Friday, January 29, 2010

Beyond Sunday: Not a Fan - Relationship Status

...by Doug Gamble

What’s your relationship status with Jesus?

As I reflect on Sunday’s message it forces me to really consider where I am at on my journey with Jesus. I can honestly say that I am a follower of Jesus and am directing my life in the direction of Jesus. However, I recognize there are so many things that distract me from that purpose. I just read today in My Utmost of His Highest by Oswald Chambers this:

“The cares of this world will choke all that God puts in. We are never free from the reoccurring tides of this encroachment. If it does not come on the line of clothes and food, it will come on the line of money or not enough money. It is one steady encroachment all the time and unless we allow the Spirit of God to raise up the standard against it, these things will come in like a flood.”

To be a follower means you put Jesus first no matter what. And that is the standard that Chambers speaks of that will guard against the flood of things that want our heart, that want to be #1 in our lives but don’t ever satisfy. If we allow ourselves to “ride the fence” with Jesus we will go back and forth of placing him 1st. And that will simply not work for long.

Now this doesn’t mean that any of us are perfect at putting Jesus first anymore than the first disciples were perfect at it. But it does mean that we have to constantly do a gut check and ask ourselves what position Jesus has in our life. And if we can see he is not #1, then we take steps to put him back in his rightful position.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Taking the Next Step.

Movement is an important part of any great process or organization. It's what helps us to keep going, to keep pushing, to keep trying to take things to the next level. Movement is essential for growth.

Organizationally, here at Suncrest, we really value movement. As a leadership, we want to keep moving each of you (including ourselves) through to the next step of faith. If you're new to our church, coming to Sunday mornings at St. John or Hobart is a good first step. But from there, we want to push you to take the next step of going to Starting Point or baptism class. From there, we want to push you take the next step of getting involved in a community group, then to take the next step of contributing through some sort of service, and so on and so forth.

I think that process helps us be a better church, but I think adapting that process to our personal lives is very helpful as well. A big question I need to keep asking myself when it comes to cultivating my relationship with Jesus is, quite simply, "What's the next step for me?"

When I was 14, the next step for me was getting baptized. When I was 15, it was getting involved with the worship team at my church. When I was 17, it was making the decision to enter the ministry and become a pastor. For me right now, the next step is discipline; being more intentional about forming real relationships and making my daily time with God a habit.

I don't know where you stand right now with the whole Jesus thing; maybe you've been following him for years, maybe you're just getting started, or maybe you're not even sure how you feel about Jesus yet. Wherever you're at, I want to encourage you to ask the question, "What's my next step?"

wb

P.S.: As you ask the question, "What's my next step?" I really want to encourage you to think about the possibility of baptism, if you haven't taken that step already. On February 7 here at Suncrest, we are making a huge push for people to take that next step of baptism in obedience to what we believe the Bible teaches. If you're at all interested, or even just want to talk about what that means, I know that you can contact myself (wesley.blackburn@suncrest.org), our Cultivate pastor Bobby (bobby.jackson@suncrest.org) or our lead pastor Greg Lee (greg.lee@suncrest.org). We'd love to hear from you and love to encourage you to take this next step in faith!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Beyond Sunday - The Source: Finding Peace

...by Bobby Jackson

Peace is elusive…
Sometimes I wonder how I can get anything done at my house. Don’t get me wrong, I love the people, but there seems to be so much going on that getting things done and reveling in the peace that provides are usually pushed into the background.
I remember the realtor telling me the day we moved in that we would always be working on something until the day we soldJ I’ve imagined realtors to have a good sense of humor and in this case, prophecy. How often does it seem that just as we’re about to grasp peace the next craziness invades? We long for peace, and need it.
Can you think of stress, conversations, feelings, actions that push peace just beyond your reach? Statistically the greatest stress that keeps peace at bay is finances.

Peace is elusive…but mostly it’s my fault.
For years my wife and I had no idea and no plan with our finances. It has cost us time, energy, certainly frustration. It’s amazing how much our financial picture wears on our mood, relationships and stress level, isn’t it? Still the number one reason couples site for a divorce is stress over finances. I guess that’s why Jesus talked about it so much.

Here are just a few of the things the Bible says regarding our finances:

-The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7)
- "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Matthew 22:21)
- He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses. (Proverbs 28:27)
-"Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." (Haggai 1:5-6)
-where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Luke 12:34)

Have you had time to reflect on a couple of the statements Greg talked about on Sunday?
You will not have peace if…
-you spend more than you make
-you don’t know if you spend more than you make
-you are upside down on your house
-you owe more on your car than it is worth

If you could live for a few years like most won’t, you could live most of your years like few could.

Without a plan things fall apart and doing some practical things will help us spiritually. Because our heart follows our treasure, it matters to God where our treasure is. Our treasure follows what God wants so our heart will follow what God wants. I’m thankful that Suncrest helps by offering classes like Financial Peace University. If you’re interested in this class at Suncrest, contact Robin McHugh at 219.365.9000.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

New Scripture Study Resource: Examen.me

Well, we always try to use this blog to tell you about any cool Cultivate resources we've stumbled onto, and lately, I've been getting a lot of use out of Examen.me.

Examen.me is a great Scripture, journaling and prayer resource you can use every day as a devo or just as a way to study God's word and track your progress on the journey. After going to the website (www.examen.me), you can sign up for a free account. After you log in, you simply click on "start an examen," and you are taken to a page with several choices for study.

You can do a Scripture examen, which is a brief reading from one of the Gospels, the New Testament, the Old Testament, or the Psalms. After reading the brief Scripture passage a few times, you can write your thoughts, what you believe God is trying to say to you, and then even offer a prayer about what you are learning that day. The great thing about Scripture examens is at the end, you are asked to journal some ways in which you can take truth from Scripture and apply it to your life.

There are also prayer examens, which lead you through a guided prayer exercise where you can write out your own prayer responses. Finally, there's also a journal section, where you can just journal and write freely, interacting with God in your own personal way. The journal examen also gives you full access to any Scripture passage you'd like, in case you'd like to use that in conjunction with journaling.

All of your examens are saved and accessible at any point. So, 6 or 12 months down the road, I can look back and see my journey spiritually, discovering areas where I've grown and changed over time. If you'd like, you can download some of your previous examens to your computer for storage.

I've been using Examen.me for the past week or so as my own daily devo, and I really like it. I'm already online a lot anyway, so it's great to know that anytime I have a few free minutes to myself, I can shoot over to Examen.me and take some time to reflect on God's Word and cultivate my relationship with Him!

(You can check out Examen.me by clicking on this link or by simply going to www.examen.me.)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Beyond Sunday - The Source: Finding Blessing

...by Larry Walker

For me, the hardest decision made this year was the one regarding tithing. The thoughts surrounding it involve things like respecting God, providing for your family, understanding what truly is important to you, and, quite often, having the humility to serve correctly.

Like Greg taught Sunday, tithing is as real a biblical practice as any other. It's just hard to do for me to its literal extent. But I have to ask myself, "Would I dishonor other practices as quickly?" It's there for me to read about just as the others are. For some, this year has been such a significant drop-off that tithing has either lessened or gone away. It's a real issue. In those cases, it can be a place to grow to. To give what feels right. God wants us to give with a peaceful heart, not because we'll get a ruler to the back of our hand if we don't. For me, I needed to change what was truly important. Taking the family trip to Disney became not nearly as important as being with my family while on vacation. The real kicker came when Greg spoke about giving first and letting everything else fall into place. Let giving be the CAUSE instead of the EFFECT. I needed to wrap my hands around the fact that it's His bank account and that I'm just the manager.

So, I need to sit down with Him and sift through all of this. See where my heart has been and where I will have it pointed to from here on in. I look forward to what's ahead.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Reaching Out.

Well, I think here on the Cultivate blog for me to write today about anything other than Haiti would be a massive mistake on my part. If you're unaware of this story, you can read about it here.

What do we, as Christ followers, do in extreme moments of crisis like this? It hurts my heart knowing that there are other people in our world right now who are going through the most severe devastation possible... in the blinking of an eye, lives are changed forever because someone's family, friends, or even just possessions like a house are now all gone. It's almost like the type of calamity we read about in the book of Job; something terrible happening at no fault of the people living in Haiti. It's just incredible to me.

But one thing I do know; in times like these, Christ followers help. Christ followers love. In John 13:35, Jesus says that "by this, all men will know you are my disciples if you love one another." I don't know what that looks like for me yet, but I know that I am never more like Christ when I love, care, and reach out to the "least of these."

Sometimes the greatest way I can cultivate my personal relationship with Jesus is simply by doing what he says. And today, that means loving, praying, and caring for the people in Haiti.

(UPDATE: On Twitter, I just saw that if you text HAITI to 90999, you can donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti right out of your phone bill. For more info, go here.)

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Beyond Sunday (Hobart Campus) - No Regrets

...by Randy Parish

There are probably very few of us who don’t have regrets about bad choices we have made in our lives. We can’t let ourselves become paralyzed with indecision because we are afraid of making another bad choice. I learned a long time ago, you can’t change the past. It’s a part of our personal history that we lived through. Doug used the illustration of the Etch-A-Sketch. We can’t just take the past, turn it upside down, shake it and expect a clean slate. Even a well worn Etch-A-Sketch starts showing a faint image of the past. I think the key point is, did we learn from those choices and learn to make a better choice when faced with a similar situation or do we have the same regrets year after year? Paul gives us a valuable lesson in Philippians 3:13 when he says, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead”.

Moving into a new year is always a good time to reflect back on the past year and run a little newsreel in your head to review the year. If you had regrets, can you make sure you don’t have a repeat in the new year? Some people make resolutions that never make it past the first two weeks of January. Doug talked about goal setting and made a particular point that really stuck out for me and that was: we need to set our goals with a purpose. To me, that’s asking why are we setting the goal in the first place? What is the ultimate gain by setting that goal? What is the end result of the goal? If we can set a realistic, attainable goal it gives us something positive to strive for. After all, God made us for a purpose and that purpose carries significance that is beyond ourselves. Some of us either haven’t figured out what that purpose is or can’t admit that maybe we are already serving our purpose. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Turning the calendar over to a new year doesn’t erase the past or magically cure our ills or our regrets, but it is a chance to help our future and discover our significance.

Beyond Sunday (St. John Campus) - No Regrets

...by Kevin DeBraal

No Regrets?

Who doesn’t have regrets?

When we filled out the slips of paper with our regrets I was afraid I would run out of space!

I have had many regrets due to poor choices in relationships, in my reactions and responses to others and for a myriad of reasons. It’s easy to get caught up in regret; it can weigh you down and even distract you. You spend your time thinking about what you should have done or said, or wishing you could have a “re-do” and change the situation. Spending so much time thinking about the past and things you can’t change instead of living in the present.

Beka discussed Worldly Sorrow vs. Godly Sorrow and the difference between guilt connected to consequences vs. the realization of sin and desire to change. The “realization of sin and desire to change”, that’s the key. To let Godly Sorrow turn you around, to repent and change your behaviors. To leave your regrets of sin with God and move forward with a changed life.

I know that all sounds good but may be easier said than done. But why not try it? Does it really help to carry around the burden of sin and regret? This is all possible because Jesus died for our sins and in recognizing and accepting that we can rejoice in the Grace of God and his forgiveness.

I loved the symbolism of leaving our regrets at the cross, it will be a great reminder for me.
What would it be like to live a life without regrets? I’m going to try it, I’ll let you know!

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 2 Corinthians 7:10

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The Five Essentials of Cultivating: Discipleship

Well, we're wrapping up the last "cultivating essential" on the Cultivate blog today and we deal with the issue of discipleship, which, admittedly, is a pretty broad and general term. Basically, today, what I'm hitting on is the essential of finding a spiritual discipline(s) in your life to use as you connect with God and grow closer to him. What might surprise you, though, is that I believe spiritual disciplines go well beyond prayer and Bible study, like I was always taught (though those are two great ones). And, unlike I always believed growing up, you're not a spiritual failure if you don't do all of them for x amount of hours a day. In fact, quite the opposite is the case.

Now, I think an important disclaimer needs to be made here about spiritual disciplines... not all of them are for everybody, and you can't base the depth of your relationship with God upon how many you do, how often you do them, which disciplines you use, etc. There's no legalistic hierarchy of disciplines or anything like that. For some, reading the Bible might not be a real gift or passion, but doing acts of service is. Well, then, maybe your spiritual discipline is acts of service. That doesn't mean that you never read your Bible; it just means that maybe you won't do that as much as someone else because that's not how you dialogue and grow with God, and that's okay. On the flip side, maybe you're a businessperson who travels out of town a lot. Well, you probably won't be able to get involved with a ton of service projects, but you can read your Bible, journal, and/or pray on the plane to your next destination.

To me, a spiritual discipline is simply something that allows you to dialogue with God. Disciplines are highly personal. Finding the way that you and God can converse is absolutely key. I'm convinced that the more time we spend with God, whether that's praying, doing acts of service, giving to the poor, playing on a worship team, or a whole variety of other things, the better followers of Jesus we become. And that's the whole point... God wants us to grow in our relationship with him. So whatever your spiritual discipline is, do it! Chances are it will really help you become a better disciple of the God we serve.