...by Bobby Jackson
What a fresh breath of air this series has been for me. In a season where many of us seemed stressed out, did you enjoy laughing as much as I did this week?
And laughter led to reflection as I was challenged this week to answer this tough question, “What do I expect from my God?” Do I expect that He is going to forgive me whenever I ask, that He will support me and make me feel better when I am low, that He will answer my prayers? Should I have expected that Jesus would come to the earth to save me from my sins?
To expect that really puts God into a “You owe me” or “You better deliver” kind of relationship. At best it is a joyless, selfish relationship with little appreciation and feels more like someone fulfilling His side of our contract.
So what can I expect from God? He has promised that He will forgive (1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:12), that He is close to me when I’m down (Psalm 34:18), that He will answer my prayers (John 14:13, 2 Peter 3:9), and that He would come to earth to save me from my sins (Luke 19:10, Philippians 2).
We can expect some things of God, but only because He is like a Father that loves us more than anyone ever could and has chosen to serve rather than be served. I don’t deserve anything but because of His love we can expect a lot of God. In fact, He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
It’s easy to think of what I expect from God, but maybe the better question is what should He expect of me?
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Cultivating Power of Community.
So I think one of the most valuable things that we can do to cultivate our personal relationship with Jesus is to allow others in our circle of friends to influence us and have an effect on us as we follow Christ together.
Obviously, this comes with a few different considerations. This presumes that you are surrounding yourself with people who are going to have a good effect on you. Generally, it's a good principle to remember that who you surround yourself with is who you become. If you want to become more loving, surround yourself with loving people. If you want to become more forgiving, surround yourself with forgiving people. If you want to become more generous, surround yourself with generous people. The opposite is also true, though: if you surround yourself with people who are angry all the time, you'll probably start to cultivate that in your life. The same if you surround yourself with stingy people or sad people or whatever else. It's just a fact of life.
Obviously, this isn't to say you can only spend time with all the greatest people in the world who have incredible commitment to virtues you're trying to build in your life. We are asked by God to be a light to the world, and this means placing ourselves right in the midst of our broken, fallen world - not shielding ourselves from it.
The real question here, though, is who am I allowing to speak into my life? Are they people who are helping to cultivate me as a Christ follower? Or are they people who might actually be destructive to me as a Christ follower? This is especially valuable around the holidays... don't let parties, get-togethers, and all the other hustle and bustle of the Christmas season crowd out the valuable power of community to help cultivate your relationship with Jesus in your life. We all need it!
P.S.: Merry Christmas! Thanks for making my job the best one in the world!
Obviously, this comes with a few different considerations. This presumes that you are surrounding yourself with people who are going to have a good effect on you. Generally, it's a good principle to remember that who you surround yourself with is who you become. If you want to become more loving, surround yourself with loving people. If you want to become more forgiving, surround yourself with forgiving people. If you want to become more generous, surround yourself with generous people. The opposite is also true, though: if you surround yourself with people who are angry all the time, you'll probably start to cultivate that in your life. The same if you surround yourself with stingy people or sad people or whatever else. It's just a fact of life.
Obviously, this isn't to say you can only spend time with all the greatest people in the world who have incredible commitment to virtues you're trying to build in your life. We are asked by God to be a light to the world, and this means placing ourselves right in the midst of our broken, fallen world - not shielding ourselves from it.
The real question here, though, is who am I allowing to speak into my life? Are they people who are helping to cultivate me as a Christ follower? Or are they people who might actually be destructive to me as a Christ follower? This is especially valuable around the holidays... don't let parties, get-togethers, and all the other hustle and bustle of the Christmas season crowd out the valuable power of community to help cultivate your relationship with Jesus in your life. We all need it!
P.S.: Merry Christmas! Thanks for making my job the best one in the world!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Beyond Sunday - The Perfect* Christmas: A Christmas Story
...by Jo Anne Stas
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23
When I reflect on the message this week, I repeatedly come back to Greg’s statement, “The world was broken before Jesus came, while he was here and after he left. Jesus didn’t come into this world to fix everything he came to be with us through everything.” I think about what a powerful statement that can be if I let it permeate my mindset. It can have the power to change my expectations—if I let it.
And often times all it takes is looking at a situation from a different perspective. God’s perspective. That houseful of challenging relatives you’re hosting this Christmas. God says, “I’m with you.” That broken relationship that hurts so much. “I’m with you.” That job you’ve been praying for. “I’m with you.” That health issue you’ve been asking God to heal. “I’m with you.” That bill you don’t know how you’re going to pay. “I’m with you.” That’s the beauty of Christmas—remembering anew how God is with us. He will not leave us alone.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23
When I reflect on the message this week, I repeatedly come back to Greg’s statement, “The world was broken before Jesus came, while he was here and after he left. Jesus didn’t come into this world to fix everything he came to be with us through everything.” I think about what a powerful statement that can be if I let it permeate my mindset. It can have the power to change my expectations—if I let it.
And often times all it takes is looking at a situation from a different perspective. God’s perspective. That houseful of challenging relatives you’re hosting this Christmas. God says, “I’m with you.” That broken relationship that hurts so much. “I’m with you.” That job you’ve been praying for. “I’m with you.” That health issue you’ve been asking God to heal. “I’m with you.” That bill you don’t know how you’re going to pay. “I’m with you.” That’s the beauty of Christmas—remembering anew how God is with us. He will not leave us alone.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Beyond Sunday - Jesus is _____: My Leader?
...by Jeff Sanford
On Sunday, nearly sixty Suncresters made a decision to either follow Jesus for the first time or renew their commitment to following Jesus. So what exactly does it mean to let Jesus be your leader and where do we start?
I’m certainly not an expert on leadership or on Jesus, but I do know that if Jesus is LEADING you, then you must be FOLLOWING him. In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells his followers that, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
Wow! Luke 9:23 is an extremely challenging passage, but it gets at the core of what it means to truly follow Jesus. First of all, it’s a daily commitment. With all that’s going on in the world today and all the things that are guaranteed to satisfy us, it’s easy to lose track of what or who it is that’s influencing our decisions on a daily basis. Often times, I veer off the right path but Jesus reminds us that we must commit daily to pursuing him.
Jesus also tells us to take up our cross and follow him. What does that mean? To me, it means that I must reject the things that get in my way of spending time in his Word, praying over Scripture, and pursuing him so that I can know the way that Jesus is leading. It means that I must do the things that Jesus does rather than what comes naturally or feels comfortable. It means that I must reject what earns the praise of men and concentrate on what pleases God. It means I must love when I’d rather seek revenge. It means I must offer grace and forgiveness when I feel like holding a grudge. It means I must serve when I’d rather sit back in comfort. It means I must have hard conversations when I’d rather not ruffle any feathers. It means I must be patient when I’d rather lose my temper. And it means that I must give generously when I’d rather save or pursue my own desires.
Following Jesus also means that I probably won’t look or act like everyone else around me. Following Jesus means that a lot of people will probably disagree with my decisions. Following Jesus means that I will have to make sacrifices in this life. But a life of following Jesus offers love, grace, peace, hope, strength, joy, contentment, and abundant life that you will find in nothing or no one else. And when you’re following Jesus, you understand that the benefits last for eternity!
On Sunday, nearly sixty Suncresters made a decision to either follow Jesus for the first time or renew their commitment to following Jesus. So what exactly does it mean to let Jesus be your leader and where do we start?
I’m certainly not an expert on leadership or on Jesus, but I do know that if Jesus is LEADING you, then you must be FOLLOWING him. In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells his followers that, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
Wow! Luke 9:23 is an extremely challenging passage, but it gets at the core of what it means to truly follow Jesus. First of all, it’s a daily commitment. With all that’s going on in the world today and all the things that are guaranteed to satisfy us, it’s easy to lose track of what or who it is that’s influencing our decisions on a daily basis. Often times, I veer off the right path but Jesus reminds us that we must commit daily to pursuing him.
Jesus also tells us to take up our cross and follow him. What does that mean? To me, it means that I must reject the things that get in my way of spending time in his Word, praying over Scripture, and pursuing him so that I can know the way that Jesus is leading. It means that I must do the things that Jesus does rather than what comes naturally or feels comfortable. It means that I must reject what earns the praise of men and concentrate on what pleases God. It means I must love when I’d rather seek revenge. It means I must offer grace and forgiveness when I feel like holding a grudge. It means I must serve when I’d rather sit back in comfort. It means I must have hard conversations when I’d rather not ruffle any feathers. It means I must be patient when I’d rather lose my temper. And it means that I must give generously when I’d rather save or pursue my own desires.
Following Jesus also means that I probably won’t look or act like everyone else around me. Following Jesus means that a lot of people will probably disagree with my decisions. Following Jesus means that I will have to make sacrifices in this life. But a life of following Jesus offers love, grace, peace, hope, strength, joy, contentment, and abundant life that you will find in nothing or no one else. And when you’re following Jesus, you understand that the benefits last for eternity!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Listen, Listen, Listen!
So this week on the good ol' Cultivate blog, I thought I'd tell you about a resource that I've been getting some really great use out of over the past few months and I think that you will too.
If you read my blog, you are probably acquainted with my Andy Stanley man crush (I still blame Greg Lee). He's a great teacher and pastor at a place called North Point Community Church in Atlanta. I don't know exactly how I got started listening to this guy teach and preach, but once I did, I was hooked. He's got a lot of wisdom and insight, and anytime I find something (whether it be a book, a sermon, a video, whatever) with his name on it, I try my best to carve out some time so I can listen to it.
But today I am here to tell you about North Point's podcast. Basically, this is a way you can subscribe to their weekly messages, many of which are from Andy, but some are from other teachers at North Point. On my drives to and from Cincinnati each week, I mostly listen to music, but I usually take some time to listen to one or two messages, most of which are from North Point. I always walk away with some great insights - I especially loved their Guardrails series from back in the spring.
To subscribe to get these messages, simply go to the "Podcast" section of iTunes and type in North Point Community Church, and you'll find it. Hit subscribe, and your iTunes library will automatically download new messages when they are posted each week. If you aren't an iTunes user, simply go to www.northpoint.org and hit the "messages" tab, and you can download that week's current message. You can even watch them online there if you'd like as well.
This is seriously a great way to help cultivate your personal relationship with Jesus even further! Check it out! And if you're interested in more stuff like this, check out the North Point Ministries podcast. For something with more of a leadership bent, check out the Andy Stanley Leadership podcast.
Happy listening!
If you read my blog, you are probably acquainted with my Andy Stanley man crush (I still blame Greg Lee). He's a great teacher and pastor at a place called North Point Community Church in Atlanta. I don't know exactly how I got started listening to this guy teach and preach, but once I did, I was hooked. He's got a lot of wisdom and insight, and anytime I find something (whether it be a book, a sermon, a video, whatever) with his name on it, I try my best to carve out some time so I can listen to it.
But today I am here to tell you about North Point's podcast. Basically, this is a way you can subscribe to their weekly messages, many of which are from Andy, but some are from other teachers at North Point. On my drives to and from Cincinnati each week, I mostly listen to music, but I usually take some time to listen to one or two messages, most of which are from North Point. I always walk away with some great insights - I especially loved their Guardrails series from back in the spring.
To subscribe to get these messages, simply go to the "Podcast" section of iTunes and type in North Point Community Church, and you'll find it. Hit subscribe, and your iTunes library will automatically download new messages when they are posted each week. If you aren't an iTunes user, simply go to www.northpoint.org and hit the "messages" tab, and you can download that week's current message. You can even watch them online there if you'd like as well.
This is seriously a great way to help cultivate your personal relationship with Jesus even further! Check it out! And if you're interested in more stuff like this, check out the North Point Ministries podcast. For something with more of a leadership bent, check out the Andy Stanley Leadership podcast.
Happy listening!
Beyond Sunday: Jesus is _______: Extreme Forgiver?
...by Kevin McHugh
On my Mother's side of my family I have many Aunts and Uncles; and there are several relationship problems scattered between them. This one Aunt won't speak to another because of something in the sixties. Another one has a different problem with a different one, also from the distant past. My Mom held grudges against several of them; and she occasionally would tell me about her grievances. Well they were not minor, but they were not that awful either, but it seemed nobody was willing to forgive.
Aren't we lucky our God is beyond all that? I have to admit that the enormity of God's capacity to forgive is something that is hard for me to fully understand. My sins are many; I try to do better each day but still fall short each day. Yet I can come to God with faith and sincerity and He will forgive me over and over and over again? Yes He can and He will because of what Jesus did for us!
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
Andy did a beautiful job walking us through Romans 3.
To be righteous means to be in good standing with God - can't we just be totally good on our own? "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law, rather through the law we become conscious of our sin." - Romans 3:20
So I need a savior, so does everyone reading this. Here's the extreme, yet beautiful truth.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." - Romans 3:23-24
Andy, thanks for reminding us about this remarkable truth - my Mom & her sisters can testify how hard it can be for humans to forgive, but our God is so much bigger and provided us all a path through Jesus.
On my Mother's side of my family I have many Aunts and Uncles; and there are several relationship problems scattered between them. This one Aunt won't speak to another because of something in the sixties. Another one has a different problem with a different one, also from the distant past. My Mom held grudges against several of them; and she occasionally would tell me about her grievances. Well they were not minor, but they were not that awful either, but it seemed nobody was willing to forgive.
Aren't we lucky our God is beyond all that? I have to admit that the enormity of God's capacity to forgive is something that is hard for me to fully understand. My sins are many; I try to do better each day but still fall short each day. Yet I can come to God with faith and sincerity and He will forgive me over and over and over again? Yes He can and He will because of what Jesus did for us!
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
Andy did a beautiful job walking us through Romans 3.
To be righteous means to be in good standing with God - can't we just be totally good on our own? "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law, rather through the law we become conscious of our sin." - Romans 3:20
So I need a savior, so does everyone reading this. Here's the extreme, yet beautiful truth.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." - Romans 3:23-24
Andy, thanks for reminding us about this remarkable truth - my Mom & her sisters can testify how hard it can be for humans to forgive, but our God is so much bigger and provided us all a path through Jesus.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Prodigal God.
Basically, in this book, Keller (who's a pastor of a 6,000 member church in Manhattan) takes the story of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15 and absolutely turns it on its head. Most of the time, we spend any time analyzing that story talking about the son that took his inheritance, went away, blew it all, and came back, only to discover his father extending the hand of open fellowship to him. We do this for good reason; it's a key part of the story. But Keller's point in this book is that really, there are two lost sons: the son who went away and came back and also the older son; the one who never left. This son did all the right things; he did what his father asked, he never left home. However, in the end of the story, we discover that by refusing to come in and celebrate the recovery of his lost younger brother that it's the older son who's really lost.
I think this book hit me square between the eyes because it captures a spiritual principle that I believe God has been teaching me over the past several months, and that's that God doesn't owe me anything. Keller's point in this whole book is that the sin of both sons in this story is the same. They both wanted to take control of their lives and get what they wanted or felt they deserved instead of what the father wanted for them. The younger son chose to do this just by doing his own thing and charting his own course in life. The older son did this by obeying, but obeying with this expectation that it in some way entitled the father to give him stuff. We can do the same thing spiritually (at least I do); we can do all the right stuff on the outside, but if deep down it's really just to manipulate God into getting what we want, then our acts are no more righteous than the wild living of the "younger brothers" of the world in which we live. The solution is to first understand the saving love of Christ for us on the cross, and to see that God has already given us everything. We need to let the cross transform us into people who serve out of loving affection, not selfish motives or dutiful obligation.
This book is great, and if you read one thing I've posted about on here, I hope that this is it. It's an easy read, only 133 pages, and it's well worth it. Once I picked it up, I had a tough time setting it down... I pretty much finished it in one sitting!
And whatever you do, I hope that you take some time to have an awesome dinner with family and friends and give thanks for all that God has given. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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