I am asking for your help to think outside the box as we typically think in church relating to our culture. Most of what we program, talk about, emphasize with great value is married adults with families. We should continue to minister to this important demographic, however, we should also acknowledge with great value and importance of that “invisible” enormous multitude of unmarried adults. Over a third of the population of Lincoln (our mission field) fits into this category. But do we intentionally value them? I am asking you to make greater effort in this important segment of our city.

Recently, I read an article written by Brandon Cox giving churches some helpful tips for loving and ministering to single adults who are members or guests at church. As I list the tips, ask yourself “How and I doing in reaching adults who are unmarried?” Let’s strive to see them. Pray for them. Love them wholeheartedly as God does.

Here are the tips:

1. See each single adult as a valued individual, ready to meet God and serve Him with or without a boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé, spouse or children.

2. Greeters and Ushers be sensitive to what you say. “Are you alone?” or “It’s just you?” may indicate that he or she is incomplete.

3. Acknowledge single adults as full-fledged participants, not just as sideline people. Let’s plug them into leadership and ministry roles to fit their gifts.

4. Invite them into your life groups even if it is made up of couples. Offer choices to them to choose a group they would enjoy.

5. Encourage them to make the most of their singleness. Recognize the extra gift they may bring to the church such as more freedom to serve, travel and give.

6. Don’t be a “matchmaker.” Avoid communicating “It’s God’s will that you find a mate.” Paul taught singleness as a gift. (1 Corinthians 7) They are here to worship, to serve, to support.

7. Include them in worship, service and church events as you would anybody.

8. Provide them quality and unique single events to their specific life circumstances.

9. Be a friend with singles. Invest in them. Invite them to dinner. Encourage them.

10. Be constantly aware of single adults all around you at work, in the grocery line, at the ball game and in your neighborhood. Invite them to First Free.

Blessings, 

P.S. Feel overwhelmed, overworked, overscheduled? Feel that your pace of life is out of control? Need answers to the stress? Come this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 and discover what the Bible has to say about Simplify: Making Life More Manageable. 

People Pleaser

I have always been a people pleaser. Can you identify? I’ve memorized Galatians 1:10, obviously I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. But I am still struggling with wanting people’s approval. I have talked to other pastors through the years and have found that many of them struggle with it as well.

We want people to like our sermons, our jokes, our counsel, our leadership decisions, our family, our personality. You probably know how it works. You try to make everybody around you happy so they will like you only to discover you bottle up feelings of frustration and disagreements.

I just came across an article describing a book that I have ordered entitled: People-Pleasing Pastors: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Approval Motivated Leadership. While the book is written by Charles Stone, a pastor to pastors, the applications are fitting for anyone who struggles with people-pleasing.

He tells pastors, leaders, and anyone there are certain people you have permission not to please anymore. One group is your critics. Every person has them. Not every person has the permission or right to speak into your life. Listen to your critics but fully embrace your true identity in Christ. As His child, you can learn to deflect untrue and unloving criticism. Live to please God alone.

Peers. No person can keep all their friends and peers happy, let alone gain all their approval. Be who God has made you to be while respecting who God has called your peers to be.

A non-believing world. God does not want you to water down or alter His truth so we can be understood by a world far from Him. Speak to the culture in a way it can understand, be sensitive, loving, grace-filled and wise but don’t avoid the truth to be liked by the world.

Your family. What? Living to please your spouse and kids can kill you, your marriage, your relationship with your children and relationship with close friends. Why? To keep them happy you often become dishonest about your faults, failures, internal struggles and say things not true just to keep your family happy.

We all have only one person to please – God. Serve others. Encourage others. Work alongside others well. But live to please an audience of one – Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Thanks for letting me share one of my personal struggles with you. Pray for me as I learn to live to please my Creator. 

Worry Well

Here is the list of things Americans worry about more than anything else: Getting to heaven, money and the economy, what comes after death, individual health, relationship with significant other, terrorism, health of a family member, Bird Flu (or some other strain), job, and the end of the world.

Perhaps you could add several to the list: What people think of you, bullies, war, crime, what your teenagers are doing, car trouble, etc…

Let’s admit it, worry is something we all do and something most of us think we shouldn’t do. But worry itself is not a bad thing. It’s how we worry and how we respond that determines if our sleepless nights are helpful or paralyzing, motivating or depressing, a path to despair or a path to peace.

Sometimes worry can be a good thing. (Take the time to read Proverbs 22:3, 2 Corinthians 7:5-6 and 11:27-29, Philippians 2:19-21 and Luke 22:41-45) We can’t control our feelings but we can control our response.

If you want to discover how to worry well, Philippians 4:4-9 gives us some tips. First, the right kind of prayer. You need to tell God exactly what you want. You need to thank God for all He has already done. Pray Philippians 4:4-9 as often as you need to. (See also Psalm 55:17, Luke 18:1-8 and John 14:27)

The right kind of focus is the second tip to discover how to worry well. What we focus on determines what we see. Focus on facts, not the “what if’s”. The “what if’s” will destroy you. (Read Philippians 4:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, 1 Peter 1:5-7 and 2 Corinthians 10:5)

The last tip is the right kind of life. (See Philippians 4:9) Obedience breeds confidence whereas guilt produces fear. Sin honestly removes God’s protection. (cf 1 Peter 3:12-14)

The next time you find yourself in a state of worry, why not try these tips?

Blessings, 

The ABC's of Christmas

Have you seen or heard about the Christmas ABC book? Each letter of the alphabet connects with the Biblical story in a little rhyme. For instance, A is for Angel; an angel was the first to tell that Christ had come on earth to dwell. D is for Donkey; a donkey followed Joseph’s track and carried Mary on his back.

Some of them are a stretch, like O is for Oxen; ox and donkey’s wondered why so many people knelt nearby. All in all, it’s a great book to help children know the ABC’s of Christmas.

2 Corinthians 8:9 says “For you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” This verse gives us the ABC’s of Christmas and sums up the great truth behind our Savior’s birth.

A) He was rich. Rich in His person – He is the eternal son of God who has always existed. (Isaiah 9:6)     Rich in His position – He sits on the throne of the universe. Rich in His power. (Colossians 1:16-17) Rich in His possessions. If you take the 10 most powerful rulers who ever ruled, the 10 wisest men, the 10 mightiest generals who ever went into battle, the 10 strongest athletes, the 10 most memorizing orators, or political leaders or any other 10 greatest men left on earth, calculated their accumulated wealth, power, influence, skill, genius, wisdom, insight and ability – whatever the vast sum comes to, Jesus had more in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3) No one comes close.
 

B) He became poor. What does that mean? He was rich in eternity. He became poor in time. He left heaven to be born in a manger (that is, a feeding trough), live in a remote village in a foreign province and join a despised race.

 Notice a very important thing in 2 Corinthians 8:9: the verb says He became poor, not He was made poor. He voluntarily gave up the riches of heaven for the poverty of earth. He did this of His own free will, something we would not do. The richest person in the universe, of His own free will, became poorer than the poor. This is called the incarnation – God became flesh. (John 1:1,14) God entered the human race in the form of a man.

C) That we might become rich. Here is the purpose of Christmas. He came so that we who were poor might become rich. How does that happen? Grace. All the grace of God is available to me by virtue of my relationship with Jesus Christ.

Think of it. All the riches, all the power, all the prestige of His good name are mine. You might say, “I don’t deserve that.” Indeed, you don’t. That’s the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. If I deserved it, I wouldn’t need Jesus. But through my association with Jesus Christ, suddenly, I am a rich man.

This concept is called imputation. He takes my sin and I take His righteousness. I don’t earn it, it is imputed to me. It is credited to my account the moment I trust in Jesus as my Savior.

There you have it. The ABC’s of Christmas. There is only one question to ask: Have you placed your trust in Him and what He did for you? (Born to die in the place of your sin and was raised from the dead).

Merry Christmas!
 

Freshly Bru’d will be on vacation until January 7, 2015.

P.S. Don’t miss Sunday services. We will look at how to get along with relatives and people that are difficult without robbing us of keeping Christ in Christmas. Don’t forget your sack of groceries to give to Lincoln’s Food Distribution Center – Just leave it by your car as you come to church. 

So let it be written; so let it be done

With Christmas day just two weeks away, I thought I would commit the next two Freshly Bru’ds to the subject of Jesus’ Birth. One of the things that has always been impressed on me are the hundreds of prophecies foretelling the birth, life and death of Jesus hundreds of years before that historic night in Bethlehem.

Each prophecy reminds us that God is trustworthy. He does not and cannot lie. He always tells the truth (Theologians call this the veracity of the scriptures). The truth is always accurate, dependable and will come true.

Here are twelve of my favorite prophecies about Jesus. There is one for each of the twelve days of Christmas: these are prophecies fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.

1. From the seed of the woman would come Jesus who would destroy the Devil.
Prophecy: Genesis 3:15 – Fulfilled: 1 John 3:8

2. Jesus will come from the line of Abraham.
Prophecy: Genesis 12:3 – Fulfilled: Matthew 1:1

3. Jesus will be a member of the tribe of Judah.
Prophecy: Genesis 49:10 – Fulfilled: Luke 3:33

4. Jesus will be a descendant of Isaac and Jacob.
Prophecy: Genesis 17:19 and Numbers 24:17 – Fulfilled: Matthew 1:2

5. Jesus will be born in the family of Jesse.
Prophecy: Isaiah 11:1 – Fulfilled: Luke 3:32

6. Jesus’ mother will be a virgin.
Prophecy: Isaiah 7:17 – Fulfilled: Matthew 1:18-23

7. Jesus will be born in the town of Bethlehem.
Prophecy: Micah 5:2 – Fulfilled: Luke 2:1-7

8. Jesus will reign on David’s throne.
Prophecy: 2 Samuel 7:14-16 and Jeremiah 23:5 – Fulfilled: Luke 1:30-35 and Matthew 1:6

9. Jesus will be called out of Egypt.
Prophecy: Hosea 11:1 – Fulfilled: Matthew 2:13-15

10. Jesus’ birth will be accompanied with great suffering and sorrow.
Prophecy: Jeremiah 31:15 – Fulfilled: Matthew 2:16

11. Jesus will enter the temple. This is important because the temple was destroyed in AD 70 and was never rebuilt.
Prophecy: Malachi 3:1 – Fulfilled: Luke 2:25-27

12. Jesus will live a perfect life, die by crucifixion, resurrect from death, ascend into heaven and sit down at the right hand of God.
Prophecies: Psalm 22:16, Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 53:10-11, Psalm 68:18 and Psalm 110:1 – Fulfilled: 1 Peter 2:21-22, Luke 23:33, Acts 2:25-32, Acts 1:9 and Hebrews 1:3

What are some of your favorite prophecies? Take one prophecy each day until Christmas and thank God for sending Jesus as the fulfillment of them. Enjoy!
 

P.S. Ever wonder why we put angels on top of Christmas trees? Or candles in the window? Or the history and significance of the candy cane? Come Sunday and discover how to keep Christ in your celebrating. 

Time for some self-evaluation

Every December I begin an internal evaluation of my life. Since there is only one month left in the year I evaluate how my life had been lived. Did I grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus? (2 Peter 3:18) Was I more conformed to the image of His Son than last year? (Romans 8:29)

Did I share Christ with people who have not trusted in Him? How was my marriage? Did I nurture that relationship as I should? How was my influence upon my children and grandchildren? Did I pastor First Free with integrity? You get the point.

But there is something else I do in my evaluation; I ask myself “If this was my last month to live would I finish well?” Would I be able to say as Paul said “I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished the course.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

I want to talk with you about finishing well. To help you understand this week’s Freshly Bru’d you need to read two stories in the Bible. One is about King Uzziah who had a great start (2 Chronicles 26:4) but ended up as a leper (2 Chronicles 26:21). Read the entire chapter to see why Uzziah didn’t finish well.

In contrast to Uzziah is the story of Joseph of Arimathea who had a late start but finished well. (John 19:38-42; Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-54) Contrasting these two stories presents four principles we must never forget to finish well.

1. A great start is no guarantee of a happy ending. (Consider Uzziah and these passages: Matthew 13:1-9; 1 Peter 5:9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

2. A late start is better than no start. (Consider Joseph of Arimathea and these passages: Matthew 21:25-32; 1 Timothy 1:12-16)

3. Only a fool stops fearing God. (Proverbs 1:7, 16:18, 19:27; 2 Timothy 2:5; 1 Samuel 15:22)

4. If you've stumbled and fallen, get up and run again. (Proverbs 24:16; Deuteronomy 4:25-29; Revelation 12:10; 1 John 2:1-2; Matthew 21:28-32)

So, this December why not do some internal, honest soul evaluation and make a commitment to finish well; not just this year, but the rest of your life.

Blessings,
 

P.S. This Sunday concludes our series “Bittersweet: The Story of Ruth.” The ending of the story will help prepare you for the significance of Christmas. Come and discover how. 

Lying (is not a ) Game

By the age of four, 90% of children have grasped the concept of lying; and it gets worse from there. 60% of adults can’t have a 10 minute conversation without lying at least once. (The average was 3 lies in 10 minutes!)

Here is how America breaks down the whole concept of lying. 86% have lied to parents; 75% to siblings; 69% to their spouse; 40% on resumes; 90% lie about their profile on an internet dating site.

What does the Bible say about lying and telling the truth? Let me give you some food for thought. There are three reasons why we lie. We lie to make ourselves look better (read Acts 5:1-11). We lie for personal gain (read 2 Kings 5:1-27). And we lie to avoid negative consequences (read Exodus 32:19-24).

There are at least three Biblical reasons why we shouldn’t lie even if we live in a culture that thinks its ok. First, God hates it (Proverbs 6:16-19 and 12:17-22). Second, it’s an indicator of who we are following (John 8:31-47 and Ephesians 4:25). I used to tell my children we are closest to being like Satan when we lie. Third, we become slaves to it and it robs us of our freedom (Proverbs 19:5, James 3:3-12 and John 8:32).

Here’s the bottom line: you really can’t put a price on your integrity and obedience. Honesty at home, work, church, and play is always godly. No one can afford the costs and consequences of being labeled a liar. Let’s strive to be honest, truthful, and to think before we speak.
 

Blessings!



P.S. What is the test of one’s character? Have you ever been manipulated by someone for their benefit? Would you prefer to do the easy thing or the right thing if it was extremely costly? Don’t miss our Sunday series “Bittersweet” as we delve into these questions.