saying, that Patience is a virtue? Well, I say if I wanted patience, I would have been a doctor. Of course the reality is that Paul's words here are not just another form of enthusiastic torture. But they are words that remind us, point us to, show us that there is always hope; especially when we find ourselves in those dark places in life.

What is great about these verses is that they do not tell us to wipe that frown off your face, stand up. Everything will be just fine. Instead they acknowledge our sufferings. When you are suffering it is no fun. But in the midst of that know, that the suffering is not the end. With our God, there is always a next chapter. And in fact, because of the way that God is present in our lives, and because of the relationship that we have with him.

We are able to boast in our sufferings. So while God, may not take away our sufferings when and how we would like him to, he does turn those sufferings around so that we come out better off than we were before. Going through it, being in the midst of it is certainly not pleasant. But the great thing is, that we never face it on our own.

Our God is a god of relationships. You know, in the ancient world the relationships that the people would have with the gods they served were not very pleasant. That was the kind of relationship where the people were worshipers in hopes that their worship and offerings would keep the deity from becoming angry and punishing them. But that is not how our God lives with us.

There is for us love. In fact so much love that we can't even fully comprehend it. Our God loved you and me so much that he sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins, to restore us to God, to forever defeat the powers of sin and death and the devil. Thus we are able to live in a relationship with our God that isn't about fending off his wrath. I better go to church or else… I better give my offering or else… I better volunteer for this that and the other thing or else… No we live life in the kind of relationship with our God that a dear daughter or son has with their dear father.

Our God is a god who lives in relationship. That is what the celebration of the Trinity is about. One God, three persons. The intricacies of it are difficult for us to fully wrap our minds around. That is why it is a mystery. But the implications of it, are awesome. We can talk about relationships. The relationships that the three persons of the Trinity have among themselves Unbegotten (Father), Begotten (Son), Proceeding (Holy Spirit). And the relationships that the persons of the Trinity have with us Creator (Father), Redeemer (Son), Sanctifier (Holy Spirit).

Three persons one God. Living in perfect harmony. One is not better than the other. It is truly a mystery to behold. As we consider this relationship that exists among the three persons, one God, Their life together, is a model for the church. We should live our lives together in such a way where love, respect, and honor is seen in the ways that we treat, love and interact with one another.

Our sinful natures like to tell us that some people are better than others. So we will elevate some in our midst, whether that be someone who is really smart, someone who is in a position of leadership, or even someone who is on a church staff. And yet not one person in the body of Christ is more important or better than any other. Ever single member is a person that Jesus died for. He didn't die for me more than he died for you, although I probably need the forgiveness more. The difference is simply one of gifts and position.

Ministry is a team effort. There are no all stars. As I reflect on everything that I have done at Our Father, it is important to point out that I didn't do anything on my own. There was always someone else, and often some one elses who were there working right alongside of me, and making it happen. I may have been up front, but I could not have done what I did without all of those someone elses working with me.

The distinctions that we like to make among ourselves as human beings, are taken away and removed in Jesus. We have been justified by Jesus. Not some more than others. Therefore we have peace with our God. Each and every one of us have this peace. So we give thanks together. We give thanks to our God for each other and we celebrate the ways that God has worked in our lives. And we look forward to what our God will continue to do in our lives.

That is the awesome thing about our God. There is always a next. There is no end. But there is always a next chapter. A new beginning. So while we may be experiencing suffering, or endurance or character or hope, God uses those things in the next chapter that we find ourselves in. Even death is only the ending of a chapter for our God, because there is always the glorious hope of life eternal.

As we consider who our God is, and what he does for us and in our midst, and how he works for us and in our midst, it is something that can leave us with a sense of awe and gratitude. What an amazing God we serve. What an amazing God loves us and lives life with us. What a cool thing to always be able to have a next. It is almost enough to make me want to have some enthusiasm.

I give thanks for you. I thank God for you. Amen.