Home / Pastor’s Blog I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Youth Group Family Worship Night. Pastor Lee has asked Jeff, Brian and me to speak specifically about our Vision here as a church to declare war on shallow Christianity by: Loving the Lord, Loving One Another and Serving the World.
One of the things I so appreciate about being on staff here is that this is a vision that is being shot through all age groups, not just adults. Through the leadership of Pastors Larry and Lee (and their teams), God, in His abundant mercy and grace, is raising up a multi-generational church that is seeking to pursue His calling upon us as a whole Body, hopefully for years to come.
That night I spoke on the third piece of our vision: Serve the World, and specifically addressed how we can best serve the world as Christ’s Church today. We looked at Jesus’ example (who better to learn from!) of how He served in passages like Matthew 4:23-24, 9:35-38, and Luke 9:1-2.
What struck me about Jesus is that He almost always combined acts of compassion and healing with sharing verbally about the Kingdom. This wasn’t an either/or issue for Him. As we say around here: He did “show AND tell” the gospel.
I still believe this is the most effective way for Christ’s Kingdom to be brought to bear here on earth. Serving involves showing God’s love by caring for and tangibly meeting people’s needs in this world (cf. Matthew 25:31-46). BUT, we are not ultimately serving the world if we don’t also tell them about The Message we get to be ambassadors of (cf. Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Cherry Hills: Let’s be a church that seeks to do both in the years to come: from the children all the way to our “Seasoned Citizens!” This is how God will help us build a “city on a hill that cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).
I recently read this blog from Pastor Dave Bruskas from Mars Hill Church in Seattle and thought it was great to pass along:
One of my favorite responsibilities as a husband and dad is to pray for my wife and four daughters. It is also one of the most difficult things to do consistently. But it is something I want to do well for the sake of those I love most. So as a man who needs a good plan to go along with the best intentions, here is what works for me.
1. SCHEDULE PRAYER
I pray for my family on a scheduled basis four times a day. These prayers aren’t wordy or long. And most of the time, they are simply asking Jesus for the same things in the same way. The condition of my heart is the only thing that keeps them from being rote or ritualistic.
2. PRAY FROM BED
I’m one of those strange people who is either blessed or cursed (depending on your perspective) with an internal alarm clock. So I wake up 15 minutes before I need to get out of bed every day of my life. And I devote that time to praying for my family. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14–21 inspires this prayer time. I pray that my wife and girls, out of an experiential awareness of God’s love, will: 1) love him, 2) love his Word, 3) love the church, and 4) love people who don’t yet know him.
3. PRAY BEFORE SCHOOL
My kids have always attended public schools. They have taken the bus, rode in carpools, been driven by me or Mom and have even driven themselves. Before they leave me, I hug them and put my head to their head so that my mouth is near an ear. I then pray that Jesus would protect them. I also pray that they would be mindful of his presence in everything that happens that day whether good, bad, or somewhere in between.
4. PRAY AT DINNER
My family will have dinner together at least four times most weeks. And as we eat, I ask each family member to share her thoughts from her devotional life. A dad with younger kids can share from his study and invite Mom to do the same. It’s amazing what I learn from my family during this time. We focus our conversation on personally obeying Jesus in the power of his finished work and the Holy Spirit. We then pray together that we would be obedient to him, by him and for him. And we pray very specifically for topics that surfaced during the dinner conversation.
5. PRAY BEFORE BED
My favorite prayer time has always been just before bed. When my girls were little, I would pray over them as I tucked them in. Now that they have matured, I pray for them in the den as they head to their room for the evening. I once again hug her so that my mouth is next to an ear. And I pray that she would believe that she belongs to Jesus, that his righteousness is hers, that he is her protector who never sleeps, that she would be refreshed and wake with her first thought being about Jesus.
6. PRAY SPONTANEOUSLY
While scheduled prayer is important, life is mostly unscheduled. And a crisis will never send an iCal invite. This means that I have an opportunity for unscheduled prayer all day every day. So I keep communication lines open with my wife and daughters throughout the day. This opens a door to pray with them and for them over anything at any time. Issues range from tough exams to embarrassing blemishes to friends who are losing parents to death or divorce or friends who are just plain lost. My hope is to use these vulnerable moments to teach them that God is both in control and kind. And he is a Father who cares for my wife and daughters. He is always available. And he connects with them through a conversation that we call prayer.
MY FEAR WITH THIS POST
Now, here is why I have mixed feelings about sharing these things: Some dads put my prayer life to shame. My entire prayer time both scheduled and spontaneous amounts to less than an hour a day. But other dads will feel shame over shortcomings.
So let’s move away from shame and start over by God’s grace. Begin with a simple plan that works for you. Make your first goal to have a daily prayer connection with your wife and kids. And ask the Holy Spirit to prompt you to pray spontaneously. Getting started isn’t nearly as difficult as you might think. And your family will love you for caring.
Dave Bruskas is the network pastor for Mars Hill Church.
Recently I heard someone say: “When will I ever have a bigger chance to impact so many with my life, like this?” They were referring to giving to “The Next 5.” God gave our church family 50 acres to accomplish HIS mission here—so more—can learn with us to Love the LORD, Love One Another & Serve The World and move from shallow to mature. Here are answers to questions if you’re considering investing in “The Next 5”…
What is “The Next 5?” An invitation for you & me to financially give something over-and-above what we already give each month to invest in this church campus as a “reaching, building & sending” center while aggressively paying off our mortgage by September 2016—our 10th anniversary on this campus.
Is “The Next 5” a pledge drive? No, it’s not. No one will call or come to your house. It’s voluntary, not a have-to but a get-to! Right now, our leaders, staff and about 150 households are regularly participating. Just as others sacrificed and gave for you & me, we have an opportunity to now impact others. As you pray, would you please ask the LORD if you’re supposed to invest in The Next 5 & do whatever He shows you?
What will it take for us to do this? More than several big gifts from a few, we believe the LORD wants us to do this together—with all who are willing, doing something regularly for the next 5 years. Make no mistake, it will require many participating.
What’s the payoff if we can do this? It’s twofold: 1) we’ll each be more invested in His mission—we’ll grow deeper as a church family, and as individuals; 2) we’ll save $2 million in interest to invest in people both inside and outside our walls as we’re already doing now. It’s a win-win.
How do I get involved and invest? You can indicate “The Next 5” on your offering envelope or on your check. If you give online through your bank, you can designate an amount to “The Next 5.” Or use “The Next 5” envelopes found in the seatbacks of our Worship Center.
What happens after The Next 5? As we continue to grow, our leaders believe we’ll need to build a permanent Worship Center and Children’s Center to make room for others. But we won’t be able to afford this if we don’t first pay off our mortgage. If we build, it will likely mean a financial stewardship campaign of sacrifice like we did 6 years ago.
Thanks for considering how you can make an eternal impact.
It has been exactly 18 months since God first gave us a sentence that has energized our church: “We believe God is calling us as a church to declare war on shallow Christianity, beginning with ourselves.” May I share with you several observations about this sentence?
How we arrived at this. As our 5 pastors met on a 4-day retreat in Princeton, NJ, we wrestled with the question: “What is the problem God has called us to solve?” Upon reflection, we each came back with a similar answer: shallow Christianity is a problem God is calling us to solve!
What is shallow Christianity? Shallow Christianity results whenever we want the benefits, but not the costs of following Jesus. In His parable of the 4 soils, Jesus describes shallow Christians as those who have no root & want no difficulties (Mark 4:5-6,16-17).
But then it got very personal. Notice the last phrase is: “…beginning with ourselves.” Since we put a name to shallow Christianity, the more I’ve detected it in my heart. Shallow Christianity doesn’t just seduce other people—we all struggle with it, don’t we?
Why this means war. Maybe you’ve wondered if “to declare war…” isn’t a bit over the top. But in our humble opinion (after listening to Jesus & observing our culture), you & I will never “drift” into mature Christianity without deep resolve and a fighting spirit.
What we are not saying. We are not proudly boasting that we are fighting shallow Christianity but other churches are not. Shallow Christianity is also being addressed and confronted by other Springfield area churches. We don’t have a corner on this.
What’s the answer to the problem we’re trying to solve? That day in Princeton, it became clear to us: we declare war on shallow Christianity as we learn (and help others learn) to Love the LORD, Love One Another & Serve The World.
I hope today’s message helps us fight shallow Christianity.
Have you ever found yourself sitting in a church service, and wondered how you’re supposed to listen and apply the message you’re listening to.
I struggle with this myself. When I visit other churches, I find myself frequently thinking about everything other than the message.
I found this blog poster by Pastor Steven Furtick very helpful. He is pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C., and I think this post can help us all “get more out of the sermon.”
There’s a secret to listening to sermons that dramatically affects what you will get from them. I call it the perception principle.
I’ve preached about this before and share it with our staff regularly, but I’ve never blogged about it. I want to give it to you because I believe it will revolutionize the way you listen to sermons and exponentially increase their impact on you.
The perception principle goes like this: I can only receive someone on the level that I perceive them.
This is true for God, and for every human relationship you have. The way you choose to see someone determines how you will treat them and how you will receive whatever they have to give you.
Negatively, this means that if you perceive your wife to be a nag, that’s the way she’s always going to sound to you. Even when she really isn’t being one. If you perceive your husband to be a loser, that’s how you’re going to receive him. No matter what he does.
Positively, it means that if you perceive someone to be wise, what they say will sound wise. And you’ll give it more weight. If you perceive someone to be ‘cool,’ everything they do will look cool.
Here’s how this matters when you’re listening to a sermon. How you perceive the person preaching will determine what you’re able to receive from them. And ultimately from God.
If all you see is a guy with good ideas and not a guy with a message from God, that’s all you’ll ever get. If you go into a sermon with an attitude of bless me if you can, you’re probably not going to be blessed. If you go in skeptical of every word, you’re probably going to find fault. And only find fault.
On the other hand, if you perceive your pastor to have a message for you from God, you’re probably going to be a lot more attentive and engaged. If you go into a sermon expecting to hear a word from God, you’re probably going to get one.
I’m convinced that what someone ‘gets’ from a sermon has nothing to do with the skill level of the person preaching. It’s how they perceive the person preaching. It’s how they decide to engage. When people tell me, ‘that’s the best I’ve ever heard you preach,’ I always want to respond: No, it’s the best you’ve ever listened.
I don’t care who your pastor is or who is preaching to you. Whether their podcast is downloaded by millions or their sermons are heard by five people, the principle is the same. Perceive them to have a message from God for you, and that’s what you’ll get.
Show up ready to hear from God, and don’t be surprised when you do.
