It’s On My Heart...April 2009
Easter is about God coming to us in the person of Jesus to redeem us. It is God reaching out to mankind with His love and grace. It is Jesus dying in our place, that we might truly live with God. It is Jesus rising from the dead so that we know His promises and our hope are true. It is all about God reaching out to us.
God didn’t wait for us to reach out to Him. During his ministry, Jesus had people seek Him out and come to where He was. But Jesus also went to where the people were. As he passed through Samaria, he stopped at the well, the place that everyone comes for water. He met Zacheus under a tree and went to eat dinner in his home. He was often in the company of "sinners" as well as with the "saints" in the temple. He went to where the people were. When Saul was on his way to Damascus, Jesus reached out to him. That encounter changed Saul, from the inside out. He no longer was Saul, but now Paul.
Easter is one of the biggest opportunities of connecting with our community. As we plan Easter events, we expect people to come to us. And some will come and hear the good news of Jesus. Some will respond like Paul who contemplated for 3 days and then met Ananias who laid hands on him and gave him a prophetic message from God. Our Easter service may be the first encounter of several, that will ultimate lead a person to faith in Christ. It may be the final encounter of many that God uses to draw someone to Himself, so please pray for our Easter service.
In our reaching out, we often plan and prepare great and wonderful events with the expectation that people will come to us. What if we looked for ways to connect with people outside of the church service? What if we were in the market place and went where people gathered for "water"? We have several opportunities to do just that. The first is our involvement with the Apple Blossom Parade and Fair. Our school, Pleasant Hill Christian School, will have a float in the parade. Following the parade is the Fair at Ives Park. Both PHCS and our church will have booths in the children’s area. The booths will offer a "make and take" craft for kids at the fair. What an opportunity to meet the people of our area as well as an opportunity reach out. We’ll have our school and church names on the booths. We’ll have materials ready to hand out, such as our VBS flyer. The fair is like the well. It is where the people gather. Perhaps like Saul who had an unexpected encounter with Jesus, the people of West County will encounter Jesus through us.
The second opportunity will begin later this year. We’re planning to have a booth once a month at the Occidental Friday Night Market. We’ll have to decide what to have at our booth, but the point is that we are going to where the people are and not expecting the people to come to us.
That’s exactly what God did for us. John 3.16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." God reached out to us. Could we, in His name, reach out to our community?
Have a blessed Easter and remember: He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Blessings,
Pastor Pete
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
It’s On My Heart...March 2009
The Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Lent has been a Catholic tradition which many Protestants have begun to observe. Lent is considered to be the 40 days prior to Easter. If you look at a calendar, you’ll notice more than 40 days. There are 6 Sundays which are not counted because Sunday is a weekly celebration of the first Easter Sunday, when Jesus rose from the dead.
During Lent, believers will often fast and pray. Fasting originally meant going without food for a set time, in order to focus more on the Lord. People today will "fast" from their ipods, TV’s, sporting events, movies, alcohol and more. The idea is going without. It means subtracting something from your life, not for the sake of subtracting it, but in order to replace it with something better. Some habits are formed over years and we do not even realize that we do them. The way that we eat or drink. Prayer before a meal. The way that we respond to criticism. The way that we respond to our alarm clock each morning. Attending church every Sunday is a habit, and is a habit encouraged in the Bible because it is a good habit to have.
Imagine the spiritual growth potential in our lives if we were to go without the things that distract us from God and focus on things that draw us closer to Him. Lent helps us to let go of some habits (whether good or not) and helps us replace them with something else. For instance, if our habit is to watch TV each night, perhaps during Lent, we could read a devotional book one hour each night instead of watching TV. Or, if you fast from eating out at restaurants, perhaps you could spend that time in prayer and use the money you save for something that would glorify God. The more we let go of this world and embrace our Lord, the more vibrant our faith will be. The more our hearts belong to God, the more God will choose to work through us.
So, let’s do the math. Although Lent is perceived as a time of fasting (subtraction), it can be a time of adding a new dynamic to our walk with God (addition), and when we walk closer to God, God has a way of using us more for His kingdom (multiplication). Whether you like solving math problems or enjoy the TV show "Numbers" where math geniuses help the FBI solve their cases, this is one math equation that we need in our lives. Subtraction plus addition equals multiplication. Let’s not just imagine this potential, let’s get rid of some things in order to add better things so that God may be glorified in our lives and further His kingdom.
Blessings,
Pastor Pete
The Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Lent has been a Catholic tradition which many Protestants have begun to observe. Lent is considered to be the 40 days prior to Easter. If you look at a calendar, you’ll notice more than 40 days. There are 6 Sundays which are not counted because Sunday is a weekly celebration of the first Easter Sunday, when Jesus rose from the dead.
During Lent, believers will often fast and pray. Fasting originally meant going without food for a set time, in order to focus more on the Lord. People today will "fast" from their ipods, TV’s, sporting events, movies, alcohol and more. The idea is going without. It means subtracting something from your life, not for the sake of subtracting it, but in order to replace it with something better. Some habits are formed over years and we do not even realize that we do them. The way that we eat or drink. Prayer before a meal. The way that we respond to criticism. The way that we respond to our alarm clock each morning. Attending church every Sunday is a habit, and is a habit encouraged in the Bible because it is a good habit to have.
Imagine the spiritual growth potential in our lives if we were to go without the things that distract us from God and focus on things that draw us closer to Him. Lent helps us to let go of some habits (whether good or not) and helps us replace them with something else. For instance, if our habit is to watch TV each night, perhaps during Lent, we could read a devotional book one hour each night instead of watching TV. Or, if you fast from eating out at restaurants, perhaps you could spend that time in prayer and use the money you save for something that would glorify God. The more we let go of this world and embrace our Lord, the more vibrant our faith will be. The more our hearts belong to God, the more God will choose to work through us.
So, let’s do the math. Although Lent is perceived as a time of fasting (subtraction), it can be a time of adding a new dynamic to our walk with God (addition), and when we walk closer to God, God has a way of using us more for His kingdom (multiplication). Whether you like solving math problems or enjoy the TV show "Numbers" where math geniuses help the FBI solve their cases, this is one math equation that we need in our lives. Subtraction plus addition equals multiplication. Let’s not just imagine this potential, let’s get rid of some things in order to add better things so that God may be glorified in our lives and further His kingdom.
Blessings,
Pastor Pete
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
January 2009
Choices. We make many of them everyday. We choose to do one thing over another. Where we shop, what we buy, how we celebrate Christmas, what we give. To tell the truth or to lie. To protect or let go. To spend or save. We make decisions on what to eat, where to vacation, what to read, when to rise and when to go to bed. To attend church or to sleep in. To read the Bible more or to fill our lives with something else. Our lives are full of choices.
Some of our choices are better than others. Shortcuts that take much longer. Investments that can’t lose, but do. Fixers that become money pits. Extending the hand of friendship to one that abuses it. The list goes on and on.
OCC's theme verse and emphasis this year is all about choosing that which is best. At the very center of the Bible we find Psalm 118.8 "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man." The most important choice we will ever make involves who we will trust. Whether we put our trust in God or in ourselves or others. When I think of my own efforts to achieve my own expectations about myself, I realize I fall far short too often. When I think of others, they too at times will let me down. But God will never let us down. He invites us to put our trust in Him.
Trusting in God is the best choice we can make. In the weeks ahead, we will explore what it means to really trust God over every other option we have when it comes to trust.
Some of our choices are better than others. Shortcuts that take much longer. Investments that can’t lose, but do. Fixers that become money pits. Extending the hand of friendship to one that abuses it. The list goes on and on.
OCC's theme verse and emphasis this year is all about choosing that which is best. At the very center of the Bible we find Psalm 118.8 "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man." The most important choice we will ever make involves who we will trust. Whether we put our trust in God or in ourselves or others. When I think of my own efforts to achieve my own expectations about myself, I realize I fall far short too often. When I think of others, they too at times will let me down. But God will never let us down. He invites us to put our trust in Him.
Trusting in God is the best choice we can make. In the weeks ahead, we will explore what it means to really trust God over every other option we have when it comes to trust.
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