Outside Your Window

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Outside Your Window

 

Today started a new series entitled ‘Multiply’ as we continue in our study of Matthew.  The text for today is Matthew 9:35 through 10:42; the meat o these verses being Jesus commissioning his twelve disciples to expand his ministry by serving people following the example he’s given them.

To start today’s message in context, we took a detailed look at Matthew 9:35-38. The word ‘compassion’ being used here is more than just feeling sorry for another. When we look at the original language, this word is describing an emotional and physical reaction Jesus has to seeing the lost state of the people around him as they grope for something to complete their spiritual selves. This is a gut-wrenching sorrow for humanity.

Second is the word ‘harvest’. As an amateur vegetable gardener, I understand too well the urgency or harvesting your crop before (1) another mammal does or (2) it over-ripens and is ruined. The harvest is ripe, the harvest is urgent.

Our main emphasis as  a church was a prayer that I have prayed many times; Abba, let me see people through your eyes. Brandon Heath recorded a song in 2009 that accurately captures this desire, “Give Me Your Eyes”.

Jesus approached the unapproachable, touched the untouchable, and embraced every sector of society without hesitation or remorse. He broke down walls with complete disregard for his own safety. Now he’s turning to his inner circle and telling them, “It’s your turn.” As followers of Jesus, we are included in that call. Go and make disciples of the people right outside our windows. Jesus does not warn the disciples away from adversity, he tells them to expect it and embrace it. “Do not fear those who can kill your body but cannot kill your soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. (Matthew 10:28).

The theme of today’s message and resulting drawing brought back an image created for our ‘Bold’ series last year. A figure, representing you as an individual and the church as a whole, being faced with a decision; step out in faith or play it safe? In both images, the figure has taken down the warning labels members of society (many who are inside church walls) set in place to keep themselves safe and is stepping out into the perceived danger in faith. It is important to note the figure walks alone. Stepping out in faith is not a movement, it’s a decision we make as individuals that risks no one following.

Who do you see outside your own window who needs someone reach out to them? Take a bold step, introduce yourself then introduce them to Jesus.

A Prayer for Boldness

Prayer for Boldness

 

O Ye of Little Faith

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O Ye of Little Faith

He’s got the whole world, in His hands

He’s got the whole wide world, in His hands

He’s got the whole world, in His hands

He’s got the whole world in His hands.

For those of us who spent our early years in the children’s programming of a local church, these lyrics are ingrained into our minds (including hand motions). It’s got a catchy tune that children can sing along with, then a parent got smart and made up some motions to burn some energy out of their sugared-up Bible school class! Genius. This song did not originate in Sunday school, however. It was first published as a traditional American spiritual in 1927 as part of a paperback hymnal; “Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New“. Today’s progression in Matthew 8 brought the premise of this old Bible school song to mind and inspired an introspective question, do I really believe He does?

Matthew dives right into his first three miracle stories and a lesson in discipleship after finishing his introduction of Jesus’s ministry in chapter 8.  In these passages, Jesus heals a Centurian soldier’s servant, Peter’s (one of his disciples) mother-in-law, “many” who were demon possessed – including two men whose demons he cast into pigs that later stampeded to their deaths in the ocean. Not only those who witnessed these miracles, but even those who heard of them through first hand account immediately recognized and understood Jesus’s authority stretches much further than the spirituality of his followers. Even the Gentile Centurian, for whom inviting Jesus into his home was taboo, believed this, Matthew 8:5-13.

Jesus marveled at his followers saying, “I have not found such great faith anywhere in Israel.” – translation: you fellas know me but this guy who was not raised to expect me (ie. he’s a Gentile that does not understand the Jewish culture’s prophecy of the Messiah) has only heard about what you’ve witnessed and he has more faith than you!

I too can claim first hand witness to events that have no explanation other than divine miracles. Those of you close to me know Julie, the boys and I have made some big decisions in the last year that will lead our family through a time where our faith will need to remain strong. In light of those decisions, I allowed my logic to get in the way of my heart and nearly committed to taking on a second job that would have had a significant impact on my time and my focus at home and elsewhere. After some wise advice and lots more prayer, I abandoned that idea and am trusting God to sustain us in the way He deems best.

What did I take away from Dean’s sermon today?

Jesus is sovereign over all. Not just what I think he can handle; all.

 Faith in Jesus’s sovereign authority manifests itself in humble trust.

I was last left with a question:

“What are you afraid of, o ye of little faith?” Matthew 8:26

He’s got the whole world, in His hands.

He’s got the whole world in His hands.

His appearance was like lightning

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Death in His Grave

by John Mark McMillan

Though the Earth Cried out for blood
Satisfied her hunger was
Her billows calmed on raging seas
for the souls on men she craved

Sun and moon from balcony
Turned their head in disbelief
Their precious Love would taste the sting
disfigured and disdained

On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke with the keys
Of Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave

So three days in darkness slept
The Morning Sun of righteousness
But rose to shame the throes of death
And over turn his rule

Now daughters and the sons of men
Would pay not their dues again
The debt of blood they owed was rent
When the day rolled a new

On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke with the keys
To Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave

On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke with keys
Of Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave

He has cheated
Hell and seated
Us above the fall
In desperate places
He paid our wages
One time once and for all

His appearance was like lightning

Matthew 28:3

His appearance was like lightning and His clothes were white as snow.

Celebrate the victory.

In the Storeroom

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Prayer is the spiritual life-blood of a Christian. Direct, intimate, honest conversation with the Creator is critical to maintaining proper balance in life. So how does this whole prayer thing work? Are there certain buzz-words I can use to guarantee positive results? How many times do ‘God’ or ‘Lord’ need to be used so that my prayer is acceptable? Questions like these are not only common, but they haunt the subconscious of even the most devoted Christians. The sad thing is, using questions like these to gauge the effectiveness of your prayer life are a lead weight around its neck. This is why we are starting a new series today aimed directly at weeding through the over- (and under-) spiritualized mess our opinions created. The next few weeks will interpret a series titled, ‘How To Pray’.

Jesus knew, better than anyone possibly could, the confusion that surrounded the mechanics of praying as he walked the dirt. So much that he found it necessary to include specific instructions during one of his most famous lectures, the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 6:5-9

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go in to your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father sees what is done in secret and will reward you.

And when you are praying, do no use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Pray then this way;

Jesus goes on to create what we now know as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, but that’s far enough for today’s message.

Let’s start from the top, verse 5. Do not be a hypocrite (well, duh)……standing and praying in the synagogues and on street corners so they can be seen (huh?). The religious élite of the day earned their ranks being the loudest or the most animated; ultimately the most popular. Their popularity among their peers is their reward, the obvious achievement of their goal. Once again, the critical importance of motive arises. Man is concerned with what you do, God wants to know why. Praying loudly, even praying publicly is certainly acceptable, provided your motives are externally driven.

We now know how not to go about praying, so what are we supposed to do instead? Go into your inner room and shut the door. Okay, so I need to shut myself into the central-most room in my residence as if the National Weather Service just issued a tornado warning? Well, sort of. The original Greek word being used here for ‘room’ is directly translated ‘storeroom’. Residential architecture in this time period was obviously more primitive than modern architecture; no central air, the whole dwelling essentially a mud room. Doors and windows were simply openings, providing easy access to rooms, but also constant ventilation to the house. Only one room in the dwelling included a working door, the storeroom. The purpose of a storeroom in residential architecture is exactly what it sounds like, to store household valuables, including food storage. Jesus communicated importance of intimate, private conversation with God by equating it to the contents of the most guarded room in every home. Pretty heavy stuff.

Last, to the nuts and bolts of a prayer, the actual words to use. Don’t be like the Gentiles who believe the wordier the better for effectiveness. God already knows what you need, He’s just waiting to hear your acknowledgement. I once attended a church where one of the pastor’s popular picks for closing services was a guy who opened and closed every phrase with ‘God’, ‘Lord’, or an occasional combination of both (I suppose to mix things up). EVERY PHRASE. Despite being some of the longest public prayers I’ve endured, it was slightly entertaining to tally how many times ‘God’ or ‘Lord’ could be mentioned in a single prayer. This guy is in undisputed ‘God, Lord’ champion. Be real, that’s all God asks. The language we use as we pray shouldn’t be any different from when we talk to our best friend. God knows everything you’re thinking as you pray, your words don’t need further explanation (for better or worse).

I’ve interpreted today’s message in a literal drawing. The figure is closed in a room, obvious by the closed door in the background. The darkness implies solitude, the figure is closed in the room alone. As the figure kneels, it throws its head heavenward and grasps its chest in Superman fashion, opening its soul. Further inspection of the image reveals the figure is tearing its own heart open. The bright rays of light explode from the figure’s core in a vulnerable surrender of its total being.

Honest, intimate, private communication with God, in your storeroom. This is sustenance to a devoted life.

Strength by Submission

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The day has finally arrived, week four of our RE: series, the climax of the last four weeks. North Ridge is five years old today. Our celebration today touched on celebrating the last five years, but focused on how the next five years will look. We’ve aptly titled the last installment of our series, presented on our fifth anniversary and revealing our new location, Relaunch.

Our celebration of the last five years was a little less than traditional. No pot luck meal, no grills stacked with hot dogs, no inflatable jumpy houses, not even a birthday banana pudding. To mark our five year accomplishment, we invited the top five organizations in our community we’ve worked alongside over the last half-decade. Each organization received a check from the celebration allotment of our budget, $1000 each. Diving into the message, the curtain was drawn away from the resolution to our building dilemma. Our current facility (the second location in our five-year span) comprises of three fairly small warehouse buildings we retro-fitted to meet our needs, very limited parking, and limited visibility to the general public. The worship building strains to contain us all on Sunday morning like a balloon ready to pop if it receives one more puff of helium. Our new facility is the shell of an abandoned grocery store, one two miles away from the current building. We’ll have 30,000 sq ft to do with as we please, and ample parking! This is a prime location next to the public middle and high schools in one of the communities we serve, across the street from the city’s Wal-Mart shopping center and less than a mile from the interstate for easy access. We have lift-off.

With all the excitement the morning had already contained, one would easily fall into an internalized celebration of God’s goodness to us because of our faithfulness and lose focus of our  responsibility with this new territory. Before commencing with “relaunching” North Ridge, Dean reviewed where we’ve come through the RE: series. God’s mission is to glorify himself. Our mission is to glorify God. The mission of the church is to make disciples. We train disciples by submitting ourselves and our mission to God individually and as a church body. God’s mission is not at odds with our joy, our joy is found in serving God. Through submitting our wills to God’s mission, the church unites and grows into and influential powerhouse of servant-hood, changing lives and communities.  Through this unified body, God will flex and reveal himself.

I ran with the concept of God flexing his muscles through the active church, putting a surreal spin on the image. The drawing is the muscular system of an arm as it flexes its bicep. The muscles all look naturally anatomic, smooth and fibrous; all but the bicep itself.

Upon closer inspection, small human figures com into focus.

The muscle fibers of the bicep are human chains, each figure grasping the legs of the one in front of them. Muscles grow by flexing against added resistance over time. The muscle fibers expand and contract by submitting to the will of their person. By submitting ourselves to God (and to each other), we grow stronger as a unified body. Flexing together with the common mission of glorifying our Creator builds behind it a steamroller influence where, through us, God will change the cultural landscape of not only our community, but our world.

North Ridge’s mission is simple, glorify God by serving people and growing disciples. Our new location will become more than a place we worship. Ridgewear (our member-run clothing and basic needs donation and distribution center) will continue impacting local families, The Dream Center will continue influencing and mentoring local students, new ministries will find themselves established and flourishing over the five years to come. North Ridge will be known not for how we worship, but how we serve. People will ask about our community involvement to learn that, oh yeah, people meet there to worship too.