Be a STONE, not a Brick (Sermon Leftovers from Genesis 11)

Genesis 11:3 says that the people of Babel built with bricks instead of stones. While this is not the main point (or perhaps even an important point), the contrast between bricks and stones is interesting.

Bricks are man-made, while stones were made by God.

Every one of us has a God-given purpose in life. When we pursue that purpose, we discover life as it was meant to be. When we choose to chase after our own purposes and desires, we eventually discover that they leave us empty and unfulfilled.

Bricks are not unique.

Every brick looks exactly the same because they are mass-produced. Stones are all unique, no two stones are ever the same. God did not create you so that you could look like everyone else. His desire for you is not that you be "one of the crowd" or that you be a nameless face in the crowd. Don't compromise so that you will fit in. Be the person God created you to be, even if (especially if) that makes you stand out.

Bricks are replaceable.

If a brick is damaged or unusable, it can easily be discarded and replaced by another. A brick-shaped hole is easily filled. Stones cannot be replaced because every stone leaves a different-shaped hole. It is a hole that no other stone can fill. If you do not play the role God created you to play, no one else can take your place. He created you and gave you gifts so that you could accomplish the specific task he has for you.

1 Peter 2:5 says, "you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

God is building His kingdom, one living stone at a time. He is not looking for those who are conformed and look exactly like everyone else. He wants those who have been transformed by His Spirit, who have embraced the uniqueness He created, and who are ready and willing to use their gifts in His service.

10 Sermon Leftovers from Genesis 6. No Nephilim Though.

On Sunday, I preached from Genesis 6. Although this passage is famous because of its reference to the NEPHILIM, I am not mentioning them here. They aren't really the point, so I won't really use up the bandwidth.

Some Christian beliefs do not make sense to the world. The resurrection is our central truth.

Everything that looks good is not good for you.

You do not need to take everything you want.

Satan's plan is always to counterfeit and corrupt God's good creation.

God's people are to live in the world but look different from the world so that they can influence the world for good.

God's people are to influence the world, but not to partner with the world.

Everyone wants to live in a world where evil is judged justly.

God's judgment of evil is also usually the preservation of His plan and protection for His people.

If the focus of your life is the evil of the world, you will either wallow in despair or well up with pride.

If the focus of your life is the goodness of God, you will experience the peace, contentment, and joy He offers.

5 Daily Habits to Help You Follow Jesus

Yesterday at The Gathering, I talked about "Following Jesus." At the end of our time, I told you that deciding to follow Him is one of the most important decisions you can ever make. This email is a short follow-up from that message.

Below are five practical things you can do every day to help you follow Jesus. Just as you have daily habits which sustain your physical life (breathing, eating, moving, etc.), these are spiritual habits which will sustain your relationship with Jesus. Please take a moment and consider whether or not these five simple activities might make a difference in your life this week (and beyond).

FIVE DAILY HABITS TO HELP YOU FOLLOW JESUS

1. Get Inspired
2. Give Something Away
3. Connect With Other Christians
4. Make an Eternal impact
5. Celebrate God's Gifts

Get Inspired

Spending a few minutes reading God's Word is the best possible way to start your day. Whether you take 10 minutes or a full hour, time in God's Word empowers you to know Jesus and follow more closely. If you aren't sure how to start, try using the SOAP method to study your Bible (choose any book of the Bible to start. John and James are good one. So is Mark!):

Set aside time every day to study the Bible. As you become more proficient, you may want to set aside more time. Don’t overload yourself in the beginning. Keep a “SOAP” journal because there will be an opportunity to write your thoughts everyday (you can use a word processor, journalling app or the Bible App from YouVersion).

S – SCRIPTURE: Read your chosen scripture passage aloud so you can hear it. Begin by writing every word of the scripture in your journal. Both reading it aloud and writing it will help put the scripture in your mind and heart.

O – OBSERVATION: Ask yourself the question, “What does this passage teach about God's character?” As you ask yourself the question, your mind will be full of thoughts. Write those thoughts down. Try not to focus on yourself right now, keep your mind on what you can learn about your God and Jesus.

A – APPLICATION: Ask yourself the question, “How does this scripture apply to my life?” Look for promises to claim, attitudes to change, challenges to accept, sins to confess, commands to obey, actions to take, examples to follow, or skills to learn. Write in your journal how the scripture applies to you and to your life situations.

P – PRAYER: Write a prayer to God. Depending on what you have observed, your prayer might be one of praise and thanksgiving or a prayer asking God to help you apply the teaching to your life. You might feel compelled to write a prayer of confession. This is your prayer to God. The discipline of writing your prayer is important piece of connecting with God.

Give Something Away

Following Jesus means giving like He gave. He gave His entire life away for us. When we give things away, we are loving like Jesus did.

Try to give one thing away every day. It may be a small thing or a large thing. It may not cost you much or it may cost you little. Whether you are giving away possessions, money, time or attention; developing generosity is an important step on the road to Christ-likeness.

Connect With Other Christians

Jesus called 12 apostles to follow Him so that after He left they would still have one another. The Bible says much about how we can help one another to grow closer to Jesus. We are to encourage one another, bear one another's burdens, pray for one another, teach one another and more.

Find a way to connect with at least one other Christian at least once every day. You might sent each other emails with Bible verses or encouraging text messages. You might grab coffee together with 2 or 3 others or you might spend a few minutes on the phone. At least once a week, try to connect with a larger group (like a LIFEgroup) for prayer, discussion and encouragement.

As Hebrews says, "Don't neglect assembling together..."

Make an Eternal Impact

I mentioned on Sunday that Jesus' followers always talk about Him. You can make an eternal impact on those around you by pointing them to God. Every conversation you have doesn't need to be a religious debate, but as you get to know people they should see your love for Jesus through the conversations you have.

Try, at least once a day, to say something to someone about your faith. You can tell them how God has blessed you, you can tell them about a verse you read, you can tell them about a neat experience you had at church, you can talk about something you heard in the sermon or you can tell them about your favorite worship song. Somehow, find a way to talk about Jesus every day.

Celebrate God's Gifts

Don't go to bed without saying "thank you." As you lay down at night, spend a few moments to be grateful to God for all He's done for you. Before you sleep, consider how God's hand was providing for you and protecting you all day long.

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Stephen Covey said, "We make our habits and then our habits make us." Commit yourself to these daily habits and you will be surprised how they change your outlook and your life. Following Jesus makes all things new because when we follow Him, He changes us from the inside out.

Get inspired with this 60 day Bible Study Journal

Grateful People Have Selective Memories

PHILIPPIANS 1:3
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

Paul's time in Philippi wasn't exactly a vacation at the beach or a walk in the park. You can read all the details in Acts 16, but among other things, he had to deal with a heckler, he and his friends got beaten up, and he was even thrown in jail.

Yet, in Philippians 1:3, Paul wrote that he was thankful every time he remembered the people who lived in Philippi. Was he thankful for all the bad times? (not that he shouldn't be as God helps us grown in difficult circumstances) Actually, verses 4-5 clue us in as to why he was grateful.

PHILIPPIANS 1:4-5
always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Paul was grateful for the good times. He had warm memories of partnering with the Philippians to see the Gospel spread throughout their time. He was thankful for the support they had given as He proclaimed the truth.

GRATEFUL PEOPLE HAVE SELECTIVE MEMORIES.

You can choose which memories you dwell on. Only you can decide which story from the past you will play on repeat in your mind. If you choose to focus on the worst of times and the worst of people, you'll be depressed, bitter, and tough to live with.

If you choose to focus on the blessings and the blessed people, you'll be grateful, hopeful, and a joy to be around.

What will you put on your memory playlist today?

This $5 journal will change your life!

My Drawer Runneth Over

I like t-shirts. I especially like shirts with logos of my favorite sports teams. I also have a problem getting rid of old t-shirts. Earlier this week, I put on a shirt that I calculated to be at least 10 years old. As a result of my inability to let go, my shirt drawer is overflowing with Spartan, Tiger, Red Wing, Lions, Liverpool, Warrior, Trojan, and Bruin shirts.

Let me be clear. My drawer is not overflowing because of any one shirt. It is overflowing because I have SO MANY shirts.

Ephesians 5:20 says, "giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"

The keywords here are "everything" and "always".

Colossians 2:7 is a parallel passage. Here Paul is encouraging a group of Christians to live consistently with their roots in Jesus' example and teaching. This is accomplished, according to Paul, by "overflowing with thankfulness." Saying, "thank you" every so often is nice, but a quick prayer of thanksgiving once a day is hardly "overflowing."

Causing anything to overflow requires filling it with more than it can handle. If you want to overflow with thanksgiving, you must FILL your life with more gratitude than you can handle. This means being thankful even when you don't feel like it.

• Begin your day by giving thanks (you can start by thanking God that He woke you up). 
• At various points throughout the day (meals), give thanks. 
• At the conclusion of your day, give thanks. 
• When things go well, give thanks. 
• When others treat you with kindness, give thanks. 
• When things go poorly, give thanks that they aren't worse. 
• When others treat you with malice, give thanks that you are being treated like Jesus was. 

You can always find something for which to be grateful. The more you thank God, the more you'll be rooted in His Son.

Use the 10 Commandments as a Template for Gratitude

Gratitude is a powerful tool for fighting anxiety, fear, and selfishness. It also promotes contentment, generosity, peace, and trust. I am always looking for new methods to develop more gratitude in my life. Here is an idea I have to use the 10 commandments as a jumping-off point for gratitude. Consider praying through these commands and using each one to express thanksgiving to God.

1. Have no other gods before Me.

Thank you for being all-powerful, all-present, always in control, and still caring about me.

2. Make no false idols.

Thank you for being everything I need so that I never need to look elsewhere for provision.

3. Do not take the name of the LORD in vain.

Thank you for the privilege of calling on your name through prayer. Thank you for hearing my prayers.

4. Remember the Sabbath.

Thank you for all of creation and for building healthy rhythms into creation as an example for how to live my life.

5. Honor your father and mother.

Thank you for my family and for the people in my life who are like family to me.

6. You shall not kill.

Thank you for life and all you do to sustain me.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

Thank you for relationships and for love and for the gift of marriage. Thank you for your faithfulness to me.

8. You shall not steal.

Thank you for entrusting me with so many gifts. Thank you for giving me far more than I ever needed.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Thank you for truth. Thank you that Jesus is the truth and the life. Thank you for you Word which is truth for life.

10. You shall not covet.

Thank you for providing all my needs. Thank you for your promise to always give me everything I need.

13 Leftovers From A Sermon on Gratitude

And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
(LUKE 1:46-49)

13 THOUGHTS ON GRATITUDE

1. Gratitude is the result of who you are, not what happens to you.

2. Gratitude is an internal commitment to not be controlled by external circumstances.

3. What happens TO me can never change what has been done FOR me.

4. Gratitude focuses on God's provision instead of my problems.

5. We all have problems, and it is good to tell God about our problems, but they should never be our primary focus.

6. God's provisions far outnumber your problems.

7. Gratitude grows from past deliverance not present darkness.

8. Mercy is only needed by those who have made mistakes.

9. Mercy is something we don't always see, even though it is there.

We don't always like to give it, even though we should.
We rarely think we need it, even though we all do.

10. God is rich in mercy: He has more to give than you have mistakes to make.

11. Grow your gratitude by praying for a positive perspective.

12. Become more grateful by setting aside time to practice gratitude.

13. Multiply your gratitude by sharing it with others.

5 steps our church is taking to prepare for our restart

This may or may not be helpful. For those who are interested, here are five things we've done to prepare our church to restart. These aren't inspired and they may or may not work. We'll know soon!

1) We started using the word "restart" very early. The week after Easter, "restart" became an important element of our leaders' shared vocabulary. We wanted to hit the ground running when the time came.

2) We talked about "change" and "growth" as critical pieces of our restart. From the very beginning, we discussed this "stay-at-home" time as a sort of sabbath. We asked people to spend time considering three questions:

- What have you learned about what is really important in life?
- What would you like to change about your life's rhythm when you restart?
- How are you going to do that?

3) Once we set a target date, we repeatedly used four words to communicate the important details of the plan:

- MAY 31
- RESERVATIONS
- MASKS
- FLEXIBILITY

4) We claimed Philippians 2:3 as our key verse during the restart. In particular, we focused on the last four words of the NIV's rendering, "value others above yourselves." This is becoming more and more important as this issue becomes unnecessarily politicized.

5) We have over-communicated. I normally send one email per week to the church. In the weeks leading up to the restart, I am sending at least three per week. Additionally, we have been very intentional with our Facebook strategy during the two weeks prior to our restart.

If these thoughts are beneficial for you than I am happy. Perhaps they will inspire even better ideas for your restart. If I've been of no help, I apologize for wasting your times. Unfortunately, I don't offer refunds.

10 Inspirational Verses To Launch Your Day

Whatever your day may hold, you can boldly charge forward knowing that you may not be able to control everything, but you know Who can.

Read these verses aloud to yourself. Choose one and carry it with you today. At the very least, let these verses inspire to action.

Isaiah 40:31
But those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Psalm 31:24
Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.

Romans 8:31
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Psalm 37:23-24
The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

4 Bible Passages That Speak To The Coronavirus Debates

I'm not settled. But here are some of the Bible passages I'm chewing on as I consider my position on the myriad of issues surrounding COVID19 and my response as a Christian and a pastor.

The Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.

All the people of earth were unified in their pursuit of a common goal. Driven by scientific and technological advancements, they planned to make a name for themself. At the core of their efforts was their assertion that they could solve anything on their own. They no longer needed God. Is COVID19 reminding us that even if we all unite, we are still not omnipotent and we are still vulnerable?

The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25.

Everything God gives us is to be used for His kingdom and His agenda. Are we, as God's stewards, rising up the challenge of COVID19 and using this opportunity to double our kingdom influence? Or, are we in fear hiding the talent we have been given?

Jesus Calms The Storm in Mark 4.

My favorite piece of this story is that Jesus knowingly brought the disciples into the storm specifically so that they could see Him bring them through the storm. No storm (or virus) is beyond His control. "Peace, be still" is all He needs to say. He has brought us into this storm. He will bring us through it.

Paul Asserting His Rights As A Citizen in Acts 16 & 22.

On two different occasions, Paul used his status as a Roman citizen to more efficiently accomplish his mission. On one occasion, he avoided further imprisonment and on the other occasion, he utilized an appeal process to get to Rome. Certainly these passages are primarily descriptive, however, should we consider whether or not they speak to how we use the privilege of American citizenship? Is it ever okay for an American Christian to assert their constitutional rights (when they are being impinged)?

7 Verses To Help You Taste Your Words Before You Spit Them Out

Words are small but mighty. Your words can be a gift or a grenade. They can encourage or they can explode. With your words you can inspire your neighbor or you can crush your friend. With your words, you can bring calm to a storm or you can escalate a conflict.

If you are working on "holding your tongue" more often, create a hard copy of these verses and keep them with you. Read through this list 3-5 times every day and remind yourself that you want to taste your words before you spit them out!

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
‭‭James‬ ‭1:19

If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.
Proverbs 29:9

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭21:23‬

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.
Proverbs 29:11

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17:27

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17:28‬

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29:20‬