The Benefits of Sharing Your Faith

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Philemon 1:6 (NIV)

A great biblical principle is evdient here ... when we share our faith, we get more understanding of what it is all about. It kind of works against reason that when we give away more we get a lot more in return.

That shouldn't be our primary motivation is sharing the words of Life (Acts 5:20) to others, but it is a reality and we should count on it when we do obey the Spirit's commission. Just think of how much more our family of faith will know and how deeply we'll understand about the riches we have in Christ once we obey His call to share our faith with our friends, families, co-workers and neighbors!

Sunday Night Reflections

I’ve been thinking about doing this for some time. I get from 30 to 40 minutes to lay out for the congregation in my sermon what I’ve studied for 20 or 25 hours. There’s a lot that ends up on the editing floor in my study on Saturday afternoons. And then after the message, I’m always wishing I would have emphasized something more or not said something else at all. There are times too, when I think of other things during the message and don’t always explore them with the congregation at that moment. Hopefully it will help me and the congregation grasp more of what God is trying to say to us.

The Church on Purpose
Out of all the messages in this series (“We Are Church” based on the book of Acts) this one seems to have fallen the flattest. I know that not every message can be a “hole-in-one.” But I don’t think that the message was a triple bogie either. I always have to be careful about analyzing a message too closely on Sunday afternoon. But I do have some reoccurring thoughts about the focus of today's message!

There were two statistics that really stood out to me in today's message. One was the one from Lifeway that indicated that only 2% of churched people every invite someone to attend church with them. And the second was one from Rick Warren’s research that found that 89% of the church believes that the primary purpose of the church is to “meet my and my families’ needs.”

Now I always assume that CrossPoint is above average in any statistic. But these numbers are so extreme that you’ve really got a stretch to believe that CrossPoint folks have it all together in these two areas.

I sort of wish I would have taken a survey at the beginning of the message on those two questions to see where we really do stand in relationship to those averages. ("sort of" because I'm not sure that I really waht to know the results.) How would you have answered the question, “What do you believe the main purpose of the church to be?” And how would you have responded to: “Have you invited anyone to attend church with you in the past year?”

I’m wondering if I “misread my putt” on this message. Is this more of an issue than I’d like to believe it to be at CrossPoint? Warren’s data also indicated that the clergy of those same churches had exactly opposite results to the same question. For them the main reason is to reach the world for Christ.

As long as I am preaching on subjects related to the closeness and unity of the fellowship people are tracking with me. They like hearing about how to be more effective in becoming more connected to one another even if it is challenging. But when it comes to taking Christ into the world and “speaking to the people all the words of this Life,” there are some huge barriers that we as a church have to break down.

I’ve been doing more thinking about the “prisons” that we are in that hold us back. There was a lot more there than I developed in the message. (To remind you … (1) Reserved and introverted (2) fear and anxiety – “What will people think?” (3) Selfishness – Being more concerned about my friendship than I am concerned about where my friend will spend eternity and (4) spiritual and relational conflicts ) I really think that as a congregation we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us realize our prisons and experience his deliverance from them.

Stuff I Wish I Would Have Done More of ....

Almost a month after dropping my daughter Rachel off at college, the strongest memory of those couple days remains the moments that she and I sat together at the final chapel service. I put my arm around her and she laid her head back against my arm.

My job keeps me from sitting with my family most Sundays ... I'm the preacher. But I found myself wishing I would have found more ways and times to have been able to sit with her in church, put my arm around her and let her lay her head back on my arm.

Come to think of it, I have two other ladies in my home that I still have a chance to do that with. Lord, don't let me miss out again!

(The picture is of Rachel and me on our way to IWU on Sept 3)

Am I scared of God?

I made a comment in my message on Sunday that I didn't think that we in the church today "had a clue as to what it means to 'fear the Lord.'" I got a lot of nodding of heads and those dignified "Amens." But I really do think that there is something here that we really need to grasp and integrate into our relationship with God.

One of the illustrations I thought about using to make my point was the response of people the Sunday that one of the church elders took the pulpit and preached on the fear of God. There was a huge lack of connection. I don't think that it was just about delivery or elequence ... it was in large measure because of a lack of connection. We just are not able to associate in our minds the term "fear" with the concept that we have of God in today's version of "Christianity." And it may be utterly true that the understanding that we have of that word is really not compatable with who God really is.

But it is a term that is used consistently and persistently throughout the scriptures about a key component of our relationship with him. This morning in reading Jeremiah 32 ...

38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

The ESV Study Bible describes "fear" as "reverence." I know lots of people who like to insertr that word in place of fear. But most of the time I feel like they want to do it to tone it down and keep it from sounding like we are supposed to be "ascared" of God.

In working through this I wonder if our problem is that we think of "fear" only as an emotion. It can be a warrented emotion in the face of real danger or it can be an emotion that's based on things that are not real. It can become an overwhelming emotion that dictates more aspects of our lives than it truly merrits. And yet it is a neccessary emotion in our lives.

If I didn't have an understanding of the power and danger of electricity I might be tempted to go down into the basement, open up the electric panel and begin switching wires around. But because I am aware of the nature, power, and danger of playing with electricity, I can get nervous opening the panel door.

When God said he would put fear in the hearts of His people, was he saying that he would put an awareness of his nature, power and the consequences of disregarding his Word into our minds and hearts. Our problem is not then that we fail to fear the Lord, but we fail to acknowledge the nature and power of God.

Often we fear the "unknown." But in this case we don't fear that which we resist knowing. How much more dangerous can that be?

The precious thing about the Jeremiah passage is God's desire to put this awareness into the hearts of his people. Oh that we would not resist God giving to us a fresh and full awarenes of His Holy character, of his righteous nature and onipotent power. Then maybe we would begin to understand the fear of this Almighty One!

S.S. Salvation Ship

I heard James MacDonald make a great analogy of the relationship between holy living and salvation. It goes something like this ...

Salvation is a great ship that takes us to heaven. The way you get on this ship is through repentance and faith. We could ever earn our way on to this ship and there is no precondition for getting on the ship called holiness. But once on the ship, holiness becomes a consuming passion. Those who are truly on the salvation ship can think of only one thing, how to live on the ship the way they will when they reach their destination. Holy Living. This is one sure way to know for sure if you are on the right ship.

There are plenty of other ships in harbor that look like they'll get you to the same destination. The Cultural Christian Cruise Line, the Religious Piety Boat and the Christian Heritage Line.

But it is on the Salvation Ship that we discover a yearning for the ways and things of God that exceed anything on any other ocean liner. If you have no longing for holiness, you've got to check out and see if you got on the right boat. If it's been a while since there was a hunger for righeousness and holiness in your life, then you need to spend some time seeking out the Captian of the Ship and stirring up your hunger for His holiness.

Defining Moments

There are those moments in our life that define who we are and what we’ll be remembered for. In sports Clevelanders are defined by “the drive” and “the shot.” In Pittsburgh it’s the “Immaculate Reception.” (I had to get that little dig in!)

But there are also personal defining moments. Each of us have these sacred moments from God where our destinies are written by our responses to those moments. They sometimes seem inconsequential at the time, but long term they set us in a direction that either leads us to or away from God. I think about a summer day in 1986 when I was browsing in a bookstore in Butler, PA when a woman came up to me and asked me if I was the youth pastor at the Community Alliance Church. She introduced herself to me as Rudy Stewart and then introduced me to her daughter, Dinita. Interesting defining moment in my life!

For the next several weeks, I'm going to be leading the congregation to consider some of the common defining moments that God has been putting in front of people for thousands of years. From the lives of people in God’s Word, we’ll draw out principles of capitalizing on the moment and reaping a destiny filled with hope and holiness.

This week we’ll start off with an easy one for all of my friends here at CrossPoint who've been on the "Boomerang Express" leaading our Five-day Clubs. They've been studying Peter all week! Peter had a number of defining moments in his life that made him into one of Christ’s great Apostles. We’ll review and apply several of his divinely appointed moments to see how we might be encountering the same opportunities to let Christ make a difference in our lives.

The Center Piece of Worship Service

When I've gone to Blossom for the 4th of July concert there is really only one piece that I've got to hear. They play lots of good stuff and it is generally a good time. But I'm waiting for the best. For lots of reason's I'll not go into here, I've come to Blossom to hear the 1812 Overture. If they came towards the end of the concert and announced that they were going to skip over that and go right to the fireworks, I would be infuriated. The other music and sing-a-longs are fine. I like the fireworks at the end. But the main course for me is always, Tchaikovsky's most famous piece.

I heard Jim Cymbal say in one of his most famous sermons, "My House will be Called a House of Prayer," that the main thing in a genuine worship service is not the sermon. Being a preacher, I took some offense to that ... and felt a bit guilty at the same time.

When I think of what we have been transitioning too at CrossPoint, I think that Cymbala's point is really at the heart of our desire for change. The focal point of our worship together is not fellowship, good music, or even engaging preaching. When I dream of what I want to be the main thing about our worship I see people taking the time to meet with God in a deeper more personal way. The Personal Minsitry Time at the end of the service is meant to give people the time to get to the main thing. Everything before that is preparing them to enter into a sancturary where they encounter God and respond to His presence.

I'm sure that for some the main point of coming to church is to see friends and be encouraged. For others they may be lookign for an emotional boost from the music and singing. Peronally, I hope that there are some people who are looking forward to a good sermon. But what would our church be like if the main thing that people came to church for ... the item listed on the worship folder for which they couldn't wait was the ministry time. Now that would really be church!