The Truth about God

Nearly everyone believes in God. It is our concept of God that varies from religion to religion—even from person to person. We gather our conceptions of God the way we build up any set of beliefs—partly from our own experience and partly from sound bytes of conversation and pop culture. We come to believe about God whatever “sounds right.”

That approach would be fine if we were decorating a living room. We would be free to create a pastiche of our own experiences and the preferences of others. But God is not a construct of our imagination; it’s the other way around. He is more like a freight train than an impressionist painting—he is what he is, not what we imagine him to be. We, in fact, are what he imagines us to be.

Four the next four weeks my messages at Fall Creek will center on the things we know for sure about God.

This is important because when you know who God is, you can understand him. When you understand him, you can relate to him. And when you have a relationship with God, you can grow to become like him.  And that's what we're all doing here, imitating God in the example of Jesus Christ.

This week, I'm thinking about the fact that God exists. What, too simple?

While nearly everyone acknowledges that there is a God, relating to him in real life is a different matter. I have a hunch that God is more of an idea to some folk than he is a person. I want to take people beyond knowledge about God to an experience of him.

When did you first become aware of God in some personal way?

What is the most profound encounter with God you have ever had?

Do you talk to God every day? Does he talk back?

Do you ever doubt that God is really there?

What can I say to people that will leave them with the certainty that God is real, personal, and present--right here, right now?

PS: This is also Pentecost Sunday, when we remember the day that God's Holy Spirit came to enliven the new believers. It's one of the days that we (a) think hard about who God is and (b) realize that we are part of a much, much wider fellowship than the people who gather in any one local church. 

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What's on Your Prayer List?

What do you ask God for? And do you usually get it?

This week I'm preaching on the three petitions in the Lord's Prayer. Last week's sermon focused on submission to the will of God. This part of the prayer is directed at dependence upon the care of God.

Give us this day our daily bread, 

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

As I compare my prayer list to Jesus', I notice a few differences. For one thing, I usually pray for things I don't strictly need. Also, I'm usually a bit less patient, wanting tomorrow's results today.

How can we determine the difference between what we really need and what we merely want?

Why does Jesus insist that only people who forgive others will themselves be forgiven? Is that realistic? Truly?

Is this prayer intended to (a) give us access to the good things God provides, or (b) simply be content with what we have?

I don't think the prayer itself is so hard to understand. It's praying it in real life that is challenging.

Any ideas?

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What Are We Doing Here?

What are we all supposed to be doing here at church?

I've been hearing versions of that question since I entered the ministry in 1986. Two decades haven't brought all that much clarity to the church at large--I hear a different answer to the "vision question" just about every week.

Our core mission is pretty well laid out in Jesus' Great Commission. We're supposed to be making disciples (or students, or followers) of Jesus Christ throughout the world. That includes two phases--introducing theme to the faith (i.e., evangelism) and helping them grow to maturity (i.e., discipleship). 

Of course we all have to flesh that out in our particular context--enacting the great commission might look different in Fishers, Ind., than it does in, say, Bronx, N.Y. So we each need to have a way of stating our mission that translates these rock-solids into our cultural context.

Here's mine.  It's terribly unoriginal. In fact, I can't even remember where I borrowed the language. But it makes sense to me and, hopefully, to those at Fall Creek.

Our mission is to Connect, Grow, and Serve. 

Connect

By connect I mean that we connect people to God and each other in authentic spiritual relationships. 

That means two things. One is that we bring non-religious people into a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. The old-school word for that is evangelism, and if we are not doing it we're not an authentic church. We should be spending a fair amount of energy helping other people come to hear and accept the news that God loves them and offers them an abundant, eternal life.

A second meaning of connect is that we are connected to one another. We are not intended to live solitary lives either as human beings or as Christians. We need each other, and church should be a place where we find deep, supportive relationships. It's also the place where we hold each other accountable. (We used to call this fellowship, not a bad word in its own right.)

We connect to God and to each other. That's why we're here.

Grow

By grow I mean that we help each other grow to become the people God intends us to be.

God always has more in mind for us than we have for ourselves, and church is the place where we grow into that potential. We become better, healthier, more content people. We become more like Jesus Christ. We do that by learning new ideas, observing more mature people, asking questions, an applying truth to our lives. This is what we used to call discipleship. 

The church helps people move from living self-centered, unfulfilled lives to being fully mature followers of Jesus Christ.

Serve

By serve I mean that we use our God-given abilities to serve other people. 

We are created to be givers, not merely takers. People are not complete until they discover how God intends them to contribute to the lives of others--and do it. Some people do that at the church itself by teaching classes or helping out with the things that go on when Christians are together. Others find their place of service outside the church, in the world. This is really part of discipleship--helping people grow to maturity.

Church is the starting point for finding and achieving personal mission. 

I haven't bothered to list the specific programs under these categories, but they all fit somewhere--or they should. 

For now, that's the "big picture" of my philosophy of ministry. This is what I think we're all supposed to be doing as a church--any church, really. Others may state this using different words, but each of these elements would have to be present, I think, to have an authentic church (vs. a club for like-minded people).

So what do you think? What is your philosophy of ministry? How would you state your vision for your church?

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There Is No "I" in Prayer

What's the primary object of prayer? Why do we do it?

I have a hunch that most of us would give some version of this answer: "Prayer is about making requests to God so we can get his help with the problems we face."

While that's certainly a part of the reason for prayer, I'm not sure it's the main one. This week I'm working on a message based on the first three lines of the Lord's Prayer, which go like this:

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In Jesus' model prayer, we begin by focusing our attention on God, not on ourselves. We first honor God and submit ourselves to his will. Requests--even confession--come later. 

I have a hunch that this is the reason behind many of our "unanswered" prayers. We feel as if we pray constantly but see few results. We ask God for help with everything from finding a parking spot downtown (I've actually done that) to a cure for cancer, but the "answers" seem sporadic. Could that be because we're usually looking for our gain when we pray, not necessarily God's will?

I'd like to help people see that we've got the equation backwards. The primary aim of prayer is not to get God to do what we want, but to get us doing what he wants. While we do make requests to God, it is more important that we align ourselves with who he is and what he is doing in the world.

How can I be sensitive to people who are dealing with tough problems and are frustrated at seeing no response from God while I encourage everyone to "seek first his kingdom"?  

In what ways do we put ourselves first in prayer?

How can we honor the "name" of God in prayer--and in life?

What should we say to someone who has prayed about a prodigal child or chronic illness for a long time without seeing any change?

What does it mean to establish God's "kingdom" in the world?

Wow ... little verses, lots of angles.

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About Mother's Day

As a pastor, I've learned that holidays are among the most difficult days of the year for many people, and Mother's Day is perhaps the toughest. Those who have struggled with infertility, grieve the loss of a mother or child, are separated by divorce or deployment--and many others--find this day difficult to endure.

That's why I make little to-do about Mother's Day during worship services. It is received with mixed emotions by many who are present. And while it's fun to celebrate our mom's and wives, that is not the reason we gather on Sunday's. 

Given the difficulty this day presents for many people, I'm sharing this link to an article by Holley Gerth titled "How to Take Care of Yourself on Mother's Day." If this is not a particular problem for you, skip this post. If it will help, click on the link and share it with a friend.

FYI, Holley is an award-winning writer and editorial director for DaySpring greetings and is the author of Rain on Me: Devotions of Hope and Encouragement for Difficult Times.

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