TERMINAL Micah 1:1-9

Posted on June 27, 2009 
Filed Under Pastor's Blog, Sermons

“The possibility of sudden change is at the center of the idea of the tipping point” (Malcolm Gladwell). Thus the idea for my new sermon series entitled Tipping Point. The roots of the series lie in the book of Micah. A period of Israel’s history when events set in motion rapid change. Israel would never be the same. For that matter these are changes that larely endure to this day. You might say Israel was at the verge of going over a waterfall. They were on the edge of catastrophe. A catastrophe which would play itself out and be chronicled by the prophet Jeremiah. Micah tells us what will happen. Jeremiah watches it happen and witnesses the end game of Israel’s return to exile. Micah is story about the judgment of God seeded with the hope of redemption.

Micah’s first observation about Israel is that “her wound is incurable” (1:9). It would seem there is no going back. God had had enough. It’s like being told your cancer is terminal. All thats left is the waiting.

Our task in this series is to explore the why’s. That is, why had things gone wrong. I call them the big ticket items. A few of them are abuse of power, warped spirituality, stolen prosperity. These are conditions not at all unlike our own today in North America. And it is not just our nation that is sick. But it is the church. While the church in most parts of the world is thriving. Here in the West it is terminally ill. I’m not going to bore you with statistics but to use a popular term, we are losing market share. Consider this, in the first 15 years of Christianity (Pentecost) the believing population likely topped out around 40,000. By 300 AD it was 20 million. The church in Western Europe barely exists (by that I mean real followers of Jesus, not steeples) and we are hard on their heels of slipping into insignificance.

The world is about to change. I can feel it in the air. I can feel it in the earth. Our psyche is like a frozen river. On the surface all seems calm, even desolate. But underneath there is a violent current that when unleashed will cause a violent upheaval of the world as we know it. It’s happened before. The Renaissance. The Reformation. With these the world changed and has never been the same. We are in for a new shift and it is likely to be dramatic, even cataclysmic. The volcanos of politics, philosophy, religion and science are all rumbling and are ready to erupt.

Our only recourse as the people of God is to remain true to God’s mission of which we are supposed to participate in. Not only to be “called out” ones but to also be “sent” ones. To be  salt, light, blessing, ambassadors of the risen Lord who is Jesus. In Micah God reveals his great expectations of us in the face of immense crisis. Micah 6:8 holds the key, “what does the Lord requre of you but to do justice, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God? These are our solution. It is the answer to the question, “What do we do?”

As we explore what has gone wrong with our culture and our church we can only look to God’s answer. There is an action, do justice. There is a passion, love mercy. There is a perspective, walk humbly with God. As we navigate the dark waters of crisis and turmoil that are propelling us toward an unavoidable Niagra Falls these three answers will be continually examined to help us navigate the rapids and survive the falls.

You can beat cancer. But it will not be easy. It calls for several responses on our part. First is your status as a follower of Jesus. Are you full-time or part-time? Weekend warriors will not survive Niagra. You can’t go to church you have to be the church wherever you are. Wherever you are there the church must be. Secondly, you need to cultivate community. In times of great upheaval we tend to fragment and circle the wagons. Self preservation becomes a priority. If you want to beat cancer then you will prioritize communing with body of Christ and offering it to others. You will be looking to take in strays out of the midst of the storm. Finally, you need to be organic.

Look at this vine growing outside my office. Right through or in blacktop. Now that’s organic. Demostrating the ability to grow anywhere. Youcan’t pick and choose where you practice your spirituality. You simply are spiritual and Christilike or you are not. This vine is wild. The church has become tame. We’ve become line one big farm. Where it’s more about science than it is about the good earth. Today the church is more about methods and programs when it should be about the Holy Spirit, behavior and faithfulness to Jesus. You can beat cancer. But you will have to forsake all and follow Jesus.  WHB

Weekly Bulletin – June 28, 2009

Posted on June 25, 2009 
Filed Under Weekly Bulletin

The Lord’s Day!
June 28, 2009
Welcome to our Church!

PREPARE TO WORSHIP
Lord, may your presence strengthen and settle in us so we may give evidence of your Holy Spirit by the way we live.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
If you are visiting us, please fill out a visitor’s card & drop it in the offering plate as your contribution today. Thank you.

PRAISING GOD WITH SONG

GIVING TO GOD  Offering  /  SPECIAL MUSIC

( No Jr. Church for the summer )

HEARING FROM GOD

WORSHIPING GOD IN SONG

PLEASE STAY FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL NEXT!

TONIGHT :  No Evening Service

THIS WEEK :

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Missionary Christmas in July – $210.00 has come in. There are envelopes for your missionary Christmas donation available by the donation box under the bulletin board.  You can put your donation in the box or drop it in the offering plate.  This year’s goal is $2000.

Men’s Softball Players Note:
If you have not yet paid your player’s fee, please give it to Mike Reed, ASAP.  Questions can be directed to Mike or e-mail him at reeddad@aol.com.

Thanks for attending FIRST CHRISTIAN, please come again!

Protected: Prayer Requests – June 24, 2009

Posted on June 24, 2009 
Filed Under Prayer Requests

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GENERATIONS Exodus 20:1-6

Posted on June 20, 2009 
Filed Under Pastor's Blog, Sermons

Father’s Day got me thinking. Thinking about my own life and the life my father passed onto me. Got me thinking on the life I am passing to my children. As much as ever before America’s children need fathers. Dad’s who are emotionally, spiritually and physically present. Men who will make a lasting investment into the lives of Ameica’s youth.

I suppose it does not seem like a Father’s Day text. A snippet of the 10 commandments. Out of Egypt, idolatry, fathers, generational sin and a call to obedience. Well I guess it just may be an appropriate text for Father’s Day. What is easily missed about this text is that God wants to  bless you. I guess we get so hung up on the do’s and dont’s of it. We miss the penetrating presence of the grace of God. God leads you out of Egypt (and we’ve all got our Egypt’s) the place of oppression and slavery. Idols in turn bring with them thier own form of oppression and bondage. Today we call them addictions. Or in the 21st century I think an appropriate way to describe idolatry is fantasy. We are urgent to escape reality. Thus the power of TV, music, entertainment, pornography, lottery. In the old days idols helped people cope with life (idols of fertility, rain, crops, war, you name it they had it). Today’s idols help escape the reality of life.

In the midst of it all is God crying out to us. Wanting to bless you because he is passionate about you. Yes the text says “jealous.” A strange word. Usually a word with negative connontations in our minds. But in the Bible God is often described as jealous for us. A term attempting to describe God’s emotion toward us. A deep yearning to get back to us. To be with us. The way it once was and was always intended to be. God said, “Let us make man in our image.” God is zealous to be a part of us. Zealous enough to display his grace in the passion of the cross.

Yet sin gets in the way. God wants to bless you for generations to come. But so often “iniquity” has its way with us. It is no surprise to find that sin can be multi-generational. That is, it has a way of being passed from father to son. It runs in the family. In fact it can become so dominating that we become toxic. God visits the iniquity of those who hate him. Notice the two competing emotions. God is jealous (passionate) for us. While we can come to hate (scorn) God. It is the great tension of the universe. God loving someone who hates him.

Our only recourse is obedience. God’s loyalty and his love will not fail you. He has the best intentions for you. He wants to bless you and your family for generations to come. Give him his due. Obey his commandments. Live in the mercy of the cross of Christ. Embrace the forgiveness of sins and live under his Lordship. Be a follower of Christ. Leave a worthy legacy for your children to follow after.

To all dad’s. Look for those teachable moments in the lives of your children. Own our stuff before them and take responsibility for your wrongs. They need to see what repentance looks like. Have great expectations of your kids. Not in athletics or education. But in godliness, mercy, justice and forgiveness. Expect them to behave as a child of Christ. Oh, and by the way. Be unashamedly male. We live in a gender-nuetral culture. Stand out in the culture as one who loves his wife and expects his sons to treat young women like sisters (aka St. Paul). The next generation is counting on you. So let’s not blow it. God wants to bless you for generations to come, so be obedient.                         WHB

Weekly Bulletin – June 21, 2009

Posted on June 18, 2009 
Filed Under Weekly Bulletin

Happy Father’s Day!
June 21, 2009
Welcome to our Church!

PREPARE TO WORSHIP
Today, and in the week ahead, may we all be filled with the love that was seen in Christ our Lord.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
If you are visiting us, please fill out a visitors card & drop it in the offering plate as your contribution today. Thank you.

PRAISING GOD WITH SONG

GIVING TO GOD  Offering  /  SPECIAL MUSIC

( NO Jr. Church for the summer )

HEARING FROM GOD

WORSHIPING GOD IN SONG

____________________
PLEASE STAY FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL NEXT!

TONIGHT :  No Evening Service

THIS WEEK :

UPCOMING EVENTS:
If you have an event this summer that should be in the bulletin, please e-mail the details to fcc.kirkwood@yahoo.com.

Missionary Christmas in July – There are envelopes for your missionary Christmas donation available by the donation box under the bulletin board.  You can put your donation in the box or drop it in the offering plate.  This year’s goal is $2000.

Men’s Softball Players Note:
If you have not yet paid your player’s fee, please give it to Mike Reed, ASAP.  Questions can be directed to Mike or e-mail him at reeddad@aol.com.

Missing Dishes?
Please check the coat rack for your dishes.

Correction!
They tell me this week really is Father’s Day, so we wish all of you fathers a very nice day.  For those that were here last week, you received a double wish for happiness!  Please excuse the error.

Thanks for attending FIRST CHRISTIAN, please come again!

Protected: Prayer Requests – June 17, 2009

Posted on June 17, 2009 
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Weekly Bulletin – June 14, 2009

Posted on June 11, 2009 
Filed Under Weekly Bulletin

Happy Father’s Day!
June 14, 2009
Welcome to our Church!

PREPARE TO WORSHIP
Help us remember, loving Lord, that abundant life comes as a gift from you.  Thank you sincerely.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
If you are visiting us today, please fill out a visitors card & drop it in the offering plate as your contribution today. Thank you.

PRAISING GOD WITH SONG

GIVING TO GOD  Offering  /  SPECIAL MUSIC

( NO Jr. Church for the summer )

HEARING FROM GOD

WORSHIPING GOD IN SONG
Blessed Assurance

PLEASE STAY FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL NEXT!

TODAY: Farewell Bar-b-que for Pastor Justin & Annie, following Sunday School at the Fellowship Center.  Ya’ll Come!

TONIGHT :  No Evening Service

THIS WEEK :

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Missionary Christmas in July – It is our custom here at FCC to take up a collection for our Missionaries during June & July.  This collection will be given to them in Oct. or Nov. as their Christmas gift from us.  This way we are able to give them the money before Christmas, so they can use it for their Christmas.  Our current Missionaries are: Grace Fabian – USA, Gene & Mary Smith – Honduras, T.P. Thomaskutty – India, Dan & Rachel Zuch – Austria.  It would be really nice if we could collect $2000 to divide between them.  There is a box under the bulletin board for your donations, or if you write a check & drop it in the offering plate, be sure to designate it for “Christmas in July”.

Congratulations to this year’s High School Graduates!    Jordan Smith & Ben Willis

Visitation Team: Members on call this week
If you or someone you know needs a home or hospital visit, please call: Shannon Berkheiser, 775-2170 or Megan Reed, 775-1719

Thanks for attending FIRST CHRISTIAN, please come again!

Weekly Bulletin – June 7, 2009

Posted on June 4, 2009 
Filed Under Weekly Bulletin

The Lord’s Day!
June 7, 2009
Welcome to our Church!

PREPARE TO WORSHIP
Teach us to find our rest and joy in you, Lord.  Surely you have a message for us today.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
If you are visiting us today, please fill out a visitors card & drop it in the offering plate as your contribution today. Thank you.

PRAISING GOD WITH SONG

GIVING TO GOD  Offering  /  SPECIAL MUSIC

( NO Jr. Church for the summer )

HEARING FROM GOD

WORSHIPING GOD IN SONG

PLEASE STAY FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL NEXT!

TONIGHT :  No Evening Service

THIS WEEK :

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Missionary Christmas in July – It is our custom here at FCC to take up a collection for our Missionaries during June & July.  This collection will be given to them in Oct. or Nov. as their Christmas gift from us.  This way we are able to give them the money before Christmas, so they can use it for their Christmas.  Our current Missionaries are: Grace Fabian – USA, Gene & Mary Smith – Honduras, T.P. Thomaskutty – India, Dan & Rachel Zuch – Austria.  It would be really nice if we could collect $2000 to divide between them.  There is a box under the bulletin board for your donations, or if you write a check & drop it in the offering plate, be sure to designate it for Christmas in July.

Focusing on the Trinity
Christians are monotheists, meaning we believe in only one God. Yet we talk about the doctrine of the Trinity. In the church year, the Sunday after Pentecost is known as Trinity Sunday. It’s a day for focusing on what theologians call the Triune God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Someone said about the concept of the Trinity, “You will lose your soul if you don’t believe it, and you will lose your mind if you try to explain it.”
The Bottom line is this: God (one Person) has been revealed to mankind in three ways. He is our Creator, who then came to Earth as our Savior (in the person of Jesus) and is eternally present with us as the Holy Spirit. On Trinity Sunday, we praise our Triune God for meeting all our needs

Thanks for attending FIRST CHRISTIAN, please come again!

FAREWELLS

Posted on June 4, 2009 
Filed Under Announcements, Pastor's Blog

By now most are aware that Pastor Justin has accepted the call to Berean Bible Church. We will miss him. His new parish awaits him. It has been six good years in which we have been able to make a sizeable investment in him and Annie. May our merciful God see fit to bring forth exceeding fruit from them. Here they have learned about community, accountabiity, service, leadership and the centrality of Jesus. By God’s grace may the life of Christ which he has known amongst us be carried with him (them) to their new parish.

This Sunday will be Justin’s last in the pulpit. Next Sunday I will deliver a “Farewll To Arms” sermon as we say goodbye to Justin and Annie. There will be a farewell barbecue held after Sunday School at the fellowship center. I certainly hope to see you all there. This of course is a “see you later” kind of thing. For Justin has merely been transferred to a new unit. We pray the anointing of God’s Spirit rest upon them as they go into the “trenches.” It will be all that with the horrors of war amidst the romance of Christ and his bride. May they know Godspeed.          WHB

Protected: Prayer Requests – June 3, 2009

Posted on June 3, 2009 
Filed Under Prayer Requests

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