We are in thick of gardening season, and I love it! Being out in the garden refreshes my soul and teaches me many spiritual lessons. One of the lessons I’ve been learning this year is the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes. Determinate tomatoes grow like a bush. Their growth is determined. They will only reach a certain height and maturity, then bear nearly all of their fruit at once. Indeterminate tomatoes grow like a vine. Their growth is undetermined, meaning that they will keep growing and setting fruit as long as there is a growing season. If you prune them properly, they may grow over 10 feet tall in one season. However, if you don’t prune them properly, they will look like any other determined tomato plant. These two main types of tomatoes have me thinking about individual Christians and the church body. Are we more like an uncontrolled, determinate tomato whose growth reaches a certain maturity and then stops? Or are we more like an indeterminate tomato plant, who with intentional pruning from the Master Gardener—Jesus—keep growing and maturing and setting fruit as long as we live? Do we continue to excel more and more? If we are going to be a church that fulfills our vision of deep roots and bearing fruit, we have to grow both as individuals and as a church body. 2 Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Paul praised the Thessalonians for their growing love of the brethren but told them to (1 Thess. 4:9-10), “excel still more” To the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote, “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Eph. 4:15-16). Through the growth of the individual Christian (member/joint), the whole body is built up. That means it's critical for us to decide to grow as individuals and that's not always easy. But in the Christian life, we never reach a level of maturity and stop there. Our growth is indeterminate. God’s will is for us as individuals and as a church is to continually grow in Christlikeness as we study His Word and apply it to our heads, hearts, and hands. That’s one of the reasons why I’m excited about this Care Ministry and the fall ministries starting back up. They challenge us to keep growing as we worship, make disciples, mature in faith, and reach out to our community!
Pray that God would grow our church body and mature it (Col. 2:19; 1 Cor. 3:5-9)! Pray about how God would have you serve this fall! Living for Christ with you, Pastor Justin
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Here are 10 ways to prioritize your marriage:
List from The Art of Parenting Small-Group Series Workbook (Little Rock: Family Life Publishing, 2018), 14-15. Husbands, here are 25 ways to spiritually lead your family:
List from The Art of Marriage Small-Group Series Workbook (Little Rock: Family Life Publishing, 2012), 40. In this Sunday’s sermon on marriage, I talked much about my squash bug problem in my garden. However, I’ve also had other pests this year trying to keep my garden from flourishing – slugs (that’s a first!), grasshoppers, corn earworm, corn rootworm, and earwigs – all going after the good fruits in my garden. Gardens can be full of pests, but so can marriages. We’ve already looked at the pests of selfishness and unforgiveness, but there’s 2 more pests that I want to chat with you about. The first pest is the too-busy termite.1 The too-busy termite is a pest that day after day and week after week, gnaws away at the framework of our marriages. While we are busy with the daily grind from 8 to 5, microwaving Hot Pockets, and running kids around to every sort of event or practice, these little bugs are going to town on our homes. While we are too busy to do a proper inspection, little by little the too-busy termite erodes our oneness and we don’t know each other anymore. Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise, In the days of overstimulation we’re living in, I would recommend exterminating this termite by putting the cell phones down and frequently going on a relaxing walk or date night with just the two of you. If you go to a restaurant, try to find a corner booth where there is the least distraction – you know, one where there isn’t a TV right behind your spouse’s head! I find that my wife and I tend to have the most meaningful and necessary conversations about the direction of our marriage and our family in these moments. I never want to be too busy for them! We also intentionally put the kids to bed early so we can spend the last hour of the night talking and praying. Chuck Swindoll writes, “No amount of fanatical zeal or noble calling will ever justify the destruction of a home… The second pest is the forget-me-not flea. This pest doesn’t want you to forget previously forgiven offenses. Even though you’ve forgiven your offender, that pesky flea keeps bringing the offense to mind, saying, “They don’t deserve your love. They don’t deserve your trust. No more Mr. Nice Guy! Get revenge already!” The flea refuses to let you forget. Now we may very well forget a forgiven offense (and praise the Lord when that happens!), but there is certainly no way to purge the memory of an offense, even if we really want too. Some are impossible to forget. You may have heard that God forgives and forgets, but this is impossible for Him too. He is an omniscient God which means He knows all things. He can’t forget. However, He can refuse to bring up past offenses or call us out on them or act on them. That’s what verses like Hebrews 8:12 and 10:17 mean when they say that He doesn’t remember our sins. Hebrews 10:17 says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Micah 7:19 says, “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot When God forgives our sins, He throws them into the depths of the ocean and puts up a “No Fishing” sign. We are completely released from them. Whenever the forget-me-not flea brings a past offense to mind, let him know that you have tread the offense underfoot and thrown it into the depths of the sea. Just like we shouldn’t dwell on thoughts of lust or hatred, so we mustn’t dwell on past offenses, leading to spiritual sin.2 Take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). Refuse to use past grievances for leverage. Refuse to bring them up or dwell on them. Bury the flea as many times as you have too (and soak it in pesticide). Luke 6:38 says, “Pardon and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. In Christ with you,
Pastor Justin 1 Charles Swindoll, Strike the Original Match (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980), 107. 2 John MacArthur, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness (Wheaton: Crossway, 1998), 189-190. In light of Independence Day, I thought I would share some quotes from the founding fathers of our nation and early institutions in our nation’s history that expose their worldview for us and explain the tremendous freedom & privilege we have of living in the United States under our constitution. They also show us how important Judeo-Christian truth & morals are to our freedom! --- Pastor Justin
Harvard’s Rules & Precepts, 1636: “Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore lay Christ at the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.” Harvard’s original motto: “Veritas Cristo et Ecclesiae” = Truth for Christ and the Church (now, it’s simply “Veritas”) Princeton Founding Statement, 1746: “Cursed is all learning that is contrary to the Cross of Christ.” National Education Association (NEA) in as late as 1892: “If the study of the Bible is to be excluded from all state schools; if the inculcation of the principles of Christianity is to have no place in the daily program; if the worship of God is to have no part of the general exercises of these public elementary schools; then the good of the state would be better served by restoring all schools to church control.” Benjamin Rush, “A Defense of the Use of the Bible as a School Book”, 1798: “In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes, and take so little pains to prevent them. We profess to be republicans and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government. That is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by the means of the Bible.” Noah Webster, Reply to David McClure, Oct. 25th 1836: “In my view, the Christian Religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed… no truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian Religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.” George Washington, Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports… In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.” John Adams, Letter of June 21, 1776, quoted in the Wall Builder Report, Summer 1993: “Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.” Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical, 1798: “The only foundation for… a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.” Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence, letter to James McHenry, 1800: “Without morals, a republic cannot subsist for any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion… are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.” Patrick Henry, Letter to Archibald Blair, January 8, 1799: “The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor… and this alone, that renders us invincible.” Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Messrs, April 17, 1787: “…only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” Daniel Webster, 4th of July, 1800: “To preserve the government we must also preserve morals. Morality rests on religion; if you destroy the foundation, the superstructure must fall. When the public mind becomes vitiated and corrupt, laws are a nullity and constitutions becomes waste paper.” Noah Webster, 1833: “…the moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws… all the miseries which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” Noah Webster, 1834: “It is alleged by men of loose principles, or defective views of the subject, that religion and morality are not necessary or important qualifications for political stations. But the Scriptures teach a different doctrine. They direct that rulers should be men who rule in the fear of God, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness…” Webster definition of government in 1828: “The science of government; that part of ethics which consists in the regulation and government of a nation or state, for the preservation of its safety, peace and prosperity; comprehending the defense of its existence and rights against foreign control or conquest… and the protection of its citizens in their rights, with the preservation and improvement of their morals.” The U.S. Constitution: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929: “To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.” Last week we started three new small groups (praise the Lord!), making for a total of 4 groups available for you to join. We have one on marriage, one on biblical citizenship, one on biblical manhood, and another on prayer. We are calling these Connect Groups because we want these groups to help us stay connected over summer. I couldn’t be more excited about them! When my wife and I lived in Alliance, for years we were part of a 20 to 30 year olds small group that will forever be a special time in our lives. In fact, it’s where my wife and I met! At this group we all brought a food dish to share, played some board games or yard games, studied God’s Word and prayed. What started out as just a handful of people, soon grew to the point where it was getting awkward to meet in a home! The church ended up buying, renovating, and utilizing an old building downtown for groups like this and to use as an outreach center. I think this group grew because people longed for the genuine Christian fellowship we were experiencing! As we seek to start up some more of our own small groups this summer, I want to remind us of the WHY. Why do small groups? Why join a small group? We don’t want to do small groups because everyone else is doing them or because we think we need something going every night of the week. We don’t want to just be busy doing Christian things. The book that our church board is planning to go through is literally called “Why Small Groups?” by C. J. Mahaney. In the very first chapter, the author answers the WHY question with 4 purposes for small groups – purposes that I can personally affirm from experience! Purpose #1 - SanctificationSanctification is the progressive work of God to make us more and more free from sin and into the likeness of Christ. This is the goal of the Christian life. Although I cannot emphasize enough the need to personally respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the personal Christian disciplines necessary for our sanctification (such as prayer and Bible study), small groups provide an excellent context for sanctification. When the saints get together, they tend to rub off on one another and shape each other, resulting in sanctification. As Proverbs states, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." So much of our sanctification takes place through the local church gathering and doing life together and not in isolation and not just during a Sunday morning service. As Mahaney writes, “Small groups provide the encouragement, correction, and accountability that keep us from drifting. As important as it is to cultivate a personal relationship with God by practicing spiritual disciplines, we need others to help us in our pursuit of sanctification.” I can’t tell you how much that being a part of a small group has helped me in my own spiritual walk because I’ve seen others go through things I hadn’t been through that became my examples later, or, because I was connected to others, had someone else to walk through something with me. Small groups provide accountability. Solomon wrote, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). That leads us to the next purpose. Purpose #2 - Mutual CarePaul teaches that the church body is a lot like a human body where all the different parts give care to other members and receive care from other members. “God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another. And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it.” Through small groups (beyond the limitations of Sunday mornings) relationships begin to develop and many care needs will naturally surface through the conversations had and the times of prayer. I’ve noticed that when you are in a small group and doing life together, not only will we be praying about those needs together, there is a greater chance that we will check in our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week or be more intentional to help meet that need when and where we can. We tend to spend more time together because we have grown in our love for another through the sharing of burdens and blessings. The oneness of Christ’s body is strengthened. Purpose #3 - FellowshipFellowship, you need to know, is more than just eating or walking or playing frisbee golf together. It is more than just hanging out or some other social activity. Genuine fellowship revolves around the Word of God and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we walk the faith journey together. Fellowship, as we discovered in Acts 2, comes from the Greek word “koinonia” and means to “participate together”. When you get involved in a small group, your main desire should be fellowship – centered around the things of God. As each member learns and shares about their relationship with God and how God is revealing Himself to them, there is mutual encouragement and refreshed passion to follow Christ together! This creates momentum in our spiritual lives and the life of the Church. Purpose #4 - Ministry of the Holy SpiritSmall groups also create more opportunities for members to exercise their spiritual gifts. Every Christian has at least one spiritual gift and we are all called to prayerfully discover and cultivate those gifts. We are not made to be consumers, but producers! And where’s the best place to discover and use your gift? The place it was designed to operate – within the church body, doing life in connection with other members of Christ. You may not know what your spiritual gift is but as you interact with the church body, they will likely recognize it in you! Mahaney writes, “God has given spiritual gifts to every Christian (1 Cor. 12:1-7). He expects us to use them. But in a church of any size at all, it’s simply not feasible for every member to use these gifts on Sunday morning. They can in a small group, though. In this smaller and more personal context, each one can serve according to the gifting of the Holy Spirit.”
As we exercise our gifts, an environment for true Christian fellowship is fostered. When you meet with your connect group this week, expect the Spirit of God to be powerfully present and to participate in it. Expect God to work! Staying connected this summer, Pastor Justin In this Sunday’s sermon we talked about the great debate between Law and Grace. If you would like a short and helpful little scholarly book on this subject, get your hands on Alva J. McClain’s book Law and Grace is an excellent read! One of the temptations for us as Christians is to think that God saves us by grace through faith in Christ, but then think we are going to now live the Christian life by our own effort or our own works. We’re afraid grace will lead to license, so we’d better err on the side of legalism, right? Not so fast. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul makes it clear that we are saved by grace though faith in Christ and will live by grace through faith in Christ too because apart from Him we can do nothing. One of my favorite illustrations (and most of you know this already but I remind us anyway) that demonstrates why grace will outperform Law every time is that of the country dog vs. the city dog. A city dog lives under Law. It lives under restrictions. It has boundaries. A leash, a collar, a chain, and a fence to keep it from getting loose and running free. His obedience is forced upon him. “No, no, no,” he is told. So what’s the first thing that the city dog when you let him off his leash and open the gate? He wants to book it! To run free! He’s tired of it! – same with the Law. Law produces rebellion. The power of sin is the law. It’s a supercharger for sin (2 Cor. 3:6-12; Romans 7). By the way, the problem is not in the Law but in us. We have a law of sin at work in the member of our body called the sin nature that is triggered by the Law (Rom. 7). The country dog, on the other hand, lives under grace. It doesn’t have the restrictions a city dog has. When I lived in the country at our family farm, our dog never had a leash or chain or fence. It didn’t even have a collar for that matter! A country dog has all the freedom in the world to run around and explore and have a good ole time! But where do you find the country dog most of the time? Right at home, sitting peacefully on the porch, waiting eagerly for his master to come home. Grace has a similar effect on us. It produces this overflowing obedience that the master desires. This is why we want to be actuated by grace. We live and serve Christ from our position in Him – knowing we have been accepted – and we are not living or serving for acceptance. No true Christian work for the Lord is ever done in our own efforts. It is accomplished not by man’s might, nor by man’s power, but by God’s Spirit (Zech. 4:6). Since Eden, Satan has been trying to get us to operate independently of God, but we weren’t designed to operate apart from Him! We were made to operate from grace, not for grace. Grace isn’t earned. In the following chart below, I recommend that you compare and contrast what the Bible says about the difference between Law and Grace. I think by the end of it you will see that there is no reason why anyone should ever even want to tip toe over into Law. It has a deadly effect on us spiritually. Grace, however, brings life and peace and true spiritual fruit for God! In His grace with you,
Pastor Justin Chapter 13 was a pivotal chapter in the book of Acts. In this chapter, Paul becomes the hero – the leading apostle to the Gentiles who takes center stage from here on out. But one thing we often miss is how much we can learn from Barnabas when it comes to making disciples. There’s no Paul without Barnabas.
Because of Saul’s past as a persecutor of the church, others were afraid of him. Barnabas was the one who took Saul under his wing and encouraged him and believed in him (Acts 9:27). Barnabas was the one who, recognizing the gift that Jesus had invested in Saul, called him to join the ministry staff at Syrian Antioch. For a while, Barnabas was still the leader in that ministry. It was Saul who tagged along with Barnabas. Barnabas and Saul... Barnabas and Saul… Barnabas and Saul. But Barnabas, being the great leader that he was, was willing to step aside and let Saul share, and even take over, the spotlight. “Barnabas and Saul” eventually became “Paul & Barnabas,” or “Paul and company.” One man said that, “Good leadership can often be measured by whether it leaves a trail of successors behind it.” Barnabas, even though he is not the “leader” anymore, is actually being a good leader by refusing to hog the spotlight. He recognizes Saul is gifted and has a calling on his life. Do we recognize the gifts and calling of others in our lives? In our church? Who is it in your life that needs someone to encourage them and believe in them when others maybe don't? In Christ with you, Pastor Justin Well, I’ll be honest – this week’s sermon with the talk of hell and eternal destinies wasn’t exactly the Mother’s Day sermon you might be used too. But I do want to encourage the mothers out there by reminding them just how great of a difference a mother can make on her children’s life and destiny. Two mothers in Scripture who have become great examples and an encouragement for others are Lois and Eunice from 2 Timothy 1:5. Paul, writing to his young pastor Timothy, says, “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, Acts 16:1 tells us that Timothy’s father was a Gentile and likely, an unbeliever. Like many fathers, though a respected man, he just didn’t have much of a spiritual impact on Timothy. However, that didn’t stop his Jewish mom, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, from selflessly nurturing Timothy in Lord and laying a spiritual foundation in those key formative years. While Lois and Eunice may have accepted Christ through Paul’s ministry and though Paul had discipled Timothy as a son in the faith, he seems to attribute Timothy’s faith to the sincere faith of his mother and grandmother. While verse 3 tells us that Paul’s faith was in line with his “forefathers”, we could say Timothy’s faith was in line with his “foremothers”!
A sincere faith is a genuine faith. It is something that is lived out. Sometimes faith can be seen (Matt. 9:2; Luke 5:20)! What Timothy saw in his mother and grandmother that he might not have seen in his successful, but unbelieving father, was a vibrant faith that made him want to live for something more than this life – to live for God and His kingdom. When did Timothy see this sincere faith? We could imagine he saw it as they rocked him to sleep at times while singing and humming the great psalms of the Bible. He saw it as they prayed the prayers of Moses and David before bed. He saw faith in them as they retold story after story from the Old Testament where God worked and revealed His wisdom and power. He saw faith in them when they passionately taught Timothy from sunup to sundown the instruction of God that they themselves were applying to their own lives (Deut. 6:4-8). He saw that a home with Christ in it could bring peace, love, and hope to the family even in the hardest times. He saw their sincere faith and came to faith himself. Only God knows how many times these two mothers prayed for Timothy and with Timothy. Timothy being in the pastorate or not, they had no greater joy than to see him walk with the Lord wherever God called him (3 John 1:4). What these mothers understood was that the greatest inheritance they could pass down wasn’t money or possessions or sports scholarships, but it was a spiritual, eternal inheritance in Christ. Our children are a gift, but they also come with a responsibility to bring them up in discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Knowing that parents have the greatest impact on the next generation, we should ask, “Do my children see a sincere faith in me? Am I seeking to point them to Christ and His instruction each day?” If so, you’re on the right track. Keep singing those Bible songs and telling those bedtime Bible stories to the little ones. Keep praying with and for your children. Keep encouraging them as they grow older and model the gospel for them. Keep spending time with them and investing in them individually. Keep passing on that spiritual heritage! Also, who can you trace your spiritual heritage back too? Was it a mom or grandma? For many of us it was. Be sure to thank them this Mother’s Day for passing on the spiritual heritage in Christ! In Christ with you, Pastor Justin In a recent sermon in the book of Daniel, we talked a bit about globalism. I also sent through email to the church family some great links to biblical teaching on globalism (if you didn’t get those and would like them, let me know). In the beginning and ideal plan of God, mankind was positioned to rule over God’s creation as his theocratic administrator (Gen. 1-2). However, ever since the fall of man into sin (Gen. 3), God has subdued globalism and promoted nationalism. Nations provide a check and balance on other nations and keep one or very few sinful men from obtaining all power. This is why he destroyed the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. As they say, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This will be most apparent in the future global government under Anti-Christ during the Great Tribulation. People will worship him or face sanctions & martyrdom.
One of the clearest tactics that globalists are using today to push their agenda and, knowingly or unknowingly prepare the world for Anti-Christ, is global warming. In recent years, the favored the term is “climate change”. Given this push, we should ask, “Does the Bibel say anything about this? Do I have to fear climate change?” In brief, Genesis 8:22 has the answer, when after the global flood God made this promise to Noah’s family: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” While there have always been variations in the climate and temperature throughout history, we should never be alarmed if we take God’s Word over man’s word. God promised that the seasons, including cold and winter, would never cease. I know, bad news if you don’t like winter! But number 1) let’s remember we have no need to fear. God is in control. 2) We should expect globalists to exaggerate and use any climactic variation data that supports their political agenda for power and control. And 3) this world will not end due to global warming or a colossal asteroid or anything like you see on tv. Jesus is coming back to this earth and therefore we have hope. Seasons will never cease! Looking for those spring daffodils to bloom, Pastor Justin |
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