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Archive for the ‘Community’ Category

Live Resurrected

Posted in Community, Formation, Grace, Hope, Uncategorized on March 28, 2016| Leave a Comment »

empty-tombYesterday was Resurrection Sunday.  We celebrated an empty tomb.  We praised God because Jesus is alive!  We reflected on the new life that is made available to us through Jesus giving up his and being raised three days later.  I pray you celebrated in grand fashion with your church family.  Around here, we pulled out all the stops and had an amazing time of worship.

Now, here we are the next day.  The schedules and pressures of everyday commitments are already pressing in.  How will the celebration of yesterday affect your today?

Was it just another day – albeit a great day – on the church calendar?  Was the celebration left at the church building?

Or will the truth of the resurrection change your today?  Will you live today with the hope of knowing that there is more, so much more, to this life than our daily grind?

Jesus defeated death to give you new life!

Live resurrected this day!

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Called to Share

Posted in Church, Community, Formation, Grace, Hope, Uncategorized on February 23, 2016| 1 Comment »

sharingThis coming Sunday we will be discussing the importance of sharing.  I remember as a child, I was taught to share.  The lessons weren’t always pleasant because there is something inherent in us to want to keep things for ourselves.  I would like to think that as we grow up, we get better at sharing.  But sadly, I think that we just get better at masking our selfishness.  It is a constant battle to put other people’s interests above our own.  But that is what we are called to do as believers.

Unfortunately, often times this reluctance to share prevents us from sharing the most important news of all.  We, as believers – as followers in the Way, have the message of hope and rescue.  We hold the key that will unlock the chains that imprison individuals – chains of fear and isolation, chains of guilt and depression, chains of emptiness and low self-esteem – the chains of sin.

The Gospel is the message of rescue.  It is the news people need to hear.  The good news is that Jesus has made a way to free us from the chains that hold us down.  And we have that news.  Not only do we have that news, we have been given a mandate to share it.

Paul tells us in Romans 1:8 that people all over the world were talking about the faith that the believers in Rome had and how that faith was encouraging others and making a difference in their lives.  Acts 2:47 tells us that because of the faith and actions of the first believers, God was adding daily to their numbers.

There is something contagious about faith lived out.  Something powerful happens when people actually live out what they say they believe.

Live out your faith and share what Jesus has done for you with someone new today.

Be a blessing!

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Commitment to Growth

Posted in Church, Community, Hope, Uncategorized on February 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »

This past Sunday, we began a new series in our services together entitled, Church 101.  We church_101-title-2-still-16x9
are going back to the basics of what it means to be the church.  God’s church is made up of God’s people – followers in the Way.  So if a church is to be a vibrant church, it must be filled with vibrant followers.

The first step to being a vibrant follower is a commitment to growth – growth in our understanding of God, growth in our relationship with Jesus and growth in our relationships with others.

As we continue to grow in our understanding and knowledge, our relationship with Jesus grows as we experience his truth lived in out in our lives.  And as our relationship with Jesus matures, our love for one another grows.  We begin to see others as Jesus sees them.

God’s plan A for the redemption of the world is the church.  Commit today to be the church God expects by committing to be a vibrant, fully engaged follower.

Be a blessing today!

 

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The Best Resolution You Could Make

Posted in Community, Formation, Grace, Hope, Uncategorized on January 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Are you a goal setter?  How about a resolution maker?

Here we are 3 weeks into the new year.  Statistically, most of us have already given up on our resolutions.  In another week or two,  the guilt will set in as we begin to beat ourselves up over how we can’t seem to stick to  that diet or that overzealous exercise regimen we set for ourselves while still under the influence of a food induced euphoria almost a month ago.

I’m not knocking the genuine recognition of the needed improvement in taking care of one’s self.  But I wonder if we have put the same emphasis on our spiritual health?  How many resolutions were made to spend more time in prayer or scripture reading?  How many resolutions were made to do a better job of loving God and loving others in 2016?

We are only 3 weeks into 2016.  It’s not too late to make the best resolution you could ever make for 2016.  Join me in refreshing your commitment to spend time with God daily in prayer and in the sacred text.  God will honor your commitment with joy and peace.

Stick with it!

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Joy Is Found In Relationship

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope, Uncategorized on January 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »

This past week the mornings came early. But nothing gets the day going like a strong cup of Dominican coffee and a cool breeze blowing through the open-air roof top perch overlooking the northern part of the city of Santo Domingo. I have always heard that Las Vegas is the city that never sleeps but I am pretty sure Santo Domingo stays awake most of the night as well – or at least the dog next door does.

While the city may be the loudest city I have ever spent time in, the people have to be some of the most hospitable and joyful people I have ever had the pleasure of walking with. I visited the beautiful island of the Dominican Republic for several days to get a glimpse of what God is doing there among the faithful believers in that country. We visited orphanages and schools, churches and homes – and without exception, God was at work in the lives of his servants.

I have walked among people in many different counties in my lifetime and I am always reminded that true joy comes not from material possessions but from a relationship with God lived out in community with other followers in The Way.

It really doesn’t matter what we acquire in this lifetime. Material possessions wear out, break or just become out dated. Money gets spent and can cause more relational problems than it solves. Fame doesn’t last and neither does authority and power.

The only nugget left in the sieve when our lives have passed through it’s screen is our relationship with the Father and the relationships we developed as a result of knowing him. On the surface, that seems harsh. But the glorious truth of the matter is this: when we place our priority on the most important relationship in our lives – our relationship with God – then all else becomes joy (Matthew 6:33).

 

Seek after God today!

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Stay Salty

Posted in Church, Community, Formation, Hope, Uncategorized on January 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »

SaltIn Matthew 5 we have one of the most profound sermons ever delivered to humanity. Jesus saw a teachable moment and he made the most of it. What has come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount is recorded here in this chapter. Jesus was the master teacher. His words changed the direction of humanity and they still have the same effect today.

In verse 13 of this chapter, Jesus used a common, household item to make a very concrete statement of our role as followers in The Way. He told his followers gathered on that hillside that they were the salt of the earth. Salt is something used in a number of ways. It gives flavor to what otherwise might be a bland dish. It can also be used as a preservative, helping to prevent things from spoiling.

In the first century, salt was viewed with a bit more significance than we might see it today. But the point of Jesus’ message was that we, as believers, should exist to bring taste to a tasteless world and the hope of preservation to a world void of hope. We are called to be salt.

But when salt loses it’s saltiness, it is of no value. For us to be effective in our service, we must not lose our saltiness. We must stay close to the only one who can bring taste to a tasteless world and hope to a hopeless existence.

Stay salty!

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A Thousand Years of Collective Spiritual Experience In One Place

Posted in Church, Community, Formation on September 3, 2015| 1 Comment »

I look forward to my Wednesday night schedule each week.  Each Wednesday I have the pleasure of gathering with some of our church family around tables and enjoying a meal together.  The fellowship is sweet.  Last night I listened – – and observed.  There was laughter and smiles – there was joy.  A part of me wanted to be at each table at the same time.

And then, after the meal, everyone scatters to all parts of the church for different ministries and Bible studies.  I get the opportunity to meet with a growing group of folks in our chapel where we spend a few minutes in prayer and then dive into God’s word and wrestle with what we find there together.

People Gathered At CrossLast night was particularly transformative for me (and I pray it was for those gathered).  We worked through the later half of chapter 4 of the book of James.  There was great discussion and even some push back on some of the points I shared.  It was glorious.  When we wrapped up I made the statement that I appreciated everyone being there and in that moment I realized – I am having a blast!

As I have reflected on the experience, God has opened my eyes (just a bit) to the importance of gathering together to study God’s word.  I have been doing this for years and have waxed on about the importance of assembling together and the benefits of building relationships with other believers through small group ministry.  But something hit me this morning like a ton of bricks.

As I thought about all those gathered together in the chapel last night I thought about the diverse mix of folks – some college students, some old enough to be those students’ great-grand parents – some newcomers to the faith and some who have been followers in the Way for longer than I have been alive.  The collective wisdom of literally hundreds of years was brought together for 45 minutes to learn from God’s word.  Even writing these words gives me pause.  If I were to be able to ask each person in attendance, the number of years they have followed Jesus, the calculation would actually have been well over a thousand.  A thousand years of collective spiritual experience all gathered together in one room, focused on the same thing at the same time.  WOW!  That my friends is the church!!

What a humbling experience!

What you bring to the family may seem insignificant.  Maybe you have been a believer for most of your life – or maybe you are just getting started on this path.  Either way, when you combine what God has given you with what God has given the others in the family, the result is amazing and beautiful.

God has a place for you in a local body of like-minded believers.  If you are anywhere near Corpus Christi, I pray you will plug in with us.  But where ever you may be – plug in somewhere.  What you have to offer can only be offered by you.

Stay engaged!

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Faith In Action

Posted in Church, Community, Formation, Hope on July 29, 2015| 2 Comments »

What would the world look like if each self-professed follower of Jesus truly lived out their faith daily with passion?

I believe the world would look differently.  I believe our churches would be full of tired Jesus followers every Sunday – there to recuperate from living to the fullest the week before and regrouping to go out and do it again the next week.

It is easy to say, “I am a believer.  I have put my faith and trust in Jesus.”  But the test of those words comes in how we live.

James 2:14-26 forces a reality check.  The author of the book refuses to take our statement of faith at face value.  He pushes the issue and says that we cannot expect others to believe that our faith is real if it is not backed up by our actions.

Go out and live your faith today.  Words are hollow and meaningless if we don’t live them.

Be a blessing today.

If you are anywhere near First Baptist Corpus at 6:00 PM tonight, come and join the discussion about this text.

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Community In the Desert

Posted in Community, Hope on July 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

We like to think we are independent.  We are taught, particularly in this country, that if we set our mind to something and we commit our entire existence to it, we will achieve it.  It is ingrained in us that we need to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.  We take pride in being able to say, “I am a self-made man.”

While the optimist in me would like to believe that there is truth in all of that, last week, I was reminded that we need one another.  I had the amazing gift of getting to spend 3 days with 20 total, yet amazing, strangers.  When we converged on the Rapport offices in Las Vegas, Nevada, not one of us had ever met.  Nor did we really understand what we were about to experience.  But within 24 hours we would be a team – team 2664.  At the end of it all, my hope in mankind was renewed by the way we came together.

I watched as 21 people let their guards down and learned to trust one another.  We realized that we would not make it through the week without each other.  All the conditioning that “I can do this on my own,” was stripped away and we became completely dependent on one another.  it was a scary but cathartic undertaking – the result of which was a group of friends who were total strangers just hours before.

There will be many posts in days to come of the lessons learned in the desert of Nevada, but that will take time for me to process.  For today, the lesson is community.  We need one another.  No one is self-made.  We might puff up and try to make people think we don’t need anyone.  But the cold hard fact of life is that we can’t do this alone – not well anyway.

But here is what could be a revolutionary thought for you – or at least a liberating concept – we were never meant to do this alone.  God created us for relationships.  Genesis starts out in the very first chapter telling us that the first man needed someone else to be complete.  We were created for community.  That is how we are wired.  We need to know and be known.  WE NEED EACH OTHER.  This is not an admission of weakness.  In fact, it takes more grit and strength to admit we need another than it does to deny the truth and try and go it alone.

This truth is why the church is so important.  Church is never to be a place where people put on masks and act as if they are self-sufficient.  Church is the place we come for encouragement, support, instruction and relationships that help us make it through our days.  If that is not a description of any church that you have ever attended, keep looking – they exist – I happen to belong to one.

Be blessed today!

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A Lesson From the Bugs On My Windshield

Posted in Community, Formation on February 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, driving back from visiting folks in the hospital in Lubbock, I noticed my windshield was a bit dirty.  Now normally, this would not even catch my attention.  In fact, one of the things that drives my wife crazy is to get in my car and have to look through the windshield.  I am notorious for not ever cleaning my windshield.  Now if you live in this area, you know this time of year we begin to catch all kinds of bugs with our windshields out on the highway.  So it is not hard to understand why a windshield might need to be cleaned from time to time.

While the truth may lie more on the side of laziness, I choose to believe that the reason I don’t ever clean my windshield is because I have trained myself to see the bigger picture and not be distracted by the dots on my windshield.

I think there is a life-lesson here.  The reality is, life is always going to be full of distraction.  We may set out to be disciplined and focus time with the Father but distractions pop up constantly.  Technology has not helped in this regard – we are never really disconnected.  Our lifestyle is designed for distraction.  So if we are going to grow through this journey toward becoming the image of Christ, we have got to learn to see the bigger picture and not become distracted by the little things that try to pull our attention away from what matters.

It takes commitment and discipline to create space in our lives for the Spirit to work.  It also takes a willingness to do our best to clear distractions and to create that space.

Today we begin the season of Lent.  For the next 40 days leading up to Easter, we are called to slow down and reduce distractions.  We are called to create space in our busy lives for the Spirit of God to work.  We are drawn to turn back to the God who loved us while we were still sinners – enough to sacrifice Jesus for us.

I challenged our church family this past Sunday to make a couple of practices a part of their Lenten observance this year.  The idea behind these practices is to help us reduce distraction, create space and turn back to God.  The first thing I have challenged them to do is to fast and pray – specifically on Tuesdays through the Lenten season.  We are going to have a time of prayer through the lunch hour here at the church each Tuesday and allow people to come and go in a reflective and contemplative setting.

The other discipline I have challenged our family to do is read through the Gospels over the next 40 days.  We have established a reading plan to help folks stay on track.

I challenge you to join us.  Set aside time – Tuesdays are when we will be doing it – to pray and fast.  Focus on God’s love for you – Jesus’ sacrifice of himself for you.  And spend time in God’s word.  If you would like to follow along with the reading plan we have set up for our family, the best way to get your hands on it is to download our app.  It’s totally free and available for your iPhone or Android or even your tablet.  Just go to the respective app store and search FBC Littlefield.  Once you have installed the app, you will notice several buttons at the bottom of the screen – swipe the page to the left and it will show more buttons (oh wow, look, you can listen to sermons and even see the Pastor’s blog – cool).  The button on the far right is titled 40 Days.  Click on that button and it will take you to the reading plan.  Simply click on the specific day and it will then take you to the text for the day in the YouVersion Bible app – – pretty simple.

However you choose to do it – I challenge you to spend time this Lenten season seeking God.  Spend time in prayer and spend time in God’s word.  By removing distractions and creating space, God can use your efforts to change your life.

Now I guess I need to go wash my windshield.

Be blessed this day!

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