Pursuit

The sermon today was truly constructed by the church.  The painting was, of course, the most obvious feature of the sermon.  It was located center stage and expertly painted through the duration of the lesson.  While the paint was applied to the canvas stories were being told.  One after a another the stories came.  We heard different voices telling the same story of helplessness, service, and then hope.  The stories were all the same yet they were all different.  Different people; different types of suffering; different servants.  Yet they were all the same.  The overall story that bound them all together was that of Jesus washing the disciple's feet.  My job was simply to point to Jesus.  He's the one who has truly brought everything together. 

As I reflect on the sermon, I keep thinking about the servants we heard about.  Largely nameless, shrouded in obscurity, yet serving in ways that deeply impacted the lives of those being served.  The servants were us!  Those were our stories.  But if we talk to Elaine or Bob or Nick or Jana or Boyce or Toni or any of the others who's acts of service were told; they might say, "I was just doing something that needed to be done."  Servants just serve.

The lesson I walked away with this morning is this: Don't TRY to have an impact on others; just serve those in need.  God is the one who changes lives.  Our job is to wash feet. 

"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. . . . .  Now that you know these things; you will be blessed if you do them." (John 13:15, 17)

Impact Week 2010

My favorite part of the service today were the interviews I was able to have with so many of our members who were involved in Impact Week.  Even though Impact Week is a youth driven activity it is supported by a multitude of people.  That is why I designed the interviews to reflect all ages, both genders, long term members as well as new Christians, singles and marrieds.  Everyone that was involved has a story to share and it was good to get a small sampling of those this morning. 

Nobody could keep up the pace of Impact, and nobody should even try.  Impact Week is designed to be a sprint.  The gun sounded last Sunday and the activity was fast and furious.  We hit the finish line today and now we rest.  After resting, it will be time to get up and move again - not at a fast run but at a nice walking pace.  Let's take the lessons we learned from Impact week and fit them into our daily walk.  As we walk let's remember to:

• Invest yourself by moving through fear by faith

• Meet people seeing others through the eyes of Jesus

• Pray constantly

• Do Acts of Kindness by serving those in need

• Live in Community with like minded believers in Jesus sharing our lives

• Continually offering Thanksgiving to God

Crazy Love

Of all the wonderful sights and sounds we experienced Sunday morning in worship; there was none more beautiful to my eyes than our communion service.  As the praise team began to sing I watched people turned to face each other or place their arm around one another throughout the sanctuary.  The sounds of joy were abundant as people expressed their thankfulness for their own salvation and their gratitude for the salvation of their brothers and sisters.  We all ate the bread and drank the cup in unison and pledged our selves to allow God's love to flow through us so that others might know the "Crazy Love" our Father has expressed for us in the gift of his son, Jesus. 

There is nothing more beautiful than a swift flowing Colorado river.  The water is crystal clear.  The snow packed mountains are the source and the rivers flow on and on and on; blessing the earth and all her inhabitants.  God has given us that river as an illustration of how he desires for us to live.  He is the source of abundant waters.  We are the river letting his love flow through us on and on and on, so that all might experience the blessing of knowing and being known by their Loving Father. 

Impact Week 2010 has begun and we have adopted our theme this year from a wonderful little book written by Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God.  May God's "Crazy Love" flow through us so all that we come in contact with might know that they are loved.

IMPACT Week

Even though this is being posted on Aug. 1 it was actually written last Sunday, July 26.

I just finished taping the sermon and am excited about what God is going to do in our community this week. Unfortunately, Liz and I are going to miss the entire week. Now that all of our children are adults, we've got the same scheduling problems everyone else has. It just so happened that the only week my entire family could be together this summer happened to be this week. After prayerful consideration, and consultation with our co-workers, we decided there's a whole church to participate in IMPACT week, but we're the only ones who can spend parent time with our kids. Know that we are thinking and praying for all of your efforts. I look forward to hearing the stories and seeing the results of what God will do through you this week.

Get Some Rest

The command to "get some rest" (Mark 6:31) is as old as the 7th day of creation. Taking a sabbath rest is an essential part of being human. We disobey it to our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual peril! We simply were not made to run and run and run. Since this is so; I'm going to keep this post short so that I can get some rest. I'm tired!

Impact Week in Four Words

I like things that are simple. How much simpler could it be than to reduce a BIG idea like Impact Week into four simple words? Seeking, Loving, Serving, and Teaching are easy concepts to grasp. Building an entire worship service around these words was not difficult. There are many songs and scriptures that could have been used. However, as simple as these words are, think of what it cost God to actually do them? All of the Trinity is involved in these activities and God has graciously called us to join him as well. May we shine as brightly as our yellow t-shirts this week to let our neighborhood know that God loves them and wants to be in relationship with them.

Motivation for Doing Good Works

Here's the picture that technical difficulties kept me from showing this morning. Now that is a fish who is completely in his element! I was talking with a visitor after the services about "doing good" to others. He made the remark that when he does good things for others it makes him feel good. That is not surprising since, as we saw from Ephesians 2:10, we were made to do good works. When we live the way we were made to live it just feels right. We were made to live a life characterized by doing good.

By the way, someone suggested that the reason we had video problems this morning was bad karma. Hmmmmmm. (To understand the humor behind this comment, please listen to the sermon at clearlakechurch.com)

Do-Gooder vs. Good-Doer

I heard a public service announcement today that was encouraging people to do good to others. They recommended things like working at a soup kitchen. I was glad to hear a radio advertisement that was promoting the concept of doing good deeds. The announcement was encouraging people to be "good-doers" so that they could receive good karma. While it is always proper to do good to others, Jesus offers us much better motivation than the personal good feelings one receives from such service. Jesus said, ". . . let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16) You are to "let your light shine" not to "shine your light". The difference is that when a follower of Jesus lives out his or her true identity the light of God shines through their good deeds. Doing good, therefore, is simply a Christian allowing Christ to live his life through them.