Living on Mission

First, I wanted to say thank you for allowing me to take a little break from the weekly editions of Freshly Bru'd. I had a wonderful vacation and am excited to be back writing to you each week.

I came across a good read recently, although the book was published in 2011. It is titled, "Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture." It is written by a Pastor in Texas named Brandon Hatmaker.

Here is a quote from the book: "When we say we are to live incarnationally, we mean we are to 'put on' Jesus and represent Him by focusing on being His hands and feet to our world. To live on mission. This includes but is not limited to serving the least. It might be reaching out to your neighbor or a complete stranger in need. Either way, the focus is essentially on the church becoming missionaries to our culture." (p. 26)

That's it - becoming missionaries to our culture! This week's missional challenge: Put on Jesus - focus on being His hands and feet in your community!

In case you don't know what I mean by missional, it's being a missionary everywhere you are. It is being Jesus to everyone everywhere.

Blessings,

P.S. MOVE Sunday is this week, August 18th. There is only 1 service at 10:00am with a meal following. You will discover the next step you need to take to MOVE yourself forward spiritually! I hope to see you there!

Laughter is, indeed, good medicine.

Those who know me well, know that I love to laugh. Laughter is an involuntary reaction to certain external or internal stimuli. It can arise from such activities as being tickled or from humorous stories or thoughts.

When was the last time you had a good hearty laugh? Children are known to laugh a great deal more than adults. The average baby laughs around 300 times a day compared to the average adult who laughs around 20 times a day.

Sometimes I think we take the things that happen at church a bit too seriously. Do you know what I mean? No, I'm not talking about things like sin or theology or repentance or anything like that. Those things should always be taken quite seriously.

But I'm talking about the lighter things that happen in and around your church. Like the things that appear in a Sunday morning bulletin.

Consider the following ten bloopers - enjoy them - laugh at them and share them with someone at church who needs a good laugh. Remember, laughter is good medicine for the soul.

1. Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking today. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.
2. The Rev. Merriweather spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience.
3. The Pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing, "Break Fourth in Joy."
4. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Nelson's sermons.
5. During the absence of our pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J.F. Stubbs supplied our pulpit.
6. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24th. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
7. Low self-esteem group will meet Thursday 7-8:30pm. Please use the back door.
8. The choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.
9. Ushers will eat late comers.
10. Weight watchers will meet at 7pm. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

Blessings,

P.S. Ever feel like giving up? Quitting? Throwing in the towel? Ever think faith in God really isn't working all that well? Come and join us Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30am to discover what to do when life doesn't seem to be working.

What To Do & Say When There Just Aren't Any Words...

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Scottish preacher, Ian Maclaren, said that in the 1890's and it still rings true today. During the Civil War a preacher by the name of Joseph Parker said "Preach to the suffering, and you will never lack a congregation. There is a broken heart in every pew."

The Apostle Paul in the first century expressed the same sentiment this way, "Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:30)

Every day we meet people who are hurting: going through a divorce, lonely because of a loss, a loved one in hospice care, dealing with Alzheimer's or cancer, loss of job, terminal illness, rebellious child, financial distress, anxiety, worry, fear and on and on.

Some people are at a loss of what to say or do when someone is hurting. My hope is that the list below will help you when you encounter someone who is hurting.

-Well-spoken words. Please no spiritual platitudes like "everything is going to be alright." In a crisis, discussing theology is ill-timed. Speak in a calm, reassuring voice of love, not theology. Listening goes a long way at the beginning of a crisis. Our words can be helpful, but at times silence might be even more powerful.

-Show love. Bring a meal to their house. Mow the lawn. Help with chores. Appropriate touch can minister to them as well.

-Be ready for the "why" question. This question may not come at first but when it comes, don't assume you know the answer. Listen. Admit you don't know why. Affirm that it's OK to ask that question and don't make them feel it is wrong to ask it.

 -Pray. Praying together and out loud is powerful. Call on God for His grace, comfort, mercy and peace. Prayer puts the focus back on God.

-Share a scripture. God's word is powerful and alive (Hebrews 4:12). It is like a soothing salve on a deep wound.

Here are some of my favorites:

Psalm 34:7

Isaiah 40:11; 28-31; 41:10, 13

Philippians 4:6-7

2 Thessalonians 3:16

John 14:27

-Follow up. Check in on them every few days. Ask them if there is anything they need.

Here's an interesting stat for you...

I read an interesting research tidbit from Rainer Research this week. The research stated that only 5% of the unchurched in America are likely to be highly resistant to the Gospel, antagonistic toward Christians, or belligerent in their conversations with and about Christians.

At 5%, Sam Rainer says these "hardcore unchurched" account for about 8 million people, but the other 152 million who are unchurched are far more open to hearing the Gospel.

That being the case, we're more likely to find people open to the Gospel than not. So why are we so afraid to share our faith story and the Gospel?

One reason I believe is that the enemy doesn't want us to share our faith, and so he fights us with fear (read Ephesians 6:12). A second reason we don't share our faith story or the Gospel is that we fail to develop relationships with those outside the church (the unchurched).

When the religious leaders expressed a concern that Jesus was making friends with the unchurched, Jesus said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do...for I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." (Matthew 9:12-13)

During your prayer time each day ask God to reveal to you two people He wants you to talk about Jesus with. Ask Him to prepare their hearts for hearing the Gospel and ask Him to prepare your heart for talking to them.

Then, in faith, step past your fears and believe Jesus is already at work creating "a divine appointment" for you to talk to them. Then watch for the way He answers your prayers. May God anoint each of us this week to share our faith!

Blessings,

Do you know what you should know?

James Emery White, Founding and Senior Pastor of Mecklenbury Community Church in Charlotte, NC puts out a weekly Church and Culture blog. This week's blog was entitled "What Every Christian Should Know How To Do." Picking up on articles written on what every driver should know how to do and what every parent should know how to do, he added his own category - what someone hoping to follow Christ should know how to do.

Just as every driver should know how to fill up a gas tank, check the oil, change a tire, etc., he wrote on what every follower of Christ should be able to do.

Since his list fits perfectly with what we desire to train those of us here at First Free how to do, I wanted to share it with you. Keep in mind these are not simply what we should do, think about doing or want to do - but actually trained to be able to do before they become a lost art.

(1) Read the Bible. Do you know how to read the Bible? Where to start? How to interpret it? How to apply it?

(2) Pray. Not just in a crisis but moving through Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. This is a need skill.

(3) Share your faith. Can you tell your story of how you came to trust in Christ? Could you take someone through the essentials of believing in Christ?

(4) Manage your resources. Manage your time, talent, treasures, material assets, skills and spiritual gifts.

(5) Worship. Worship is more than singing a song. It is bringing to God a prepared heart and mind, engaging in prayer and God's word. How do you worship in spirit and truth?

Obviously, there is more than these five things we should know how to do. But as James Emery White challenged me...don't you think we all ought to know how to do at the very least these five?

Blessings,

P.S. Our very own, Gina Boe, will be leading our worship time this Sunday with Kids Corps! It's going to be great and you won't want to miss it. I'll be wrapping up our UNLEASHED series with a message entitled, "What to do when you haven't a clue!" See you at our 9:00 or 10:30am service!

Disciples Are Us

I don't know about you but I need to be reminded about certain things on a regular basis, things such as: drink more water, exercise regularly, take my probiotics and vitamins, eat properly. The same is true in my spiritual life. I need to know and remember certain things like; prayer is important, obeying God's word is crucial, daily submitting my life to the Lordship of Christ is necessary.  There are certain things we need to know and remember about discipleship. Since "making disciples" is our mission as a church let me share with you some things you need to know. It takes a disciple to make a disciple (Ephesians 4:11-12) Real disciples make disciples which means if you're not actively making disciples, you probably aren't a disciple. You don't have to arrive spiritually before you begin making disciples (Philippians 3:12-14). The early church made disciples before they had a New Testament. You don't have to have a printed curriculum to make disciples. You need a willing heart and the openness to say and ask "this is what God is showing me and teaching me from His Word...what about you?" Completing a course doesn't make you a disciple maker. Actually making disciples makes you a disciple maker. Disciple making takes time. You can't hurry the process. We are constantly encouraging others and ourselves to become more like Jesus. Making disciples was Jesus' final command. It was His marching orders. It isn't optional or reserved for the pros. It is a command for all of us. If you would like to become a disciple maker and discover the joy of investing in others but don't know where to start, call me. I'll help you be a disciple maker starting today. Blessings, P.S. You won't want to miss the "surprise" in the message from Acts 23-24-25 that Pastor Mark will bring to life this Sunday! See you there!

You Need To Ask Yourself...

You probably have heard that the American Evangelical Church is in a rather desperate condition. Church researchers George Barna and Thom Rainer claim that fewer people are attending church than we realize. We are planting one fourth the number of new churches needed to keep pace with the American current population growth and rate of decline in existing churches.

One of the things this means for First Free and other churches is that we must change and adapt if we want to remain relevant to the culture and hope to see growth. Let me clarify what I mean by change and adapt. God's word, the Gospel, Jesus and the church as Jesus intended it to be, have always been, are now, and always will be relevant without our help. These must never change.

But we often hold on to extra-biblical traditions and ideas that severely limit our ability to communicate with a young generation. Satan's goal is to blind the minds of those who don't know Christ or the Gospel, and may I be so bold as to say we often help by handing out our blinders such as inauthenticity, traditionalism, and political struggles within the church driven by fear and selfishness. Today's churches must change in these kinds of things.

God's desire is to enlarge his family. (2 Peter 3:9) This matters to him and it should matter to us. If people who are lost forever without the Gospel matter...and if the church of the future matters...we must embrace the pain of change for the win of more people seeing Jesus.

Change impacts us emotionally. Change is hard on us. That is why we resist it so much. Would you help me reach our current culture - which is shaped by its technology and entertainment more than its religious and historical roots - by accepting some changes?

Would you ask yourself the following questions as I had to ask myself:

Will I place any need to control, which is based on fear, on the altar of sacrifice and rely on the Holy Spirit? Will I trust the undersheperds of the church without the red tape of 'this is the way it has always been done'?

Will I be willing to take risks, spend money, change names, reconstitute, relaunch, venture into new fields of ministry by faith, rather than remaining safe and comfortable in my holy huddle?

Will I get over my demand for my own preferences to be met? Will I welcome newcomers with love and wisdom and listen and learn from them rather than leaving the responsibility of adaptation to them?

Will I change to reach the current culture knowing I will have to change again in the methods of ministry?

 

Blessings,

P.S. This Sunday, Pastor Brian Abbott, will be preaching as we move along in the series Unleashed! Come and listen to his message, Strengthening the Church!

F I R S T F R E E C H U R C H A place where God & community come together. www.firstfreelincoln.org