1. The Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:25).

by Gordon Barker

I heard a sermon years ago, that said if you can believe Genesis 1:1, then the rest of the Bible is easy. “In the beginning God” is a big statement. The idea of a being that transcends everything in the physical universe that we know, including time. A being that was not created, that is truly eternal. A being powerful enough to create and sustain our entire universe. If we can grasp and accept this idea, then we are prepared for what the rest of the Bible has to say to us about life.

Depending on your personality, this is either an easy thing to accept or a nearly impossible concept that you will struggle with. We will come back to this in a minute.

The account of creation is straightforward. God created things and “saw that they were good.” People debate the word “day;” does it mean 24-hour days or could they be long periods of time? This is an interesting discussion, and you will find Bible experts on both sides (personally, I am a literal 24-hour day guy, but I am not a Bible expert). The important thing for us to remember is that God created everything, and this tells us that there is intelligence, order, meaning, and purpose behind all that exists, including human beings.

God created us in his own image; spiritual beings with an eternal soul and free will, capable of thought, reason, love, and relationship. In verse 2:18, God reinforces the idea that we are created for relationship; “It is not good for the man to be alone.” So God created woman.

For me this is the theme of the whole Bible: God’s pursuit of relationship with people in general, and on a personal level, with me and with you. God created us in His image, to have a relationship with us. In the Old Testament, we see this in His continuing relationships: Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the nation of Israel. We also see the truth of who we are. How we choose to use our free will to sin and break our relationship with God. How God pursues restoration of that relationship, ultimately through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Remember, if you are the type of person who finds the concept of God difficult to accept, that this is part of the way that He uniquely created you. Through all of our questioning, God continues to pursue us, offering His love and grace for our acceptance.

Welcome to the E100 Challenge. Our challenge is to open our hearts and minds to how God wants to grow his relationship with us through this journey.

Beyond Sunday - TXT: How to Read your Bible - The Peace

...by Chrissy Book

When believers lack Peace, where can we find it? What can we do to promote Peace, or how about the situations where Peace seems impossible?

And worst of all, what can be done if we don't even want Peace?

I'm guessing that was part of the problem between the two believers from the 4th chapter of the book of Philippians.

Paul says, "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche..." verse 2. God knows we are prideful. Paul knew this too…hence the pleading. Paul then takes the issue heavenward and advises these women to "agree in the Lord". We should too. When our issues are with other believers, as mine often are, it helps to get that aerial view; God's perspective. Ask, "How does God feel about this? What would He tell me to do? What does He want me to say?" If you ask, He'll tell you.

He helps us understand that all believers are ultimately on the same team. Team- "in the Lord". Syntyche and Euodia were (verse 3), and so are all of us here at Suncrest.

Paul goes on to tell how to get the Peace of God. He says; "Rejoice in the Lord "(here's that phrase again), exhibit gentleness, don't be anxious, but know that our God of light, love and peace is near. Then with a thankful heart; pray. Pray about everything. That is where Peace is experienced the most- in the heart of one who prays. Not anxiously, but expectantly.

Lastly, Paul wraps up with a checklist for Peace. He encourages us to focus on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. Make a list of those things, meditate on it, and I guarantee you a more peaceful and thankful heart!

The E100 Challenge

So, starting next week, the Cultivate blog is going to be innundated for the next 20 weeks with posts for the E100 Challenge. I just wanted to take a few minutes to explain what’s happening exactly and to encourage you to be a part of it!

First of all, let me explain what the E100 Challenge is. E100 stands for “Essential 100.” Basically, this study takes the big, 100 noteable passages from the Bible, and puts them all in one study for you to read over the course of 100 days. By the time you finish the 100 passages, you should hopefully have a really good “big picture” view about what happens in the Bible. You might even discover stories, people, events, etc. that you’re interested in and want to do more study and reflection on in the future. That’s the goal. The E100 Challenge is intended to whet your appetite for the rest of Scripture.

So, first thing you need to do is pick up an E100 sheet. They were in your bulletin last week, and they will be again this week at Suncrest. Of course, you can also just head to this website and download the planner for free.

There are two sides to the planner, which I will brilliantly demonstrate for you. Here, you see the 100 readings; 50 from the Old Testament and 50 from the New Testament. You’ll also note that they are further divided into groups of 5. We’ll be doing the plan on here over the course of 20 weeks, with new posts every Monday-Friday from different Suncrest folks who are going through the E100 Challenge together. I’d love to encourage you to keep checking back and to see what other people in our church across both of our campuses are learning about God through reading these passages! If you’re interested in writing a few entries, let me know (wesley.blackburn@suncrest.org) and I’d love to get you signed up!

The other side here is the check-off side. Once you finish a passage, check off or fill in the appropriate circle so you know where you are. If you’re like me, nothing gives you greater satisfaction than checking something off of the to-do list (as you can see from my expression in that picture). Hopefully that will be motivation for you to keep reading and keep learning!

I’m definitely very excited to see what God has in store for our church over the course of the E100 Challenge! Check back here starting Monday for E100 posts!

Beyond Sunday - TXT: How to Read your Bible - The Endurance

...by Michael Switzer

Principles: Pace (slow down) and Posture (expect a word from God). These are important to keep in mind when reading the Bible and especially important when living everyday life. How different would my life be if I just slowed down (to thoroughly understand) and expected God?

Technicals: Context, Author’s Intent, Background, Key Words, Genre

It seems like it would be easier to have such a laser focus if my earthly job involved working directly with the scriptures and directly with advancing the kingdom. Doesn’t it? Sometimes I can’t help but to think ‘if I was just a pastor or I just had a different job –one that allows me to spend more time with Christ – I’d be more confident not to lose focus.’ It’s probably easy for most of us (it certainly is for me) to lose ourselves in our work and even lose ourselves in our life. I don’t want to lose focus on my greater purpose and mission. How does one place proper context around his or her earthly job? On Sunday, Greg reminded me that, although my life and my job are important in their own rite, my focus is not my own stomach or lifestyle or status. My focus is responding to the responsibility I (we) have to the knowledge we’ve been blessed with. It’s so easy to continually want the next accomplishment or to develop the next greatest concept or to attain the next level of social status. Reminders like that of this last Sunday give me a sense of calming in with respect to my earthly job (i.e., do well in my job but it’s definitely not the end-all nor is it even the means to.) In addition to the calming, a renewed sense of responsibility and conviction press on my heart. After all, I find I’m most in tuned with the mission of my life and can frame my daily activities more properly when I’m relaxed and not completely caught up in myself and the expectations of others.

How do we endure through this life? The future is heaven. Forgetting what is behind and striving for the future is how I’m going to endure this life. I’m not a football fan but I know enough about it to know that Peyton Manning has ‘Laser focus’ when he’s on the field. Single mindedness in the context of our mission: Keep in mind the ‘playing field’ and all activity going on around us to make the best decisions in accordance with the end goal in mind while being aware of unimportant, misguiding, or distracting things regarded as a primary focus.

We’re responsible for what we know. “Live up to what we already know and live out what we have already learned. We do not have to be sidetracked by an unending search for truth.” I’m making an effort this week to be more relaxed in my job and not be so caught up in myself. Live and read with a posture that anticipates God’s word. I’m grateful for knowledge and this week will be time to reflect on how it can be better focused and used for missions bigger than myself.

What a powerful book. All this in 11 verses!

Journaling.

I think that I’ve always really enjoyed writing. I’ve had a blog for the past couple years, and before that, I had a Xanga (basically, a blog) when that was all the craze during my high school years. I’ve always just found writing to be a way I can express myself, my thoughts, and just what I’m feeling. It’s part of how I communicate.

I have some friends that love love LOVE to journal, and they swear by it. Sometimes they talk about it like it could grow back an arm or something... they believe in it that much. But here’s the thing; while I love to write, I hate the actual action of picking up a pen or pencil and writing. I’m left-handed, so growing up I’d frequently smear ink because my hand would go over what I just wrote. Beyond that, I hate writing because I normally write a lot, and I just don’t like my hand getting all cramped up and hurting from writing too much. That’s an awful lot of hardship, I know.

But beyond that, I never really got the whole journaling thing. I always feel weird when I write. Who am I writing to? Myself? I can’t write something like “Dear journal” or “dear diary;” notebooks don’t have a life. Why would I write to them? Am I writing to God? Why don’t I just talk to Him? It’d be a lot easier and it wouldn’t hurt my hand as much. Plus, it feels more personal. I tried once or twice to journal, and it just never stuck, mostly because I felt super awkward about it.

But recently, I listened to a message that Greg delivered here at Suncrest a few months ago, and in it, he talked about some journals that he kept growing up as he followed Jesus, and so I thought I’d give journaling another try. But this time, I did it with a little bit of a twist. I’d always thought of journaling as being something where I’d either write out stuff about my day (BORING to me at least) or write my prayers to God (which as I mentioned, seems weird to me... why don’t I just pray out loud?). But journaling doesn’t have to be that. In fact, for me, I think that is absolutely what it couldn’t be. That’s just not my style.

What I am doing is everyday, I’m journaling out a few answers to some base-level questions I want to ask myself each day. Instead of looking at this as a journal in the typical sense, I think of my journal as a “spiritual growth tracker.” My hope is that 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 5 years, however long from now, I’ll be able to look back at these tomes of my life and see ways in which God has worked for me and in me over the course of my life.

I ask myself four really basic questions each day when I journal:

• What did I read today? I made a commitment earlier this year to be more diligent about reading my Bible each day, and I’m proud to say that I’ve actually done a pretty good job of honoring that commitment. In order to keep honoring that commitment, I’ve made the choice to base a lot of what I talk about in my own journal about what I’m reading and learning in God’s Word. After all, it is the base of what I believe and the ultimate source of truth.
• What struck me? This is just to ask me, “What got my attention in the passage I just read?” I have this bad tendency of reading the Bible and then not actually thinking about what I read. I feel good because I read, but I don’t actually gain anything because I’m not thinking critically or even applying something. Hopefully asking this question will help me to avoid that.
• What is God teaching me... today? This question sort of serves two purposes for me. Number one, it gives me a chance to make an application of something that I might have just read. But I think more importantly, it makes me think about my day and really evaluate what it is I think God’s teaching me or where I feel God is leading me. Are there some changes of attitude, lifestyle, etc. that God wants me to undertake? Where do I sense the Holy Spirit working or doing something in my life?
• What am I praying about? Pretty self-explanatory. I will offer this up, though. I think it’s okay to be a little selfish when you pray. Jesus prayed for Himself in John 17, so I feel I’m allowed to as well. I try to balance it out though; for every Wes request, I’m going to balance it out with a request on behalf of someone else, so that way I’m spending half my time praying about my stuff, and the other half praying about the needs of other people. For me, that’s been a good balance so far. Maybe it will be for you, too. The benefit of this question is that it also gives me a way to look back in tough times and remember the things I was praying for and to see how God provided (or in some cases, didn’t provide something I thought I needed that really would have been bad for me). That’s cool.

So, that’s how I’m journaling. I think so far, for me, it’s been a worthwhile discipline. You certainly don’t have to follow my basic questions there; they’re just suggestions. In fact, I imagine that after a little while, they’ll get stale, and I’ll need to mix ‘em up a little bit, and maybe drop one or two questions and add two new ones or something. Regardless, thought I’d share that with you. I think I’m seeing journaling cultivate my relationship with Jesus in some cool ways, and I hope that you’ll give it a shot and discover the same for yourself!

Beyond Sunday - TXT: How to Read your Bible: The Misguided

...by Gordon Barker

A good friend of mine was praying to close our community group meeting the other night and he started his prayer thanking God for his continual love and continual grace. His intentional use of the word “continual” has stayed with me. I was reminded of this again in the scripture Greg used this past Sunday. Paul describes all of the reasons that he could use to put confidence in himself: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But of course Paul then corrects this thinking and acknowledges the true source of righteousness; not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. We call this grace. I’ve heard grace best described as “getting something that you don’t deserve”. But when it comes to God’s grace, I want to add the word continual to this definition; “continually getting something that I don’t deserve.” Fortunately for us, this is not a one-time gift, it is truly continual.

Greg left us with another one of those questions on Sunday that we don’t like to think about.

In an honest assessment, I give my heart more to ________________ than to knowing Christ.

I am hopeful that the more I accept and reflect on God’s continual love and continual grace that fewer things will be filling in this blank.

Thanks to Kevin McHugh for a heartfelt prayer.

My Current Reads.

Well, from time to time on here, I mention a few things that I’ve been reading through and encourage you to do the same. I thought for today’s post, I’d throw out two books I’ve been currently working through that I enjoy and think you will as well.

The first book I’ve been reading through is called Know Doubt by John Ortberg. You may recognize that name... John (and his wife, Nancy) are both awesome writers, and you can never go wrong picking up one of their books. Anyway, I’ve really found this to be a great read on the subject of faith, and specifically in embracing uncertainty in our faith; times when we wonder if God is really there, or if we can count on Him in particular aspects of our lives. Ortberg’s thoughts in this book are honest, but also make a lot of sense, and most of all, give hope to people like me who sometimes struggle following God in faith. I’m not finished yet, but I’m about 2/3 of the way through, and I’m really enjoying it. I hope you will too.



The second book I’ve been working through is actually one that I’m doing with our Suncrest Leadership Track guys, and it’s called unChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. Kinnaman is the president of Barna Research Group, and this book is the unpacking of a massive research study that the Barna Group did on the perceptions people outside of the Christian faith (mostly 16-29 year olds) have about those who are Christ followers. I want to be completely honest on here... there are a lot of statistics in this book. They’re definitely explained in an easily understandable way, but be forewarned... there are statistics, so don’t get freaked out.

It’s definitely an interesting (and humbling) study, but very informative. After all, if we’re going to reach out to people around us who don’t believe in Christ, we should at least know how they feel about us; what tensions they are experiencing and what barriers we might be (unknowingly) putting up that are keeping people from coming back to church and discovering a relationship with Jesus Christ. unChristian talks about six major things people feel about Christ followers, and then at the end of each chapter, actually talks about ways in which the church can stand up and reverse some misconceptions that people have of Jesus and his church. Definitely a worthwhile read as we together strive to be a church that cares about people far from God.

That’s what I’ve been reading through lately. I’d love to hear what you’re reading. And if you’ve got nothing to read, there’s two suggestions!

Beyond Sunday - TXT: How to Read your Bible: The Uniqueness

...by Doug Gamble

This text is so good for us to hear. In case you missed it, Paul says to "Do everything WITHOUT complaining or arguing." We can't quickly pass this verse without pausing to reflect the level of complaining and arguing in our own lives. Because we want to be heard or just simply because we think we are exactly right we argue. Because we are discontent and can't see the many positives in our lives we complain.

Paul says the absence of these two things in our lives will make us SHINE in a world filled with complaints and arguments. If you think about it, most news broadcasts are really a series of complaints and arguments. But if we stop and consider what Jesus did. This is the passage just before this one. If we consider who Jesus is, Lord of ALL then we will find it hard to complain.

First, we will see what Jesus went through to provide salvation for us, to make us Children of God once again. Considering what He went through we don't have much to complain about. We will let those petty complaints and arguments fade away.

Second, we will see that as Lord of All, He will make everything right that has been wronged. So for those things we can say we have been legitimately wronged in and are tempted to complain about, we don't have to let them be complaints. We can turn them into prayers. Prayer that Jesus will make them right one day. And we can have faith that He will do it.

I challenged our Hobart Campus this Sunday to drop a quarter in a jar every time they catch themselves (or someone else catches them) complaining or arguing. Likely you will watch the jar fill up with quarters. It will be a reminder (a costly reminder) of how much we do complain and a catalyst to stopping the complaints. At the end of the week, do something good with the money. Give it to a good cause or take a friend out to eat. Redeem the complaining and arguing.

Count Your Many Blessings.

Maybe some of you don’t know this about me, but growing up as a kid in Columbus, Ohio, my family went to church pretty regularly. My home church is a place called Madison Christian Church, and I’m very thankful for a lot of stuff that happened to me while I was there. It was a place where I gained a solid foundation in my faith. Later on in my college years when I went through a bit of a rough patch in terms of my sense of calling in being a worship leader, it was a place where I was able to ease back into ministry with people I knew and loved.

I don’t remember a ton of specifics about any particular church service at Madison, but I do remember our pastor giving a message where he talked about a worship leader who went to Honduras, and in his time there was asked to lead worship at a church service in a Honduran leper colony. As he finished one of the songs, a lady raised a leprosy-stricken hand and asked the worship leader, “Can we sing ‘Count Your Many Blessings’ together?” We don’t sing that hymn at Suncrest, but the chorus lyrics say:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

That story always stuck with me. It’s a reminder that no matter what pit life has us in, we need to count the blessings that God has provided for us. In tough times, it’s easy to complain. Anyone can do that. What sets Christ followers apart is the ability to see God’s hand at work in any and every situation, no matter how dire or difficult it may seem.

This weekend, on my way back from South Bend to visit with a family from my home church who live out there now, my transmission in my car totally gave out about 30 miles away from the Region on 80/90 West. To say I was angry would be an understatement. I had just gotten my car towed and repaired last week for a bad alternator. When my transmission gave out, I knew I was facing a $2000+ repair, which I don’t think any of us would be very excited about. I had an important meeting to go to for school in Cincinnati the very next day, and now I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to get there. This all goes without mentioning that I was missing my family, and now I felt even more alone, stranded 30 miles away from everyone I know here at Suncrest.

But in the midst of that, I knew that God wanted me not to focus on the stuff I hated about my situation, but instead to count the blessings I had. While I was waiting on Bobby Jackson to pick me up, I made a list of a few things in my head that I could be thankful to God for:

1. I am thankful for the way in which my situation happened. Things could have been a lot worse. When my transmission gave out and I only had my forward momentum to propel me along, I just happened to be passing a rest area on the side of the freeway, and I had just enough momentum to get off at that exit and park my car there instead of on the side of the road. Furthermore, it was actually a really nice day, and there was still afternoon sunlight... I would have been way more stressed and panicked had it been in the dark. And thankfully, I was only about 30-40 minutes away from Suncrest. It wasn’t too incredibly far away where I couldn’t get back, or at least get someone to come and pick me up.
2. I am thankful for my dad and mom. When I pulled over on the side of the road, I was just a nervous wreck. I was now stranded away from home, and my head was running at a million miles a second and I didn’t know what to do. So what did I do? I called my dad. And immediately, with calm and cool that was elusive to me, dad helped me think through what to do next and how to handle things. He was on the road, but he called my mom and got her to get a phone number for a towing service for me in like 30 seconds. Without my dad, I probably would still be stranded on the side of the road at this point. This, of course, goes without mentioning that they’re probably going to bear the brunt of a $2000 repair and register nary a complaint with me about it.
3. I am thankful for Bobby (and Beka) Jackson. I couldn’t get a hold of the tow service, so I still had no way to get home. But I called Bobby, and sure enough, he was willing to drop whatever he was doing and come to pick me up on a Sunday evening that I’m sure he would have been much happier spending with his family. I’m extremely thankful for that. And then, to top things off, Bobby and Beka loaned me their car to use for the next little while while I wait on my car to get repaired. Words can’t express how thankful I am for that.

To you, it’s probably not the coolest or sexiest (are you allowed to use that word on the Cultivate blog?) lists. But to me, it was kind of cool to do that, especially in a moment of difficulty and disappointment. I’d definitely encourage you to do the same thing today, regardless of your situation in life. Thinking of the ways in which God has blessed us can always be a really great Cultivate exercise.