Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

-Your gym workouts (or is that just me?)

-Taking kids on a picnic.

-Your commute to work.

-Quiet Times with God in the midst of taking care of a newborn.

My guess is that if any of those came to mind, I’d immediately state you would be right.  But unfortunately, I’m talking about something and some people much more intricate and complex than those situations above.

I’m talking about the church.

Our church.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love Southway.  I love Southway for who she is, and who she is becoming.  I love the history of Southway, and praise God for it.  I have learned much about following Christ by joining up with the Southway family, lessons learned both the easy way and the hard way.

What I mean is that church life, or living life together in the light of God, can be messy.  It can be frustrating (Planners meeting with non-planners, un-structured meeting with structured).  And when there are abrupt changes of plans it can be chaotic.  And if we don’t pursue it intentionally, we will veer away from it; to things easier to manage, handle, or plan.  One of our Core Values at Southway is Biblical Community.  It reads:

Biblical Community

We define biblical community as “Living life together in the light of God.” Due to this definition, we desire to see a group of people being transparent, vulnerable, and authentic about who they are and where they are in their relationship with Jesus and with others; a people not afraid of challenge and accountability-but rather desiring it.  Biblical community is seen through a people who have been and are being transformed by the power of the Gospel and are embodying the Gospel as they live life together. (Acts 2:42-47, 1 Corinthians 12) 

“Sure Jason, that’s a good ideal, but how does this value play itself out?”

-It’s taking part in all aspects of church life; Sunday worship, gathering in small groups, serving on a team with people; calling folks out, encouraging them, basically obeying 1 Thessalonians 5.  It’s not forsaking assembling together like Hebrews talks about.  Here are a couple of ways that you can invest in this area:

-Look at your life not just for the ways in which God changes you, but in how God changes you so your story can be used to shape and change others; like me.

-Bring your “a” game to times when we gather either in large groups like Sunday worship or small Bible study groups that meet at church property or away from it.  Invest in people for the glory of God and your own good.   This means commit if you aren’t sure, and re-commit if you have grown lax.  We need you.  And yes, I need you.

-When you are called out; remember that it’s for your good not for punishment.  Christ has taken all our punishment for us.  Now, God uses us to discipline one another for His glory.  And I need that too.

Jason

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Once.

I politely declined, and have not had the opportunity afforded me since.  And, should I be invited again, I’m fairly certain I will decline once more.  I’m not a risk taker nor would I classify myself as courageous.  I’m by nature over-analytical and wanting to know every option or potential wrong that happens before getting into a situation, project, mission trip, or something like a sky-diving expedition.

Yet, when I read the Bible, the people of God run into one unavoidable, undeniable outworking of them being the people of God.  They are correctly courageous.  They are by their very identity risk-takers.

And we know the stories:

-Noah:  Builds an ark even though the threat of rain is so remote.  Will God come through like Noah stated?

-Abraham:  Isaac anyone?

-Moses:  Leads God’s people through a harrowing journey that was filled with risk.

-David:  Forget Goliath, what about that lion and bear he killed while with the sheep?

-Paul:  Listen to Paul’s description:  23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;  2 Corinthians 11:23-25 ESV

-Most of the disciples:  Killed for their faith, and John, who wasn’t martyred, was boiled in oil in his captors’ hopes he WOULD die.

And there are many other examples of risk that you may be thinking of (Gideon, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego) that I haven’t mentioned here due to space.  My point is this:  We, as the people of God, are called into a lifestyle of “correct courage.”

I once heard a pastor say a startling sentence.  “We can risk, because God does not.  He knows all. We don’t.  Therefore, we risk.”

We can’t avoid risk if we wanted to though.  There are too many items needing our courage.  “Correct courage” is not like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute and expecting God to bless such an action.  But even in walking through a neighborhood, there is risk.    Or, what about walking across an aisle of chairs in the worship center with the aim of greeting the new guest?  Or, what about…..

-The risk of getting hurt by a brother or sister in Christ as we share life together?

-The risk of getting rejected by someone when we share the Gospel with them?

-The risk of getting harmed while on a short-term mission trip?

All of these are real risks requiring correct courage..  They could turn out as someone hurting you as you share life together.  Many of us have unfortunately had that happen to us (and vice versa).  We are assured that not all will receive and respond to the Gospel in favorable ways.  (Jesus said that  there will be people who hate our message)  And it may not be just luggage we lose while on a short-term mission trip.

Yet, there is a deeper risk that we take by NOT taking risks.  The risk of disobedience.  And the more I think about that risk, it’s one I’m increasing not wanting to take anymore.  Hence our Core Value of Ministry Courage:

Ministry Courage

We value the fact that God calls us to take great risks in ministry ventures as we seek to proclaim His Gospel to our world.  We further understand that ministry courage is not something that can be manufactured apart from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 4)

3 “Easy” Courageous Risks We Can Take Before Sunday:

-Invite someone to services with you:  Anywhere from 60 to 90% of people would go to a worship service if invited by a friend and if met at the door by that friend.  Pray, ask, and watch what God does.

-Get involved in serving people:  From CUB on May 15^th, to the nursery on May 13^th, to giving a house for our youth group to meet at (they met this past Sunday by the way….8 students in total!), to helping as one of our Hospitality Team, there is plenty to do around Southway.

-Pray strategically for Southway:  Specifically, pray that God would move in and through us to affect change for Pearland and Houston.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and we will be talking about the currency all of us have and can be generous with:  Words.  I can’t wait!

Jason

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

-Eat less

-Work out more

-Drink more water

-Drink less soda

-Be consistent in the above four items

Have you ever had a moment where things came to a head and you realized that you had to do something more uncomfortable than settle for status quo?  I remember one such moment:  It was June 1998.  I was 248 pounds with 33% body fat.  No matter how much I could suck my gut in, I was faced with reality:  I had gained 71 pounds in 7 years.  I was getting married in six months!  Time to get in shape right?

Wrong.

Now I did lose 15 pounds by my wedding day.  But I really hadn’t changed.  And the worst part yet?  I knew what I needed to do.  I just hadn’t done it.  I had started and stopped a diet here and there for four years previous.   And I would start and stop more over the next two years.  It wasn’t until 2001 that real, lasting transformation occurred.

Equating weight loss with our relationship with Christ is somewhat silly to be sure; but my story in terms of weight loss does parallel our shared story in terms of our relationship with Christ.  If left unchecked, we would circle around “knowing what to do,” and never actually get around to “doing it:”

-Worry less

-Pray more

-Read the Bible more

-Read the Bible more x2

-Don’t sin as much (and when you do make sure it’s a respectable sin and not one of those really nasty ones that get people; especially church people, talking)

So what’s the catalyst behind change, behind transformation?  It’s taking what we know and applying it to how we act.  That’s why we put such a primacy on our Core Value of Transformational Teaching:

Transformational Teaching

The Gospel transforms an individual and the church.  Our teaching therefore must be Gospel-Centered, with an aim of transformation of a person into Christ-likeness.  While we appreciate the biblical knowledge that can be gained from bible study, we value application and implementation of that knowledge which results in life-change.  (James 1:19-27)

We don’t want to merely “know about” God; rather we want our knowledge of God to change who we are from the inside out.  We want our teaching, preaching, etc. to always have the razor-sharp edge of transformation in mind.  God’s revealing of Himself in His Word to His people has the end goal of changing us to be more like Jesus Christ.  Like James tells us, we are to “do” the word, not just “hear” it.

THIS WEEKEND:

Saturday:  Sean Nelson is graduating from the College of Biblical Studies at a ceremony held at Houston’s First Baptist Church in the morning.  Later that day, from 6-8 p.m. at the SIlverlake-Area Chick-Fil-A, Southway will be a part of the “Battle of the Bands” along with Peace Presbyterian and Shepherd of the Heart Methodist.  A portion of the proceeds will go to Pearland area assistance ministries, and it’s our chance to hang out with two other churches, and to hear our own Taylor Johnson debut his first CD.

Sunday:  We are going to tackle one of the hardest issues in marriage:  the issue of submission.  What does it really mean for a wife to submit to her husband?  We’ll answer that question and enjoy taking Communion together as we gather to praise our great God.

Love to you,

Jason