what I think I thought…

Had some people asked to share this from my sermon a few weeks ago about heaven…so here it is…

So what is heaven going to be like?

I don’t think you have to go further than then Garden of Eden to find out.

If you lay the first couple chapters of your Bible next to the last couple chapters of your Bible…look at what you find…

Genesis                                                                                   Revelation

God made Heaven and Earth (1:1)           New Heaven New Earth (21:1)

God made light (1:3)                                   God gives light (22:5)

Two great lights (1:16)                               The light of God and the Lamb (21:23)

It was very good (1:31)                              There is nothing impure (21:27)

Tree of Life (2:9)                                        Tree of Life (22:2)

A river (2:10)                                               Crystal clear river (22:1-2)

Gold in the land (2:11-12)                          Pure Gold (21:18, 21)

God was there (3:8)                                    God is there (21:3)

The story of God is the story of Paradise lost and Paradise restored again.

Again check out the contrast…

Genesis                                                                    Revelation

Serpent deceived them (3:13)                 Devil cast into lake of Fire (20:10)

Forced to hide from God (3:8)                See Gods face (22:4)

God increases pain (3:16)                         no more pain (21:4)

Cursed is the Ground (3:17)                    no more curse (22:3)

Death enters (3:19)                                   Death exits (21:4)

Keep from tree of Life (3:24)                 Access to tree of life restored (22:13)

Adapted from Kenny Boles study:  Heaven:  What a Wonderful Place.  College Press

• Yesterday might have been the most amazing church service I have ever been a part of.
• We finished up our Elements series teaching on Baptism…and without anyone pre planning to be baptized…17 people were immersed yesterday.
• WOW.
• As amazing as that is…here is what got me most excited last night…12 of 17…were men. Not male…men. Husbands, fathers, and grandfathers! Grown men submitting the word of God and being baptized.
• Why does that excite me? Because when a man…the leader of the home…is obedient to the Lord…then 90% of the time the family follows suite.
• Sad confession: We bought some shorts and shirts for people to use for their baptism…I only bought 5 sets.
• I was praying for 10 people to respond…only bought 5 sets of clothes. My view of God is WAAAYYY too small.
• Between services we had to send someone out to go get more clothes for the second service.
• The Holy Spirit was moving so much that during the second service I had a lady come forward in the middle of my message ready to respond RIGHT THEN. She didn’t even want to wait for the invitation time. WOW
• I pray that happens every week.
• Everyone I spoke with yesterday was amazed at what happened in our services. But here is what we all need to know…this should be the norm for a church that is Passionate Pursuing God and Creatively Caring for People!
• Seeing god move in people the way he did yesterday ought to be standard fare for us. We should be SHOCKED when it doesn’t happen…not when it does!
• I can’t think of a better way to cap off a Thanksgiving weekend.
• Putting together some thoughts for our Christmas series for December. We are diving into the truth of Immanuel. Bring someone with you!

It’s Monday morning.

And this Monday morning I awoke with the same feeling that has filled the last few Monday mornings.  I don’t have a name for the feeling exactly…maybe a little bit of frustration mixed with anxiety piled on top of some self pity.  (I didn’t say it was good, healthy, or righteous!)

I don’t have a name for what I am feeling on Monday mornings…but I think I know why I feel it.

Today is Monday…which means yesterday was Sunday.  And yesterday I preached a message on “Why we sing” in worship to God.  It was a message I have been mulling over for a month or more.  I have spent hours reading, listening, talking to people…trying to wrap my mind on why worshiping God through music is such an important thing to God.  Then I put my message together…trying to figure out what to put in and what to leave out.  What is the best way to communicate what I think God wants me to say?  What is the best way to incorporate in with all the rest of the elements of our weekly worship service?

Then it happens…Sunday comes and I am excited to share what God has taught me and the Spirit pulls it all together.

Then I wake up on Monday…and it’s over.

The sermon gets filed into the cabinet.  A month’s worth of mulling banished to a manila folder.  And as I sit here on Monday I think about all of the people who missed it.  For whatever reason…they were sick or at the football game or had company in town…and all of the wrestling I did with this powerful concept of worship…and they weren’t here to have the Spirit challenge their thinking or reinforce their understanding.

And now it is Monday…and the moment has passed.  I wish I could go back and share the message again so the people who missed out could catch up to what the Lord taught the rest of us…but I can’t.  Because Sunday is 6 days away.  And I have to have a new powerful truth to share in a way that is going to enlighten and inspire…that, in exactly one week, will get filed away into the manila folder.  And the cycle continues.

But there is good news on this Monday morning.  As I lay in by bed at 5:45 thinking and praying about my Monday morning feeling…God reminded me of a promise found in Isaiah 55…

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

There is the cure for my Monday morning feeling.  God will accomplish HIS DESIRE and achieve HIS PURPOSE.  My desire is irrelevant.  My purpose doesn’t matter.  It only matter if it is my word.  But it’s not.  It’s HIS.  To do with whatever he wants.

So today is Monday.  And yesterday God’s Word was shared.  And even as I type this…he is using it to accomplish something.  He is using it to achieve something in someone today.

And today…I get the honor of wrestling, mulling, thinking, praying and planning to bring the rain again next week.   What an honor.

·    I will never look at a dog create the same ever again.
·    Yesterday was an emotional mixed bag.
·    There was disgust, anger, shock, and sadness.  But the last feeling I had walking out was one of Hope.  We as the body of Christ CAN do something about this!
·    Sometimes it’s easier not to know what goes on in the back allies.  Sometimes we don’t want the curtain pulled back because we know what is behind it will make us uncomfortable.
·    But God’s number one priority for his people is not comfort.
·    Only when we see what God sees…and know what he knows…can we feel what he feels.  All of our anger, disgust, and sadness…pale in comparison to the Father of these victims.
·    Still can’t get over this statistic: The average age of entry into prostitution in Phoenix and U.S. is 13 years old
·    Larry Fraley and Peggy Bilsten have amazing hearts for these girls…and are literally leading the way nationally on how best to rescue and restore these young lives.
·    If you have yet to check out Streetlights website….do it now!
·    And check out the Branded site as well.
·    Yesterday we had our lowest attendance since June 1st 2008…even so…today we are writing a check for $12,500 from the offering that was collected.  AMAZING!
·    For all of you who were missing yesterday…please check out the message on our website it should be up by Tuesday morning.
·    And if you missed out on the chance to give…you can do it here.

·    I can’t tell you how excited I am about what God is doing with the people of Prescott Christian Church.
·    I am privileged to be a part of a staff and elders who have let me dream big and are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish Gods mission in this world.  Sadly this is rare.
·    As hard as it is too believe, I know seeking justice as God has called us to, is not a popular preaching topic.
·    I know there are going to be some who think we are wasting time and wasting energy and wasting resources…and would rather hear warm and fuzzy messages that require nothing of us.
·    But a faith that requires nothing is a faith that is worth nothing…James 1:22, 2:18, 2:26
·    Favorite comment from Sunday, “I know you probably don’t hear this enough…but thank you for not letting us just come and sit in a pew.”
·    Today we writing two checks for $6000 each to be given away from yesterdays offering.
·    I am so excited to get to go and drop them off.
·    Next week’s message is going to leave you dumbfounded.  We are going to have the former vice mayor of Phoenix along with a special guest from Christ’s Church in the Valley to share with us about one of the greatest injustices in our time that is happening in our own backyard.
·    YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!
·    I beg of you…bring someone with you this week.  Let’s start a movement of people who are committed to getting people on board with us as we try to live out seeking Justice.

So I got an e-mail today about last week’s sermon on prayer.  I am sharing with you their e-mail and my response because if one person walked out feeling like this…there may be others.  Anytime you have a question about anything said in a service…please let me know…

Okay.. so I’ve been trying to digest the sermon from Sunday.  And it has left me feeling awful.  I have     struggled all my adult life with the idea that God loves me.  And after your message on Sunday I now feel     convinced that I am nothing more than a nuisance to God.  I bother him with my daily babblings.  Is it true     that he really only wants to hear from me when I need him to do something miraculous?  Otherwise I     should just let things play out as they will and leave Him alone?

My Response

Let me begin by saying…I am so sorry.

As I mentioned Sunday…this is a HUGE topic and there is no way to cover all that needs to be covered on this issue.

I Peter 5: 7 says…”Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”  He CARES for YOU!  He desires for you to bring everything to him…all your anxieties…big and small.

My point…which obviously I didn’t make very well…for us to think, dream, and ask BIG!  We can and should pray for the small things but I want us dreaming God size dreams too.  I heard someone say recently that for those of us who are parents…when we pray with our children…the size of our prayers teach our children about the size of our God.  I want my boy to understand we serve a big God by expecting him to answer big prayers.

The thing about bothering God…those were Jesus’ words…but they were told in a parable…Jesus was making a point…not a declaration.  And in both of Jesus’ parables…the “bothering” was a GOOD thing!

The point wasn’t that our prayers bother God.  Eph. 2:12 says this…”In him, and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”  Hebrews 4:16 puts it this way…” Let us then approach the throne of Grace with confidence so that we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

On the Day that Jesus died the veil in the temple…a curtain three feet thick…ripped from TOP to BOTTOM.  God opened up the holy of holies to everyone…he invited us into his presence.  He longs to hear from us.  Jesus parables weren’t meant to paint a complete picture of God in prayer…as he said in Luke 18:1…He told them this parable “to show them they should pray and not give up.”

That was the point…Jesus wanted us to learn to pray and not give up…but to pray and keep praying.  That is was the point.  To get you to do it more…not less.  If you walked out wanted to pray less…then I thoroughly failed.
God wants you to pray and keep praying.  To more and more bring your requests to him.  We are going to touch on this a little this week…God desires for us to know and be known intimately.  And that can only happen by us spending more time him not less.

As I said…I am sorry you have been tormented…God adores you and is longing to spend time you.  He sent his son to die to make that happen.

• Had a Great day at PCC.  Camping out in the book of James will be great for all of us.

• I know today’s topic hit home for a lot of families.  It is inevitable for all of us…but I know for some this past year has been particularly difficult.

• Remember:  DON’T GIVE UP!

• Band did a great job today…thanks guys for all you do in helping us express praise to God.

• Had a lot of comments about the windshield wiper story…YES it was absolutely true.

• I wasn’t kidding…the sound of people sharing with each other about their trials and what God was teaching them through it was one of their greatest sounds I have heard in that sanctuary.  I would love to hear your feedback on that part of our service.

• If you didn’t get a study guide to this series you can stop by the office this week and we will get you one or you can pick one up next week.  Our hope is you will spend a few minutes with the book each day as we digest what God wants to teach us through this little letter.

• Did some training with some of our Life Group leaders tonight.  Getting pumped about seeing them launch this fall.  If you haven’t gotten involved before…make plans now to be a part.  More info coming.

• Students got back for Christ in Youth conference in CA tonight.  We had a couple of students get baptized in the ocean and will proably have a few more in the coming weeks at PCC.  That never gets old.  Can’t wait to hear all about it.

• Been a good day.  Glad to be a part of what God is doing at/through PCC right now.

• I am amazed and humbled that I am a part of a community of believers that has multiple 60 year old marriages in it.

• I am saddened that one of those marriages ended this week.  We’ll see you soon Mr. Bailey.

• Preaching on “treating others better than yourself” is a lot simpler than actually living it out.

• I am really excited about the “Great Dates.”  They will be posted on the website this week and available for pick up at the welcome center next weekend.

• Met a lot of new faces today…lot of out of towners up for the holiday.  Missed a lot of regular faces, too.

• Thinking about some big things for this fall.  Can’t wait t see what God will do.

• Looking forward to a day off with the family tomorrow.  Hope too see you next weekend.

• It has been a long week.  Got roped into helping with VBS.  I know this may sound odd to those who don’t know me well…but I am an introvert by nature…so being that energetic for 5 days, well that really takes it out of me.

• I have also had a close up view of this week of a man preparing to meet the Lord.  I can’t yet put into words what I have seen.  Suffice it to say…I have been left speechless.  Often.

• Today’s message was a blast to preach.  Living like Love in a verb isn’t always easy…but it is always worth it.

• Dr. and Mrs. Rodgers interview was fantastic.  I am in awe of people who truly live what they say they believe. Their marriage is an example to us all.

• Mark and the team did a great job filling in for Tom.  Thanks for being flexible guys.

• Keep your eye out for the “Great Dates.”  If you are married you aren’t going to want to miss being a part of these.

• We are going to continue to talk about staying in love for the next few weeks.  I pray if you are married (or ever hope to be) you make it a priority to be a part.

• Today was the longest day of the year…I think it is only appropriate it fell on Fathers Day.

• My Bride set me up on a golf date to try out the new clubs I got for Fathers day.  Turns out the new clubs work about well as the old ones.  Maybe I need new golf balls…

• I hope all the father’s let church today encouraged.  Father’s often get beat up at church…I think all the Fathers who make church a priority on Father’s Day need to be celebrated.

• Again…can’t overstate the influence of a Father.  If you would like to see some of the research I shared this morning check out Josh McDowells site for yourself.  Once there search “fathers”.

• “But as for me and my household we will serve the Lord”  Yes, it really is 12 words.
• Can’t put into words what an honor it was to do the child dedications today.  To see those families stand up and commit in front of God and everyone that there home is going to strive to live out those powerful 12 words…AMAZING.

• We should have ordered more hats.  Just so you know that was completely my call.  I honestly didn’t think we would have that many fathers make it church today.  I underestimated your faithfulness.  And for that I am sorry.

• Really excited about the next sermon series…we are going to spend a few weeks celebrating marriages.  You aren’t going to want to miss this.

• Did you know we have about a half dozen couples in our church who have been married for over 60 years!  WOW.  What a testimony!

• Parting shot…Fathers you are the leaders…That is the way God designed it.  There is no changing it.  My prayer is that following you means following Christ.