Clay in the Hands

We just finished a sermon series titled, The Focus of Worship. As the title suggests, we spent four weeks looking at the subject and importance of true worship. One of the primary points of the series has been to help each of us understand what constitutes true worship. We tend to think of worship as music. We say things like, “I am headed to worship at church,” or “worship was really powerful today,” or “I did not get much out of worship today.” We have come to equate worship to a set of songs in a church service.

The reality is, worship is not about us but always about God. And worship is not a church service. I have said each week, “It is possible to have worship outside a church service – AND – it is possible to have a church service but fail to worship.” That is because worship is bowing down to the person who is God. When we let all distractions fade into a blur and focus intently and intentionally on Jesus, we are at a place of worship. When we focus completely, as best we can as humans, on who He is and what He has done, we realize Jesus is the only one worthy of our devotion, adoration and praise.

I firmly believe that when we come face to face with Jesus our only logical next step is worship. We recognize Him as God and ourselves as anything but God. We bow our desires and will to His desires and will. And we live our days as worship to Him.

How will you worship Jesus with your life today?

Last week, I had the privilege of being part of a mission team to the Dominican Republic. Our church has sent groups in the past but we have not returned since the pandemic. So this was the first trip back since the summer of 2019. Several on the trip had been in the past. But there were a couple of folks in our group making the trip for the first time.

It was a great week of ministry! Our group built benches for a school, ministered to children at a school and then other in an orphanage through VBS and games. Some built a truss system for a home and walked away on Wednesday from a home that had a new roof. Overall, I would say the week was a powerful time not only in the lives of those to whom we ministered but also for the lives of our team members.

Sitting at lunch on one of the last days, I had a man from another group ask me how I measured the “success” of a trip as a pastor. As I considered the question, the word that came to mind was “impact.” The reality is, we are not called to be “successful” but simply to be faithful. And that is true of a trip to the Dominican Republic or a trip to the grocery store.

The unasked question was, “how do you measure impact?” I relayed an example to the gentleman that helped me know there was impact. The day before, I had asked an individual on our team, who was on this trip for the first time how their week was going. The quick response was “Great!” I then asked, “Would you ever want to come back?” Again, without thought, the response was, “Yes – next year!” Then the next statement gave me pause. The individual said, “I don’t need a new bedroom suite.”

As I dug into that response, I found that prior to this trip, the individual had been saving to buy a new bedroom suite but decided to use the money to pay for the trip to serve God and the Dominican people with our group. So what they were saying was, the money they would be saving over the next year would not be going toward a new bedroom suite but rather to pay for next year’s mission trip to the Dominican!

What a choice!

That is how I measure impact!

I rarely bring a lunch to the office. And when I do, often someone will call last minute and want to grab lunch. Many days I just don’t eat but then there are those days that I decide I’ll run out and eat something fast – either way, not a great idea. One of my “go to places” because of proximity to the church is Schlotzsky’s.

Monday was one of those days. It was a busy morning with Vacation Bible School and trying to get a handle on the week with evening meetings to plan. So once we dismissed the kids from VBS and the parking lot was once again sane, I decided to run to my spot for a quick sandwich and then back to the office to get ready for a big meeting that evening.

As I entered the line to order, I heard a little voice full of excitement coming from just over the half-wall that separates the dining area from the order counter. “Pastor Brian, Pastor Brian!” was coming from a little face peering over the wall. I turned to see Mae Mae (that’s what I call her) and returned the greeting with energy I did not realize I had at that point. She asked, “are you going to eat with us?”

While a lunch date with two little children and their parents was not in my regimented meal schedule, I said, “Well, are you inviting me?” She turned to her mom and with the approving nod, she turned back with a shriek and said, “sit by me, sit by me.” I don’t care who you are, there is no way to turn that invitation down!

After I ordered, I sat down between her and younger brother Boone and for the next 20 minutes or so, I had the most glorious time having multiple conversations going at one time. Mae Mae was talking, Boone was asking me questions, and I was visiting with mom and dad. It was quite stimulating and life giving. As I walked back to the Jeep when lunch was over, I thought to myself, that just made my day – possibly my week!

I tell that story to remind each of us that God is ready with moments that give us life. We never know where they may appear or what they may be but we need to be alert so we don’t miss them.

What moments will you make today? What holy moment can you offer to someone you meet?

Maybe you’ll be blessed with an impromptu lunch, sitting between a 4 year old on your left and a 5 year old on your right while visiting with their parents!

Yesterday, I continued the God-Sized Mission series with a sermon about living out our faith locally – right where we are. We have a tendency to read a passage like Matthew 28:19-20 and be inspired to go to other parts of the world to share the Good News and love of Jesus. That is certainly a part of the command to make disciples of ALL nations.

But a closer look at the way the words are used in those verses, teaches us that it is not an “over-there” kind of command. A better understanding is that we are to be making disciples “as we are going.” In other words, as we go about our daily lives, we are to reflect Jesus in all we do.

This does not start someday and some place, it starts this day and right here!

As a faithful Jesus follower, each of us is to be focused on living a lifestyle that honors Jesus. This lifestyle, along with the message we share, should inspire to and immerse others in the same lifestyle. How will you do that this day?

For us, we start Vacation Bible School this morning. We will have literally hundreds of opportunities to show the love of Jesus to children and their families right here in our building. I would say, in many ways, it will be easier to be on task this morning simply because our focus will be concentrated.

But what about the other days – the average, ho-hum, mundane days of our lives? It is on those days that our faithfulness and commitment shine through.

Today, in the mundane routine of your daily schedule, share Jesus.

A lifestyle of following him is a powerful message!

We began a new series last Sunday titled, “God Sized Mission.” The foundational idea for this series is that God’s church does not have a mission as much as God’s mission has a church. The point to understand is that God’s mission is to redeem humanity and Jesus created the church to carry out that mission by making disciples.

The marching orders each of us were given before Jesus ascended are very clear. As we go about our daily lives, we are to be reaching others for Christ by the way we live, the way we love and the words we use. We are to make disciples who, in turn, make disciples. We are to do that by immersing new believers in the lifestyle of abiding with Jesus and we are to teach them to hold on to all that Jesus has taught us.

The mission of the church is clear – it is stated in the Great Commission. The way we go about carrying out His mission is often unique, dependent on our context. Most churches will never appeal to all people. Each church needs to realize her make up and strive to be faithful to who she is called to be. However, we must never get so caught up in being unique that we forget our mission.

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)

As you are going about your day today, how will God use you to make disciples?

I have been thinking about purpose for a while now. Questions like, “Am I effectively living my calling?” and “Am I helping our church move forward?” have been on my mind and heart.

This reflection has led me to take a fresh look at the mission of the church. This Sunday, we will begin a new series looking at God’s desire for our church and churches in general. The foundational understanding that will ground each sermon in the series is this: God’s church does not have a mission as much as God’s mission has a church.

So many churches get bogged down in trying to define their mission. To be sure, each church is unique in the way God’s purposes are fulfilled. We all need to be clear in what God intends.

But scripture is clear in that God’s desire is the redemption of mankind. Jesus came to earth with the mission of making forgiveness and eternal life possible. His basic purpose was to offer himself as the sacrifice for all sin in order for redemption to be a reality.

That is still God’s heart and desire; saving humanity from itself – from sin. God’s plan in this endeavor is to use the church to bring this mission to completion. So the mission is the redemption of mankind. The church is the plan to fulfill this mission.

The next time you think about the mission of the church – I challenge you to instead consider that God’s mission has a church.

Go be the church today!

Have you ever taken a wrong turn? Now days, GPS and the maps on our phones can help prevent such a thing – when they are accurate. But growing up when I did, those tools were not available. The good thing is, I grew up in west Texas and I learned that towns are typically laid out in a grid pattern with streets going north and south and then cross streets going east and west. If you missed a turn – or turned the wrong way, you simply “made the block” as we would say and come back to the site of the mistake and choose differently.

That served me well in the barren geography of west Texas. But the first time I tried to navigate a town with a river running through it, all common sense went out the window. There was no “making the block”. The next turn might take you in a totally different direction. And without a clear picture of what direction to go, it was easy to get farther and farther from where one needed to be. It finally came to a decision of either continuing to meander around until the destination was found or simply turn around and backtrack.

Our lives are like that. It is so easy to take a wrong turn and continue to get farther and farther away from where we need to be. When we think about turning back, the distance we have come seems insurmountable – too great to make it worth even trying to get back to where we took the wrong turn.

Yesterday, one of my readings was in Acts 11. The chapter recounts Peter’s being called before the leaders in Jerusalem to give an answer for why he went outside the Jewish faith to share the Gospel. I encourage you to read the story and what led Peter to step outside all that he had been raised to believe to take the good news to a Gentile. After giving his reasoning, we are told in verse 18, “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even the Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

As I have reflected on this idea of repentance being offered to even someone like me, I have thought a lot about what repentance is and what it means. The act of repentance is best understood as turning around – literally a 180 degree turn. If you are going one direction, repentance means turning back and going the complete opposite direction. This is our choice. When we are told that God has granted repentance that leads to life – that means he accepts our turning back. But we have to do the turning!

Here is the beauty and blessing of the repentance that God grants – when we turn back to Him, He is right there. Regardless of how far off track we may have gotten. No matter how far down the road we may have wandered or all the side streets we may have explored, when we decide to turn back, there is no ground to make up to get back to where we need to be.

That is grace!

The psalmist says in Psalm 139 that no matter where we go, God is there. If we go up to the heights or down to the depths, God is already there. When we decide to turn back to him, we don’t have to first correct all the mis-guided steps or wrong turns to get back to Him – He is already there.

HE IS ALWAYS RIGHT THERE!

So today, if you feel you have taken a wrong turn in life and you need to get back on track, know that God is waiting for you to simply turn around toward Him.

Turn around and find peace today – turn around and find hope!

We have been talking about moments for quite sometime within our church family. It try to keep in front of our folks how important it is to be sensitive to the little, what might even seem insignificant, moments throughout the day. When we take a moment to spend in reading God’s word or in prayer, we are taking time to focus ourselves on God’s presence in our lives. Should we take extended time to dig into Jesus’ teachings and take them to heart and apply them to our lives? Absolutely! But what I am talking about is the simple act of taking time throughout the day to make sure we are grounded in faith.

We need to have moments in reading, prayer, conversation, community, serving and giving – each week. What I have come to see is that when we string moments together, we begin to form habits. And habits of following Jesus change our lives.

Yesterday, I had one of those chance moments. I have a bad habit of always being in a hurry. I tend to put more things into an hour than I can actually get done. Yesterday, I had a doctor’s appointment at 1:30. So I left the office at 12:45 with the plan of going by a mailbox down the street to mail a letter and then to grab something to eat before heading to my appointment. The mail box I was planning on using was taped up and had a sign on it that said, “Out of order” (who has ever heard of such a thing). So I had to drive a few miles to the actual post office.

At that point, I really didn’t have time to get food so I ended up at the Walmart gas station down the street from the doctor’s office. I ran in to get a fountain drink and some chips. As I made my way to the soda fountain, I noticed a man on his knees reaching up into an ATM machine. The two employees were standing there watching. Nothing gets by me, so I thought, “Well that’s odd.”

Just about the time I finished putting the lid on my drink – success – he retrieved his money. As I was standing at the counter to make my purchase, I heard the man from the ATM machine say from behind me, “You are Dr. Brian Hillman!” Well of course that is not my name but given that he had part of it right and the fact that I was the only person standing there, I had to respond.

I turned to him and he said, “My wife and I have watched you on TV for years. I have been telling her I was going to meet you someday.” (As if that is something anyone would really aspire to do). So for the next 15 minutes, we stood in the store and I listened to his story. A story of a wayward past but redemption that only Jesus can offer. I listened as he told me the sacrifices he and his wife have made to make sure she got the cancer treatments she needs. I saw the anxiety in his eyes as he told me of the upcoming appointment with the oncologist. And I teared up a bit when he asked, “Do you think you could pray for us?”

The two of us grabbed hands and, ignoring the sounds of customers coming in and business continuing on as usual around us, we joined hearts together and prayed for God’s blessing and healing and peace. When we finished praying, we hugged and I told him I hoped they would make it to our church soon. He said he would as I pushed open the door. Before the door closed behind me, I heard him say to the employee, “That was a trip man!”

As I climbed into my Jeep, I realized how much I agreed – that WAS a trip. There was no reason for us to meet other than God putting us together. I was in my own little world trying to get too much done in too little time but God had other plans. What a moment to pause and see how God works in our lives! What a moment to connect with a fellow believer I had never met! What a moment to encourage one another in the faith!

Isn’t it humbling when we see God move?

“What a trip man!”

When it comes to ministry, and serving a local congregation particularly, there is rarely a routine day. That may have been the biggest learning curve I had to deal with almost 25 years ago. I have heard multiple pastors use the same comment through the years – “One of these days I am going to write a book . . .” This statement is normally made after encountering things that make us scratch our heads in amazement. Some of those experiences happen when God moves in amazing ways. And sometimes the statement follows times when people are just being people.

Several years ago, one of the churches I served decided to bring on a person from within the church to be the Children’s Minister. This particular lady had been a member of the church for many years. We were in a small enough town that everyone knew each other. So she knew the church and the people in the church (as well as those outside the church). For the first year, every week she would come to my office shaking her head and say, “I had no idea, I just had no idea.”

Ministry can be a challenge. We have the privilege of walking with individuals and families through some of the best days of their lives and in the same week, have the responsibility of walking with others through some of the darkest of days. As ministry leaders, we see the side of people that no one else sees.

The truth is, ministry is a calling. I do not know of anyone who survives ministry apart from the divine calling God places on our lives. It is a calling.

This week Kristi and I celebrate eight years of serving along side the First Baptist Church of Corpus Christi family! It has been quite an adventure to date! We have walked through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows together. And through all the joy and pain and growth and tears, God has been and continues to be faithful!

I am so grateful for this calling. The last few years have been exceptionally difficult because of all the things going on in the world. But ministry is never easy. However, it is always an adventure with new challenges weekly – sometimes daily. The calling to ministry is one in which we hear God say, “Hold on and enjoy the ride.”

What a ride indeed!

I am not much of a bread eater. I like bread and will eat it, but I don’t have to have it with every meal. In fact, it is unusual for us to even have it in our pantry. So when I arrived at Christ In the Desert on April 10th, I was not overly excited to find bread to be a primary staple. In fact, the first couple of days I did not indulge.

But on Wednesday, after my Shredded Mini-Wheats, I thought I would have a piece of buttered toast. I have mentioned in other posts, that the experience of time at this particular monastery is one of solitude and silence. No one is supposed to talk. So sitting at meals offers time to think and pray and be fully present with what is happening.

As I took my first bite of toast, I was taken back by how good it tasted. Granted it had been a long time since I had eaten toast, but I could not get past the thought that this was the best toast I had ever eaten. As I sat there slowly enjoying each buttery bite, I prayed, thanking God for His goodness and His provision. I thanked him for how good the toast tasted.

I did not hear an audible voice but I definitely sensed God’s response. God impressed on me that what I was experiencing with the flavor of the toast was how toast should taste all the time. And what’s more, all of life’s goodness should be experienced the same way. As I thought about what God said, and took another bite of toast, I realized that the only reason I rarely have such an experience with things is that I am always moving too fast.

In the last few posts, I have talked about being still so that things become more clear. Another benefit of slowing down is really being present and able to take in the beauty (and flavor) of God’s creation.

God does not always communicate something so profound in something as simple as buttered bread, but occasionally He does if we are paying attention. God created life to be experienced and enjoyed for it’s goodness. We know that sin takes what God meant for good and twists and distorts it. But this lesson about toast reminded me that there is still so much good in life to be enjoyed, we just have to slow down and experience it.

So today, slow down and savor the toast.