What is your world view?

We are twelve days away from the presidential election and I want to encourage you to fulfill your civil responsibility and cast an informed vote. By an “informed vote” I mean: Do you know the key issues facing our nation and where each candidate stands on these issues?

I am not telling you who to vote for. I have friends in our church who are democrats and friends who are republicans, and I am for my friends. I want to minister to both sides of the aisle.

I am calling you to adopt a Biblical worldview as you consider your vote. Everyone thinks about the world through a particular lens or filter. This is a ‘worldview.’ Believe it or not, most Christians have a non-Christian worldview.

Today, I want to focus on 4 worldviews.

1.        Materialism. All that matters is the physical, material world. Therefore, what matters most is money and the acquiring of possessions. Economics trumps everything else. But the Bible says ‘a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ In other words, your valuables don’t determine your value.

2.       Hedonism. The philosophy that whatever feels good must be good. Proverbs 21:17 says ‘the pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.’ There is more to life than having fun and being comfortable. These are the byproducts of living the purposeful life for which you were created. They are not the goal of life.

3.       Individualism. It’s a ‘me-first’ view. America was built on individualism. But God didn’t create you to live for you. You were made for something far bigger than yourself. Read Philippians 2:4-5. Individualism destroys marriages, relationships, and makes us selfish to the point of making destructive decisions.

4.       Collectivism. Collectivism is also called socialism. This worldview says government is god. It basically says government should control everything.

Jesus explained the limited role of government in Matthew 22:21 when he said ‘Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but give to God what belongs to God.’ I should give my government my respect, my taxes, and obey the law of the land.

But who is ‘Caesar’ in a democracy? It’s the people, the voters. The power in America is not to reside with the judicial, legislative, or the executive branches. It is to reside with the people who elect politicians.

As Christians, we need to know the Bible teaches a difference between God and government. A Biblical worldview rebukes any belief that God and country are equally important. So what is the Biblical worldview? Tune in next week as I attempt to answer that question and give three areas that are hated by this world.

Blessings,
Pastor Mark "The Bru" Brunott
PS- I have struggled with fear, anxiety, and depression throughout most of my adult life. Come this Sunday as I will share my journey using the life of a man just like us named Elijah. Bring a friend with you who might be struggling with fear, anxiety, and depression. See you at 9:15 and 11:00 this Sunday.

Are You Hiding?

After Adam and Eve rebelled and disobeyed God, the first thing they did was to cover themselves and hide from the Lord (Genesis 3:7-8). Since then we all hide and cover up the real us. We live behind a veil of secrecy. We pretend to know more than we know. We act like we are better than we are. We present to others only the presentable parts of our lives. It’s in our nature to cover, deny, and fake it with the hope that we might eventually succeed. We conceal our struggles. We cover our inadequacies behind a mask of perfection. We are too proud to admit our defects, too egotistical to acknowledge our shortcomings, and too afraid of rejection. Besides the pride and fear, sadly, we sometimes hide because we find sordid and bizarre pleasure within the shadows. As a result our love of self and our delight in the hiding becomes the fruit of putting our needs and our desires above the needs of others and a desire for God. Is there any value in living a humble and transparent life? Yes, there is. Transparency is humbling but comforting because you find that you are not alone in the struggle. For the record, being transparent with others doesn’t hinder your relationships, it enhances them. Transparency is challenging but as you confess your sins and struggles, great things happen and God begins to heal your soul (Psalm 51:17). Transparency is where your freedom is found. Walking in the light is liberating (1 John 1:5). If transparency is good (and it is) and if we fail at it (and we do), then why hide? Why do we waste so much energy on pretending to be something we are not? Why do we attempt to cover up our physical, emotional, and spiritual illnesses? Are you hiding? Are you covering up? If so, may I suggest “Stop it.” The more we know who we are in Christ and the deeper we understand His unquenchable love for us, the freer we are to admit to one another how puny we are and how great God is. The only way to become the man or woman God wants you to become is to stop hiding, be authentic, and be transparent. It’s worth it. Blessings, Mark "The Bru" Brunott P.S. Bad habits are hard to break- and they’re even harder when we don’t even realize we’ve created a habit out of something. Join us this Sunday at 9:15 or 11:00 as we learn about the danger of one habit that causes us to sin every time: procrastination. Come learn how to beat procrastination before it beats you!

How to Grow the Chruch

Jesus wants His church to grow. This is seen in Scripture over and over again.

• “I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
• “Go therefore into all the world and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19).
• “You shall be my witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes upon you in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the remotest parts of the world” (Acts 1:8).
• “[God our Savior] wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

The first church in Acts 2 demonstrated God’s desire for numerical and spiritual growth. It provides a platform of growth manifested by the Grace of God to the church of all ages. This pattern includes: growing up into spiritual maturity and coming to know God more intimately. This maturity is developed through teaching the Bible and prayer (Acts 2:42).

Growing together in maturity of relationships marked by committed love and practical sharing includes sharing of material goods (Acts 2:44, 46). We want everybody at First Free in a Life Group to experience this type of growth and sharing.

Growing in service to the larger community at First Free means we must grow in compassionate and costly service to the needs of the world. That is why we desire to be ‘outward focused’ to the community of Lincoln.

Growing larger in number occurs as more people respond to the reality of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Acts 2:47 says ‘and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’

That is why we are always encouraging you to invite your unchurched friends. Every empty seat at First Free represents a person that God wants us to reach with the Gospel. This Sunday, October 16, is ‘Invite a Friend Day.’ While we should invite people every Sunday to come with us to church, we like to emphasize this invitation on certain Sundays throughout the year.

Cindy and I are inviting four friends. We hope they can all come, but they felt honored even to be asked. God wants to use you to be part of building His church. It’s not too late even for this week to invite someone to sit with you and hear the message God has for them. Pray for those who will be invited that the Spirit of God would show them their need of a Savior.

Blessings,
Mark Brunott
P.S. Do you have some things in your past that prevent you from moving forward? Are there any habits in your life you would like to discard because they’re unhealthy? Is there an unhealthy emotion that raises its ugly head to discourage you? We all have obstacles that trip us up. Invite a friend and join us for Friends Day and discover how to overcome those obstacles that trip us up. See you at 9:15 or 11:00!

Invite a Friend - 2

With ‘Invite a Friend’ day approaching October 16^th, I wanted to challenge you as I am challenging myself to invite a friend or two to church.  Last week, Freshly Bru’d gave some specific things to say in terms of how to invite a friend.  This week I want to focus on ‘why’ we should invite a friend.

First, we want our guests to connect with a Biblical community to witness how we worship God together, serve one another and love one another.  The church is the bride of Christ.  It is not to be messed with, minimized, put down, ignored, underrated or negated.

We ought to love the church as Christ loves the church.  We know that there are so many things that the church can do, and Biblical community is one that it does best.  Church is a hub for spiritual discovery and growth and we want guests to engage in that.

Second, we understand that guests will get the invitation to follow Jesus through the sermon and our general community environment.  We all want our friends to hear about God’s love through Jesus and experience that.  Can you imagine heaven seeing one of your unchurched friends there because it all began with your invitation?  Wow!

Third, we believe what we have at First Free will meet their deepest needs, help them grow, rest, learn, gain passion and strengthen their life direction.

I once heard a pastor say, “I have never seen an empty seat get saved.”  I happen to believe he is right.  We ought to invite people with the intention of them hearing the gospel.  Every filled seat represents a person reached.  Every empty chair represents a person yet to be reached.

If I had it my way, every time we open our doors we would be at max capacity.  This Sunday you will receive 3 personal invitations to use to invite your friends.  Use them.  Cindy and I have at least three we’ve already invited.  I hope everyone will be challenged to do the same.

Blessings,Mark "The Bru" Brunott
P.S. One of the greatest curve balls that we will experience in life is ‘death.’ We all have lost loved ones.  We all know what it means to grieve.  This Sunday morning at 9:15 and 11:00 we will examine how to grieve and discover hope in the process.