For this post I want to share a link with you to four sermons I just completed that are from Exodus 20 that I pray will be a blessing to you.
Here is the link
or you can view the sermons:
04-02-2016 Chad Stuart: Remember: Part 1 from Spencerville Church on Vimeo.
04-09-2016 Chad Stuart: Remember: Part 2 from Spencerville Church on Vimeo.
04-16-2016 Chad Stuart: Remember: Part 3 from Spencerville Church on Vimeo.
04-23-2016 Chad Stuart: Remember: Part 4 from Spencerville Church on Vimeo.
So I recently sent out a survey to our church family and one of the questions on there was, “I will invite at least one person to church in the next 12 months.” 23.4% of the respondents said, “NO.” This survey is completely anonymous so I have no idea who those 23% are, and some of them may have very legitimate reasons for saying, “No,” I personally can’t think of any, but some may…I guess if they’re homebound that would make sense for them to say “no” but much beyond that I don’t understand…
But there are some who reason simply, “It is not my responsibility” or “I just don’t care enough to.”
I read something in today’s reading that those folk who said, “No” may want to hear,
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” -2 Corinthians 5:20
Who are the “We”? The church members, that is whom Paul is writing to. The last line is interesting…in order to be ambassadors, true ambassadors we must be “reconciled to God.” And then verse 21 tells us how…
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,” -2 Corinthians 5:21a
For what purpose?
“so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” -2 Corinthians 5:21b
“the righteousness of God” i.e. ambassadors.
Christ became sin for us not so we could sit in church and never reach out to anyone…
But so we could be ambassadors.
Saying “No” could be very close to saying “No” to being God’s ambassador…
And I’m not saved by being an ambassador…but if I am truly saved, then I will be an ambassador…
Something to think about if my “no” is because I just don’t care to or I somehow think being an ambassador is not my responsibility.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Exodus 17-20
Mark 13 hit me with some insights I had never thought of before…
In verse 5 the very first thing Jesus says about the eschaton is,
“And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.”
This should immediately alert us to the importance of understanding what will happen in the last days of earth’s history. Before Jesus gives us any signs of recognizing the end, He informs us through this statement that there will WRONG ideas/interpretations about the end of times.
What should we be doing or supporting in the last days?
“The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” -Mark 13:10
The preaching of the gospel…the good news of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, intercession in the heavenly sanctuary, and second coming.
It seems as the world becomes more and more wicked there is more and move emphasis by the church on “fitting-in” with the world, but Jesus said,
“You will be hated by all because of My name…” -Mark 13:13a
We should not seek enemies, but we should not be surprised by them either. And as I read scripture there are only two reasons why people hated believers in the Bible, they were arrogant (see Israel at points, Pharisees) or they were different. I don’t believe in this statement Jesus is speaking of hatred due to arrogance, do you? So it must be because we are different. This does not mean weird, it means different. How we speak, what we enjoy, how we act, how we spend our money, how we use our time, how we smile 🙂
“But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.” -Mark 13:23
Everything, to the extent that all we need to know in order to endure and recognize the eschaton, Jesus has provided in His scriptures. This would mean there will come a day, not one of us can say, “How was I supposed to know?”
“What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’” -Mark 13:37
BE ON ALERT–I’ve known many that have said, “We’ve been warning people forever and still Jesus hasn’t come. We need to tone down the second coming talk. We need to tone down the evangelism and the stories of the end times.”
Not by Jesus’ standard. “I say to ALL” that means not one person in any generation should miss this message…BE ON ALERT!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 2 Corinthians 4 & 5
Two points I wrote down in response to today’s reading.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Mark 13 & 14
One story that really touched me and I saw a preview of Jesus’ gospel parable of the workers found in Matthew 20 in the leadership of David.
“When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.” 23 Then David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us. 24 And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.” 25 So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.” -1 Samuel 30:21-25
It is clear whose side inspiration stands on in this story, “all the wicked and worthless men”…it was the wicked and worthless that did not want to share. I love what David points out so clearly in verse 23…the Lord gave you the victory and the blessings, you have no right to be possessive of these blessings or these rewards and think you get to decide who gets what.
It is a temptation for people serving in ministry to become possessive of their ministries and of receiving “credit.” I have also seen churches hesitant to share the leadership, the authority with “new” people because they haven’t put in the time/money/stress. When we find ourselves leaning this way let us remember whom inspiration states responds in such a manner to God’s blessings, “all the wicked and worthless.”
“Wait” you may say, “What happened to day’s 108-116?” We will do those, but it was pointed out to me that there are people that are caught-up with their reading and that God has been using this blog as I a blessing but in more ways than just information, but also as an accountability tool. With me falling behind it has been easier for them to miss a day or two knowing I’m not going to be there for a while. My goal is to have people in their Bibles every day, by myself falling behind I am in a way giving folk an excuse not to read or rather the devil could use my absence as an excuse not to read…so if I can be a help in your journey or as you build this daily habit then I desire to do so. I think for me also personally it will be good to go to where I am supposed to be and on the days I have time I will fill in those 9 days I’m behind with a second blog on that day. So today we are supposed to be in Job 33 & 34 and so that is what I am going to write on now. I thank you for your understanding.
And of course right when we are trying to catch-up we are in Job 🙂
“However now, Job, please hear my speech,
And listen to all my words.
2 “Behold now, I open my mouth,
My tongue in my mouth speaks.
3 “My words are from the uprightness of my heart,
And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.
4 “The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 “Refute me if you can;
Array yourselves before me, take your stand.
6 “Behold, I belong to God like you;
I too have been formed out of the clay.
7 “Behold, no fear of me should terrify you,
Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.” -Job 33:1-7
This opening salvo by Elihu reminds me of many a conversation I’ve had with Christians. There is a presumption sometimes under those of us that call ourselves followers of Jesus, that just because we are His followers and just because we are speaking of Christian things then we are speaking with all knowledge and understanding. Elihu here makes that claim, “Listen to all my words…My words are from the uprightness of my heart.” But the problem is he still speaks in error. In the next chapter he chastises Job asking who is he to question to God and accuse Him of not punishing in fairness, here Elihu speaks a partial truth. This is a good question. Who are we that we should question the will and the acts of God? Praise Him He allows us to question, but we should be cautious that our questioning does not move to accusing and accusing to doubt. Anyway Elihu is correct in that assessment, but then he is in error in that He again asserts that God is punishing because Job “deserves” it,
“Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men,
30 To bring back his soul from the pit,
That he may be enlightened with the light of life.” -Job 34:29, 30
I personally don’t in fact disagree with this, that God allows things to happen in our lives at times to allow us to go through a “crisis” and see our need for Him. But Elihu applying this to all situations is a partial truth mixed with error. He is both correct and incorrect.
And it is why we as Christians should be very cautious of applying universal observations to all situations?
Job was not in fact going through this because of His need to return to God, but rather God was allowing it for a lesson to all generations on some cosmic scale to illustrate in live action the Great Controversy that exists between good and evil.
Sometimes we may look at a situation and say, “________ is happening because this person did _______” Do we really know? Elihu spoke as if he knew without a doubt…but he should have doubted because he was wrong.
Let us as Christians be cautious in speaking in black and white when there may be some gray not because God is gray, but because our minds our finite and we cannot fully see the solid shades just yet.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 22-26
“Wait” you may say, “What happened to day’s 108-116?” We will do those, but it was pointed out to me that there are people that are caught-up with their reading and that God has been using this blog as I a blessing but in more ways than just information, but also as an accountability tool. With me falling behind it has been easier for them to miss a day or two knowing I’m not going to be there for a while. My goal is to have people in their Bibles every day, by myself falling behind I am in a way giving folk an excuse not to read or rather the devil could use my absence as an excuse not to read…so if I can be a help in your journey or as you build this daily habit then I desire to do so. I think for me also personally it will be good to go to where I am supposed to be and on the days I have time I will fill in those 9 days I’m behind with a second blog on that day. So today we are supposed to be in Job 33 & 34 and so that is what I am going to write on now. I thank you for your understanding.
And of course right when we are trying to catch-up we are in Job 🙂
“However now, Job, please hear my speech,
And listen to all my words.
2 “Behold now, I open my mouth,
My tongue in my mouth speaks.
3 “My words are from the uprightness of my heart,
And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.
4 “The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 “Refute me if you can;
Array yourselves before me, take your stand.
6 “Behold, I belong to God like you;
I too have been formed out of the clay.
7 “Behold, no fear of me should terrify you,
Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.” -Job 33:1-7
This opening salvo by Elihu reminds me of many a conversation I’ve had with Christians. There is a presumption sometimes under those of us that call ourselves followers of Jesus, that just because we are His followers and just because we are speaking of Christian things then we are speaking with all knowledge and understanding. Elihu here makes that claim, “Listen to all my words…My words are from the uprightness of my heart.” But the problem is he still speaks in error. In the next chapter he chastises Job asking who is he to question to God and accuse Him of not punishing in fairness, here Elihu speaks a partial truth. This is a good question. Who are we that we should question the will and the acts of God? Praise Him He allows us to question, but we should be cautious that our questioning does not move to accusing and accusing to doubt. Anyway Elihu is correct in that assessment, but then he is in error in that He again asserts that God is punishing because Job “deserves” it,
“Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men,
30 To bring back his soul from the pit,
That he may be enlightened with the light of life.” -Job 34:29, 30
I personally don’t in fact disagree with this, that God allows things to happen in our lives at times to allow us to go through a “crisis” and see our need for Him. But Elihu applying this to all situations is a partial truth mixed with error. He is both correct and incorrect.
And it is why we as Christians should be very cautious of applying universal observations to all situations?
Job was not in fact going through this because of His need to return to God, but rather God was allowing it for a lesson to all generations on some cosmic scale to illustrate in live action the Great Controversy that exists between good and evil.
Sometimes we may look at a situation and say, “________ is happening because this person did _______” Do we really know? Elihu spoke as if he knew without a doubt…but he should have doubted because he was wrong.
Let us as Christians be cautious in speaking in black and white when there may be some gray not because God is gray, but because our minds our finite and we cannot fully see the solid shades just yet.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 22-26
I want to share with you the text that really hit me as a pastor as a leader today in this study.
The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Furthermore, the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.” -Exodus 11:3
Notice how the Bible tells us Moses was regarded by not necessarily his own people, but the people of Egypt…
GREATLY ESTEEMED
Moses was called to be Israel’s deliverer. Forty years early he had recognized that and try through his earthly power as one connected to the courts of Egypt to do the delivering and he left Egypt under the cover of darkness, shamed, and defeated.
Now feeling inadequate for the task, hesitant, relying fully upon God Moses is “greatly esteemed” by his “enemies.”
Moses was the chosen one for deliverance at forty years of age just as much as he was at eighty years of age.
But our calling and mission don’t matter if we try to fulfill those callings and missions outside of the timing and the ways and the power of God.
The right motive and the right mission at the wrong time in the wrong way is WRONG.
Powerful stuff for all of us as we think about what mission God has given to each of us.
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 26-31…P.S. there were several other cool nuggets in this reading related to the passover, but I will save those for a sermon some day maybe 🙂
1 Corinthians 15 is a powerful testimony and study on the importance of Christ’s resurrection for our salvation! But not only does it add insight into His resurrection but it also provides us with some insights into the understanding of soul sleep, which is the belief that after a person dies they “sleep” in the ground ’till the second coming of Jesus.
I see several verses, but two very powerful ones to affirm this view:
Verse 53 states,
“For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
When must we put on the imperishable? Before we inherit (go to) the Kingdom of God (see verse 50).
Well when does the perishable become imperishable?
Verse 52,
“in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
When will those who die be made “imperishable” and able to go to the Kingdom of God? At “the last trumpet.” That would mean that the righteous that die don’t go straight to heaven when they die because they have not yet been made imperishable, and they won’t be ’till the last trumpet.
And when does this last trumpet occur and when are the dead resurrected imperishable?
Verse 23 & 24a…
“But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24 then comes the end…”
Y’all the Bible is clear the dead in Christ sleep ’till the END…the last trumpet…at which point they and those who are alive and have put their faith in Jesus will be made imperishable and be taken to the Kingdom of God in Heaven!
My one comment on chapter 16 is this…which believe me I don’t want to fault anyone…and I don’t have a problem with it…but this is just my opinion.
I don’t believe typical tithe &offering appeals in church are a Biblical practice…they aren’t wrong…but no one should defend them like they are their for Biblical reasons…
“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2 On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.” -1 Corinthians 16:1 & 2
I know some have believed that this means that people are to go to church on Sunday. That is a far reaching extrapolation. What Paul is saying is at beginning of every week we should all plan how we are going to give to the work of God with our finances that week. Paul is saying our giving should be something done with forethought not something done in the spur of the moment.
There are special offerings special moments where an appeal is made. But the best Biblical practice is for each of us to prepare to give not to be reactionary in our giving, which an offering appeal in church lends itself to the latter and not the former.
Better than appeals would be personal testimonies of financial faithfulness!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Exodus 9-12
The story I have preached more than any other story in the Bible is in Mark chapter 10. It is the story of Blind Bartimaeus–
“Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.”50 Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.” -Mark 10:46-52
To me the question Jesus asks Bartimaeus is the question that Jesus puts before all of us at various times in our life. Not because He is unaware of what the answer will be, but because He wants us to have our opportunity for our faith to be strengthened. There is something about verbalizing our request before God that not only demonstrates, but also encourages our faith as He answers.
I want you right now to think about what you desire the Lord to do for you. If you were standing before Him now on that Jericho road and Jesus asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
Share that with Jesus now! Pray for that in faith!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 15 & 16
Some things I jotted down as I read through Jeremiah 12-16:
In Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah has one perspective, that the wicked are prospering, God on the other hand has the perspective they have not prospered at His hand but due to the invitation submitted through the wicked acts of the people of God. In other words, they through their actions have embraced the wicked people along with the wickedness and unlike God wicked ways are not a kind a master.
But at the end of Jeremiah 12 God shows us that He will rid the land of the wicked, but He will also uproot Judah from her wicked ways and hopefully as a nation they will appreciate this and return unto God!
In Jeremiah 13 I wrote down something that is not a Biblical point at all, but it made me chuckle and I had to make note of it…I recently read an article that asked, “What is the true value of the belt?” and the premise of this short article was questioning does the belt really hold up our pants or do we hold up the belt. I feel that in this live action drama that God asks Jeremiah to be a part of in Jeremiah 13 we get the answer,
“For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’” -Jer. 13:11a
There you go a fashion answer in the Bible, we hold up the belts…no wonder I still have a hard time with my pants sliding even though I wear a belt 🙂
On a more serious note in Jeremiah 13 verse 17,
But if you will not listen to it,
My soul will sob in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will bitterly weep
And flow down with tears,
Because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.
I love the heart of Jeremiah. Oh that each of us would have that same depth of compassion for the lost when they go through trials and consequences even though when we know they are deserving of such trials and consequences. Jeremiah knew these people were wrong and yet he sobbed, he wept, the tears flowed down! That is the true heart of a pastor!
In Jeremiah 14 I found it interesting that God does not lay all the blame or consequences at the feet of the false prophets. They are teaching the people error, but God in verse 16 states that the people who listen to this error will also suffer the same consequences. Why? In other places in scripture God seems to show mercy on the people because they were led falsely astray and did not know better…why here the same consequences. I wonder if it could be because these people also had Jeremiah. They had the full opportunity to know truth and embrace truth. Maybe because of their history they knew right and wrong yet they followed after error.
I believe here the Bible is teaching…
We will not only be held accountable for what we know and did not follow, but what we could have known had we simply listened or accepted the opportunities of truth we’d been given.
So those are the notes I jotted down on these chapters. What were some of the notes God gave to you?
Tomorrow’s Reading: Mark 9 & 10
I read verses 2-5a of Job 29,
“Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God watched over me;
3 When His lamp shone over my head,
And by His light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in the prime of my days,
When the friendship of God was over my tent;
5 When the Almighty was yet with me,”
and I immediately thought, “Oh how the heart of God must have hurt over this sentiment of Job.” Then as I continued reading my mind went back to that thought and I began to wonder, “Does the heart of God spend a lot of time worrying about what we think or is that a component of our sinful nature that the Lord does not possess?”
I mean is God worried from an emotional position that Job misunderstands Him? Or is it only to the degree that such a misunderstanding would lead Job to sin that God’s heart would be concerned?
It seems to me like it would be the latter rather than the former but I can’t say with absolute certainty.
I also thought when I read that passage as I have through much of Job, “Wow God sure sees faithfulness different than we define it in the church.” Such a statement as Job’s in most our modern churches would have all the people worried for this individuals eternal salvation.
Interesting…
Tomorrow’s Reading (I’m 6 days behind): Jeremiah 12-16
It is interesting what comes to our minds as we read the Bible and how different thoughts and convictions hit us today I read these verse in the midst of my devotional time,
“O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.” -Psalm 43:3, 4
And my heart began to praise God that He has given us music as an expression of response to Him, His truth, His light, His love! The Psalms of course are a collection of songs, so of course David would use song often to respond to the Lord, but throughout the Bible a natural and God given response to the moving of the Divine is through song. Consider this moment from the New Testament,
“After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” -Matthew 26:30
This text follows the story of the Last Supper–what we call Communion–at the end of this gathering, this time with Jesus…they sang a song. To the secular mind that is completely random and weird, but to the believer it should be one of the most natural components of our relationship with Jesus.
Which is one of the reasons why I find it so sad that so many people show-up to church after the music has finished and leave before the music resumes. Why would people rob themselves of this gift, this natural spiritual gift of expression God has given to His children. David said in response to the light of the Lord and the truth of the Lord he would go to the altar (the church) of God and celebrate with music.
Maybe this struck me this morning in a special way because when I woke at sunrise today my heart was anxious for the presence of God and the reminder of His love and so I stuck in my headphones and listened to the following song,
There are many leadership lessons and just good life lessons in this reading, but the one that spoke to my heart most of all, as it so often has in the past is the story of Saul in the cave and David refusing to end his life.
David knew the moment Saul died that he would be crowned king of Israel. He knew that he would no longer have to be a nomad, running from shadow to shadow to spare his own life. Yet David would not move ahead of God. This is perhaps one of the hardest disciplines in all of life and leadership, to know what the inevitable outcome of a situation is and yet have the patience to allow God to bring about that outcome in HIS time.
David’s restraint would have been impressive even if he didn’t know he was to be king, simply the self-control to not destroy his enemy and bring freedom to his life, but that he did so knowing there was great reward on the other side and that reward was God’s ultimate will, this is truly a miracle only achieved through a consecrated heart.
David again showed the same patience of waiting on the Lord in the story of Nabal and Abigail. This time though he demonstrated another gift of leadership, he was not going to show that patience, but he was willing to receive counsel. He didn’t care that the counsel came from a woman or from an unknown source, potentially even a biased source (his enemies wife), what mattered to him was the counsel. He recognized the counsel was right and true and that was enough to heed it.
Both great lessons that eventually led to God’s willing being accomplished in God’s time!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Psalms 42-44
I know that I am several days behind in my blogging. I am going to use some down time I will have in the evenings next week to catch-up. Thank you for your patience…and remember the ultimate goal is not reading this blog every day, but reading our Bible’s every day!
Exodus 5-8
I was thinking on these plagues spoken of in Exodus 5-8 and I wrote this notation in the margins in relation to chapter 5 verses 1-23.
“Just prior to deliverance difficulties will increase for God’s people.”
The persecution that the Israelites experienced just prior to their deliverance from Egypt will, though not in the same manner, be experienced by God’s people in the last days of earths history just prior to our deliverance.
It was not until the plague of flies when the Lord said,
“I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.”’” -Exodus 8:23
Does this mean that the plagues of blood water and frogs effected both God’s people and the Egyptians?
Among the Egyptians there were believers in the midst of all these plagues we discover this truth,
“The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses;” -Exodus 9:20
In the ninth plague–darkness–I see a beautiful metaphor for God’s people as this world comes to an end. Just as there was physical darkness in Egypt there will be great spiritual darkness at the end of time. But may the following be said of our homes…
“They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.” -Exodus 10:23
Let us worship the God of that light as we enter into the Sabbath!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 21-25
I am pleased to announce that our church board, in support for our renewed focus on evangelism, has approved a plan to develop a full media ministry here at the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church.
On February 22, 2016, our church board heard presentations by Spencerville members, Brad Thorp (Hope Channel) Andre Brink (Adventist Review), and Dan Weber (NAD Communications). Brad and Andre shared a variety of media ministry opportunities that would expand the reach of Spencerville Church, both locally and globally. Whether it’s through the 20 million DirectTV subscribers that receive Hope Channel in the United States, the 10 million Roku users, or the billions of individuals that visit YouTube daily, Spencerville Church could impact all of these with high-quality, Christ-centered media.
Not only would this ministry reach out, it will also reach in, sharing God’s love with specific groups within our own church family via live-streaming. As an example, we currently have more than thirty homebound members unable to worship with us in person on a weekly basis. We also have members who have moved away but still think of Spencerville as their home church. And we regularly hear of church family members that are sick or traveling, but would like to join us for worship on Sabbath. Possibly members who’ve become disconnected would consider coming back after first reconnecting with us in this way. We could serve all these groups more effectively through the portals of media.
Dan Weber, who is serving as chair of our Media Ministry Committee, then presented a $300,000 media ministry plan whereby we would successfully accomplish a media installation without negatively impacting the beautiful aesthetic of the Spencerville Church sanctuary. The board approved the plan without objection (details are available upon request.).
The cost may surprise you. But God began to provide before we even had a plan. Two individuals, a homebound member and a non-member who loves our church, separately and without prompting have contributed just under 45 percent of the total funds needed.
I am asking you to consider what you can give toward the remaining $167,000. Think of the broad impact that our media presence could have on people’s lives. Jesus will be brought to millions by a simple click on a phone, tablet, iPad, or computer. We desire a positive, Gospel-led media program for our members, our community, and for the world. Would you be willing to sacrifice something extra this month in order to give toward our media ministry project?
If your answer is “yes I can” then just click on this link and follow the instructions.
I thank you in advance for being a part of Spencerville Church’s media ministry vision, and for partnering with us to use every resource at our disposal to make Jesus better known and better loved.
Chad
If you have been to more than one Christian wedding in your life then it is likely you’ve heard 1 Corinthians 13 quoted or seen it printed on the bulletin, invitation or something of the sort. This chapter known as the love chapter has become a text that is seen as a marriage texts. Books have been written about it, songs have been sung about it, and of course many couples have used the text in their weddings.
Maybe even you…
Here is the problem, with the over saturation of this text and the cultural ties that have been made between it and marriage the true context of the passage has been lost.
I hope I don’t shatter anyone with the following statement, but Paul, when he wrote that text was not thinking of marriage. Yes of course the principles of love laid out in the passage are good to apply to marriage, but the text isn’t about love in the husband/wife relationship.
The text is about how to utilize one’s gifts and properly serve within the context of the local church. That we should serve Christ through His church with the love and passion we’ve all applied to our wedding vows 🙂 We are to utilize our spiritual gifts in a spirit of love.
Now that I think about it, the text would be used more accurately if we recited it and asked for individuals to commit to it upon joining the church than in a wedding.
I don’t mind that it is used in weddings or in regards to the marital relationship, but I hope next time you hear 1 Corinthians 13 you’ll pause and ask yourself “Am I serving my church with the love principles of 1 Corinthians 13?”
Tomorrow’s Reading: Exodus 5-8
When is worship vain?
When our preferences are taught as MUSTS!
‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ -Mark 7:7
Mark 7:14-19 is a challenging text for Seventh-day Adventists in regards to our understanding/assertion that there remain unclean foods we should refrain from eating. The in-depth study of this passage is far to extensive for this blog and so I would like to direct you to this link which will take you to an article by my friend, theological mentor, and a Spencerville Church member Dr. Ekkehardt Mueller in which he helps us to better understand the true purpose and function of Jesus’ words in this passage.
In Mark 8:32 Peter is uncomfortable with what Jesus is teaching, so he pulls him aside and rebukes Jesus…quite a bold move if you ask me…but that moment gives context to verse 34–
“And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” -Mark 8:34
It seems in the context of what verse 32 and that which Peter did not like and what made Peter uncomfortable that to “deny himself” is about denying our pride and our perspectives on what “the Christian life should be.”
We don’t get to define the cross we must bear. Jesus defines it for us and we must be willing to deny ourselves and willingly receive whatever cross each of us must take on. Each of us have to give up something in exchange for our souls…not as an act of “works” but because Jesus knows it is that very thing that if we don’t give it up, it will ultimately become our god…little “g”!
What is that “thing” Jesus wants to remove from your life…which means you must bear the denial of that “thing” so that it won’t become your little “god” impediment to The ONE TRUE GOD?
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 & 14
In each of these chapters God reminds the people, He’s appealed, just like He did to their ancestors and they have rejected, just like their ancestors did and thus destruction comes.
It is the truth we must all be reminded of. God as He describes it a couple times in this reading, “rose early in the morning” to speak truth and to guide them. The early in the morning means that God has gone before them, yet they have not listened. The truth is God has done the work humanity does not respond.
And then the call goes out in a question,
“Is there no balm in Gilead?” -Jeremiah 8:22a
God was trying to tell them there was He was trying to give them the answer but they would not listen.
Hopefully we will…
Tomorrow’s Reading: Mark 7 & 8
I continue to read Job as I have made this commitment, but I continue to read without great understanding. My previous two posts were easy, but Job has and continues to the struggle of my blogging.
I will share that I appreciate the contrast he makes in chapter 28 between digging for treasures in comparison to the search for wisdom.
For those who fancy themselves wise, based on Jobs understanding of which I believe are accurate, while we can find diamonds, and silver, and gold many places wisdom is only from one source, The Lord.
So the person who says they are wise but is not connected to Jesus…I’d be hesitant to listen to their wisdom.
Have a blessed night!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 7-11