Brother of the Savior!

James, the brother of Jesus, has given us one of the most practical books in the Bible.  I had never connected the dots before on the thought of these two guys growing up in the same household and sharing the same earthly parents and how that relationship developed before Jesus stepped out in the public arena.  There are only a couple of biblical references to the relationship of Jesus to his siblings before Jesus went to the cross, and it was obvious that these brothers did not believe that the brother that grew up with them was the Son of God.  In fact, you will see that they mocked him and his ministry, (John 7: 3-5).

But, something happened on the cross and with the resurrection; James was a changed man.  The Bible tells us that Jesus specifically appeared to his half brother after his resurrection and nothing was ever the same for him again.  Now, James not only believed that he had grown up with the Son of God; he became a steadfast pillar of the church and preached the doctrine of his brother.

“James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ”, those words come from a man that was humbled and transformed I hope I never forget the lessons I’m learning as I study this small, but mighty book from a man that lived with our Savior.

Written by Gerrie Bliven – Director of Women’s Ministry

Doctrine – Covenant: God Pursues

Doctrine Group – this week we are discussing the topic of Covenants. That is, how did God respond to the problem of sin? God responded to sin by entering into a covenant relationship with man! How does the nation of Israel, covenants, and God’s response to sin in the Old Testament impact us today? Come Sunday to find out. If you have any questions or thoughts from the chapter, please post them below so that Mike and I can include them in the sessions!

Servant or Served?

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”

1 Corinthians 13:11

As my family celebrated Christmas this year I realized that  my perspective has changed now that  I am growing older.  When it came to gifts, as a child I was focused on what I was going to receive.  Will I get what I want?  Will I be thrilled or disappointed?  Will my needs and wants be met?  But, now that I have children and grandchildren my perspective on gifts has radically changed.  I still enjoy getting gifts, mostly as a symbol that someone cares about me, but, now my joy is in giving.  The wonder in a child’s eye, that smile of appreciation from a loved one or the laughter over a silly gift are the things that truly bring me joy at Christmas.

As I contemplated writing this blog, which is a first for me, I thought how this concept stands true for our involvement in the fellowship of our church.  When we are seeking Christ or as a new Christian, our perspective is that of what can I find here that will fulfill my needs?  Will the music stir my soul?  Will the sermon bring my focus on what I need in my life?  Will I be accepted by the others at church? Will I have fun?

It is important in all our lives to think about what it means to mature in Christ.   Maturing in Christ is a process of taking the focus off of ourselves and placing it on Jesus.  Jesus told us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.   No longer is it our will, but his.  We stop asking what we can get and asking what we can give.  My wants are replaced with other’s needs.   What is best for me is over ridden by  what is best for those seeking to find or grow in Jesus.   We become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

This isn’t always easy.  It means giving up things and taking risks.  It means getting up out of our comfortable pews and  putting our shoulder to the plow.  It can mean little things like sliding over from our favorite isle seat to allow someone new to sit down.  It can mean thanking God that our young people in our service instead of complaining about the way they dress. It is a shift from selfishness to selflessness.

The next time you are in a worship service and a song is sung that may not be your favorite, stop for a minute.  Look around and find a face of someone who is new to the faith or maybe someone who has been through some rough times.  Look for the adoration in their eyes and the joy on their faces.   What may not be best for me may be the answer to prayer for someone else.   Who am I to quench the Holy Spirit?

The church is not a one stop spiritual shopping center to fulfill our personal desires.  It is a family desperately in need of each member doing its part to spread the love of Jesus to a hurting and dying world.  As we mature in Christ we must shift our thinking to understand and experience the joy of giving of ourselves to others.

Servant or served?

Philippians 2:3-8
3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Written by Ken Stoller (GCC Elder)

Doctrine – Fall: God Judges

Doctrine Group,

Tomorrow we are hitting a very difficult and yet important topic – Sin and The Fall – based on chapter 5 of the book Doctrine.  We already have a couple great questions that came out of the creation session. Keep them coming. We will do our best to make sense of a very confusing reality.

Dave

Korah Rebelled, Moses Prayed

I’m reading my way through the Bible – the complete Bible – again this year.  Maybe twice.  Maybe more.  It’s a habit I developed years ago, and which became almost an addiction when Grace Church participated in the “Bible in 90 Days” endeavor last year.

Recently I was reading in the book of Numbers — in chapter 16 — about a man named Korah who ‘conspired’ with other two men, and together they incited a rebellion against Moses and  (the God-appointed leader of the Israelites), involving 250 other prominent leaders.  They approached Moses with the message (my paraphrase) “Who made you the boss?  We’re all people of God, what makes you better than us?  We have a better way.  We’re equally holy and capable of being leaders.”

Wow!  Strong stuff.  But then, that was a lo-o-o-ong time ago – this is now.  That wouldn’t happen in our modern, enlightened society, right?

We are all subject to wanting (demanding?) our own way.  We all have bouts with our will — struggling to be ‘top dog’.  “If the (pastor, youth pastor, children’s ministry director, ushers, worship team, prayer coordinator, pre-school superintendent, etc., etc.)  would do it our way things would be dramatically better…….”

But Korah (and his co-conspirators Dathan and Abiram) carried it further.  They ‘incited’ a rebellion involving hundreds of others.  They even went outside their own tribe (family).  Can’t you just imagine the back-room meetings, coffee-shop discussions, in-home gatherings, etc.?  These guys apparently made it their purpose (dare I say obsession?) in life.  At one point, they refused to obey Moses’ direction.

As we read further, we see just how displeased God is with those who intentionally spread disunity and rebellion among His people.  And it wasn’t pretty.  Let’s just say they, their families, and co-conspirators did not die a natural death.

One of the easiest ways we can fall away from God is to look at our present ‘problems’ and exaggerate them.  When we take our eyes off God and start looking at ourselves and our ‘problems’, we begin to lose our perspective as well.  Overrating problems can hinder our relationship with God.

What is God’s direction for your life, right now – today?  Ask Him.  To whom are you looking for direction?  The Korahs, Dathans and Abirams in your life?

Moses prayed.

Prayer.  Persistent, intentional, fervent, believing prayer is the answer.

Written by Chuck Baker – GCC Elder

Doctrine – Image: God Loves

Doctrine Group,

This week we face a hugely important topic, the image of God. What does it mean to be created in the image of God? What does it mean to live as an image bearer? What implications does being created in the image of God have for us?

We would love to hear your thoughts before Sunday regarding this theme.

A Message from Mark

We have been studying the book of Mark in our small group.  In Mark 2 as Jesus is preaching the gospel to a crowd he takes the time and heals a paralyzed man that has been lowered down through the roof.  Interestingly enough he does not say to the man, “You are healed” he instead says something that may seem profound, he says “Your sins have been forgiven”.  I believe that at that moment Jesus is proving to us just how much he cares for our soul above everything else and he knows how important it is that we strive to keep our soul clean as we learn to walk with him.  He could of healed the man physically but Jesus understood that the issue is much deeper than the appearance on the outside.  In that culture, if you were paralyzed or suffered from leprosy it was thought that the sickness was the result of sin in your life, we remember the story of Job.

Amen that our sins have been forgiven but, are we doing the necessary things to ensure that our souls remain clean?  Is there sin that needs to be dealt with in our lives in order for us to grow in our walk with God?  Do we care enough about our souls like God cares about our souls? Or do we worry about the external physical things that are all temporal?  This piece of scripture spoke to me in so many ways, read it and meditate on it and see what you come up with.

Written by Bryan Luker

Doctrine – Creation: God Makes

Hey Doctrine Group!

We are talking creation – specifically Genesis 1. I know this passage comes with some amazingly complex and deep questions. These passages have caused some huge debates and discussions in the Christian and scientific communities. As such this has the potential to be a super fun week! So don’t miss it.

What would help me is to know what your thoughts and questions are about Genesis 1. That way I can come to class anticipating some of your questions so that I can give better answers!

Thanks!

Dave

Memorials and Blessings

I love how the Israelites would build memorials of stones to remember what the Lord had done for them. I love how they would share these stories through the generations to remember the greatness of the Lord.

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶ to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ⁷ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”        Joshua 4:4-7

In this ever so busy high tech world we live in, with so much vying for our attention, it could be easy to lose sight or even forget how the Lord has blessed us personally and of how he has brought us out of darkness into His light. We need to remember and share these things with others.  We as a church family also need to remember what the Lord has done for us corporately as His church.  Many of you may not know that twelve years ago Grace looked much differently than it does today.  We were a very small congregation of about 60 people.  My two kids at that time were among a total of 6-8 children in the church.  Our family was contemplating the possibility of finding another church just as other young families had done for the sake of their children growing up in a church where they could develop relationships with other Christian children. There was even talk of closing the doors of the church.  An interim pastor was hired and our small body of believers prayed!  We prayed that the Lord would send someone to lead us out of a situation that seemed dismal.

God heard us and answered our prayers.  He sent Pastor Guy and Yvonne.  (If you haven’t heard the story of how the Holy Spirit led them here, ask them sometime. It was no coincidence; it was the Holy Spirit’s leading.)  They came with a passion and energy for the Lord that had been lacking for quite some time. They came with a vision and direction; they knew what needed to be done and did it!  It was as if the Holy Spirit had breathed new life in us, again!  The excitement in the air was contagious and miraculous things happened.  All it takes is willing hearts and a focus on the Lord and He blesses!  It didn’t all happen overnight but the transformation was miraculous and I thank our awesome God for sending the shepherd we needed with a love for God and His people.  When I look around on Sunday mornings and see all of you, I’m thankful our family stayed at Grace.  I am reminded of our journey and of how each one of you is a blessing!  I love working at the children’s ministries booth and seeing every child, each one a blessing.  We’re all here at GCC not by chance, but here for a reason and we can be used in a powerful way by the Holy Spirit to make a difference for the Lord.  I’m so thankful for the way God has used Pastor Guy and Yvonne here at GCC and for the Godly influence they are.  We are also so blessed to have Pastor Dave and Amy, and Pastor Ben and Andrea.  Let’s continue to love one another and keep our focus on the Lord and remember always the great things God has done and anxiously anticipate the great things He will do.

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim His name;
make known among the nations what He has done.
Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;
tell of all His wonderful acts.
Glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and His strength;
seek His face always.           1 Chronicles 16:8-11

Written by Liz Fast – Director of Grace Christian Preschool and Kindergarten

Doctrine Group – Revelation: God Speaks

This Sunday, we are jumping into the topic of revelation. That is, God’s act of revealing Himself to mankind. When you think about God revealing Himself, or more specifically “speaking,” what questions, thoughts, feelings do you have? I want to hear from you as I prepare for our time on Sunday!