More Friends Are More Better!

Ecclesiastes 4:9 ESV 

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

This week begins many changes in not only my life, but in the lives of many as I transition to another town and another church.  This week begins a time of firsts. First introductions, new locations, moving and beginning a new ministry. These firsts also involve my wife and children as well as a new church community and civic community. It involves leaving old friends and making new friends in another location.

As I often say: "Ministry is not a job for the Lone Ranger!" Yes, new things are better accomplished as a group in the fact that there is labor enough for all. At the end of the day all are rewarded for their labors.

I leave this week feeling that my labors in Benton have been fruitful through the labors and successes of many. I head off to Carrollton Kentucky this week feeling that God will embrace us all as we build His Kingdom

So as I leave old friendships, I pray that they will be long-lasting friendships. I pray that new friendships will be established as we go forward together in relationship. So thank you to all the friends that I have made, and "Hi, my name is Tim" to all those that I will soon meet.

My prayer for us all this day is that we have embraced our togetherness in life lasting memories, For those that I will soon be meeting. may it be the beginning of new lasting relationships. 

Hi, my name is Tim and it is nice to meet you.   

Don't Just Press Like!

Acts 20:35 ESV

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

At this time of the year social media and everywhere we look are positive posts about how we should feel and how we should respond to others this Christmas season. Even I am guilty of seeing an awesome Face book post and I immediately hit the like button or type “Amen” into the comments field.

My question for us that hit the like button or respond by saying how much the comment touched us is: “How often do we leave our social media response as our only response to God's wise words expressed by others?”

My friends, being touched and feeling warmed by words at this time of year is crucial and critical, but more must be done. As we welcome the Messiah to come in a few days we must understand that this is also God's call to action for His people.

My prayer for us all today is that the next time we feel like hitting the like button or typing amen, we place the posting as our call to action. As we celebrate Christmas we understand that this is part of God's Master Plan for His creation, but it is also a wake up call for those that call themselves church, for those that call themselves followers of Jesus Christ.

There is still time, go out this day not only in amen, but in action. God is leading the way for us and the Messiah is the one who was sent to clear our paths. What love is in your heart this very moment? Don't let it sit idle and be forgotten, go out and act on it. Know that helping others in God's name is not just work it is a pleasure and our calling, not just our: “Hey I agree with what you are writing!”


Merry Christmas. The Messiah is our greatest gift, what are we going to do about it?


Pastor Tim.

Ending and Beginning

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

This year has been a difficult one in which many of us have had to say goodbye to dear friend’s way to soon. As much as we relish life, we all too often are faced with the death of those we know and those that we love the most.

As we journey through this season of Advent, many will be on that journey having suffered some sort of emotional loss this year. Beloved the main thing that we can do for one another this year is to support those that are in the dark places of emotional distress.

As people of faith we cling on to God’s hope and promise of new life come in the form of the Messiah, come to set us free and come to die so that we can be born again and enter new life.

In his book The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Mitch Albom states that “All endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.” My prayer for you all this Christmas season is that you will support those that are suffering loss, those that are mourning loved ones.

Support others and yourselves in the fact that God has promised and provided us a Savior who’s life, death, and resurrection has made eternal death extinct and eternal life the constant.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Looking for the Peace of Advent

John 14:27 ESV 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

As I write this weeks blog we are celebrating the second week of Advent, it is the week that we speak of peace and the Messiah come to bring peace on earth and good will towards humanity. Yet for many, this time of year does not seem so peaceful.

We find a world that is troubled and conflicted, a world that at times seems the farthest from anything peaceful. Even though it is Advent and we are approaching Christmas, many have lost loved ones, and many find themselves in the hour of darkest despair and even hopelessness.

How do we speak than of this Messiah that we call the Prince of Peace? Did His arrival mean that world violence would stop, and tragedy would never again befall on His people? Well you and I are first hand witnesses to the fact that violence and tragedy still continues to this very day.

My friends, the love of Jesus and His presence as the Prince of Peace is much bigger than this world. The fact is that the peace of Christ is an inner strength and endurance in all of us that carries us through the darkest times of our lives. The peace of the Messiah is the peace that we have in the fact that He would one day sacrifice himself for our eternal peace with him in heaven.

Beloved, don't wait for the peace of Christ, He has already placed it in you. All that you need do is acknowledge Jesus in your life and understand God's plan of salvation for us through Jesus Christ. Once we understand the Master's plan, the strength, grace, and peace of Jesus will overwhelm us and carry us when we can no longer walk.

Beloved, my prayer for you this day is that you will discover what true peace is like. Accept the true Prince of Peace into your lives. Yes, bad things will occur in our lives but God has sent His Son in the form of a human child born in a manger as to set our worries aside and to endure until we are once again in the presence of the King of Kings.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Waiting on the Authority!

Psalm 27:14 ESV. Wait  for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Eight years ago I was a youth pastor in Northwest Illinois when our youth conducted a live nativity portrayal on a very frigid December night. As our youth stood outside in a manger scene bundled up underneath their costumes, many of them including myself were still shivering in the cold of night.

Yes, it was difficult for the kids to be patient between replacement breaks in which hot cocoa and warm shelter awaited their arrival. But that night something magnificent occurred in the arrival of an unexpected visitor.

As our kids stood outside portraying the Christmas story, a police car drove past our location. When this occurred our shepherds and even Joseph and Mary waved and made their presence known to the police officer.

The next thing that happened was a police car pulling into the parking lot of the live nativity. The youth thought they were in trouble and awaited the officers coming to speak to them. When the officer arrived, to their astonishment he supported them and praised them for standing outside on such a cold night.

With this the officer picked up one the the Magi gifts and stood with our youth in the cold as they portrayed the coming of our Messiah. For me the moral of this story is that it is often hard to wait for good things to occur, but those that are faithful will be comforted by God in His time and when we least expect it.

Brothers and Sisters my prayer for you this day is that you take courage this season of Advent and know that God is faithful and that the Messiah will come, and God's plan for His world will be put in place.

We saw courage and faithfulness in the form of a police officer on a very cold winters night in Northwestern Illinois eight years ago, and we will see our faith and courage be rewarded with the arrival of God's precious gift of the Messiah very soon. So be patient and wait in the hope of God's promised arrival.


This is the day that the Lord has made.

Trend Setter or Gospel Proclaimer

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Mark 16:15 ESV

Recently I reviewed an article by Thom S. Rainer titled Three Trends in Local Churches That Are Accelerating. (http://thomrainer.com/2014/11/24/three-trends-local-churches-accelerating/) In his article Rainer states that the three church trends that are accelerating quickly are:

• Churches that have multi-site and multi-venue locations
• Multi preachers and teachers
• Large churches that are quasi denominational.

Church trends in general focus on the direction in which ministries are going to be pointed as to get the largest outcome. In the sense of the church a trend is used to point the church towards the people rather then the people to the church. Often trends focus on fashion or a way of doing things that are brand new, or even non-conventional. Churches that consider themselves trend setters are focusing on the way that God is viewed in reference to new and out of the box ways of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As an out of the box thinker I’m all for new ways of sharing Christ with the world, but I often think that instead of being trend setters we are just actually doing what the gospel says we are to do in the first place. When I began my seminary education the term “Missional” in reference to church ministry was and continues to be the focus of the day. The missional perspective relates to God's people being among the people and going to where they are and becoming part of that community.

Even before the missional concept we were to be trend setters from the get go by adhering Christ's call for us to go out into the world proclaiming the gospel. My intent in today's message is to proclaim that God's people are to be radical in ministry and to be missional in thinking out of the box in the ways that we spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

But we are to understand that we are not trend setters. Jesus Christ was God's trend setter that came to reach out to the people in ways in which they would accept him as Lord and Savior. Additionally, that great idea that you or your church had for ministry, understand that it is not a trend but rather a God given and a Holy Spirit given revelation.

Beloved, my prayer for you today is that you go out preaching and teaching Christ Jesus, but in the understanding that it is what God intended us to do in the first place.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Don't Take Her Football!

Philippians 4:3 English Standard Version (ESV)

3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

I recently watched an NFL football game and observed the kind act of a player throwing a football to a female fan. Just as the woman got the ball into her hands it was snatched away by a man that was sitting in the same section. The woman begged the man for the football but was ignored and refused by the man. Fortunately the home football team saw this and brought the woman another football.

The topic I speak of today is not football or football games, but rather what happened to the days when men respected women and treated them as the precious flowers they truly are. In the Philippians verse we see the word companion used in relationship to our walking through this life together, especially those that truly have their names written in the Lambs Book of Life.

In an online question site called Girls ask Guys, this question was recently posted by a young lady:

Guys: do gentlemen still exist?

I don't look for perfection, but its like I’m a genuine, giving person, that has lots of love to give, and thinks i deserve to be treated with respect and to be adored an cherished, as i would do for a guy. I'm fun and love to laugh and just me and happy, and have goals, and have been told I'm the perfect girlfriend material, yet wheres Mr. boyfriend material for me...but its like the right guys don't want a girl, and the wrong guys want me, so am i wanting something that doesn't exist anymore?

The Philippians verse tells us to help women who live in this world with us and who work and exist side by side with us in life’s journey. My prayer for all men this day is that we remember that we are gentlemen. Opening doors, pulling out chairs, and acting with kindness and respect to ladies truly expresses God's love for those we call true companion.

Men

Women still seek out gentlemen not only in relationships, but in everyday encounters in which respect, dignity, and kindness of a man towards woman should be the expected result.Today's women are stilling looking for gentlemen, and the question that I pose is:

Are we teaching our sons as well as today's male society to respect women, or are we teaching them to take their footballs?

This is the day that the lord has made.