ONE | One flesh. One focus.

New Series Text Messenger

2011-11-20T08:27:00.004-05:00

What happens when the people of God grow stale? Lose their passion? Misplace their mojo? Is it truly worship when all we are doing is going through the motions or does God desire something more from his people?

Sunday, November 27 we will begin a new series called Text Messenger from the book of Malachi.

Hope to see you there!

20 Basic Beliefs Introduction

2011-03-25T12:07:00.002-04:00

We begin our new series "20" Sunday, April 3. Here is a brief video introduction.

LiveStrong - New Series Begins This Sunday

2011-01-03T20:10:00.007-05:00

This Sunday we begin our new series - LiveStrong. Here is a short video preview of what the series will be about.

We will be serving breakfast so please bring your favorite breakfast food to share.

See you Sunday!

ONE. Period.

2010-11-05T08:06:00.002-04:00

One, unity, together.

One is how God's word describes the union of man and woman (Genesis 2:24).

Unity is what Jesus prayed for all believers so that by our love and our unity the world would know him (John 17).

Together is how we are commanded to live (Ephesians 4:1-6).

This Sunday we begin the second half of Ephesians - what God commands us to do in light of what he has done (Ephesians chapters 1-3) and bring your favorite breakfast dish to share.

See you Sunday.

New Series - Ephesians - Life in the Balance - Begins

2010-08-20T07:22:00.003-04:00

Join us Sunday, August 29th as we introduce our new series, Life in the Balance, an expository study through the book of Ephesians.

Colossians Week 8 Preview / homework

2010-07-21T06:58:00.003-04:00

This Sunday we will be in chapter three of Colossians. Your homework before Sunday is to watch the following movie trailer and to see if there are any theological implications between the characters in the movie and the life of the believer.

See you Sunday!

ONE Ice Cream Social Pics - May 2010

2010-07-13T09:25:00.002-04:00

This May ONE gathered together for our annual Ice Cream social. Originally we had planned on having the event at one of the local parks but were soon forced to relocate due to some strong thunderstorms. A huge thanks to Josh and Michelle for opening up their home to us!

Colossians Week 3 - New Address - New Kingdom

2010-07-12T13:28:00.003-04:00

Colossians 1:11-14

How many times have you moved? I hate moving. The packing, unpacking, sorting through all the junk, the lifting. For weeks you feel disorganized, the new surroundings seem strange and it takes a while before you feel like you are home.

Colossians 1:11-14 speaks about something wonderful God has done through Jesus in that He has provided a new, permanent, eternal address for the people of God. God through Jesus has provided a new Kingdom for believers to live in.

Colossians 1:11 Paul prays for strength, endurance, and joy.
Colossians 1:12 Paul says we should give thanks to our Father.
Colossians 1:13 States that our Father has moved us.
Colossians 1:14 States that this move was made possible through Jesus.

One of the best ways to understand what God has done for us in these verses is to begin at the end…sort of a Colossians rewind. This is important because if you begin with what God has done for us through Jesus, vs 14, then your natural reaction should be to give thanks and living in this reality should give you some measure of strength, endurance, and joy. To begin with strength, endurance, and joy could lead some to try and muster these themselves which is a works based religion and not the gospel.

Colossians 1:13-14 states two things:

1. He has delivered/transferred us
2. We have redemption/forgiveness

Let’s look at both of these.

1. Redemption and forgiveness of sins – Ephesians 1:7.

Scripture says that we have redemption and forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus. At the cross something scandalous happened, something unheard of happened. The only son dog God was brutally executed and as Jesus hung on the cross He literally became our sin. This means that Jesus, who knew no sin, became all of our sins, as they were placed upon Him. At the cross God the Father poured out all the wrath, judgment, condemnation, and anger upon Jesus that was meant for you and I.

God the Father, through Jesus, used the very blood of Jesus to purchase us (redeem us) from this dark, sin filled world and pulled us out of our sins to Himself. At the cross Jesus paid for sin, and not only did He take on our sin but God placed the righteousness of Jesus upon us and in this act we were purchased. Jesus purchased us and God delivered us – Colossians 1:13.

2. God has delivered/transferred us.

God transferred us to the Kingdom of the Son. This is a one time move for all eternity. People apart from Jesus are spiritual nomads wandering from philosophy to philosophy, religion to religion, belief to unbelief.

This is one of Satan’s primary means of attacking us. He tries to confuse us, to convince us that it is you and I who do the moving so sometimes we live in great flux as we move from great confidence to great doubt.

The book of Hebrews talks about those in Christ who enter into His rest. God has transferred us from this age to His kingdom and our address resides not at 3232 Alcoa, Hwy, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, or your neighborhood but in the Kingdom of the Son.

Colossians 1:12 Because of Jesus we are qualified for a share on a great inheritance ad as a result our hearts overflow with thanksgiving to our Father.

Colossians 1:11 It is through this good news that we have any strength – strength for today, endurance – endurance for a lifetime of loving God, and patience and joy.

Do you live in the light of where your eternal address is?

Colossians Week 2 - New Knowledge

2010-06-30T11:23:00.003-04:00

Colossians 1:9-10

In Colossians 1:9 Paul tells the church that since he has heard of them that he has not stopped praying for them. This is a powerful word of encouragement. Has God ever brought someone to your mind? Someone you haven’t though about in a long time? Someone out of the blue? Yet for some reason they come to mind or you have a dream about them, a passing thought or maybe even a pressing burden for them?

Stop and do two things – 1. Pray for them. There is a reason God has placed them on your mind. 2. Call them immediately to check on them, to encourage them, and to let them know you are praying for them.

Paul, Timothy, and Epaphras pray non-stop for the Colossians. What is their request? What are they praying for?

Colossians 1:9 That they be filled with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Not just any knowledge, wisdom, or understanding but His. Not just to know but to be filled so as to leave room for nothing else.

The Bible speaks of two kinds of wisdom:

Wisdom of this world – 1 Corinthians 3:19
Wisdom of God – Romans 11:33

In the time we have this morning I want to briefly look at both kinds of wisdom the Bible speaks about.

1. Wisdom of this world. Genesis 3:1-7

Satan, for a time, rules over this world 2 Corinthians 4:4 and as the ruler of this world he preaches a false view of wisdom into the hearts and minds of men. The center of this message is found in Genesis and is this:

You don’t need God

You don’t need to obey God

God is trying to restrict you/hold you back

God is trying to prevent you from being happy

You can be wise like God

You can be your own God

Adam and Eve disobeyed God and in their disobedience they did become wise. Was their new found wisdom good?

No!

Once they disobeyed they immediately became wise to both good and evil – before they had only know good. Before Adam and Eve only were wise to life and now they are wise to death. Before they were naked and knew no shame and yet after they realized they were naked, they became self-conscious, afraid, un-trusting.

Worldly wisdom never brings joy. God wasn’t trying to hide anything from our first parents…He was trying to protect them. Scripture repeatedly refers to God as our Father and as our Father He wants to protect us.

There are many things I never want to be wise about. Such as how to be an expert at launching a turkey from a turkey fryer. Or how many fat grams are in a funnel cake. I just want to eat my funnel cake. Or how many corn dogs I can eat at the fair before loosing them on the scrambler….there are just some things I don’t want to be the expert at.

As a dad there are many things I never want my children to be wise about. I never want my children to be the experts on divorce or how to live comfortably between two homes (mom’s house and dad’s house). I never want my children to be wise at deception or wise at lying.

James 3:13-15 says that the wisdom of this world is full of bitterness, jealousy, selfish ambition, brags, lies, and is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

From the very beginning the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God have stood opposed and over time have grown more and more apart.

Here are just a few examples:

The wisdom of this world says – it’s all about me. This line of thought comes from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs published in 1943 [link]. The model is that of a pyramid where man’s greatest needs are food, shelter, and clothing. The summit is what is referred to as man’s greatest need which is self-actualization. Being all you can be, reaching your full potential. In Maslow’s model man’s greatest need is to glorify self – not God. Make all the money you can make, be as healthy as you can be, be as influential and as affluent as you can be.

The wisdom of this world says – Women who stay at home to raise their children are fools. It is a waste of your time, a waste of your talent, and a waste of your degree because in doing so you are not glorifying self – see number 1. The thought is that if you aren’t producing for a corporation, company, or organization then you are somehow wasting your life as if pouring your time, energy, and talents into your children were a waste. When did being a full time mother, by choice, make women a second class citizen? The answer is it didn’t until the 1960’s and 70’s when feminism came into full swing.

The wisdom of this world says – Man is an animal. There is no God, we are here by chance and any dignity, value or worth we possess is directly linked to our productivity, usefulness, and output. This means the old and the weak have no value – See Nietzsche, Marx, Freud, Hitler, Social Darwinism.

The wisdom of this world says – Children are a burden, something to have, but expensive. When you and your wife talk about children do you ask…..What does God have planned for our family or how many can we afford? Reuters recently released a news story [link] where the USDA reported that for a family to raise a child from birth to 18 in the USA it will cost $475,680.00 and tack on an addition $130,000.00 if you want to send them to college. I have two questions regarding this report – 1. Why is the department of agriculture doing a report on the cost of raising children and 2. Why would someone put a price tag on a child?

Proverbs 14:12 says “there is a way that seems right to man but in the end it leads to death.” 1 Corinthians 3:19 says that our wisdom is “foolishness to God.”

The wisdom of this world says the beginning of knowledge is education.

The Bible says that Proverbs 1:7 the beginning of knowledge is fear of the Lord. The wisdom of this world begins and ends with self. The wisdom of God begins with God, it is hidden in Jesus (Colossians 2:2-3), is given freely by God (James 1:5), and it ends with Jesus (Revelation 5:12).

Why is this important?

Colossians 1:10 This is important because what you know, what you are wise in is linked to how you live. If your heart is full of worldly wisdom, self seeking, me focused, bitter jealousy then your lips may claim Christ but your very life will deny Him.

What your are wise in will empower you to choose or act to consistently produce the optimal results. 1 Corinthians 3:18 says that if we think we are wise by the standards of this world we should become fools so that we might be wise.

I am not anti-education not are the scriptures. What I am warning against is the influence of the world, the old knowledge, the message from the garden:

You don’t need God

You don’t need to obey God

God is trying to restrict you/hold you back

God is trying to prevent you from being happy

You can be wise like God

You can be your own God

The new knowledge that Christ wants to fill our hearts and our heads with is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3 – “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.” Christ crucified in our place for our sins, buried dead because of our deeds, raised by God the father as the first, a prototype of all who will be raised who belong to Him to the glory of God.

This is critical as what we are wise in directly links to how we life, how we will organize and live out our lives.

Are you wise in the eyes of the world?

Or does your wisdom come from God?

Colossians Week 1 - Intro - Fast Facts

2010-06-11T17:49:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday we began our new series, Kingdom Living, from the book of Colossians.

Here are some fast facts about this great book of scripture.

1. Written by Paul with Timothy also mentioned - Colossians 1:1

2. The book is written to faithful believers of Jesus in Colossae - Colossians 1:2

3. The church was not planted by Paul but by Epaphras - Colossians 1:7

4. The church was faithful, loving, healthy, hopeful, and inclusive of all believers - Colossians

1:4-6

5. The overarching theme of the book is the preeminence of Jesus - Colossians 1:15-20

6. One of the reasons the book was written was to help the church and all believers combat the

many external pressures trying to change the gospel or water it down.

7. The book is four chapters.

8. It will take us 8 - 10 weeks to complete.

This Sunday we will look at Colossians 1:9-14 - new wisdom and new kingdom because what you know plays out in how and where you live.

See you Sunday!

Kingdom Living - New Series on Colossians begins...this Sunday

2010-06-01T14:24:00.000-04:00

Join us this Sunday as we begin a new series from the book of Colossians...Kingdom Living.

All Lessons...ONE Place....sort of

2010-05-21T14:19:00.011-04:00

Here at ONE we have had the privilege of going through several books of the Bible together as well as several topical studies including:

1. Vintage Jesus
2. 1 John - Real.Life.
3. Tough Guy
4. Johnah
5. Galatians - Freedom
6. B the Church
7. Romans
8. Chuck Swindoll on Marriage
9. 2 hot 4 church?
10. Esther

I have put this post together to help you easily access any of these by clicking on the link or picture. You can also look under the "tags" list to the bottom right of the page and find information posted here by subject or title. Please note that some of the lessons are incomplete..if there is something you would like more information on or if you have a question feel free to post it in the comment section. Blessings! ONE

REAL. LIFE [LINK] STUDY OF 1 JOHN

Esther Week 2 - How to lose a girl in 187 days - part 1

2010-03-17T12:08:00.002-04:00

Esther 1:1-22
Xerxes is three years into his reign and gives a feast and not just any feast a feast that lasts for 180 days. Governors, officials, servants, two armies, nobles are all in attendance with the sole purpose of the feast to showcase the glory, splendor, pomp and riches of Xerxes’ glory.

At the end of the 180 day feast Xerxes throws another feast, a 7 day party to celebrate how great he is and to celebrate the fact that they just celebrated him for 180 days. The 7 day feast is filled with drinking and lots of it, Esther 1:8, and these guys party like it is 1999 B.C. Finally at the of the 187 days, after all the posturing and parading the king, Esther 1:10, merry with wine decides there is still something to prove, someone to impress and he calls upon his eunuchs to summons Queen Vashti to the feast so that he can show her off. Vashti is Xerxes’ queen, she’s hot, and he wants the guys to be impressed.
The queen wisely refuses and puts the king in a very awkward situation. For 187 days Xerxes has been showing the known world his possessions and his great glory and power and the refusal of his wife has him scrambling to save face. The king seeks the counsel of his advisors and they give him advice as follows: 1. banish the queen from your presence forever and 2. Make a law stating that women should obey their husbands (seems that Xerxes wasn’t the only man in the kingdom trying to get his wife to do what he wanted).

Now keep in mind that Xerxes is not just a king, but king of the most powerful empire in the world at this time. He rules most of the known world, 127 provinces, that stretches from Indian to Ethiopia, about 2400 miles. Xerxes was successful in battle, conquered lands, had thousands under his command, nobles and officials reported to him and he had servants that answered his call day and night. Yet in spite of his great power, many possessions, past successes, and present position King Xerxes’ home is destroyed, his marriage falls apart and while he might be a great leader of the Persian empire when it comes to leading his family he fails miserably and in 187 days he loses his girl.

How?

Many men struggle with similar situations today. You are successful, make great money, have a great career, are well respected by your peers, yet your home life is a wreck, your marriage is filled with tension, anger, and lack of intimacy.

Your wife may still be with you in body but has already checked out emotionally and mentally.

Here are 9 pitfalls to avoid keeping from losing your girl, we will cover 2 today.

#1. Xerxes was self-centered Esther 1:3-4

Notice that everything is about Xerxes, his glory, his wealth, his possessions, there is no mention of any supporting cast and no mention of his wife.
Today this might look like, my hobbies, my friends, my job, my money, my vacation, my time, my bank account, me, me, me.

Did you know that when you get married there is no more “me”?

Ephesians 5:31-32 states that God’s original plan for marriage was for one man and one woman to come together to form one, new life….two shall become one!

Ephesians 5:31 the scripture says that marriage is a picture of our salvation. The good news that we proclaim about Jesus, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, is that Jesus dies for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day. The very moment someone calls on the name of Jesus to save them, Romans 10:13, Jesus saves them from their sins. God forgives the sinner and imputes the sin onto Christ and takes the righteousness of Christ and imputes it onto the sinner. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that those saved by Christ are new creations, that the old no longer exists and Galatians 2:20 says that the old was executed with Jesus! Dead! Alive no more.

Scripture, Ephesians 5:31-31, says that marriage is a picture of this reality. Two people, individuals with individual desires, goals, dreams, wishes, lives – come together and they become one new person instead of just two people living together.

Just as in Christ we are new creations in marriage our old lives of me, me, me die and we become one new person living a new life together with dreams together, goals together, living as one.

Marriage isn’t about me…it is about us.

Question? Have you been crucified with Christ? Have you received the gospel? Doe you marriage reflect salvation or does it reflect a life revolving around you? What areas of your old life do you need to crucify today?

#2 Xerxes was a control freak, Esther 1:5-6

Not only was Xerxes self-centered but he was a control freak who micromanaged his home…just look at the décor! Gold and silver couches? Notice there is no mention of potpourri, no throw pillows, no sea shells on the back of the toilet, just cold hard furniture. Men are notorious for seeing something they like and then buying everything the same. That is why when you open a man’s closet you see two pairs of jeans and seven hundred t-shirts…all the same style and color.

Have you even visited a single guy who has a job and his own house? Black leather furniture everywhere. Black sofa, black matching chairs, even black toilet seat covers. Men generally and especially single men do not have good taste. That is why in Genesis 2:18 God said…”It is not good for the man to be alone..” The garden was a place of beauty and He knew that if he left the man alone too long that man would jack it up.

Xerxes micromanaged his home, there was no sign of a woman’s touch anywhere. Esther 1:7 says that Xerxes didn’t even have matching cups! He gave his guys the Star Wars goblet to drink from, the NASCAR goblet to drink from, the goblet he stole from Pizza Hut.

Please let your wife take over! Please let her put her feminine touch on things.

“But every time I do that we end up painting the living room 212 times!”

That’s OK. Relinquish control of the decorating. Most women flourish when they can freely decorate their homes and in time you will see what was once a cold castle filled with black leather sofas become a warm, inviting home.

Ask yourself…”Why do I have or feel the need to micromanage everything”?

Our marriages should never be about us, us controlling everything. Being a self-centered, controlling jerk will kill our marriages.

Dying to self, being crucified with Christ, loving our wives with the love of Jesus is what we are called and commanded to do.

And we do this for God’s glory and our benefit.

Will you repent of your self-centeredness?
Will you give up trying to control every minute detail in your home?

Next week we will look at the other 7 pitfalls to avoid.

Introduction - Book of Esther

2010-03-15T17:36:00.002-04:00

Esther 1:1-3

This is how the book of Esther begins. Esther is the seventeenth book of the Bible, sandwiched between Nehemiah and Job. Esther is classified in the historical writings and is a relatively short book, only ten chapters, yet it is a powerful and practical book and contains one of the greatest plot lines in all the Bible, dare I say all of literature?

This book of the Bible is a fascinating, historical, account of Esther and her rags to riches tale. Esther is sort of the Princess Diana of her day if you will. She is raised by her uncle, Moredecai, and chosen to be queen. During the course of the book an evil sinister plot is uncovered…it appears that the #2 man in charge of the kingdom wants to kill Esther’s uncle and not only that but to destroy all of God’s people and in a bold move Esther risks her life in an attempt to rescue them. Hollywood only wishes it could right stories this good.

The book of Esther involves a kingdom – the Persian Empire from Ethiopia to India – Esther 1:1:1, roughly 2400 miles, made up of 127 provinces. Esther involves a king, Xerxes, the same Xerxes very loosely portrayed in the film 300 where the Spartans battle the Persians at Thermopile.

Problems with Esther?

Some scholars, and I use the term loosely, question the book of Esther…is it scripture?...is it historical?...did it really happen or is it just a good story made up to explain a common Jewish festival, Purim?

Why do some have problems with the book of Esther? Here are a couple of reasons they point to:

Author unknown – the author could be Esther’s uncle Mordecai, he certainly knew the story very well, but the fact of the matter is that we just don’t know.
No mention of God – the book of Esther never mentions God, the law, the temple, and so many question if such a book should be in the Bible.

If there are questions or concerns over the book of Esther why are we going to study it?

Esther is scripture. As early as 250 B.C. we have complete copies of the Old Testament. It is important to know that our Bible was not put together by councils or committees. The Bible and the sixty-six books contained between Genesis and Revelation rose to the top among many many historical accounts, letters, other songs, other proverbs as special writings agreed upon independently by various people over time not hand selected by men for one reason and one reason only….the are the words of God not man.
2 Timothy 3:16 because Esther is scripture and “all scripture is God breathed, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.”
We can see God’s power and sovereignty all through the book.

Very often you and I ask questions like…where is God today? In the world with so much tragedy like Haiti or Chile where is God? If there is a God how could he stand by and let this happen? Where is God in government today or in my family with so many lost people or in my marriage when we are hurting so badly? Some of you in reading this are thinking, “I just don’t see God or feel God or sense His presence!”

Yet God is active and present. He is not hiding but sometimes He is hidden. Isn’t it ironic that Esther in Hebrew means hidden?

Without Esther there is no Jesus.

Genesis 3 sin enters into the picture as our first parents disobeyed God and very shortly after Genesis 3:15 God does something wonderful and promises a savior, a deliverer, a redeemer…Jesus! Genesis 12 we see the focus narrow down to one man, Abraham and God promises to bless the nations through Abraham and over and over again and again God enters into one covenant after another with man promising a deliverer.

The book of Esther tells of a plot to destroy God’s people which would include the line of David and without Esther, if the Jewish people are destroyed the line of David is destroyed.

Yet God is faithful.

Psalm 115:3 says “Our God is in the heavens, He does all that He pleases.”

God can’t be touched, nothing can frustrate His plans, God does all that He pleases and through Esther we see God’s mighty hand moving, always faithful, keeping all of His promises as 500 years or so later we see the King of King and Lord of Lords lay aside His heavenly glory, condescending to us becoming one of us being born among us in Bethlehem, in a manger, Immanuel God with us, Jesus, Son of God, savior of man!

Esther - Week 2 - How to lose a girl in 187 days

2010-03-11T09:31:00.003-05:00

Last week we kicked off our new series on Esther by walking through some of the background behind the book, the purpose of the book, problems some people have with the book, and why we as God's people will study the book.

This week we will dig right into the scriptures, walk through the original, historical context of the text and then see how we can apply the scriptures to our lives.

See you Sunday!

Esther - This Sunday

2010-03-01T07:09:00.004-05:00

This Sunday we begin our series on Esther.

Please make plans to join us for breakfast as we begin with an introduction of this great book of our Bible.

See you Sunday.

2 hot 4 church? Your Questions Answered

2010-02-15T06:51:00.002-05:00

2 hot 4 church? Your questions - Answered

During our 2 hot 4 church? Series you submitted several questions you would like more information on. Please note that these are not exhaustive answers to each topic nor are the below scripture references the only scriptures found in the Bible in regards to answering these questions. This is an effort to answer your questions with truth and with brevity.

1. In light of last Sunday’s lesson on family planning are you saying we all have to be Duggarliscious and have nineteen children? No, first not every woman will be physically capable of having that many children and secondly it is God who gives children, God who creates life….not us. See Genesis 1, 29:31, 20:18, Psalm 139-13-14, Psalm 127:3-5

2. Are you saying that birth control and fertility drugs are wrong? No. Not all birth control and fertility drugs are wrong. What I am saying is that believing that we control life is wrong and putting faith and trust in anything other than Jesus is idolatry. Also, some forms of birth control can cause abortions by stopping a fertilized egg from implanting like the morning after pill and the copper and progestasert IUD.

3. Is abortion ever OK? No in the sense of abortion on demand, abortion out of convenience or abortion as a last means of birth control. We make arguments around definitions like – fetus/baby, tissue over a person but the Bible does not make this distinction. Luke 1:41, 1:44, 2:12, 2:16 all use the same Greek word for baby making no distinction between born and unborn. I will not say never as there are rare cases which might warrant such procedures but those are rare – 2004 over 1.2 million abortions performed, 95% were for birth control reasons! Less than 1% were due to the mother’s health and less than 3% due to rape

4. What is the Bible’s view of capital punishment. Yes – See Leviticus and Deuteronomy

5. Is tithing a requirement? Requirement for what? Salvation? No! As believers should we give to support the church God has called us to? Yes above and beyond the tithe. Malachi 3:6-10, Matthew, 10:8, 19:21 – everything we have is given to us freely by God and as His children we are to give freely to those in need

6. Can any of the defendants in the Newsome/Christiansome case go to heaven after committing such horrible acts? What if they become saved while they are in jail? Yes if they are born again. We often say “you must ask Jesus into your heart” but what does that mean? The Bible never uses that language. It does speak of repentance and faith – 2 Corinthians 7:10, 1 John 4:10 Jesus is our propitiation taking on all of God’s wrath at the cross in our place for our sins…all sins, meaning at the time of the cross Jesus became a murder, a thief, a liar, a blasphemer etc and paid the full penalty 1 Peter 3:18 that is why His grace is so amazing!

7. What does the Bible have to say about women preachers? Women are not to be preachers – The Bible clearly outlines the qualifications for pastors/overseers in 1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:6 also women are to never be in a teaching position over men 1 Timothy 2:11-12

8. Homosexuality, how do we love the sinner but hate the sin? 1. Remember that homosexuality is a sin, a sin that God hates and has given the death penalty to – Leviticus 20:13, 1 Corinthians 6:9 those who practice will not inherit God’s Kingdom, Romans 1:26-27 against the laws of nature. 2. Love them – pray for them, give them a Bible, invite them to church, small group, Bible Fellowship, share Jesus with them and how only He can save them and how only He alone can forgive them. If they claim to be a follower of Jesus you have to look at 1 Corinthians 5:9-13.

9. What constitutes a Godly sex life with your spouse? How often is normal? What’s OK and what isn’t? The Bible doesn’t give lists of acts that are and aren’t permissible within a marriage and it doesn’t speak to specific frequency. Why? Because of our tendency to take something beautiful, like sex which is a gift from God and to moralize it calling things good and bad and seeing it as a contract verses a loving act between a husband and wife. God’s original plan, Genesis 2:24, is that one man would be united with one woman for one lifetime becoming one flesh and making the Song of Solomon sing which contains some very explicit details. 1 Corinthians 7:1-5 does promote fostering a healthy sex life with your spouse. Yet we live in a culture where many have been sexually abused and used which makes intimacy difficult so you may need to seek counseling to deal with the past, past sins committed by you and committed against you. Also, it is sinful to use your partner as a means to an end – to satisfy your sexual addiction, to perform as a baby maker etc

10. If someone is raised in an Islamic controlled environment, and never has a chance to accept Christ, is that person condemned to hell? What if they live a moral life, they don’t steal, kill, covet, commit adultery, use God’s name in vain, etc. The just live a moral life, but not under Christian or Biblical rules, is that soul condemned? The question posed here really is…can religion save someone? If they follow the rules can they get into heaven? The answer is no. First, the Bible says that there is no one who is or does good – Romans 3:10-12 everyone sins, everyone deserves to be punished, to die, to be condemned. Yet God loves us John 3:16 and has provided one way for us to be forgiven and that is through Jesus. Romans 5:8, 1 Timothy 2:5, Jesus said He is the only way John 14:6 – Therefore the urgency of the great commission is upon us to share with family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, near and far for all who die without Christ die in their sins and will be condemned to hell for eternity. Romans 1:18-23 states that no one is without excuse.

2 hot 4 church? Family Planning and the Believer - Lesson

2010-02-13T11:34:00.007-05:00

What do you consider to be a big decision in your home? How do you make those decisions? What's the process? Do you pray? Rely on past situations? Seek counsel? How do you know when you have made the right decision?

How did you choose your job? Was it because of money or career path?

How did you decide on who to marry? They were breathing and had a heartbeat?

Where to live? Was it because your neighborhood had a pool? Tennis courts?

How did you decide on your church home? Was it based on the music? The preaching? The church's ability to "feed" you?

Have you already planned out what your family will look like with the number of children...one boy for me a girl for you...two and we are through!

All of these are major questions that most of us are dealing with right now and how we answer them has far reaching consequences on our lives...not just for today, but far into the future as well.

Ruth 1:1-5

We see this is in the day when the judges ruled which was a dark time in the history of Israel. The government was corrupt, wicked, and sinful. We also learn that there is a famine in the land which causes Elimilech to begin asking some very tough questions - Do we need to look for another job? Sell our house? Downsize? Do we need to hold off having babies or starting a family for a while? So we see Elimelech take his family and move to Moab.

When hard times hit, Elimilech looses his job, or maybe he starts job hunting and sees that they are hiring in Moab..."look honey, this job in Moab pays really well....has a career path...has two weeks of paid vacation...will be close to shopping for you...right now things are tough...there is a famine...let's go!"

So they loaded up the truck and moved to Moab...swimming pools/movie stars.

So what? Was this a good decision or a bad decision?

Unfortunately it turned out to be a fatal decision for Elimelech and his family. Moab is the city founded by an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter, Genesis 19:37. Moab is a perverse city that worships false gods and it is no place for God's people to work or to live.

Yet Ruth 1:2 says they moved there and they remained there and soon after Elimelech dies...the very thing he was trying to avoid when they moved in the first place! Like so many of us he thought he was making a wise decision, providing for his family, leading. Not only did Elimelech die but his two sons ended up marrying Moabite women and died as well leaving Elimelech's wife, Naomi, a widow with two pagan daughter-n-laws in extreme poverty.

Naomi is left alone, no children, no church, no small group, no family, no help, 50 plus miles away from home in a perverse, wicked city.

What began as a seemingly harmless decision to take a job ended up having dire consequences.

World view is described as the filter by which we run all our our thinking through. It is how we see the world, how we process, how we make decisions. Sometimes it is with great thought and consideration yet often it is without thought, subconsciously.

A world view seeks to answer at least three questions: 1. Creation - how? 2. Purpose - why am I here? 3. Correction - can what is wrong be made right?

The predominant worldview today is secular humanism [link]. Secular humanism is seen in almost every commercial, TV show, movie, and unfortunately churches and the lives of believers like you and me.

How does SH answer the three basic questions of creation, purpose, and correction?

1. Creation comes from evolution. You, me, the universe are part of a series of random processes and chance that came about over billions of years.

2. Purpose - our purpose is to eat, drink, and be merry, to consume, make money, buy toys, and he who dies with the most toys wins.

3. Correction - can what is wrong be made right? SH would not say that there is really anything wrong but that the reason people struggle is that they do not have adequate education, or resources, or government.

SH answers the following crucial questions -

What job? The one that makes the most money.

Marriage? Who looks the best or will serve me. Could be one man/one woman, two men, two women...it doesn't matter as long as I am happy.

Where to live? Based on connivance and amenities.

Where to go to church? Don't go! But if you do look for a church that caters to you, meets your needs, has great "programs" that can "feed" you.

Family? No, but if you must do not have more than two children. One child is OK two children is pushing it and any more than that is extreme. SH says that we control life by using birth control and fertility drugs. We say when we have babies and we say how many we will have.

Statistically most couples are waiting longer to have children putting career and money first. SH says that children are a burden, expensive, get in the way and are a problem [link].

My fear is that many of us...God fearing, Jesus loving, Bible toting, Christians...have bought into this worldview hook, line, and sinker.

If that is secular humanism then what is a Biblical worldview? How does it answer the three questions?

1. Creation - Genesis 1:1 - God created by speaking. Genesis 2:7 God created man with His own hands in a very personal intimate way. Genesis 1:26 that everyone is created in the image and likeness of God and that everyone has inherent dignity, value, and worth because we are all image bearers of God. That's why Christians do no support abortion and we do not support assisted suicide.

2. What's our purpose? I love how the Westminster Catechism answers this [link]. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." See Psalm 86, Psalm 16:5-11. Our purpose isn't about buying stuff, toys...it has always been and will always be about God. Knowing God in an intimate, deep, trusting, loving relationship.

3. Correction - can what is wrong be made right? The Bible clearly states our problem is sin. Sin has placed a curse on everything, our relationships with each other, our relationship with God...sin destroys, separates, and kills and the answer to the world's problems isn't more money, education, or government. The Bible tells us that the answer is found in the free gift, John 3:16, of God's love, grace, and mercy found only in Jesus, John 14:6. The Bible says that Jesus will make all things new and will remove the curse from creation and us once and for all, Revelation 21:1-6.

So how does the Bible answer the same questions of work, marriage, home, and family?

The Bible says that when we work we work as towards the Lord, Colossians 3:23, not for money or stuff but as worship to God. The Bible says that marriage is a gift from God, one man and one woman coming together to form one forever, Genesis 2:24. The Bible says that I am in this place at this time because God has ordained it and has plans for me Acts 17:26. The Bible says it is God who builds the church and it is God who calls us to His church and when it comes to family and children the Bible says that it is God who opens the womb, Genesis 29:31 and God who closes the womb, Genesis 20:18.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with most fertility drugs and birth control anyone who places their trust and hope in them is believing in a false gospel and some forms of birth control are abortive by nature with many women murdering their own babies each year without ever knowing it!

The Bible says that children are wonderfully made by God, a heritage, fruit, a reward, joy, and a blessing, Psalm 139:13-14, Psalm 127:3-5. Yet very often we make the decision to limit God's blessings on our lives by limiting the number of children we will have. We say things like:

Children are too expensive.

Children interfere with my career.

My home is not big enough.

Being pregnant will destroy my body.

The time is not right.

Two or fewer children is the responsible thing to do.

Having more than two children is irresponsible.

I won't be able to love more than one, two, three, etc children.

Just so you know none of these reasons are Biblical reasons and all of these are prevalent stances put forth by the world.

When God invites you into His family He invites you into a new life through Jesus, 1 Corinthians 5:17, and He invites you to a new way to live.

How do you make the big decisions in your life? Is it through the filter of secular humanism or is it by filtering everything through God's word?

Some of you in reading this will be convicted of your sinful thinking, decisions, and planning.

Will you turn to Jesus first in repentance and secondly for guidance and direction?

My fear is that many of us will make decisions today and tomorrow without much thought, based on emotion, feelings, not the Bible, and just like Elimelech reap the sad fruit of those decisions.

2 hot 4 church? Open Line Sunday - Your Questions Answered

2010-02-10T07:09:00.004-05:00

This Sunday we will conclude our 2 hot 4 church? series by answering your questions about alcohol, sexual immorality, family planning or any other question you might have about the Bible, theology, etc.

Text any question you have about today’s lesson to – 99503 in the body of the text please use 96840

Example: “96840 If God didn’t want me to eat cows why did He make them out of meat?”

All submissions are anonymous.

Here are just a couple of recent submissions -

1. Are you saying that birth control and fertility drugs are wrong and using them are sinful?

2. Will there be wine in heaven? Is it sinful to drink on earth but not in heaven?

3. Are you telling me that I have to be all Duggarliscious and have 19 kids?

This promises to be fun.

See you Sunday.

Family Planning and the Believer - Is Birth Control a Sin?

2010-02-10T06:48:00.004-05:00

The world will tell you that children are a burden, lots of work, and expensive. Secular Humanism will tell you that having one child is OK, having two children is acceptable but that any more is irresponsible both to society and to the planet. In fact a recent article states that having children is the single largest contributor to green house gas emissions [link] and that the best way to combat global warming is by not having children.

As believers and followers of Jesus, born into the family of God by His blood we are confronted with mixed messages and complex choices as more and newer technologies and advancements in science are available to us. Often we make decisions based on the advice of trusted doctors or take the counsel of Godly friends, or walk in the ways of those around us...never asking or praying if our decisions are in line with God's word.

If you are married and if you are taking birth control and if you are a born again believer there are things you need to know about birth control. You need to make informed, prayerful decisions.

Here is a sermon from Mars Hill Church in Seattle where pastor Mark addresses this question in great detail.

Blessings!

ONE is now using Twitter!

2010-02-01T07:15:00.003-05:00

We currently use the following means to communicate to the class:

1. Website – http://www.sevierheights1.blogspot.com/,
2. Facebook
3. Email.

Some of you may not be able to frequently check your email, log into Facebook or visit our website so we are now utilizing Twitter as another way to communicate.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a free resource – www.twitter.com – where you create your own account, much like Facebook. Once you have registered you can then add people or organizations to your account to follow. By adding our class and church to your Twitter account you can now receive text message updates wherever you are even without access to the web.

Why use Twitter?

Did I mention that Twitter is free? Twitter is a great way to communicate to a large group of people, quickly without having to directly access the web.

How do I follow ONE using Twitter?

Once you create your free account at – www.twitter.com – go to our link - https://twitter.com/oneshbc - and add us to your account. Make sure you check the box next to our site that allows you to receive mobile updates.

It’s that easy!

You can also hit the follow me button below or on the right of the page and it will take you directly to Twitter.

Snow Happens - Revised Schedule

2010-02-01T06:37:00.004-05:00

So the local meteorologists were right...we did get snow! Did you and your family have a chance to play outside? Did you build a snowman? Go sledding? Or did you use the weather as an excuse to sleep in, wear your snowflake sweater, and drink large mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows?

Weather permitting we will pick up where we left off this Sunday in our 2 hot 4 church? series.

To bring you up to speed we have already covered Alcohol and the Believer [link] and Sexual Immorality and the Believer [link].

This Sunday we will cover Family Planning and the Believer.

Sunday, February 14 we will do our class breakfast and wrap up our 2 hot 4 church? series by answering your questions about the Bible, Church, Jesus.

Have a question?

Text any question you have to – 99503 in the body of the text please use 96840

Example: “96840 If God didn’t want me to eat cows why did He make them out of meat?”

See you Sunday

2 hot 4 church? Week 3 - Family Planning and the Believer

2010-01-27T06:59:00.002-05:00

What's our hot topic for this week?

Family Planning

See you Sunday!

2 hot 4 church? Week 2 - Sexual Immorality and the Believer

2010-01-22T06:07:00.022-05:00

Hebrews 13:4 commands us “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

God is the author and creator of marriage and in Genesis 2:19-25 we see God's blessing upon man through marriage by giving Adam a wife, Eve, to be a helpmate, soul-mate, and play-mate. From the very beginning God's plan for marriage is for one man and one woman to come together as one flesh to be blessed by God.

The plan is for two individuals to share one life together filled with love, trust, communication, and intimacy. Genesis 2:25 says that the man and woman were "both naked and they felt no shame." Lot's of nakedness and all of this the Bible says was very good in God's eyes (Genesis 1:31).

Yet it did not stay this way for long. In Genesis 3:1-7 both Adam and Eve sinned against God bringing a curse over all creation. Not only was creation cursed because of their sin but their marriage was cursed as well. Where there was unity now there is separation between them and God and between them and each other because of their sin. Where there was love, there is now doubt. Where there was trust, there is now distrust. Where there was communication and unity there is now silence and isolation and where there was intimacy and nakedness without shame there is now a lack of intimacy and they are filled with shame as they clothe themselves and hide themselves from each other.

The Bible says that God's adversary, Satan, was there disguised as a serpent with the intent on dividing, destroying, and killing the marriage of Adam and Eve and separating them from God.

The Bibles says that Satan:
Is a schemer (Ephesians 6:11). Disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Lays traps for us (1 Timothy 3:7), is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44) and is opposed to God and tries to destroy every work of God including the church, men, and marriage.

Satan's arsenal for dividing, destroying, and killing is packed with sexual temptation that leads to sexual immorality.

The Bible speaks against sexual immorality and the believer on many occasions:

1 Corinthians 6:18 says we should flee it
1 Thessalonians 4:5 says it is God’s will that we abstain from it
Colossians 3:5 says we should put sexual immorality to death
1 Corinthians 6:13 says that our bodies are not meant for sexual immorality but are meant for God.
1 Corinthians 10:8 says we must not indulge in sexual immorality and 1 Corinthians 6:9 says that the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God

The Bible has some very stern warning against sexual immorality….so what is sexual immorality?

The Greek word the Bible uses over and over again and again is “porneia” it is where we derive the word pornography from and it is a junk drawer word used to include all forms of sexual immorality. While God gives us His law (Leviticus/Deuteronomy) pertaining to of sexual sins to never commit – homosexuality, sex with animals, relatives, etc – in His wisdom God does not gives us a list knowing that someone somewhere would come up with some crazy kinky sin and would justify their sin because it was not in the Bible.

Porneia is a catch all that includes any sexual sin conducted outside of marriage. Where God’s plan is for our marriages to be the perfect setting for intimacy, Satan’s plans are to lure us outside of our marriages to destroy us and to destroy our marriages.

Some examples of sexual sin within our own culture today would include but not be limited to: Homosexuality, Lesbianism, sex with animals, sexting, sex chatting, reading steamy letters for arousal, viewing photos or videos for the specific purpose of sexual arousal.

You and I are part of a culture that spends more money each year on pornography than the revenues of Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple, Netflix, and EarthLink combined.

Some recent statistics show that:

Every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography.
Every second 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography.
Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created in the United States.

Currently there are over 4.2 million pornographic sites on the web.

Of the total population of those who use the Internet 42.7% view porn.

72 million visitors go to pornographic sites each month.

What's worse is that this is not isolated to the "world" or to non-believers/non-Christians.

47% of Christians polled said pornography is a major problem in the home and statistically 53% of men who are "Promise Keepers" will view porn this week alone.
**Statistics taken from Family Safe Media [link].

Sexual immorality in the form of pornography is at epidemic proportions and the statistics say that most of you have either:

1. Dealt with the issue of pornography in your home/marriage.
2. Are currently dealing with pornography in your home/marriage.
3. Or at some time will deal with pornography in your home/marriage.

The use of porn is a secret sin that no one wants to talk about, the issue that most struggle with and that everyone wants to sweep under the rug, to forget about, to ignore and deny hoping that it will go away that it will somehow cure itself.

The statistics show that he average age of the first Internet exposure to porn is 11 and the largest consumers of porn are men in the 25-49 age group. I realize that women are also subject to this disease but for the most part I will be speaking to you as a man to men from a man’s point of view.

Why is porn so potent against men?

1. Men are visual
2. Men are on a 72 hour cycle
3. Men are created by God this way…it is good and natural when it is in the context of marriage.

So why, if many men are struggling with porn, is everyone being so quiet about it?

1. It is shameful to those who are in bondage
2. It is embarrassing to those who are in bondage and to those whose loved ones are struggling
3. There is a fear of rejection
4. Men don’t naturally share
5. Men think they can fix anything
6. We have the capacity to justify our sin

a. I am a guy…and you know guys just love the ladies.
b. I am not hurting anyone else.
c. My wife isn’t available or won’t sleep with me or won’t do what I want her to do – blame shifting
d. My wife doesn’t like sex.
e. I am not attracted to my wife.
f. I only do it once in a while.
g. I keep it in a secret place .

Those trapped in secret sin often go through vicious cycles of highs and lows.

Sexual sin always begins in the mind(James 1:14-15) – you see something on TV, a magazine, hear something on the radio, come across something in the paper or the mail and immediately your minds begins to feed your flesh.

Soon your thoughts give way to sin and you find yourself running into doing that which you do not want to do…viewing porn and masturbating.

While engaged in the sin you experience a “high” your heart races, your flesh feeds and you try to prolong this high as long as you can.

Soon your high gives way to great guilt. You feel unholy, unlovable, sinful, disgusting, desperate, and may at times question your own salvation. You may at this time go to the altar, rededicate yourself and make promises like you will never do this again.

You begin to isolate yourself from your wife. You don’t talk to her, you don’t spend time with her, you don’t pursue her and you tend to avoid her. You also tend to withdraw from friends, church, prayer, and God’s word…just like Satan wants.

This period of isolation and withdrawal lasts until the guilt has worn off and you begin to feel better about yourself. You begin to come out of your shell, begin talking with your wife and friends again and may even begin to attend church more frequently, read your Bible more, and pray…until something snaps, the wife won’t give in to your advances, work is stressful, you are bored and just need a fix and then the cycle begins all over again and you are trapped and hopeless and miserable.

My goal today isn’t to tell you how much of a sinner you are and how great a sin pornography is…you already know that don’t you?

My goal today is to let you know that you are not alone –
That there are ways to protect your home-
You can be free of sexual sin-

Simple ways you can protect your home:

1. Realize you are in a battle.

2. Put a filter on your Internet - safe eyes, trend micro, etc

3. Cancel Cosmo, Sports Illustrated, and any other soft core magazines

4. Cancel Cable, cut back to the basic package, use the VChip to filter channels

You can be free of sexual sin- turn to Jesus sexual immorality is idolatry!

Some of you women are here this morning and you are saying…”I know my husband struggles with this, I have tried to talk to him but he is in denial...what can I do?

1. Pray for your husband
2. Speak to a pastor – depending on the severity you may have reason to leave your husband
3. Be the gatekeeper of your house. Your husband may not be strong enough to make the tough decisions and while you may read Cosmo for the articles your husband also reads Cosmo for the articles!
4. Give your husband an environment where he can come clean and share with you.

Jesus died on the cross in our place for our sins and you and I turn to Jesus for salvation from our sins, salvation from stress, we turn to Jesus to rescue us not pornography, not our wives. You and I can remove all the things that trap us and still sin. We can follow godly advice and still not overcome our temptations…why?

You and I will never be free until we turn everything over to Jesus, until we change our minds about our sin, repentance, until we begin to see our sin as God sees it, until we fear the Lord and gain His wisdom, and until we stop trying to save ourselves and turn to Jesus for salvation.

Will you stop denying your sins and openly confess them to Jesus today?
Will you drop the mask and come clean to your wife/husband?
Will you share your struggles with your spouse?
Wives will you give your spouse the freedom to come clean?

Additional Resources:
1. Every Man’s Battle Book
2. Free Book - Porn Again Christian - see below for free e-book download
3. http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/ - great free website to help anyone addicted to food, sex, alcohol, drugs, gambling, tobacco

4. Text your questions - text any question on today's lesson to 99503 - be sure to place 96840 somewhere in the body of your text.

Example: "96840 If God didn't want me to eat cows why did He make them out of meat?"

Porn Again Christian

2 hot 4 church? Week 2 - Sexual Immorality and the Believer

2010-01-20T09:26:00.004-05:00

Week 2 into our study 2 hot 4 church? and many of you are asking..."What is our topic for Sunday?"

Join us this Sunday as we address the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about... Sexual Immorality and the Believer.

See you Sunday

2 hot 4 church? - Week 1 - Alcohol

2010-01-09T17:03:00.016-05:00

Should Christians drink and if so, how much is permissible? One glass, one beer, two sips?

On what do you base your answers?

What does the Bible say about alcohol, it's uses, and the believer? Did Jesus drink?

This morning we want to tackle this question not by looking at the historical contents of Biblical wine or discussing the culture of the day or by pulling out one verse to either support drinking or to condemn drinking. Instead let's take a systematic approach to this question by looking at many verses throughout the Bible to see what God's word has to say about this hotly debated issue.

First let's understand that when the Bible talks about alcohol it is primarily speaking about wine (just a simple word search on wine in the Bible results in 238 verses [link]) and not fuzzy navels, screw drivers, or those wimpy drinks with fruit and umbrellas in them (proverbs mentions beer). During the time of Jesus distillation had not been invented so there were "hard drinks" to speak of. What we are discussing here is wine with the alcohol content of no more than 11-14% very similar to what is found in stores today.

The first time wine appears in the Bible is in Genesis 9:20-24. God has just destroyed everyone and everything on the planet with the exception of Noah, his family, the animals on board, and the fish that survived in the sea. In chapter 9 Noah plants the first vineyard, makes the first wine, and is the first in history to party like it is 1999 B.C. Sound like a good time? Not so much as we learn that when Noah drank, he passed out naked in his tent and while he was out his son Ham came in and did something not so nice. Strike one against alcohol.

So that's purely an isolated event right? The next "incident" with wine is found in Genesis 19:30-38. Lot and his two daughters are living in a cave "down by the river!" and the daughters have the bright idea to get their dad drunk, to sleep with their dad, with the overall plan to get pregnant by their dad. I am sure at the time it all looked great on paper but not for me. You drink, get drunk, sleep with your daughters and now your grandson is also your son. Strike two against alcohol.

Again these are just two instances out of hundreds where wine is mentioned in the Bible.

Some verses talk about what a blessing wine is - Proverbs 3:9-10

Isaac prayed that God would bless with wine - Genesis 27:28

1 Timothy 5:23 Paul commands Timothy to drink wine for medicinal purposes.

And wine is used as a "drink offering" as part of the worship of God - Genesis 35:15, Exodus 29:40, Leviticus 23:13, Numbers 4:7, and so on.

Yet in other places the Bible warns us to abstain, stay away, or avoid wine, strong drink, alcohol.

Leviticus 10:9 warns the priest of God to not drink when going before God or they will die.

Psalm 75:8 says that wine is used by God to be poured out on all the wicked of the earth.

Proverbs 20:1 says that anyone led astray by alcohol is unwise, proverbs 21:17 says that anyone who loves wine will be broke and proverbs 23:29-35 is a very strong warning to not drink.

So what did Jesus think about wine and drinking wine?

First Jesus turned water into wine John 2:1-3. Jesus drank wine and was often accused of being a drunkard and a glutton, Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34. Jesus stated that it isn't what we eat or drink that makes us clean or unclean, Matthew 15:11, but what comes out of our mouths.

And in Matthew 26:27-29 Jesus states that He will not drink wine again until He drinks it with us in His Father's kingdom.

Jesus made wine, Jesus drank wine, and Jesus is abstaining from wine until He can drink it with us in the new Kingdom.

Confused yet? Good!

So what is it? Can we drink or can't we? Is it sinful to drink or isn't it?

Is drinking a sin? Yes....

If you:

1. Are under 21 - 1 Peter 2:13-14 says to submit to government and it's laws.
2. If your pastor asks you not to drink and you do -
3. If you cause others to sin - Romans 14:20-21
4. If you do so in an uncontrolled manner - The Bible commands us to be sober so that our
thoughts and our prayers are not hindered - Romans 12:3, 2 Timothy 4:5, 1 Peter 1:13, 1
Peter 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8
5. If you do so and become drunk - The Bible has very harsh words for getting drunk and for
drunkards - 1 Corinthians 6:10 says that drunkards won't inherit God's kingdom. Ephesians
5:18 says "do not get drunk on wine" an proverbs 23:29-35
6. If you drink to relax, have peace, escape because in doing so you are setting up alcohol as a
functioning savior, replacing Jesus. Alcohol to you is a god, and idol. Exodus 20:3 commands
us to have no other Gods and Exodus 20:44-5 says we aren't to worship anything else other
than God.
7. If you drink and are convicted of it. Romans 14:22-23

I personally like dark beer but have made the decision to not drink based on the following reasons:

1. I am cheap - $12.00 for a glass of beer? Are you kidding me?
2. Noah - I am not down for the tent party.
3. Abraham - It's not going down like that with me.
4. I am incapable of drinking to the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31
5. I love my pastor. Brother Holie has been called to lead us by God. He is assigned to be over
us, we are assigned to be lead by him. The Bible says that one day he will give an account for
us. In joining the church I agreed to be under his spiritual authority and the Bible commands
me to submit to spiritual authority.
6. I have promised not to as a leader and as a Seminary student.
7. I have my wife and three beautiful children to think about.
8. I love you and I don't want to be a stumbling block to anyone.

The real question isn't can we drink? Sinful people are always by nature looking for a loophole...the question is for you to ask.....Can I drink? And if you drink...why do you drink?

Each of us saved by Jesus are now adopted into the family of God, we are now citizens of the Kingdom of God, and God has offered us a new way to live.

Romans 14:20-23 says that as children of God, as brothers and sisters of each other and Christ we each need to make the decision today to not hinder anyone (Romans 14:13). Wine or food in and of itself is not unclean - it is not what we eat or drink that saves us as there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. Salvation comes by faith in Jesus, believing that He is God, that He died on the cross in our place for our sins and confessing Him as Lord with our mouths. Yet wine is unclean to those who believe that it is (Romans 14:14).

Therefore each of us are commanded not to grieve our brothers in Christ, not to destroy them (Romans 14:15.) This means that if you are convinced that drinking is OK that you still, willfully abstain so as not to destroy your brother who struggles with this hot issue.

Romans 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of easting and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

There are primary issues that you and I will never budge on, will fight to the death over like Jesus as the only way to heaven, the Bible as God's word, the virgin birth, etc. Then there are secondary issues, matters of opinion that we may disagree over but with not break fellowship over.

You and I must not destroy the work that God is doing in our church, in our families, in our friendships, in our circles of influence over a Bud Light! Romans 14:20.

It is very wrong to make others stumble, Romans 14:20 and it is good for us to abstain for the benefit of others Romans 14:21. If you and I are going to serve Jesus it will always cost us something...time, money, comfort, a beer. Jesus said He would not drink until we are all together in His Father's kingdom....if He is waiting why can't we?

The gospel isn't about us seeing how close we can get to sin without crossing the line. The gospel is an invitation to a new way of life with Jesus. A life of love for each other where we are now citizens of God's kingdom where God has placed His Holy Spirit inside of us which is way more powerful than granddad's hooch.

Our command is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:18.

The real question isn't can Christians drink...it is in light of God's word and His Holy Spirit can I drink?

Romans 14:14 - I personally am persuaded, like Paul, that nothing in and of itself is unclean but because I love Jesus, and I love you I have made the decision that I will not do anything to destroy God's work!

Will you make that decision today?

Additional resources:

1. http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/ - free online resource for anyone struggling with alcohol, food, sex or tobacco addictions.

2. Got questions about today's lesson? Text them to 99503 - be sure to put 96840 in the body of the text.

2 hot 4 Church? Week 1 - Alcohol

2010-01-04T07:08:00.003-05:00

So we begin our first week of 2 hot 4 Church? by addressing your questions regarding alcohol.

Here are just a few of the questions you provided in our survey....

"How does drinking affect a Christian's life?...is just having a drink sin?

"Why is it a stumbling block for others to see you drink alcohol?"

"....what does the Bible say about alcohol consumption and the believer?"

Come to class with your Bible, grace, and love.

See you Sunday.

2 Hot 4 Church?

2009-12-02T08:15:00.003-05:00

Are there any topics that you just can't discuss in church? What subjects are taboo or what subjects have you wished you could hear more about or go into more detail about?

In January we will begin a new series called 2 Hot 4 Church where we will address some of the more controversial and hotly debated topics in our culture.

This is also a chance for you to have your questions addressed. How?

Visit 2 hot 4 church? and take the short, anonymous, five question survey and you may just see your question or topic show up on the agenda for this series.

Flag Football Pictures Posted

2009-12-02T08:00:00.002-05:00

Back in November we got together to play flag football before the Thanksgiving holiday. The weather was fantastic....near seventy degrees.

Look under our ONE photo album and click on the image to view the pictures. If you weren't able to attend this time be ready to play in January as we plan on getting together again before the end of football season.

Thanks to everyone who brought the delicious food and thanks to everyone who played!

Be the Church with a Praying Heart - Week 3

2009-11-16T06:11:00.003-05:00

What would your life look like if you could not communicate to God? If you were no longer able to pray?

What time in your life did God answer your prayer in such a powerful way that you knew without a shadow of doubt that it was only God?
How so?

Today we will look at how Jesus describes the attitude God the Father has toward His children when they come to Him in prayer. In Matthew chapters 5 and 7 we see Jesus delivering His first major sermon, the sermon on the mount and when we get to Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus begins to tell us about prayer.

Matthew 7:7 Jesus says rule number 1 to having a powerful prayer life is..."Ask." Now I know some of you are thinking...."duh", or, "I went to public school and even I know that." Why did Jesus begin with "ask"?

1. Consider the time at which Jesus is preaching. At this point in history no one, except the priests prayed directly to God. If you had a prayer request you would wash the camel, put on the robe, and drive to the temple. Once there you would find a priest, make your request and hope that he prayed to God on your behalf. For the most part a personal prayer life with creator God was unthinkable. What Jesus was teaching in this sermon was scandalous. "You mean me, a mere man, unholy, unclean....pray directly to Holy God? That's blaspheme!" That's revolutionary and that's Jesus.

Hebrews 10:19-22 says that through Jesus we have a new, living way to God, that we can now enter into the presence of God, that we no longer need an earthly priest to access God, that Jesus is now our high priest. Jesus begins with "ask" because what He is saying is revolutionary. Revelation 21:22 Jesus says, "Behold I make all things new." This means wherever Jesus shows up He brings life. He makes us new, 2 Corinthians 6:17, and He gives us a new way to pray.

2. Jesus begins with "ask" because so many times we don't!

Here are ten common reasons why people often fail to pray.

1. Feel guilty - God is busy, this is selfish
2. They don't believe it will help.
3. They don't believe God will listen.
4. They don't believe God will answer.
5. Afraid God will say no - "better to ask for forgiveness than permission..."
6. Afraid God will say yes.
7. Think their prayers don't really matter.
8. Think that prayer in general isn't important.
9. Think prayer takes too much time or not enough time to pray.
10. They are bored of the same, tired, wish-list prayers.

Jesus begins with "ask" because more often that not we don't!

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says we should pray without ceasing. As the church, as Christians, as children of God we need to recognize the power and importance of developing a prayerful heart and life.

Jesus said that God answers our prayers, He answers them abundantly, and that God answers our prayers wisely.
#1. God Answers our prayers. Matthew 7:7-8

"For everyone who asks receives." God is our Father (vs 11), we are His children, God loves us, takes great delight in us and loves it when we come to Him.

In verse 7 Jesus commands us to ask, seek, and knock which literally translated reads more like...keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. So when we pray we should be confident and bold knowing that God our Father is listening, He is a giving God (Matthew 7:7-11 uses the word give five times), and He answers our prayers.

#2. God not only answers our prayers but He answers them abundantly.

Matthew 7:9-11. Jesus compares us as earthly parents to God as the ultimate parent. You and I give good gifts to our children and we sin, we have false motives, we have done and do bad things so when God gives it is so much more that we could ever imagine because He is without sin, He is holy, He is righteous. Unlike our imperfect, earthly fathers, God is our perfect Father. He never gives with a grudge, with a "fine...take it!" mentality or a leave me alone heart. God never gives half-hearted or imperfectly. In fact James 1:17 says that God gives good and perfect gifts.

You may have questions...."How do you know God gives good gifts? How can you say that"? I know this to be true for two reasons: 1. I can look into my own personal life at the many times God has answered my prayers and 2. I can look toward Calvary. You want to know if God really does give good and perfect gifts? Look at the cross. God didn't give us another religious system or another set of rules to follow. Instead He gave His one and only perfect Son, Jesus to die in our place for our sins and He didn't hold anything back. If God does nothing else for us He has given us more that we could imaging or ever deserve.
#3 God answers prayer and He does so abundantly with discernment.

Matthew 7:11 God gives us good things and just like your parents who did not give you everything you wanted to protect you and because it was not practical, God gives to us wisely. God will not give us answered prayers that will harm us. God does not give us snakes or stones. God is all knowing, all powerful, and all seeing and He is not just focused on the right here and the right now but sees throughout all of eternity and just like a good Father He answers yes, no, or later.

Here are some simple prayer helps I would like to leave you with.

1. Read and pray scripture to rejuvenate your tired, routine prayers. Try the Psalms or Proverbs. What you will find is that your prayer time will begin to meld into worship time.

2. Make time to pray.

3. Ask - be bold, specific, and continual in your prayers. Keep asking, seeking, knocking knowing that God hears your prayers, God answers your prayers, and God answers your prayers wisely.

Will you make an effort this week to pray?

Be the Church with a Biblical Mind - Week 2

2009-11-09T05:54:00.006-05:00

Have you purchased a GPS unit? Why did you buy it? I don't do much traveling but have always wanted to purchase one ever since I found a website where I can download Mr. T.'s voice as the one giving the directions [link] . How cool would it be, "turn right fool!" or "I pity the fool who don't turn right in 400 yards!"

What is your funniest, "Honey, I think were lost story?" Or, "Honey, why did you throw away the directions story?"

Why are clear concise directions important when you go on a trip? Well they...
- help you get there - keep you from getting lost - save money - help you avoid trouble - help save time - help avoid arguments - helps make the trip more enjoyable

Psalm 119:9
The Psalmist asks the question, "How can a young man keep his way pure?" You and I might ask, "how can I live the good life?" The ad agencies would ask, "How can I young man live the Miller High Life?"

But the Psalmist is not asking how can I - live a safe life - live a comfortable life - live a life of leisure - live a life filled with stuff...that's not what he is asking. "How can I keep my life pure?" This is his question and in his asking we learn that there are two ways we can live our lives:

1. A life that is pure and pleasing to God.
2. A life that is impure and displeasing to God.

How can you and I live our lives such a way that we don't contaminate them? Think of a fifty-five gallon drum filled with crystal clear, pure, cold rainwater. Think of how that water refreshes, think how good that water tastes, think of how that water satisfies. Now go to your most unhappy place, the worst gas station you have ever visited. Think of the rancid, stopped up toilet that hasn't been cleaned for days, imagine the smell as this "soup" has been baking all summer. Now, take a dropper and pull one drop from the toilet and put it in your rainwater. Not very appealing now is it? One drop into fifty-five gallons pollutes the whole thing.

How do we avoid the pollution, the rot? How do you and I live so that we are: - a good friend - a good employee - a good husband/wife - a good dad - a good follower of Jesus?

How do you and I live so that we can one day stand before King Jesus and hear, "Well done good and faithful servant"...not "depart from me, I knew you not."

Psalm 119:9 Says that we keep our way pure by guarding it. By putting up our defenses, posting guard, installing video cameras, putting another deadbolt on the door, turning on our alarms....this is serious stuff! We guard that which is treasured and valuable and we guard when we know we are going to be attacked.

1 Peter 5:8 says that the devil is looking for the weak, the stragglers of the heard, those who are isolated, alone, those who have let their guard down. Jesus said in John 10:10 that the thief comes only to "steal, kill, and destroy." Jesus has great plans for your life Jeremiah 29:11 as He is using all things to conform you to His likeness. Satan also has plans for your life and they are to - attack you - destroy your life - to steal your joy - to kill your relationships.

Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the well spring of your life." Everything comes from your heart, how you think, how you act so don't let anything in that could contaminate your heart...above all else...guard it!

But how?
Psalm 119:9 By guarding it according to the word of God.

Jesus builds His church for His plans and purposes. To Be the Church of Jesus we are commanded to assemble on a regular basis [link] to challenge, motivate, encourage, and to stir one another to love and good works.

In Acts 2:42 we see the church devote themselves not only to regular assembly but to regular study and learning of the Bible. An important part of Being the Church is thinking with a Biblical mind. For us to Be the Church Christ desires our minds must be set on and obedient to the word of God.

The Bible must be the authority for our living - to prevent heartache - to avoid trouble - to prevent loss - to prevent confusion - to keep from getting lost - to direct us on how to be a better husband/wife, friend, employee, follower of Jesus - to make the trip more enjoyable - to keep our way pure - to learn how to live a life pleasing to God with a Biblical mind.

You and I have to guard our lives according to the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says that the word of God is a sword, think Scottish Claymore.

Remember the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4? What happened? Jesus went to the dessert to fast for forty days. At the end of the forty days when Jesus was at His weakest Satan came to tempt Him. How did Jesus respond? Jesus rightfully and powerfully unsheathed the sword of the word of God and hacked Satan to pieces!

You and I have this powerful weapon in our arsenals yet many of us fail to practice with it, carry it, or use it in times of danger. Charles Spurgeon [link] once told his congregation "There is enough dust on some of your Bibles to write damnation with your fingers!"

Using Psalm 119:9-16 I want us to look at a pattern of how we can develop and maintain a Biblical mind.

#1 Make a daily choice to live the word. Psalm 119:10-11
The Psalmist says "With my whole heart I seek you." This is a conscious, deliberate, decision to follow Jesus, not a half-hearted attempt. Matthew 6:24 Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters. Jesus wants us all in and in Revelation 3:16 Jesus said that lukewarm, half-hearted, Christians who straddle the fence make Him want to puke.

Is the Bible God's word? Genesis to Revelation? Do you really believe the Bible is what it says it is? Is the Bible to sole authority for your life? Does the Bible shape how you live, how you treat other people, how you spend your time, money, energy, and resources?

Everyone has a worldview...the question is do you have a secular worldview or a Biblical worldview?

Our worldview shape our thinking, shapes how we act, and how we relate to each other and to God. Will you make the conscious decision to live in the word of God daily? Will you let the Bible shape and define your mind?

#2 Make a daily choice to learn the word Psalm 119:12
Here are eight steps instructing you on how you can begin today to learn the Bible.

1. Schedule time for it - if you don't put it on the calendar it won't happen.
2. Pick a book of the Bible and work your way through it beginning to end.
3. Take your time - I usually don't read more than a chapter at a time.
4. Begin each session with prayer asking the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and to give you
understanding as to what you are about to read.
5. Use a journal to jot down important thoughts, repeating words, commands, promises.
6. Summarize what you just read in ten words or less. This will help you retain what you just
read.
7. Write out any applications for your life.
8. End with prayer thanking God for His grace, asking for forgiveness of any sins revealed.

#3 Make a daily choice to love the word Psalm 119:13-16
Loving God's word does not come natural to us and is a choice. Loving God's word is us submitting our will to His and doesn't come easy yet once you begin what once started off as something hard, difficult, quickly becomes something ingrained in you, something you miss when you aren't able to do it, and something you love.

To love God's word verbalize it - Psalm 119:13 - know it inside and out...begin memorizing it.
To love God's word meditate on it - Psalm 119:15 - chew on it, think on it, think deeply over it
again and again and again. Don't just let it pass or do a quick scripture drive by.
To love God's word contemplate it - Psalm 119:15 - realize that we are under the authority of
God's word...never in authority over it.
To love God's word delight in it - Psalm 119:16 - enjoy God's word, look for answers in God's
word, and see Jesus in God's word Luke 24:44.

Questions:

On a scale of 1 - 10 how would you answer the following? 1 = strongly disagree and 10 = strongly agree

1. The word of God is the authority for all my life.
2. I wish the word were more central to my core beliefs and decision making.

Will you respond right where you are by committing today to - live by the word - learn the word - and love the word?

Will you respond?

How will you do it?

Post any words of encouragement, advice, prayers in the comment section below.

Be the Church - Week 1 Assembly Required

2009-11-01T06:49:00.006-05:00

Why do you go to church?
Why do people stop going to church?
On a scale of 1 - 10 how important is church attendance?
What is the primary reason for us to gather together as a church?

In May of 2009 Parade Magazine [link] conducted a survey of over 1000 people asking questions about their religious beliefs.

Of the 1000 respondents 45% stated that they were religious. Out of that group - 30% responded that they attend service once or more a week - 20% stated they attend once a month or a few times a year and 50% responded as rarely or never attending at all.

In Matthew 16 Jesus stated that He would build His church upon the foundation of Himself and in Acts 1:15 we see the early church led by Peter, about 120, praying to Jesus, singing to Jesus, gathered together to hear the word of God preached. In Acts 2:41 we see 3000 people added to the church, added to the kingdom of Jesus.

Over the next six weeks we will look at what it means to "Be the Church."

What should our thinking look like?
What should our prayer life look like?
What should our giving look like?
What should our focus be and what should our mission be as the church?

Today however, our focus will be on answering the question: "How important is it that the church assemble today?"

Let's begin with looking at some common reasons as to why people don't regularly attend church.

1. Don't like organized religion - this is funny as I don't like disorganized religion.
2. Takes too much time or isn't convenient for me. Both of these are self-centered and are what Eugene Peterson refers to as the new trinity of my holy feelings, my holy needs, and my holy wants.
3. Not commanded and no longer serves a purpose. People who believe this say things like....I can worship God anywhere, I can read and learn about God on my own, I can serve God and give anywhere, and you can and you should. The problem with these statements is that they assume the primary purpose of church attendance is to worship God, that church is a place to give money, or that church is the vehicle for learning and service.
4. Pride - I don't need church, I don't need other people, I am fine.
5. Still others would say:
-God does not exist, if He does exist He is impersonal, distant, and cold
-The gospel is foolish - A virgin with a baby? God become a man? Really?
-Church is a waste of time

Is assembly of the church important? Critical? Even commanded?
What's the answer? Where does the truth lie?

Hebrews 10:19-25

There are two promises found in this passage (Hebrews 10:19-21) 1. God has made a way through the blood of Jesus and 2. God has given us a great high priest in Jesus.

God does exist. God is very personal and He knows all and sees all including all the things we have done against Him in thought, word, deed, and inaction.

Because God is holy, righteous, and just all sins, all injustices, all crimes must be paid for or punished in order to make things right.

Romans 6:23 states that the payment for such crimes against God is death. Someone or something must die. Hebrews 9:22 states that under the law without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

"Under the law" meaning the Old Testament where God established His laws, His order, the detailed instructions for sacrifices for sin.

Leviticus 16 outlines the steps necessary for the day of atonement, the one day where a sacrifice was made for the people for the sins they had committed the previous year. The day of atonement was the one day the high priest would enter into the temple and enter through the curtain into the Most Holy Place to be before God. Before doing so the high priest had to cleanse himself through bathing, had to put on the special, holy garments, and had to offer a blood sacrifice for himself. Once purified the high priest would enter into the Most Holy Place through the curtain and stand before the mercy seat, before the Ark of the Covenant, and before God to make a blood sacrifice for the people's sins. So serious was this task that the priest would tie a rope around his waist so that if he did anything wrong in the presence of God ans was struck dead his body could be pulled out.

There is only one problem with this though...Hebrews 10:3-4 states that our sacrifices are imperfect, that they never take away our sins, and in fact act as a reminder over and over and over again of our sins and of our need for a savior.

Hebrews 10:19-21 says that Jesus is our one time, perfect sacrifice for all of our sins, Hebrews 10:12. Jesus lived without sin, a perfect life and died in our place for our sins so that we could be forever reconciled to God. Upon completion Jesus took His seat of prominence at the right hand of the Father and He sits resting upon His finished work until the appointed time of His return. By the blood of Jesus we can confidently go before God and by His body the curtain that once separated man and God has been ripped in two (Matthew 27:51). What once was a sixty foot, foot thick boundary between us and God has been forever removed by the new and living way, the flesh of Jesus. Jesus is also our great high priest.

Based on these two promises - 1. God has made a way through the blood of Jesus. and 2. God has given us a great high priest in Jesus. We have three commands to follow:

1. Hebrews 10:22 Draw near to God.
Some will say....God does not exist and if He does He is distant, cold, impersonal.
James 4:8 says "draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
The writer of Hebrews says we draw near to God with:

- a "sincere heart - this means undivided allegiance to Jesus.
-with "full assurance of faith" - full trust in Jesus in all areas of our lives including our
marriages, our children, jobs, money, time, possessions
-with "hearts sprinkled"- free from the guilt of past sins
-with "bodies washed"- not externally like the priest but internally cleansed by the blood of
Jesus....not just a showing on the outside but through regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

2. Hebrews 10:23 Hold Fast
Some will say....the gospel if foolish.
1 Corinthians 1:18 says that "the message of the cross is foolish to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Don't give up, don't give in, hold fast, preserve, keep your faith.

So what about our question? How important is it that the church assemble today? Is it critical? Is it commanded?

3. Hebrews 10:24-25 commands that we stir one another up and continue to meet together.
If your answer to the question of "What is the primary purpose of church attendance?" was to worship God, to serve God, to learn about God or to give to God you would be wrong. We do worship and serve God in church and we do learn about and give to God in church but the primary reason we gather is found in Hebrews 10:24-25 and that is to stir one another up.

Hebrews 10:24 says we are to stir one another, to challenge each other, to get in each other's grill that when we assemble we are to think about ways to spur one another on in our faith.

When was the last time someone lovingly called you to the carpet for your faith? When was the last time a brother or sister challenged you, stirred you up about your walk with Jesus?

"This is too legalistic" or "this is none of my business" you might be thinking...really? We are to be accountable to one another and we are commanded to do this.

Hebrews 10:24 says "let us consider" let us think about, come up with ways to push each other over the finish line. Think in terms of a campfire that is dying down. You can still see the hot embers inside but the fire isn't putting off much heat or much light. All it takes is a little fuel and a few pokes and WHOOSH! You have a roaring fire!

Hebrews 10:25 says don't neglect or abandon meeting together. Use this time to encourage or to give courage to one another as each day that passes is one day closer to the return of the King.

Do you see evidences that the end is near? Evidences pointing to Christ's return? Then don't neglect meeting as this should drive you closer together.

Assembling together as the church is commanded, Hebrews 10:25, by scripture and it is critical to our spiritual health.

Would God have you increase your frequency of meeting with other Christians? Is so...how? Worship, Bible Fellowship, Small Groups?

Is there someone God would have you stir up? How? Note? Phone call? Visit? Email?

Will you do it?

New Series Begins This Sunday - Be The Church

2009-10-27T06:10:00.003-04:00

Join us this Sunday as we begin a new, six week series - Be the Church.

Do we still need to meet on a regular basis?

What should the church look like in comparison to the culture?

How should the church pray?

What should our giving look like?

What should the focus of the church be?

Week 1 begins this Sunday - Assembly Required.

See you Sunday.

Flag Football Video Preview

2009-10-24T08:12:00.003-04:00

Mark your calendars as we prepare to hit the gridiron Saturday, November 21st.

What? ONE Flat Football / lunch fellowship
Where? Details to follow
Time? Game begins at 10:30 / lunch to follow at 12:00

Here is a short preview to get you motivated.

See you soon

2 hot 4 church? Survey

2009-10-10T08:32:00.004-04:00

What topic or topics have you always wanted to know about but were afraid to ask? What questions do you have that the church seems to avoid or downplay?

What topics are 2 hot 4 church?

Help me by providing your input and you may just see your suggestions in class!

Click on the following [link] to take this short, 5 question survey.

Oaks Farm Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-07T07:20:00.004-04:00

Please make plans to join us for our next ONE, fellowship event.

This month we have planned a class get together at the Oaks Farm Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch [link].

Here are the details:

When? Saturday, October 17th at 10:30 - Oaks Farm Corryton, TN - see map below - followed by lunch at BJ and Emily's home at 1:00.

Can't come to the pumpkin patch? No problem...join us for lunch!

Can't come to lunch? No problem...join us at the pumpkin patch.

Here are some photos from last year [link].

Here is a map to the farm.

Can ONE reach 101 before 2010?

2009-08-31T07:27:00.003-04:00

Can ONE reach 101 plus in attendance before the end of 2009?

101, is it a challenge or a goal? Both. Our class has experienced many blessings over the past 20 months. What began as a core group of 8 leaders has grown to over 30 plus in regular weekly attendance (our highest attendance for 2009 was 41).

Our current role has over 84 people assigned to it and we have had many new visiting couples over the past 4 weeks.

I began thinking about this goal last Sunday as I noticed we had five new visiting couples! If we were to take everyone in attendance for that Sunday plus add in those who usually attend but were missing due to travel, vacation, sickness, etc that would put us well over 70 in attendance!

Why the focus on numbers? Well, there is book in the Bible named numbers so it is Biblical.

Numbers represent people and we are all about getting more people plugged into fellowship. We are all about reaching more people to share the gospel with. We are all about getting more people exposed to God's word, to share in prayer with us, to partner in ministry with us, and to grow with us in their walk with the Lord.

How are we going to do it?

1. With prayer - God has to be in this or it won't work period.

2. With breakfast - history has shown that when we serve food more people come. So we will target the first Sunday of each month as a special time when reaching our goal is possible.

3. With care - care group leaders will be making calls to their care groups each week leading up to the first Sunday with a personal invite.

4. With outreach - our outreach couple have been diligently contacting all of the prospects for our class and will continue to do so.

What can I do you ask? This one is easy.....come to class, especially on the first Sunday of each month and eat breakfast with us.

Can ONE reach 101 plus in attendance before 2009? I don't know but I think it is a challenge for sure and a worthy goal to pursue.

Will you join us as we try to break this milestone?

ONE * Hundred - thirty

2009-08-23T17:52:00.004-04:00

ONE *Hundred - thirty.

Hard to believe but that is how many days are left in 2009.

How is your year going so far?

What goals did you hope to accomplish? What new leaf did you want to turn over in 2009?

What ways did you want to grow closer to God? How did you think you might serve God in 2009?

Have you made new relationships, shared the gospel, or stepped outside of your comfort zone in 2009?

With ONE*Hundred - thirty days left in 2009 it is not too late to forge new friendships, to begin a new season of serving and giving of your time, talents, and treasures.

Maybe 2009 hasn't gone like you had hoped or planned...I don't know...but what I do know is that you have ONE*Hundred - thirty days to finish off 2009 and make it more than what you had dreamed it could be.

See you Sunday!

Men's Hike and Swim Pictures Posted

2009-08-20T07:26:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday the men from ONE ventured out into the great outdoors for a hike/swim in the Great Smoky Mountains.

We started the day off right with a big Cracker Barrel breakfast then drove to the Baskins Creek trail head in North Carolina.

The weather was fantastic and the water was as cold as it has ever been. We spent the day swimming, jumping off the rocks, and just hanging out.

You can view some of the pictures by clicking the photo to the right.

Supper After the Supper - August 30th

2009-08-20T07:20:00.003-04:00

Mark your calendars for our next ONE event.

What? Lord's Supper followed by supper after the "Supper"

Where? SHBC and BJ and Emily's Home

When? Sunday, August 30th

What time? Service begins at 6:00

Here are some photos from our last two Lord's Supper event.

March -

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyfamilyfoto/March2009ONESupperAfterTheSupper#

June -

http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyfamilyfoto/SupperAfterTheSupperJune2009#

Hope to see you there.

Big Creek Trail - This weekend

2009-08-10T07:43:00.002-04:00

Brace yourselves men for the breakfast/hike/swim planned for this Saturday, August 15th.

Rain or shine we will meet for breakfast at 8:00 A.M. at the Cracker B next to Knox Center Mall.

Plan on being out all day and having a great time.

See you Saturday.

Tough Guy - Week 5 - Tough Love

2009-07-17T06:46:00.006-04:00

Matthew 27:24-50
Mark 15:16-39
Luke 23:18-49

John 18:28-19:37

²⁸ ^qThen they led Jesus ^rfrom the house of Caiaphas to ^sthe governor’s headquarters.⁵ It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, ^tso that they would not be defiled, ^ubut could eat the Passover. ²⁹ ^vSo Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰ They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” ³¹ Pilate said to them, ^w“Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ³² ^xThis was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken ^yto show by what kind of death he was going to die.

³³ ^zSo Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^a“Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, ^b“My kingdom ^cis not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^dmy servants would have been fighting, that ^eI might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, ^f“You say that I am a king. ^gFor this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^hI have come into the world—ⁱto bear witness to the truth. ^jEveryone who is ^kof the truth ^llistens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, ^mhe went back outside to the Jews and told them, ⁿ“I find no guilt in him. ³⁹ ^oBut you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ They cried out again, ^p“Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.⁶

Then Pilate took Jesus and ^qflogged him. ² ^rAnd the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that ^sI find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing ^tthe crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ^u“Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, ^v“Take him yourselves and crucify him, for ^wI find no guilt in him.” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and ^xaccording to that law he ought to die because ^yhe has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, ^zhe was even more afraid. ⁹ ^aHe entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ^b“Where are you from?” But ^cJesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, ^d“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^ehe who delivered me over to you ^fhas the greater sin.”

¹² From then on ^gPilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. ^hEveryone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on ⁱthe judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic¹ Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^jthe day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.² He said to the Jews, ^k“Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, ^l“Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ¹⁶ ^mSo he ⁿdelivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and ^ohe went out, ^pbearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ ^qThere they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate ^ralso wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for ^sthe place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” ²² Pilate answered, ^t“What I have written I have written.”

²³ ^uWhen the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.³ But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” ^vThis was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

^w“They divided my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things, ²⁵ ^xbut standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and ^ythe disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ^z“Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to ^ahis own home.

²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now ^bfinished, said (^vto fulfill the Scripture), ^c“I thirst.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, ^dso they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ^e“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and ^fgave up his spirit.

³¹ Since it was ^gthe day of Preparation, and ^hso that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was ⁱa high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other ^jwho had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out ^kblood and water. ³⁵ ^lHe who saw it has borne witness—^mhis testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—ⁿthat you also may believe. ³⁶ ^oFor these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ^p“Not one of his bones ^qwill be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ^r“They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Romans 5:8
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us

1 John 4:10
¹⁰In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:16
God is love.

We love our wives, we love our husbands, we love our children, we love our- cheeseburgers, our cars, our home, our neighbors, our football team, our city, our hairbrush, our new set of irons, or iPhone, our job. We love the smell of play dough, and the sound of rain.

We use the same word to describe our love for each other as we do our love for chocolate cake. To us love is feelings, passion, emotions, desire, lust and as long as those ingredients are present we love because we feel and our emotions are satisfied and we are served.

This is a perverted, twisted take on love that has left our society bankrupt of families and void of husbands who love their wives as Christ loves us and void of wives who lovingly submit to their husbands and void of children of honor and obey their parents.

Scripture says, 1 John 4:16, that God is love.

You and I do not know love because real love is more than feelings, more than emotions, more than lust, and desire it is so much more it is action on behalf of the one who loves for the benefit of the object of love.

This kind of love is foreign to us because it is real, it is true, and it is tough. The love of Jesus is tough because:

1. We have never seen such love in our lives.

Our lives are marked with broken families. Divorces, split homes, remarriage, abandonment, lack of commitment. Instead of serving one another we see self service and me first as the predominant theme in our marriages and marriages around us. If you don't give me what I want, if you don't serve me...then I will go somewhere else is our attitude. Our relationships are based on social contracts - you do this for me and I will do this for you and as long a each of us keep our end of the bargain then we can remain in fellowship. Because we are imperfect people such relationship rarely last.

2. We have never experienced such love before.

We have never been completely, unconditionally loved by another person. We have been ridiculed, judged, mocked, manipulated. People have turned their backs on us, they have bore false witness against us. We have been gossiped about behind our backs and insulted to our faces.

3. We are incapable of loving.

Everyone of us has a deep desire to be loved but few have a deep desire to love in a humble, self-denying, life giving, serving way.

4. We find it hard to believe in such love.

Scripture tells us that (1 Corinthians 1:18) ^"18...the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Jesus' love is tough because:

1. Of who we are.
Hard hearted, stiff necked, stubborn people. Sinners from birth. Rebels against Him. Drunkards, cheaters, unholy, unrighteous, ungodly people. Lazy. Perverts, fornicators, adulterers, murderers, gossips, back biters, liars.

2. Of what we do.
We are idolaters chasing after anything and everything falsely giving our lives to everything but Jesus. We are perverted in our thinking. We lust in our hearts. We covet things, possessions, and the money of others. We bear false witness about Jesus in the way we live and our lives preach a false gospel by the things we do. We eagerly run into sin even in light of His continuous mercy and grace.

Jesus' love is tough because:

3. It is action and it is costly.
Jesus has entered into our lives, He seeks us out, He chooses us. Jesus was crucified in our place for our sins because He and the Father love us - John 3:16. Jesus gave His life, His very blood so that we might live!

Yet we continue to play games with each other. Husbands look for ways to abandon their responsibilities. Wives withhold affection. We manipulate each other to get what we want and we continue to toy around with the idea of "Jesus." And the lie is that our wives will always be there and the lie is that our husbands will always be there, and the lie is that our children and our friends will always be there never realizing that today could be the last day we have together and that tomorrow is never a guarantee!

I love the way Paul concludes Romans chapter 8 (Romans 8:38-39) ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Apart from Jesus you and I have no idea what love is as we are incapable of true love and as others are incapable of truly loving us.

Jesus is the ultimate Tough Guy because He said the tough things that needed to be said, He commanded the tough things that we need to do, He did and continues to do tough works to bring about His glory, plan and purposes, and Jesus continues to show each of us His tough love in so many wonderful ways.

Do you know, serve, worship, and Love Jesus as God?

Tough Guy - Week 1 Tough Words Part A

2009-06-19T06:12:00.010-04:00

Culture loves to define things for us, to take the created things of God and reshape them. What God has created and given to us for our enjoyment and His glory, sinful man loves to take, redefine and re-image not into God's image but into man's own image, it is what Romans refers to as "suppressing the truth". The changing climate towards marriage, sexuality, and gender roles are just a few examples.

Mustaches, Machismo, Muscles, Muscle Cars, being tough, these are a few of the measuring sticks the world uses to define what a "real man" is and what a man's man looks like.

If you want to find and example of what a real man is then look no further than the internet and behold the mighty works of Chuck Norris and Mr. T who have become internet legends and icons.

5 quick facts you may not have known about Chuck Norris - taken from chucknorrisfacts.com

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

5 quick facts you may not have know about Mr. T - taken from Mr. T Facts

Mr. T never learned to read. Letters learned to accommodate Mr. T’s mind.
Richard Simmons is Vin Diesel, after being pitied by Mr. T.
If you could calculate the amount of pity generated by Mr. T every second, you could make infinity feel ashamed of being ridiculously small.
Mr. T was actually raised by a tribe of wookies living high in the Sierra mountains. They blessed him with the ability to pity fools and taught him their sacred language of Jibba Jabba.
Guns don’t kill people, Mr. T kills people.

According to the marketing agencies being a man today means little more than having a six pack in the fridge, a six pack under the shirt - which physically won't work as there is no such thing as “beer abs” see "beer gut" - a couple of hot babes on the side, and a flat screen in the den. This is where we get sayings like - "He who dies with the most toys wins...." No, he who dies with the most toys still dies.

1 John 2:15-17 refers to this as "lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride in possessions" and if this is you and if this is your view of what it is and what it takes to be a man not only are you wrong but you are not of God, you are anti-Christ, and satanic.

And while the world likes to pigeon hole masculinity into mustaches, machismo, and possessions I would submit to you that there has never been anyone who has roamed this earth, not Chuck Norris, Mr. T, Bruce Lee, not Samuel Jackson who was or is tougher and more of a man than Jesus.

Jesus never went to college, never traveled far from His home, never ran or held political office, never wrote a book, or owned a Nintendo 64. For the first 30 years of His life He lived in obscurity, working a job and after 30 years He began His earthly ministry and it is at this point that His life was marked with tough words (the things He stated and commanded) tough works (the things He did), and tough love (His death on the cross).

Jesus wasn't afraid to tell the truth, shoot straight, be open, honest, to be direct even when it might cost him friendships, bring Him persecution, even death.

#1 Jesus spoke tough words concerning Himself.

When asked who Jesus is many people will say that He was a good man or a good teacher but will deny that He is God. Mormons teach that Jesus was a man who became God. Islam teaches that Jesus was a great prophet. Others will say things like, "Jesus never said he was God, you just made that up. Jesus was a good man but he never said he was God."

It is important to know that Jesus stated clearly, emphatically, unapologetically stated many times that He was indeed God which caused many to hate Him and drove some to seek Him murdered.

1. Jesus said He was God - Mark 14:61-64, John 8:58-59, John 10:30-33

In these three examples Jesus states that He is God, that He and God are equal and one, and that He has always existed before Moses, before Abraham. In each of these examples upon proclaiming Himself God the immediate reaction of the people was to kill Jesus for blaspheme.

2. Jesus said His purposes in coming were to: Preach the good news - Luke 4:16-21, to seek and to save - Luke 19:10 and to serve - Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45.

Jesus picks up the scroll, turns to the book of Isaiah and tells the crowd in His own hometown that the prophecy which He just read has been fulfilled in Him. He is the messiah, the promised redeemer. How can anyone state that they are the fulfillment of scripture unless they are a lunatic, satanic, or really God?

3. Jesus said He was sinless - John 8:46 and that He forgives sin - Mark 2:5-7

These are astonishing claims! If any of us were to proclaim we were sinless scores of people would come out of the woodworks to confront us, friends, co-workers, and family would line up to testify against us. Not only did Jesus say he was without sin but that He could forgive sins.

As, perfect, sinless, God, Jesus establishes His authority to do the things He does - tough works and to say and command the things He says - tough words not only does Jesus say tough things about Himself but He also talks about Heaven, those who hear Him and heckle Him, and Hell.

#2. Jesus spoke tough words concerning Heaven.

1. Jesus said that heaven is a real place – John 14:2 – “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” Jesus resurrected in a physical body and ascended in His physical body and resides in heaven and will return in a physical body.

2. Jesus said the names of those who believe in Him are written in heaven – Luke 10:20

Our treasure is in heaven – Matthew 19:21

3. Jesus said that no one has ever gone into heaven except Himself - John 3:13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven - the Son of Man.

4. Jesus said Heaven is His home - John 6:38, 41-42. 60, 66

No other religion or religious leaders make this claim. There are others who claim to have glimpsed into heaven for a brief moment or to have visited heaven for a day but no one other than Jesus makes the claim that they are from heaven and that heaven is their home. These words caused many to leave Jesus and it began the talks among the religious people on how to capture and kill Jesus for blaspheme.

5. Jesus said the way to heaven is narrow – Matthew 7:13-14.

6. Jesus said not everyone will enter into heaven – Matthew 7:21.

7. Jesus claimed that He alone is the only way to heaven John 14:6

Jesus is essentially saying that you can't get to heaven through works, through religion, through being a good person, no, "I am the way, the truth, and the life..." everything else leads to a dead end, is a bunch of lies, and ultimately leads to death.

It’s interesting that statistically speaking an overwhelming majority of people state that they believe in heaven and that they are going to heaven. These same people also state that they believe everyone else is going to hell.

#3 Jesus said tough things about those who followed Him at a distance, the hecklers and the hearers.

These were the people who followed Jesus at a distance, they heard Him teach, heard His words, saw His miracles, yet never got close, never had a relationship with Jesus, would sometimes heckle Him, try to trick Him with their questions but never fully submitted to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

1. Jesus said that lukewarm believers make Him throw up – Revelation 3:16

2. Jesus said religious people who don’t believe in Him are bastard children of the devil - John 8:42-47

⁴²Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. ⁴³Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? ⁴⁷He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

#4 Jesus said tough things about Hell.

1. Jesus said there is fire in Hell – Matthew 5:22

2. Jesus said Hell is a place of torment – Luke 16:23

3. Jesus said Hell is a place of torment – Luke 16:23

4. Jesus said Hell is a place where God destroys the body and the soul – Matthew 10:28

5. Jesus said Hell is a place where religious people go – Matthew 23:33

6. Jesus said that He alone holds the keys to death and hell – Revelation 1:18

Jesus said He was God, perfect and without sin, that heaven is His home, that the way to heaven is narrow and that He is the only way to heaven. Jesus said if you are a lukewarm believer you make Him want to vomit and if you are religious then your mom shagged the devil and you are a bastard child of Satan. Jesus said religious people would not be able to escape being condemned to hell and that hell is a place of fire, torment, and that He alone holds the keys to death and hell.

C.S. Lewis said of Jesus - "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."

What is your relationship with Jesus today?

World's Fair Park - This Saturday!

2009-06-15T06:45:00.002-04:00

Please pray for great weather on Saturday because we are headed to the World's Fair Park!

What: ONE Fellowship Event
When: Saturday, June 20 11:00 a.m. til ??
Where: World's Fair Park interactive fountain/splashpad (parking for the WFP can be found next to Fort Kid across from the Museum of Art, also near the Foundry and the L&N Station).

What To Bring: Swimsuit, towel, sunscreen, picnic lunch, drinks, lawn chairs and/or blanket.

In case of rain, we will cancel the fellowship.

If canceled, you will receive an email.

Hope to see everyone on Saturday!!!!!!

Tough Guy - Video Preview

2009-06-15T06:20:00.002-04:00

This Sunday we begin a new, four week study, on the tough words, tough works, and tough love of Jesus.

Here is a sneak peak video just for you.

See you Sunday.

We are all Witnesses

2009-06-08T07:35:00.003-04:00

Acts 1:1-9

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach ²until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. ⁴On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

⁶So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

⁷He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

⁹After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

We are all witnesses and our lives witness to someone or something that we glorify and worship.

We witness to the world who our God is with where we spend our money, our time, were we focus our energy and our resources. Our actions, attitudes, motivations, and yes our words point to who rules and reigns in our hearts.

Most of the time we share in small, one on one settings at the table, with a friend or co-worker, over a cup of coffee and sometimes we are afforded the opportunity to share in a group setting.

Join us this Sunday as one of our own shares his testimony and how Jesus has saved his life.

Marriage and Men

2009-06-08T07:23:00.003-04:00

What does it mean for a man to be the head of the home? How are we to lead? What are our responsibilities? What does it mean to be a man and where do we get true masculinity from?

Yesterday we watched the following sermon, Marriage and Men.

Here is the video in it's entirety.

Please feel free to share this with others.

Marriage and Women

2009-06-01T06:06:00.003-04:00

What does the Bible say about marriage and women? Marriage and men?

Do we share the same roles and responsibilities or are we each created with different roles and responsibilities when it comes to marriage?

Yesterday we watched Marriage and Women.

Here is the video in it's entirety.

Please note: there is a question and answer session at the end of the sermon we did not get to.

Please feel free to share this with others.

This Sunday we will focus in on Marriage and Men.

Galatians Wrap Up

2009-05-14T07:01:00.004-04:00

If I could encapsulate the message of Galatians, compress in into two minutes, throw some war paint on it, with a Scottish accent it would look like this (please note that this clip contains the Scottish word "arse" in it.

What will you do without freedom?

Will you fight or will you die?

They may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!

Come this Sunday as we wrap up this great study and who knows....you just may get some donuts or something.

Why are so many men bored with church? Part 2 - Real men don't read

2009-05-14T06:00:00.004-04:00

Why are so many men bored with church? This is the question I asked in my previous article [link]. Here are several reasons I listed noting that this is not an exhaustive list but a list I believe covers some if not most of the reasons why the church is missing manly men who love their Bibles, love to humbly serve, and love the church of Jesus.

1. They have a distorted view of God.
2. They have a distorted view of the church.
3. They have a secret sin or secret sins in their life.
4. They don't enjoy reading.
5. They don't communicate and operate naturally in large settings.
6. They like action over words.
7. They aren't saved.
8. Some churches no longer rightly preach God's word connecting everything back to Jesus.

When I wrote the last article I put together the above list in no particular order but want to address these points in what would make logical sense so it should look like this...

Here are several reasons why I believe many men are either bored with church or who don't see any value in attending church.

1. Most men don't read or don't enjoy reading.
2. Their Theology is whack....they have a distorted view of God.
3. Their Ecclesiology is whack....they have a distorted view of the church.
4. Their Christology is whack....some churches no longer rightly preach God's word connecting everything back to Jesus.
5. They aren't saved.
6. They have a secret sin or secret sins in their life.
7. Men are mono syllabic....we don't naturally communicate and operate well in group settings.
8. Men like action over words.

Let's deal with number 1 first....Most men don't read or don't enjoy reading.

Let's face it...men our lives are hectic. We get up early, we go to work, we deal with complex issues during the day, we are taxed with responsibilities of job, family, and bills and when we get home most of the time all we want to do is to turn on sports center and quietly slip into a comma and or "vegg out".

Generally speaking vegging out does not include large books with lots of words and no pictures. The goal for most men each day is to make it through the day, go completely mind numb at the end of the day so as to achieve some amount of peace and relaxation before going to bed and having to get up in the morning and do it all over again.

To be completely honest and blunt most men want to disengage from the thinking process not kick it up a notch by reading.

Most guys I know will say that the last book they read was in high school 10, 20 plus years ago and if pressed hard enough they will eventually admit that even then they did not read the book but instead watched the video.
So what? Who cares? Why does this matter at all?

The problem with this is that most men do not read books which includes the greatest book of all...the Bible.

If we aren't grounded daily in the word of God then where will we get our information about God? How to live our lives? How to be a good husband? How to overcome temptation? How to handle our finances? How to be a good dad? How to be a good employee? How to obtain salvation?

Right now some of you reading this are thinking...."this is weak...I don't need anyone or anything telling me any of this...I know how to do all of these things and my life is just fine..."

Really? How is that working out for you?

If we do not get our information from the Bible, God's words, then we will get our information from the examples around us, from our dads, from other men, from the culture...which is scary because I am not sure I want to be getting any advice from Paris Hilton or Bradd Pitt on how to raise my family.

The reality is that each of us are created to worship and we will either worship God in truth and spirit taken from the reading of God's word or we will worship someone or something in place of God based on being spoon fed lies by the culture which is not worship but is in fact idolatry and false worship.

The very fact that few men read their Bibles at all has given birth to an entire generation of men who don't know the truth, don't know how to handle complex questions about morality, ethics, and religion, don't have a right view of who God is, what God's church is, who Jesus is, how to overcome secret sin, and for some how to be saved.

How do approach this?

This is a challenge for all Christian men who love their Bibles, love Jesus, and love His church. We have to be in the word daily, we need to be accountable to each other, and we need to encourage each other to be diligent students of God's word. We need to be leaders and teachers of God's word in our homes, and we need to be bold in our witness about both in word and lifestyle so that the truth of God's word can be testified to glorifying God and drawing men to Him.

We need to put aside any notion that reading is somehow anti-man, we have to realize that we have been born into a world at war against us, against our families, and against God.

We we need to man up and not be afraid to pick up the sword of of the Spirit to do battle (Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 6:17) for the sake of our hearts and minds and the hearts and minds of our loved ones.

Practical helps

1. Don't like to read? Purchase an audio Bible on CD to listen to on your way to work or better yet download a free version on iTunes and put it on your iPod. Don't have an iPod? Repent, go buy one and sin no more.

2. Can't understand what you are reading? Purchase a translation of the Bible you can read, enjoy, and understand. I like the ESV, NIV, and the NKJV. The Message is a great translation for general reading as well.

3. Pray - Ask God to give you a hunger for His word. Ask God to help you understand His word.

4. Just do it! Make time, schedule time, and do it. It won't happen if you don't.

A weak knowledge of the Bible leads to distorted views of who God is, what the church is, and who Jesus is which we will look at in part 3.

Why are so many men bored with church? Part 1

2009-05-04T09:03:00.005-04:00

Why are so many men bored with church?

Is it me or is our culture seriously lacking manly men who love Jesus, love their Bibles, and love God's church? Why is it that most men are dragged to church as little boys, abandon the church as young men either to never return or to be reluctantly dragged back by a nagging wife?

There seems to be a disconnect between those men who profess Jesus as Lord and savior with their mouths and their lives which bear little to any witness to following Christ, reading His word, and loving His church.

There is quite a bit of data available backing this up. For example, read the following statistics taken from an article written by David Marrow at CBN.com

"More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church."

It is not just my imagination leading me to believe that there is a lack of passion in men when it comes to church attendance, love of the church, and participation in God's church, the bride of Christ. I have had the privilege of being in several volunteer ministry positions over the years and have noticed the following patterns:

1. Men are less consistent in their church attendance than their wives.
2. Men are less likely to serve in the church than their wives.
3. Men are less likely to volunteer to lead a small group or facilitate a discussion than their wives.
4. Some men attend only to appease their wives and to stop the nagging.

Here are some staggering numbers to think about.

• The typical U.S. Congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female, 39% male. This gender gap shows up in all age categories.

• On any given Sunday there are 13 million more adult women than men in America’s churches.

• This Sunday almost 25 percent of married, churchgoing women will worship without their husbands.

• Midweek activities often draw 70 to 80 percent female participants.

• The majority of church employees are women (except for ordained clergy, who are overwhelmingly male).

• Over 70 percent of the boys who are being raised in church will abandon it during their teens and twenties. Many of these boys will never return.

• More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.

• Churches overseas report gender gaps of up to 9 women for every adult man in attendance.

• Christian universities are becoming convents. The typical Christian college in the U.S. enrolls almost 2 women for every 1 man.

• Fewer than 10% of U.S. churches are able to establish or maintain a vibrant men’s ministry.

information cited from www.churchformen.com

While we love women who love Jesus and we love women who love the church my question is....where are all the men and why are they so bored and disconnected from the church of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

Aren't men suppose to be the head of their households (Ephesians 5:23)? The pastor dads in their homes? The spiritual leaders for their wives and children (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)?

Won't we men stand before Jesus on the last day and give an account for all that was given to us as men to care for on behalf of God to include our money, time, possessions, and the people God surrounded us with including the spiritual health and welfare of our family (Romans 14:11-12)?

Here are several reasons why I believe many men are either bored with church or who don't see any value in attending church.

1. They have a distorted view of God.
2. They have a distorted view of the church.
3. They have a secret sin or secret sins in their life.
4. They don't enjoy reading.
5. They don't communicate and operate naturally in large settings.
6. They like action over words.
7. They aren't saved.
8. Some churches no longer rightly preach God's word connecting everything back to Jesus.

Over the next few articles I will address each of these points as we look together at why most men are bored with the church.

Please note that the above list is by no means an exhaustive list as there are many more contributing reasons as to why men are bored with the church...

Galatians - Week 9 Has the Church gone too far?

2009-05-03T10:16:00.006-04:00

In your opinion has the church gone too far into the culture trying to reach people?

If so, how?

"Be ye in the world but not of the world."

Most of us are familiar with this scripture and the church has struggled with this for two-thousand years asking questions like:

"How far can we go into the culture?"
"What can and can't we do?"
"What is and isn't permissible?"

In and effort to remain pure, untainted, and separate from the world and culture in general we have withdrawn, removed ourselves, and it manifests itself in the following ways:

"I don't go to those places, watch those movies, listen to that music, wear those clothes, live in that location, or play in that area..."

In our efforts to set ourselves apart to be "salt and light" we not only remove ourselves from culture but end up isolating ourselves from culture. We now have whole groups of people buying up large tracts of land, churning their own butter, and who doesn't like home churned butter?, home schooling their 15 kids, and stocking up on ammo and ramen noodles waiting for the rapture.

This isn't just isolation any longer as it moves more to marginalization as Christians become less and less of an influential power that creates and makes culture with a Biblical, gospel centered world view and what once was a desire to remain in the world but not of the world becomes total avoidance with the culture, certain people, certain technology. In our retreat, in our absence this void is filled with a godless, unbiblical, demonic, self-centered, world view and the church, the gospel, and Christians are all marginalized and seen as just another fanatical group....at best to be tolerated and at word to be harassed, arrested, tortured, and executed.

The problem with the command..."Be ye in the world but not of the world" is that it is not a command! You will not find this in scripture, in fact we find just the opposite and I could give many examples (In the gospel of John alone Jesus tells us at least thirty-nine times that He was “sent” by the Father) but will give one directly from Jesus.

Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

Galatians 4:12

Paul was masterful at getting into the culture, connecting with people right where they were and sharing the gospel with them. 1 Corinthians 9:22 "I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some." Galatians 4:12 Paul says, "I beg you to become like me as I became like you." Please put away your "I'm holy" attitude, your self imposed separation, your "I don't go there, do that, associate with those types" mentality.

In doing so we ourselves become stumbling blocks for those who would otherwise come to Christ. Our outward attempts at holiness can lead us and others to believe that they must meet some moral code or checklist before coming to church, before hanging out with us, and before coming to Christ.

#1 - You and I are to use every means within the context of the culture in which we live to share the gospel.

Foreign missions would not be successful if they did not learn the language, dress, and work themselves into the culture and if they did not connect with people right where they are. Missions exist because worship and knowledge of Jesus do not and each of us live within the context of our own cultures within which there are many sub-cultures, each with their own language and dress.

1. Be informed about the culture in which you live.
2. Work yourself into that culture.
3. Connect with people right where they are to then connect them to Jesus.
4. Use the arts, media, and technology all to advance the gospel.

Example: 24 - watch an episode - redeem 24 for Jesus (Jack Bauer is a messiah figure, one man who alone can save the entire world)
Technology, blogs, facebook, twitter, MySpace, the Internet, texting, all can be used to advance the gospel.

Galatians 4:12 "Become like me....I became like you."
Don't be an obstacle, don't be self-righteous, and don’t force others to some "higher level of morality" before coming to Jesus. Instead use every means within the context of the culture in which you live to share the gospel.

Galatians 4:13-14
The funny thing is that Paul was not planning on stopping in Galatia, wasn't planning on preaching to these people or planting churches in Galatia. Yet because of a "bodily ailment" Paul was forced to stop.

Have you ever asked the question? Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Here was Paul who had given his life to Jesus, denounced his old life, left his old ways, was preaching, teaching, planting churches and it is clear that God's hand was upon him. Paul was certainly filled with God's Holy Spirit as he wrote a majority of our New Testament Bible. You would think that out of all people Paul would have had some extra protection right? Yet time and time again Paul's life was struck with illness, near death, trials, persecution, hardships...why?

Wasn't Paul good? Why did God allow bad things to happen to Paul? Better yet...why does God allow bad things to happen to you? To me?

There are two ways we can look at God.
1. Through a microscope
2. Through a telescope

Both of these magnify but both in very different ways.

The microscope takes teeny tiny things and blows them up making them look bigger than they actually are where as the telescope takes large things very far away and brings them into focus so we can see them.

If you and I magnify God in a microscope we will see our life as the most important, see our problems as the most important and always ask the question....why me?

If you and I magnify God through a telescope we will see God and His glory as the most important, see our problems as they are, but instead of asking why me? You and I will ask for what purpose God?

2 Corinthians 12:7-10
There is no perfect time to share the gospel. In God's great sovereignty and in His mighty plans He allows things to happen, illness, tragedy, hurt, pain, suffering, even death that in the microscopic level grieve us and Him greatly. Yet in the scheme of eternity bring about His good will and glory.

How can you say this? How can you write this? I will give you just one example...Jesus.

Jesus, God's only son, perfect in every way, without sin...arrested, beaten, falsely accused, mocked, spit upon, the flesh ripped from His back as He was beaten, crucified, His blood poured out on a disgusting Roman cross, taking upon Himself our sins, dying in our place.

Don't you think that at that moment and at that time that all of heaven was horrified at what they saw? That God was grieved? That Jesus was desperate and alone? He cried out...Father, Abba, Daddy! Why have you forsaken me?"

Yet in the telescope this was not a mistake, not an accident, not an isolated event, but part of God's plan, a plan to redeem man to God, a plan to lift the curse off all creation, a plan to conquer sin, hell, and death for all eternity, and a plan to glorify God!

Romans 8:28 "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him..."

#2 We are to utilize every event in our lives, the good, the bad, and the ugly as a means to share the gospel and to glorify God.

Galatians 4:15-18 Paul says being zealous is a good thing as long as it is for the right purpose and it is true. The problem is that there were some in the church who are worse than someone who just started a new diet (Galatians 4:17). Have you ever known someone who just started a new diet? Don't you just hate those people? The very night before they were partying like it was 1999, just chowing down at the Chinese buffet trying to eat their body weight in egg noodles and now? They are the Dr. Gupta of nutrition. You go to lunch with them and they kindly begin to point out to you how many calories/carbs/fat grams are in each bite you take while they happily munch on air and water.

They aren't concerned about your health! They want someone to suffer with them, to validate their decision and they want others to follow them...they really want control.

Paul is saying "These guys don't love you...aren't' concerned about you...they don't care where you spend eternity...if you know, worship, and serve God...all they care about is the here and now. These guys are fundamentalist which is a lie because they are no fun at all! All they want from you is for you to be religious, miserable, and to serve them. The truth be known they can't stand it that you have freedom in Jesus while they are still stuck in their religious prisons!"

Galatians 4:18-20

#3 Understand bringing someone to Christ often requires an investment of our lives.

Paul compares this to childbirth. Anyone ever witness the miracle of childbirth live or watch a video in health class? I would call it more like the "bloody, messy, fluid filled, screaming at your husband childbirth." The real miracle is that the wife ever wants to have more children and that the husband lives to see another day.

Paul says..."I have loved you from the day I heard about you, cared about you for months, worried over you, protected you, prayed over you, put your welfare above my own, put you above myself, your needs before my needs, undergone terrible pain, discomfort, hardships for you just to see you born into the kingdom of God."

Paul is comparing what the Galatians are doing to a pregnant mother, carrying her baby for nine months, undergoing all the pains of childbirth, without an epidural, delivering, getting to see the baby for a brief moment and then being told by the doctor she will have to begin the process all over again.

You and I must understand that our relationships are an investment and very often can take months, even years before seeing any real life change for both believers and unbelievers.

God has placed us in this place at this time for His purposes.

1. Use every means with the context of the culture of which you live to share the gospel.
2. Utilize every event in your life as a means to share the gospel and to glorify God.
3. Understand that very often bringing someone to Christ requires an investment of our lives.

March 2009 Supper after the Supper - Pictures Posted

2009-04-28T08:20:00.003-04:00

On Sunday, March 29 our church celebrated the first Lord's Supper together.

Our class gathered together after the Lord's Supper for our "supper after the Supper" at Jeremy and Regina's house for some great food and fellowship.

We had a great time.

You can view the pictures by clicking on the web album to the right of the page of by visiting the link directly here [link].

What to expect?

2009-04-27T10:02:00.003-04:00

There is quite a bit planned on the ONE calendar for 2009 so I wanted to take this opportunity to give you a heads up as to what to expect in the next couple of weeks.

1. Updated Lessons - Look for the last few lessons from our Galatians study to be posted here shortly.

2. Updated Photos - I have some pictures from our Supper after the "Supper" and plan on posting them this week.

3. Updated ONE Calendar

4. Upcoming ONE class fellowship - Look for more information on a class wide ice cream fellowship for the month of May.

5. Upcoming Lessons - In May our plans are to look at Women and Marriage and Men and Marriage. In June I hope to kick off a four week study on Jesus I am calling "Tough Guy".

6. Upcoming Breakfast - Look for more breakfast as we celebrate the first Sunday of each month.

ONE member helping to save lives

2009-03-31T18:42:00.002-04:00

One of our Bible Fellowship members, Christine Carter, was busy saving a life this past Sunday. Check out the full story here: http://www.volunteertv.com/news/headlines/42169357.html

Galatians - Week 7 Choose Life!

2009-03-20T05:55:00.005-04:00

Scripture contains three types of law.

1. Ceremonial laws - These laws were strict details of how to worship, God's way of cleaning His people from the many heathen practices they had picked up. Example - Leviticus 1:1-13 gives vivid details about the burnt offering which was a general offering for sin showing the seriousness of sin through loss of life, the devotion of the one making the offering as it was expensive, showed God's mercy, and ultimately pointed to Jesus as the one perfect sacrifice for all sin.

2. Civil laws - These were given to direct the daily living of the Israelites. For example - Deuteronomy 24:5 says that for the first year a newly married man should not work or go to war but should stay home with his new wife and while this is a wonderful idea it would not be practical in our culture today...other examples include laws about lending, farming, and handling people with leprosy. Yet our culture is so radically different now it would be almost impossible for any of us to adhere to these laws...yet the principles behind the laws should guide us (how to treat others, investing in our marriages, honoring God and so forth).

3. Moral laws - These are direct commands from God and they reveal the nature and will of God. A great example of these can be found in Exodus 20:1-17. We are to obey God's commands not to obtain salvation but to live lives pleasing to God.

The false teachers combine all three types of law, ceremonial, civil, and moral and demand that salvation come through Jesus and strict adherence to these and they pull the "Moses" card on the churches.

Moses, the great law giver, the great prophet, the author of the first five books of the Bible..."These aren't our words...this is what Moses said..."

The false teachers point to Genesis 17:1-14 as one of their reasons for following the law.

Genesis 17:1-14 God comes to Abraham, makes a promise to Abraham that he will be the father of many nations, that kings will come from Abraham, that God will always be the God of his people, and that God will give Abraham and his children the land to posses. As an outward sign of God's promise (covenant) with Abraham and his people God commands Abraham to circumcise himself and every male member of his household. To be circumcised is to be identified with God, to be identified as one of Abraham's children, and to be blessed under God's promise.

"Look! Here is the very promise of God! This is the sign of the covenant...everyone must be circumcised to be under the blessing of God and to be made right before God...especially gentiles who have recently converted to Jesus! God made a promise and gave a command. God gave His law through Moses and we follow the laws, we circumcise according to the law, therefore we are children of Abraham. God made a promise and He must keep it!!!"

Galatians 3:5-6 "Not so fast.." Paul seems to say. Yes, Abraham did obey God's command but that was not what made Abraham righteous before God...in fact Abraham was not made righteous through circumcision, nor through his actions, nor through following the law....Abraham was made righteous before God through his faith in God - Genesis 15:6. God credits Abraham with righteousness 430 years before the law, 29 years or so before taking Isaac up on the mountain, and before circumcision. Faith precedes righteousness and faith comes from God revealing Jesus and the gospel to Abraham Galatians 3:8.

Jesus said Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." On at least two occasions (Luke 24:27, Luke 24:44-45) Jesus opens up His Bible and shows His followers how all of scripture is about Him and only about Him and how all of scripture points us to Him. It's not about where we worship or how we worship but what do we worship and what is our heart toward worship.

God tells Abraham that He will bless the nations (not just Israel but all nations) through him and this will come from his seed(singular referring to Jesus). The blessing God speaks about to Abraham is Jesus. God's son being born of a virgin through the line of Abraham, living a sinless life, seeking after us, serving us, saving us from our sins by dying on the cross for us taking God's wrath upon Himself dying in our place and paying the penalty. By doing so Jesus becomes the only mediator between God and sinful man reconciling us to a Holy God and reconciling us to each other...not just one nation but all nations, peoples, cultures, races, and genders and not just for the here and now but for all of eternity.

Galatians 3:10 The law in an of itself doesn't give joy, life, happiness, liberty...it takes joy as it reveals to us our sins, it takes happiness as we learn just how dark our hearts truly are, and it brings only death as it condemns us for our transgressions. The law is a curse to everyone who tries to cling to it for salvation. "I'll do better next time..." and "I'm sorry..." don't work and won't cut it. Because everyone who clings to the law and puts their faith in the law yet breaks even the smallest is guilty of breaking the whole law. This weighs heavy on our hearts, it oppresses us.

Galatians 3:13-14 Yet Jesus became the curse for us. By taking upon Himself every instance of every time of every infraction both big and small where you and I have broken the law. Galatians 3:14 God did this so that all nations, through Abraham, could receive Jesus and be made right before God. What is so wonderful is that for thousands of years after God's promise to Abraham, God is still faithful to His promise in spite of our wickedness, our fickleness, our hard hearts, our changing hearts, our fluctuating affections and wavering devotion...God is unmoved and His heart is unchanged. He loves us and He keeps His promises!

Galatians 3:15-18 God made a promise to Abraham that through his seed, again singular, Jesus would come. Four hundred and thirty years later the law was given yet the law did not alter the promise.

Some of you are saying to yourself right now...."I just don't get it? Then why in the wide wide world of sports did God give us the law to begin with? If the law 1. cannot save us and 2. if God knew we could not keep it?"

Galatians 3:19 The law was given to us to show us our sins.
Galatians 3:22 The law was given to contain us and place us all on equal footing as sinners. Everyone who has or will ever live is contained under the law and is a prisoner of sin. Rich and poor, black and white, educated and illiterate, old and young...no one not one is exempt.
Galatians 3:24 The law is our tutor pointing out our need for Jesus. Our continued effort to be a good person to overcome temptation, to do better next time to be holy, to follow God's commands only leads us to failure, frustration, and weariness in ourselves. The more we dig into God's word the more we realize how perfect God is, how holy God is, how righteous God is and how imperfect we are, how unholy we are, and how unrighteous we are and how no matter how hard we try, how much we try to turn the screws there is never any amount of white knuckling that can help us follow God's commands perfectly, without sinning in deed or thought. And so the law leads us and teaches us that all of us need help, someone to save us, a savior, Jesus.

Galatians 3:25 Once we receive Jesus we no longer need to be tutored or taught this.

There are over 600 laws, commands and statutes given in the Old Testament...each of them point to Jesus.
In the Old Testament there are seven types of offerings and each of them point to Jesus.
In the Old Testament there are seven festivals each of them point to Jesus.
In the Old Testament there are seven feasts each of them point to Jesus.

In Jesus we have the perfect offering for all sins, we have the perfect fulfillment of the requirements of the law.

The law has a purpose in that it contains us all and puts us all on equal footing as sinners. The law teaches us about the will and nature of God, and the law points us to Jesus.

If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior then you are still contained under the law and still accountable to the law. You are cursed by the law for any infraction against the law, big or small in word, deed, or thought is counted against you as having broken the entire law. The law cannot save you, it cannot bring you eternal life.

If you do know Jesus as your Lord and Savior then He has perfectly fulfilled all the requirements of the law on your behalf by being under the curse of the law for you. You are no longer to live under the law in an attempt to gain a right standing before God because you have been made right through Jesus.

Do you know Jesus?
Do you love Jesus?
Are you free through Jesus?
Do you still struggle with performing before God in an attempt to please God?

Through Jesus God is pleased with you, God loves you, and you are made righteous before God for all eternity.

Supper after the Supper

2009-03-20T05:51:00.002-04:00

On Sunday, March 29 during the evening service our church will celebrate the Lord's Supper. This is a special time of worship as we remember the mighty work of Jesus upon the cross. After the service we will gather together at the Pearson's for supper. Hope to see you there.

What? Supper after the Lord's Supper

When? Sunday, March 29

Where? SHBC 6:00 followed by supper at the Pearson's home

What do I bring? To be determined...

Leadership Meeting this Sunday

2009-03-19T08:12:00.003-04:00

Please mark your calendars for our next leadership meeting.

Date: Sunday, March 22

Time: 4:30

Room:2205

These meetings are important as they help us as a church re-focus and re-align what we are doing to our central mission statement...."to make more fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ...."

These meetings are informational as we learn about:

1. What is going on within the church.
2. What other classes are doing.
3. Upcoming events.

See you Sunday!

Galatians - Week 5 Justified

2009-03-02T07:03:00.001-05:00

Galatians 2:11-21

What is on your iPod, in your CD collection, on your MP3 player, the one song, one artist in your tape collection that you love but would be embarrassed for anyone else to know about?

Michael Bolton? Milli Vanilli?

Even if you won't admit it you know who are...driving into the office, on your way to work, or to workout or to the store and the system in the Ford Fiesta is rocked out full blast and there you are singing along at the top of your lungs. The sun is shining, the windows are open, the air is blowing through your hair and you think to yourself..."it doesn't get any better than this." Nothing could be better than this moment and then the light ahead turns red forcing you to come to a complete stop along with the car beside you....a flashy convertible, filled with kids and in a flash, without thinking about it your body goes into convulsions as your hands push buttons to roll up windows and your fingers twist knobs to turn down Ricky Martin as quickly as possible and just like that your moment of musical bliss, your sweet Latin utopia is gone, strangled by the fear of being found out that your aren't as hip and as cool as you thought you were.

Galatians 2:12 Peter is caught up in a similar situation during his visit to Antioch....fearful as to what other men think of him, buckling under the pressure cooker of peer pressure, relapsing into the old ways of a religion before Jesus.

Paul finishes up his defense against those who claim the gospel he has preached is man made (Galatians 1:11) and that his authority comes from men (Galatians 1:12). Paul tells us that he went to Jerusalem, stood shoulder to shoulder with the leaders, the pillars, of the church, Peter, James, and John (Galatians 2:9) and that they all agreed that Jesus saves and Jesus alone, apart from any religion or any law is the one true gospel.

Some time later Peter visits with Paul and the gentile church in Antioch. Antioch was base camp for Paul and his ministries. It was the HQ for the gentile church, it was a heavily Greek populated, influential trade city of almost half a million people and was often referred to as the "third Rome" and it is in Antioch where we see followers of Jesus for the first time being referred to as Christians (Acts 11:26).

Peter visits with Paul and the church at Antioch sometime after Paul's visit to Jerusalem. Everything is going great, the fellowship is sweet, the church is loving one another, worshiping together, they have started back their Wednesday night meetings....even have a few kids in Awannas and Peter is really getting to know the church and he is right there with them eating, worshiping, serving, loving.

This is huge! Peter, the Jew, hanging with the Gentiles, those regarded by the Jews as godless, unclean, dogs, are now friends of Peter through the grace of the gospel and the freedom found in Jesus and he is not only eating with them but Peter is eating their food! Remember Peter's vision in Acts 10:9-28? Peter is up on the rooftop praying when God gives Peter a vision...a large sheet unfolds from heaven and on it are all the animals previously stated in God's law as "unclean" and "unfit" to consume, associate with, or touch. God commands Peter to "kill and eat." Acts 10:14 - "Surely not! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." Peter answers back. Yet God responds, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean" (Acts 10:15) and God wasn't just referring to the cloven hoof buffet He had set before Peter look at Acts 10:27-28 - "God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean."

Everything is going great until......James (Galatians 2:12) and others come from Jerusalem, leaders within the Jewish church pay a visit. Even though the issue of religion had been settled back at the council in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:5) word has gotten back to the religious people that the church in Antioch isn't very religious and so they make their way over to see what is going on.

Galatians 2:11-12 As the church gathers together to eat lines of class, social standing, race, ethnicity that were previously invisible become all too clear as those Jews from Jerusalem begin to self segregate....Gentiles eating in one area, Jews eating in another. Peter, staring at his chuck steak is torn..."do I sit with my new brothers in Christ or do I go sit with my brothers from Jerusalem? What will James and the others think of me if I, a Jew, sit with these Gentiles?"

Peter caves to the pressure cooker of peer pressure and relapses into a self-righteous religion and legalism, fearful of what other men will think of him. Fearful of offending his friends, he disses his new found friends at Antioch, sits across the way with his fellow Jews, bigots, racists and offends God and tarnishes the gospel of Jesus.

Paul gets all up in Peter's grill in front of the entire church (Galatians 2:14)...."Are you kidding me Peter? Are you telling me that you aren't going to fellowship with your brothers here because they do not follow the law, aren't "religious" haven't converted to Judaism, when you yourself do not follow the rules? Why are you doing this? You are two faced and a hypocrite!"

Question? Does your Saturday night match up with your Sunday morning?
Are you the same person here as you are out there? Do you have your multiple sets of friends? Friends from college, work, church? Would you be embarrassed for any of these to meet? To see how you act? To see what you do?

It would have been very easy for Paul to complain about Peter to others, gossip behind his back, criticize Peter's actions, blogged about how much he hated what Peter did, send out mass emails, phone calls, even avoided Peter but Paul didn't do that. Paul addressed the issue head on. He didn't let the sun go down on his anger (Ephesians 4:26) he biblically confronted Peter (Matthew 18:15).

Even though Peter is a leader in the church, hand picked by Jesus, an apostle, author of books of the Bible, he is still a man and still succumbs to the pressure of those around him and it doesn't take much to bring good men down around him either (Galatians 2:11-13) even Barnabas, the great encourager, is sucked back into legalism and racism.

Galatians 2:15-16 - At the heart of this controversy is the question....How can man be right before God? When God looks at us, views our lives, what is it, what does it take for God to see us as righteous instead of unrighteous? Just instead of unjust? Forgiven instead of condemned?

There are two opposing answers: 1. Works of the law, our actions, deeds, service increase our standing before a Holy God. 2. Faith in Jesus and Jesus alone for what He did on the cross.

Paul states - "We know that a person is not justified (key reality and concept here) by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 2:16). "Peter, you and I know that the law only shows us how bad we are (Romans 7:7-10). Peter, we have tried to keep the law our entire lives and have failed over and over again and again. All the law does is condemn us."

What is Paul talking about?
What does it mean to be "justified"?
What does justification do or accomplish?

I have studied this word, justification, and have celebrated it all week long! Justification has saturated my heart and my mind and it is burned into my bones and I will not let go of it and if you and I can grasp this crucial reality of the gospel and how God justifies us before Himself in this time at this moment our lives will never be the same again!

Justification is defined by Wayne Grudem as: An instantaneous legal action from God in which He 1. thinks of our sin as forgiven and declares Christ's righteousness as belonging to us and 2. declares us to be righteous in His sight.

Justification is the dividing line between the false gospel of salvation through works and obedience to the law and the great gospel message of salvation through faith in Jesus.

It looks like this.....the gospel is shared (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) God's Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit, we accept Jesus as our savior and follow Him as Lord trusting Him with our life - this is conversion. Then scripture tells us that if we place our faith in Jesus that God promises to forgive us (2 Chronicles 7:14, Mark 2:5). Yet justification is more than just forgiveness! Justification is God legally declaring us righteous before Himself.

Here is an example: Suppose you and your family were in an accident and incurred serious medical injuries and the bills from these injuries were massive...in the millions of dollars and no matter how hard you worked, how many jobs you had there would never be any way you could make enough money to pay off all the debt incurred. Now suppose you are called into court because you could not pay for your bills. You stand before the judge, he reviews your file...."So, it shows here that you owe the hospital $2.5 million dollars? "Yes your honor you see I have tried to work...." "Silence! Enough! I declare that this man's debts are all forgiven." "Oh thank yo..." "And, in addition to that I order that all the income from Bill Gates be immediately deposited into this man's bank account. Court is adjourned."

God not only forgives us of our sins but He then declares us righteous before Himself. How can this be? How can we as sinners appear before God anything other than sinners? How can God not only forgive us but declare us righteous and without sin in the past, present, and future when we still sin?

1. When Adam sinned, his sin was imputed (put on) all of mankind.
2. When Jesus died on the cross all the sins, past, present, and future, were imputed (put upon) Jesus where He took God's wrath and punishment for those sins.
3. When we accepted or when a person accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior God instantly, the hour you first believe, takes the righteousness and the holiness of Jesus and puts in on us!

This is the amazing grace of God! This is the unmerited favor of God and it has nothing to do with us. It does not change who we are internally, it does not keep us from sinning, it is not based on our works as it is all about how God sees us when He looks at us....God sees those saved by Jesus as perfect in Jesus - past, present, and future.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of works..." This is grace in contrast to works! It is God's unmerited favor toward you and I that saves us...not anything we do...and the mechanism God uses is faith.

Why did God choose faith as the component and not love? Joy? Humility? Meekness? Because faith is the polar opposite of depending on ourselves. When we come to Jesus we are saying.."I quit! I give up! It's not me, not my works, not my actions! I can't do it! I NEED YOU JESUS!"

Right now some of you have questions..."Are you saying that if I accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, believe that He is God, that His death on the cross not only paid for my sins but that God will see me as holy and righteous always, regardless of what I say, think, or do?"

That is exactly what the scripture says.

"But I need rules, do's and don'ts. I know myself too well. Isn't this just irresponsible teaching? Isn't this just a license for you to do whatever you want to do?"

No! Galatians 2:20 those belonging to Jesus have had their old ways crucified with Jesus. Jesus now lives within each believer and has God's Holy Spirit living within. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and we will not want to freely sin at His expense as our old self has been executed and we seek to live daily to glorify Jesus not out of duty or in an effort to look good before God but out of the overflowing joy of our hearts for what He has done for us.

Don't throw away the greatest gift ever given (Galatians 2:21). The grace of God has been poured out on the cross and the free gift of forgiveness and eternal salvation is through Jesus and Jesus alone. If you and I could gain access and favor to God through our works then Jesus' death on the cross was unnecessary, useless, a waste, and in vain...for nothing!

Justification is the sweet reality of God declaring the unholy - holy, the condemned - free, the unrighteous - righteous in the great work of Jesus.

Does your Saturday night match up with your Sunday morning?
How can we be right before God?
Where do you stand this morning?
Are you still trying to earn favor with God? Make up for past sins? Are you still struggling with guilt and shame?

Or have you come to the complete realization of what Jesus has done for you on the cross? Not only forgiveness of sins past, present, and future but a total declaration that God will always see you as righteous!

May the full realization of God's amazing grace grab hold of your heart and cause you to never doubt again. May it cause you to break out into great joy and celebrate Him!

Galatians - Week 4 Just Do It !

2009-02-23T06:45:00.002-05:00

Galatians 2:1-10

Paul has been preaching, teaching, and planting churches for fourteen years. He didn't wait to be elected, ordained, finish school, have all the details perfectly laid out before him, didn't ask Dionne Warwick and her psychic friends if this was right or confirm with his family. Once Paul met the resurrected, glorious, victorious King Jesus (Acts 9:4) his life was forever changed. He immediately began preaching the gospel and didn't slow down to chat with anyone, he just did it. Paul's calling was to preach to the gentiles (non-Jews) while the apostles in Jerusalem shared the gospel with the Jewish people.

#1 Sometimes we need to "just do it". I am not saying that we should forgo advice or wise counsel. I am not advocating rushing into anything without seeking God's will through prayer, fasting, and scripture reading. What I am saying is that sometimes God speaks so clearly to us as to His will for our lives that we need no further confirmation. Put down the arms of disobedience, roll up your sleeves, and get to work.

Through revelation (Galatians 2:1-2) the Holy Spirit calls Paul to meet with the church leaders to:

1. Build unity. Up to this point the church in Jerusalem had been primarily focused on reaching the Jews....Paul was focused on reaching the Gentiles, each had been doing there own ministry.
2. Allow Paul to share his ministry with the church, up to this point the church in Jerusalem didn't really know what Paul was teaching or preaching.
3. Provide encouragement to each other. These two varying ministries could have been a source of division among the early church but through God's grace this meeting solidified the church and its missional approach to both gentiles and Jews in a general sense.

Paul takes with him Titus and Barnabas, two of his closet friends and partners in the gospel ministry.

Titus is a young, hip, Greek pastor (Titus 1:4-5) who loves Jesus, loves people, and shares the gospel to those in the Greek culture of Crete. Titus was a dependable, trusted friend of Paul who traveled with Paul on several trips (Titus 1:5, Galatians 2:3) and was sent to help straighten out the troubles in Corinth(2 Corinthians 7:6).

Paul also took Barnabas with him to Jerusalem. There are typically two types of people in this world:

1. Those who are always down, something bad has always just happened to them, things could not get any worse, nothing every goes their way. These are the people I lovingly refer to as "dream slayers" you know, you just won 300 million dollars and they quickly point out with a glum face that after taxes it is only a paltry 275 million?

2. Then there are those who people love, are naturally drawn to, those who are full of life, energy, joy, enthusiasm, and are great encouragers. Barnabas is the later. He was a great encourager...his name actually means "Son of Encouragement." His real name was Joseph but because of his great heart and gift of exhortation they nicknamed him Barnabas.

Barnabas was the first to sell his possessions and give the money to the church(Acts4:36-37). When none of the Christians wanted to let Paul into their small group(Acts9:26-27) - can you imagine the scene? Guys, I want to introduce you to Paul....yes that Paul....I know, I know but I think everything is OK...he's cool now." When no one wanted Paul in their small group it was Barnabas who welcomed Paul in, loved him, and encouraged others to welcome Paul and to love Paul and it was Barnabas who convinced them that Paul was a changed man in the Lord Jesus. Without Barnabas and his encouragement and love we might not have most of our New Testament today.

Galatians 2:2-4 So Paul, Titus, and Barnabas go to Jerusalem to visit with the church leaders so that Paul can share with his fellow workers his ministry. Paul subjects himself to the accountability of others to make sure that what he has been preaching is true and correct and is in accordance with scripture. Each of us need both fellowship and accountability with one another as we daily seek to serve Jesus.

Now remember, Paul is writing to the churches in Galatia, how some have infiltrated the ranks and are distorting the gospel and Paul shares with the Galatians that the same thing happened in Jerusalem and goes on to share how he dealt with it there (Galatians 2:2-6). Paul shared his ministry in private with those who were in leadership....."This is what I have been doing over the past fourteen years...this is what I have been preaching..... 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve." Apparently while Paul and the church leaders were meeting there were some who insisted that in order to receive the gospel, to be saved Gentiles must first convert to Judaism and that meant being circumcised and being bound to the law.

It goes without saying that Titus wasn't too keen on this idea from a Biblical or physical perspective (Galatians 2:3)..."you want to do what with that knife? Paul, is that why you brought me here? I'm going down to the Starbucks for a caramel macchiato while you guys has this one out."

Why was this happening?

Some people are scared and freak out completely when they hear that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. That His death on the cross has paid for all sins of the past, the present, and the future for those who accept, believe, and confess Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord. This means that for those in Jesus there is complete freedom.

Freedom from: Sin - God no longer holds our sins against us - we are forgiven completely and eternally.
The Law - Before Jesus each of us were measured against God's law yet the law has never given life, it only condemns us, shows us how imperfect we are, and how desperate we are in trying to be good.
Death - The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and the reality is that we all deserve death for what we have done (sins of commission), what we have not done that we should have (sins of omission), and what we have thought. Yet God in His great love has given us eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Religious people don't like the idea of people reading the scriptures for themselves, straying to far from traditions, moving away from the rituals, and forgoing the motions and appearance holiness. Paul states in Galatians 2:4 "This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves." The goal of religious people isn't to share the gospel, isn't to bring others to an eternal, life changing relationship with Jesus, but to make others think like they do, to validate in their minds that what they are doing is right, and to make others slaves.

Sometimes this opposition comes from well meaning, sincere, Christians who have unsound doctrine, the may have salvation but have never really read the word or studied the word for themselves. Their agendas are tradition based and emotionally charged but still Biblically un-sound.

Here is an example:
Anyone grow up in a small church? Witness a church split? I have seen people come unglued over a change in the bulletin, a change in the order of worship...dare I say in the style of music? I once witnessed a deacon walk out of a church service because someone was playing an acoustic guitar while singing about the power of the blood of Jesus. All of this as if the bulletin, the order of worship, or the style of music were somehow holy?

Galatians 2:5-6 Paul isn't having any of this...."speak to the hand, I know my Bible and this isn't what it says..." He almost seems to say.

#2 You and I must be experts of the word. How in the world are we to keep to a pure gospel? Jesus addresses this very issue in Matthew 13:18-23. Some receive the word and it is quickly taken away. Some receive the word and it lasts for a while and then other things come in and crowd it out, and others receive the word, understand it and their lives bear an abundant life as a result of it (not homes, cars, and bling). You and I must know our Bibles, must read them, pray over them, memorize them so that all the thorns of this world that are trying to come in and crowd out the gospel are cut away by the sword of the word.

Paul wasn't having any of this and Titus certainly wasn't convinced not by their words or by their appearance (Galatians 2:6). God is not impressed with outward appearances in dress or in motions or actions of holiness as He searches the heart and the motives(1 Chronicles 28:9).

Once the leaders hear Paul, see him rightly handle God's word, and see that he is not intimidated by others it is pretty clear that God has called Paul as an apostle, and they recognize Paul's calling and they accept Paul as a fellow apostle and they welcome Paul as an apostle. So Paul shares this with the churches in Galatia to back up his testimony, which many are questioning and attacking.

#3 Don't let ministry get in the way of serving, helping, and loving people. The church sees Paul, they hear his testimony, listen to his theology, and are convinced that the grace of God is upon him and that he has been called by Jesus to preach and plant churches among the gentiles. Through the process they make one request of Paul....don't let your ministry get in the way of helping others(Galatians 2:10). That sounds like a very strange thing for them to say doesn't it? I mean what has Paul been doing now for fourteen years? Preaching, teaching, serving, giving, loving.

I think this is a warning that we would all do well to hear. You see, you and I can get so busy with church, meetings, committees, fellowships, Bible Fellowship, we can become so self-absorbed that we can easily forget that outside these four walls there is a world of people, 6.5 billion who are hurting, suffering, dying. Many without food, clean water, clean clothes, and many without Jesus. Where is your heart for people this morning? When was the last time you stepped up and stepped out of your comfort zone to reach beyond the four church walls into the world to help those in need? Let us pray that we never get so busy with ministry that we forget to help those around us and in our city who need us.

Sometimes God calls us to do His will and our calling is crystal clear....you know what He has commanded you to do, salvation, church membership, service, missions, whatever it is would you please put down your arms of disobedience and just do it? You won't have any peace in your heart until you do.

Each of us need to be an expert of the word. In an always connected world it is increasingly easier for the thorns to grow in our hearts and to choke out the good news of the gospel. Examine the scriptures for yourself...what do they say? Many many man people have died so that you and I could have a copy of the Bible in our own language to read for ourselves. Will you read it?

Don't let ministry get in the way of helping people. Our teaching, preaching is in vain if it does not transform our hearts and call us to action in repentance of our sins and in motion to extend the light of Jesus to those in a dark world.

ONE is moving on up - this Sunday!

2009-02-23T06:28:00.002-05:00

God has richly blessed our class with many new couples...so much so that for the past several weeks we have had to steal chairs away from other rooms to accommodate our people, thanks Shaun and Joel.

This Sunday we are all set to move to our new, larger room - 2220-2222.

Be there this Sunday as we enjoy breakfast, continue our study in the book of Galatians, and fellowship in our new room.

ONE is looking for a few Rockstars

2009-02-19T06:10:00.002-05:00

ONE is looking for a few Rockstars.

I know what you are thinking...I am not talented, I can't sing, play an instrument....none of that matters (KidRock has made an entire career out of yelling).

Here is what we are looking for:

1. Couples who love Jesus and want to serve
2. Couples who have been praying about how to help and are looking to get plugged in
3. Couples who can step up and lead by example

Through God's grace our class has been blessed with many new, wonderful couples. Our goal and prayer is that everyone who attends ONE feels loved, connects, and grows in their relationship with Jesus. In order to do that we need to make sure that we have proper leadership in place not only to meet the needs of the class today but also to meet the needs as the class continues to grow.

Here is what we need: Care Group Leaders/Couples

Here are the requirements:

1. Minimum commitment for the remainder of 2009
2. Be a leader by example in lifestyle in your marriage and in your walk with Jesus
3. Consistent attendance in class
4. Attendance to all leadership meetings
5. Participation in class functions
6. Be accountable to others

Here is the job description of a Care Group Leader/Couple:

Time commitment is about 2 hours per week. Your focus is to love those assigned to your care group. Facilitate weekly prayer requests in class, pray weekly for those assigned to you, follow up with anyone on a weekly basis who isn't able to attend, and coordinate bi-monthly care group fellowship events (doesn't have to be elaborate, dinner, movie night, etc.).

Would you like to audition for one of our open spots? Think you have what it takes and that God is leading you in this direction? Want more information?

Then send me an email at bjnotbk@gmail.com

Blessings!

Galatians - Week 3 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

2009-02-16T06:30:00.001-05:00

Galatians 1:9-24

"9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

10Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

18Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. 19I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord's brother. 20I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24And they praised God because of me."

False teachers (pop stars, politicians, liberal theologians, educators, sociologists, psychologists and the Oprahs of the day) have infiltrated the church and are causing trouble. Their teaching is throwing the church into confusion...into a terrible identity crisis so much so that they don't know what to believe and they have turned from what they did believe, Jesus saves, to something more comforting to their flesh - reliance on self. Not only have the Galatians turned away from Jesus but in the process they have thrown their beloved pastor, Paul under the bus.

I love music and can tolerate almost anything. As a kid I grew up listening to the "old country" music but I have to admit I am not a big fan of the "new country" music...You know, "I'd walk a mile through a field of wildflowers just to check you for ticks" music? In fact I hate the new country music and if you like it then repent...buy some Johnny Cash and go and listen no more.

Galatians 1:9-12 reads like a country song gone bad. Paul is accused of being a people pleaser and making up the gospel. Paul's is accused of receiving his information from various untrustworthy sources and what little he knows as being taught to him by men and his testimony is attacked and deeply questioned. The only thing I couldn't find in this text was a line about the Galatians kicking his dog. You add that and you've got yourself a smash hit. So now we begin to see some of the sarcasm and anger and passion come out as Paul begins to respond to each of these allegations.

Galatians 1:9-10

#1 - Paul the people pleaser?

Paul asks the question...."Does it look like what I am doing is trying to make others happy? Do you really think so? Don't you think there are better ways to make people happy than to preach Christ crucified? Jesus saves? Jesus is the only way to heaven? I just said (Galatians 1:8-9) if anyone preaches anything other than Jesus saves then let them be eternally cursed...let them go to hell. Does this sound really sound like I am trying to win friends and influence people? Wouldn't free bass boats and firetruck rides be a better approach? Wouldn't Paul be more successful if he focused on the positive and downplayed the negative...sort of like a Joel Osteen of the middle east?

Paul is not a life coach. Paul is a preacher of the gospel, a man's man, a dude and His life is marked with the marks of Jesus (Galatians 6:17).

Paul was (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)
Put in prison over and over
Flogged an uncounted number of times
Faced death over and over
Received 39 lashes from the Jews 5 times
Beaten with rods 3 times
Stoned one time
Shipwrecked 3 times
Spent a day and night in the sea
And was in continual danger from rivers, robbers, his own people, Gentiles
Was in danger in the city, in the country, at sea, from false brothers
Was weary and in pain often, without sleep
Often hungry and thirsty, cold and naked
And continually concerned about the health of all of the churches

Paul considered anything he gained personally a loss and everything else as trash if it wasn't Jesus (Philippians 3:8). "Don't question my motives!" Paul seems to shout back...."For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (2 Corinthians 2:2).

Shakespeare wrote in his play As You Like it..."All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players..." and each of us play out our lives on this stage called life. Who do you perform for? Who is your target audience? What demographics are you trying to reach? Are we performing for family? Friends? The opinions of others? Or are we doing everything to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)?

#2 Paul the author of unpopular fiction?

Did you just make that up? That was the accusation that was being leveled against Paul...that he just made the gospel up. That Jesus being born of a virgin, living a sinless life, dying in our place for our sins giving each of us forgiveness and eternal life was nothing more than make believe, a fable, fiction, folklore. There are many non-believers who have accused Christians of creating God in man's image. Those who travel along the evolutionary highway would argue that somewhere along the way we conceived of religion as a way to make it through the harsh realities of natural selection and survival of the fittest and that religion is a coping mechanism we evolved into to satisfy the electrical impulses and chemical emissions within our brains.

Paul's response is...."Are you kidding me? Do you really think if I were going to make up my own religion I would choose....God becoming man, living a perfect life, being executed as a common criminal, and then rising from the dead? Is that the religion you think I would make up?"

Throughout history there have been many people who have started their own religion and it usually looks something like this - man is god, sex plays a heavy part of the religion, food, wine, ritual all play an important part which to many many people is much more appealing to eat all you want, have sex with whoever you want, drink like a sailor and face no consequences. Some examples include the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and Sevier County.

So Paul defends the uniqueness and the reliability of the gospel. Paul goes on to say that he did not make this up, didn't come across this idea on the Internet, didn't Google it, didn't pull it from some online chat room, and he wasn't taught it by another man (Galatians 1:11-12). Paul's source? He received it directly from Jesus.

Paul was doing his own thing, had no desire for Jesus, was going his own way when Jesus came after him, chased him down, got into Paul's grill and revealed Himself as glorious, victorious ultimate fighting King Jesus (Acts 9:4). From that point on Saul the destroyer, the persecutor became Paul the preacher and church planter, man's man aka "the Dude."

#3 Paul's testimony questioned and attacked

Galatians 1:13-16 Paul gives us his testimony which is a great model for us. Paul begins by telling us what his life was like before Jesus...I hated Jesus, I tried everything in my power to destroy His church. Paul tells us..this is how Jesus saved me...he called me before I was born, had plans for me, and even though I had my own plans...Jesus rescued me. And Paul tells of how Jesus saving him and changing him has impacted the purpose for his life....he now preaches to the gentiles.

God has a plan for each of us. First to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Have you accepted that you are imperfect, a sinner, in need of help? In need of a savior? Do you believe that Jesus is God, that He died on the cross for your sins and have you confessed Him as Savior and Lord of your life? Secondly, for those who have received Jesus He has given each of us spiritual gifts of preaching, teaching, exhortation, hospitality and many more to do good works He has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Do you know your gifts? Are you using them?

Galatians 1:17-21 Paul continues his testimony showing what limited exposure he has had with the apostles in that he did not visit with anyone from the church for three years after Jesus revealed Himself. After three years he was finally able to meet Peter and James for 15 days and left again to preach the gospel.

Galatians 1:22-24 Paul points to not only his own words but to the reaction of the church in light of the wonderful work Jesus has done in Paul's life. Most people could not have recognized Paul if they had saw him but they had hear of his former way of life and were deeply afraid of him, of being beaten by him and arrested by him and now the same people who were once afraid of him rejoice over his testimony and praise God over his changed life in Jesus.

Does your life...my life point other to Jesus? What does our testimony really testify to? How much we like cars...sports....how great a treasure Golden Coral is? Or does it show the world that Jesus is our greatest treasure and our highest hope?

St. Francis once said..."preach the gospel always and if necessary use words." 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." And I wonder...when was the last time someone asked you? I know most of us are probably ready to give an answer but nobody's asking...why?

Could it be that our lives look no different than those without Jesus? That our lives testify that our great treasure is electronics and money, and our hobbies?

They say that if you play a country song backwards you get your dog lives, you truck gets unstuck from the mud, your wife still leaves but your best friend stays, and you are sober.

Paul was not a people pleaser...he worked to please God by preaching only Jesus. Who do you aim to please?

Paul did not make the gospel up. He did not pick it up from someone else and he was not taught it by another. Jesus revealed all things to Paul with the specific command to share the good news with the gentiles. Where do you get your theology from? Books? Other people? Or the Bible?

Paul has given us his testimony as proof that what he says is true and as a result of the dramatic heart and life change through Jesus others are encouraged and praise Jesus. What do people say about God when they look at your life?

Galatians - Week 3 Video Preview

2009-02-11T07:24:00.001-05:00

Here is a short preview of our upcoming lesson for Sunday.

See you soon!

Galatians - Week 2 - True Gospel vs. False Gospel

2009-02-08T19:06:00.004-05:00

Galatians 1:3-9

"3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"

If we take a step back, slow down for a bit, get our heads out of the Internet, out of the television, get our minds off of Monday and our stomachs off of lunch....if we can look beyond ourselves, our holy needs, our holy wants, and our holy desires and look and observe and take note of all that is around us it doesn't take long for us to come to the conclusion that the age in which we live is evil.

It doesn't take long for us to realize that something has gone terribly wrong, that things aren't suppose to be this way. Through observation of world events we quickly understand that this present age is full of heartbreak, sickness, tragedy, and death. Statistics tell us that this year alone at least 50 million people will die, about one hundred per minute, close to 6000 during our one hour class on Sunday. Most of those dying will not peacefully drift off into the eternal at a ripe old age...in fact most will die young, with terrible pain through some illness, by starvation, or at the hands of some calamity either caused by another man or some freak event of nature.

We are surrounded on every side by corruption and self-serving greed as is evident by all the news channels as story after story after story of fraud, lies, and deceit pour in from a parade of business men, bankers, financiers, investors, and corrupt politicians...all related to the economic crisis.

We live in an evil age of temptation where every year in America the pornographers make over 400 moves a month. It has been estimated that more money is spent yearly on pornography than all monies spent on the NBA, NFL, and MLB combined. The temptation is great and it effects men and women, alike dragging people into a secret world of addiction where the largest viewers are children under the age of thirteen.

It would be OK for most of us, and for most of us these things...the deaths in Iraq, the earthquakes, the ice storms in Kentucky, the child abduction, rapes, murders, lying, stealing, are OK as for most of us these things are "out there." They don't directly effect us.

Yet some of you don't have that luxury. You have seen the effects of this present evil age up close and it is very personal. You have seen loved ones sick with illness, dying with cancer. You have witnessed the devastation of your family through divorce, you have endured and undergone injustice after injustice after injustice as others have violated you and evil, injustice, and sin are all too real a reality for you not just some ethereal, philosophical, or moral talk coming from a pulpit Sunday mornings.

If you have looked around and if your conclusion is that something isn't right...something has gone horribly wrong....you are right.

In Genesis (Genesis 1:1-25) we read the account of God creating the universe. God spoke and creation came into being, time began. He created the heavens and the earth, the sky and seas, the days and the nights, all the plants and all the living creatures and as He looked upon all that He had created, all that He had spoke into existence He saw that it was good. In fact Genesis 1:1-25, God says six times that His creation is good and so it was. Then God created man (Genesis 1:26-34, Genesis 2:7)in a very personal way. All of creation up to this point had come into existence through the words of God but now, on the sixth day, at the height of creation, God takes His hands and forms man from the dust and breathes life into his nostrils and states that this is "very good" (Genesis 1:31).

There is no sickness, no disease, no death. There are no natural calamities, no sadness, no sin, no separation. So what happened to this paradise? What changed?

Sin entered into the world.

Adam and Eve chose to follow their ways instead of God's commands. They desired to be like God instead of worshiping God and through their rebellion they brought sin into the world, causing separation to come between the man and the woman and between them and God. As a result a curse was placed on everything. Now for the first time death, sickness, calamities, and chaos take effect.

I suppose for someone looking in it might appear that all was lost, that somehow God had miscalculated, that He had gambled on mankind and lost. Yet God did not lose, He did not gamble and He promises Adam and Eve that He will rescue them (and us) from this present evil age as we see the first hint of the good news of Jesus in Genesis 3:15.

Right now there is quite a bit of talk about bailouts. Bailouts for the auto industry, bailouts for the banking industry, the pharmaceutical industry, health care, and the housing industry. The logic goes something like this....that if we do not bail these industries out they will fail which will be devastating and utterly destroy our economy with powerful ramifications for you and I. And while these are real and very serious issues we are facing the truth is that the biggest calamity man has ever known, the greatest threat to our peace and prosperity, our dire emergency, our greatest area of need regarding a bailout was and is from our own sin. Without a bailout plan from God all of us are doomed eternally to die in our own sins. Yet unlike the world, God's economy is of the heart and His currency is the blood of Jesus which He has graciously and liberally poured out to purchase us and to rescue us from this present evil age.

Galatians 1:3-5

At this point some of you are saying to yourselves...."We got it....We know...We have heard this before...hundreds of times...can we move on already?"

If you and I do not get Galatians 1:3-5 nothing else I tell you will matter. If you and I can't grasp and take hold of the work of Jesus at Calvary and what it means for us, the victory it brings, the new life it gives, the freedom we have then we won't understand the rest of the letter. We won't get the Bible, church, money, family, relationship...nothing(Colossians 1:16).

It was God's will from day one that He would rescue us. It is through Jesus giving Himself freely, taking our place on the cross for our sins and taking our sins upon Himself that pays the penalty in full. This payment is a gracious gift of God. God does not have to and is not obligated to us in any way to do anything yet "while we were sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). God loves us in spite of who we have been and who we are. God's gift of Jesus results in peace. Not that we are removed from this evil age but rescued from it! You and I no longer have to live under the slavery of this world, the world's way of lusting with our eyes, lusting with our flesh, and bragging about what we own (1 John 2:16).

We are no longer hostage to every new fad or philosophy on life. We don't have to spend our days drinking from the toilet water and eating the junk food of the world because we have tasted the bread of life and have drank from the living waters and that bread and that water is Jesus and it satisfies our souls! And through all of this God gets the glory forever and ever and there is not one second in eternity past nor in eternity future to come that anyone or anything other than God get the glory! Not you...not me...only God. Amen!

Galatians 1:6-7

Paul is "astonished" (ESV) and he "marvels" (NKJV) that so many in the churches have turned from this great news to some other great news, which is a lie as Jesus Saves is the only great news! So there are some, both men and angels (Galatians 1:7-8) who have infiltrated the church and are preaching another gospel message to cause trouble and to pervert the truth.

Here are some examples:

1. In order to be saved you must believe in Jesus.....so far so good right? And you must convert to Judaism, you must be circumcised, and you must observe all the laws, feasts, customs, and diet restrictions of the Old Testament law which is pleasing to God.

2. In order to be saved you must believe in Jesus...and wear a white shirt and tie and attend church in a white building with a steeple on top.

3. More subtle examples would include but aren't limited to anything that proclaims salvation apart from Jesus. Food from stress, Sex from loneliness, Success from a lack of self-worth, etc.

so how do we spot a false gospel message among the true gospel message (Galatians 1:9)?

It is as if Paul is asking...."Are we clear? ARE WE CLEAR!" or "Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?" (Galatians 1:9)

No matter how good the promises are or how good the message sounds or even who the message comes from it if differs from Jesus Saves it is a false gospel and those who preach it are not to be trusted and are cursed!

Why the urgency of the letter? Why all the passion? Anger? Sarcasm? Because this is a matter of life and death. This is the difference between freedom in the finished work of Jesus or a lifetime of slavery to religion. Heaven and hell and all of eternity hangs in the balance. If we don't get this right nothing else matters.

You and I can believe....

John 3:16
1 Peter 3:18
Acts 4:12
Romans 1:16

Or we can continue to chase after false gospel messages of education, government, fad diets, gadgets, and sham messiahs.

What good news have you been holding fast to? I go to church....I am a good person...I do good things?

Or...I am a sinner, saved by the amazing grace of God, purchased through Jesus who gave Himself to rescue me from this present evil age according to God's will to Him be the glory and only Him, forever and forever.

Amen.

Galatians - Week 2 Video Preview

2009-02-04T06:01:00.003-05:00

So it is official....ONE is now on YouTube and GodTube.

Here is our first video promotion. Let me know what you think. See you Sunday.

Where are you coming from? ONE - Survey

2009-02-01T17:39:00.005-05:00

Attention - I have extended the date of the survey until the end of the month.

Please take a few minutes and complete the following survey.

Remember that all answers are anonymous and you will not be associated with this survey.

You can access the survey here - [link]

Galatians - Intro

2009-02-01T17:27:00.001-05:00

Galatians 1:1-5

"1Paul, an apostle— not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

What is your background? Where do you come from? Were you raised in a solid home, broken home? Were you raised in a religious setting? Did you go to church? Did you attend a big church? Small church? What denomination are you from?

What is the Bible to you? Is it a guidebook, a book of laws and commands? How are we to live out our lives morally here on earth? What is and isn't permissible? How far into the culture can a Christian go?

Who wrote Galatians, this 6 chapter, 149 verse book of the New Testament? What is it and why was it written?

Galatians, in the microcosm, is a letter from a loving pastor, Paul, to a group of churches planted in Asia Minor. In the macrocosm, Galatians is the inspired work of the Holy Spirit working through Paul revealing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ not just to the churches in Galatia but to everyone who opens the Bible and reads it.

Galatians is an important letter, an urgent letter and it is full of anger, disappointment, passion, and sarcasm. What has happened? Why the urgency? Why the anger and disappointment?

Many in Galatia who had previously believed and held fast to "Jesus saves" have now fallen under the spell of a new equation that said...Jesus + = salvation. Paul is "astonished" (Galatians 1:6) at the chain of events and the change of hearts in the congregations of God's people. Paul compares them to those who are under a spell (Galatians 3:1) asking..."Who has bewitched you?" And as one commentator has translated it addresses the Galatians as "my dear idiots" (Galatians 3:1).

The problem is that every time people get a hold of religion they mess it up. People use religion as a tool to push their own agenda and to subdue and control others. The great news that Jesus saves people from their sins has been relegated to one small piece of a religious puzzle that said Jesus plus festivals, tradition, laws, customs equals salvation and what once was freedom in Christ has now become enslavement to the law of Judaism.

But before we go too far into the reason the letter was written let's take a step back and look at the author of the letter.

There is absolutely no doubt as to who the author of Galatians is. Galatians 1:1 clearly states "Paul" and in Galatians 6:11 Paul tells us that he has written this letter himself, with his own hands in very large letters. The great priest, Bible translator, and Christian apologist Jerome was once quoted as saying...."Every time I read the letters of the apostle Paul I hear thunder."

Who was Paul?
Where did he come from?
What was his background?
Why should you and I care what he has to say or card about what he wrote?
Under whose authority is he operating and what are his motives?

Paul was from Tarsus (Acts 22:3-11) he was a Jew, in fact Paul was not just a Jew but was an uber Jew, (Philippians 3:5-6) "circumcised on the eight day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews." Paul was highly educated in the Pharisaic school and was the prize pupil under the famous Rabbi Gamaliel (name means the glory of the law). Not only did Paul excel in his studies of the Old Testament but he was well acquainted with the current trends in thinking and philosophy prevalent in the Hellenistic culture of his times. On several occasions through his letters, Paul alludes to popular poets, philosophers, and thinkers within the culture (Acts 17:16-34). But Paul wasn't just a scholar...he was an activist who was completely sold out to the law.

The first time we see Paul/Saul he is present at the stoning of Stephen giving full approval (Acts 7:58). Paul continues after Stephen's death in persecuting the church of God (Acts 8:1-3) going from house to house arresting men and women who profess and worship Jesus as Lord.

Paul tells us in his own words (Galatians 1:13-14) that he "persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers." Paul was zealous, an over achiever, he lusted after the law, after following the traditions, customs, festivals of his fathers...in short he was completely consumed in works which pushed him to extreme violence toward the church of God.

Yet something happened, something changed in Paul's life, within his heart.

What could change the path of a violent man? Here is someone who was persecuting and murdering the church, someone who was devoutly religious, buried in thousands of years of tradition, bound by the law, customs, festivals, sacrifices and hell bent on destroying a rag-tag group of men and women who worshiped a man who had just been executed on a Roman cross

What could change the direction of this man's life and move him from persecutor to pastor? What changed Paul from the start pupil of Gamaliel to Paul..rock star, church planter, man's man and apostle to the gentiles?

He met the resurrected Jesus face to face.

Paul was zealously acting out what he believed in his heart to be right, following the law, persecuting anyone who did not follow the law, and doing everything in his power to destroy the church of God and Paul thought what he was doing was pleasing to God (Acts 22:4-5).

Out of nowhere Jesus shows up and knocks Paul to the ground (Acts 22:6-9). "Why are you persecuting me?" Jesus asks. It's as if Jesus is saying...."You think what you are doing is right and pleasing to me but you don't know the truth, you don't know what my work on the cross has done in fulfilling the law, you don't know God and you don't know me."

Upon meeting Jesus the Pharisee formerly known as Saul, the man hell bent on harassing, arresting, beating, and killing Christians, the man on a mission to destroy God's church and anyone who loves, follows, and worships Jesus now is changed forever to Paul, the man who loves, follows, and worships Jesus and who is appointed by Jesus to take the gospel to the very people he once persecuted and to be persecuted even unto his own death because of the gospel message. God now uses Paul's zealous personality, knowledge of the Bible, Greek philosophy, and culture to spread the gospel and to plant and pastor churches.

The letter is written by Paul, the former...
religious zealot
racist
Christian persecuting
church destroying
now converted apostle

Paul is one of the handpicked men who personally saw Jesus and who was called directly by Jesus to spread the gospel message of Jesus and Jesus only saves. Not religion, not the law, not customs, not tradition, not anything you or I do in trying to please God or in reaching up to God but in everything that God has done in reaching down to us, giving us His word so that we might know Him that we might see His glory and majesty revealed and everything Jesus has done in coming down to us, becoming one of us, the God/man, so that He could identify with us, be tempted as we are tempted yet remain sinless through it all and die for us as the onetime, perfect, sinless sacrifice that would appease God's demand that the penalty for our sins be paid so that you and I would be forgiven and so that you and I would be adopted into God's family as children of God, joint heirs with Jesus!

Paul is called not by committee, by vote, by group decision, by a church or by any one man...he is called directly by Jesus and by God the Father and so we should listen as what Paul writes to us is extremely important and carries the highest authority as it comes directly from God (Galatians 1:1).

I don't know what your background is. I don't know where most of you come from, what environment you were raised in, what religious background you grew up in, or where you are at right now. What I do know is that the Bible is God's word, Jesus is God, and it is only through Jesus' finished work on the cross that we are saved.

Why did Paul write this letter? What is the urgency about? Why is it so important for us today?

My prayer is that everything you know about Jesus, God, salvation, the law, freedom be turned upside down and tossed aside if it is not true and if it does not line up with scripture. My prayer is that the shackles of law, custom, traditions of men be removed from our hearts so that we can worship Jesus with joy and in truth and in spirit.

Amen.

That's my King! I wonder.....do you know Him?

2009-01-30T07:21:00.001-05:00

Jeff shared this video with me earlier this week and I absolutely love it. Hope you enjoy it as well.

New study begins this Sunday.......Freedom!

2009-01-28T06:54:00.003-05:00

What does the Bible say about morality? How far can Christians go in the culture? What freedoms do we have and what does it mean to be free in Christ?

Join us Sunday, February 1st at 11:00 in room 2228 as we begin a new study on the book of Galatians.

Flag Football Saturday, January 31

2009-01-26T07:29:00.002-05:00

Get ready for another, ONE, class event.

What? Flag football
When? Saturday, January 31 - 10:00 A.M. rain or shine
Who? Everyone invited, only adults will be playing
Where? Check your email for directions

Details: We will meet at 10:00 and begin play shortly after. Please bring a crock pot of soup or chili along with drinks, chips, etc. We will plan on eating sometime around 12:00.

Please bring your children and invite anyone you know who may not already be involved in a Bible Fellowship class or church.
Wear old clothes and good shoes and bring your "A" game.