Month: September 2014

Dear God, You’re Such a Disappointment

/ Pastor Chris Linzey / 3 Comments

welcome to church 02

Last week we launched our digital ministry and looked at the issue of KNOWING and CERTAINTY in the realm of Christian faith. Today we continue our look at the story of Jesus through the Gospel According to Luke, the third book of the New Testament. What’s cool about today is that we actually get to launch into the story (and who doesn’t love a good story?)…

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah’s division named Zechariah. His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both were righteous in God’s sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord. But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.

First of all, take notice that both Zechariah and Elizabeth were considered righteous people. They are God-fearing, doing everything they are supposed to be doing. Sometimes we see people who make a big deal out of how righteous and holy they are. You know the kind – “Look at me! Let me tell you how spiritual I am!”

But Zechariah and Elizabeth aren’t like that. They are genuinely upright people. In a world where so many people are righteous for show it’s refreshing to see people who are authentic and living right without calling attention to themselves for doing it. So one day…

When his division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. At the hour of incense the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and overcome with fear. But the angel said to him:

Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. There will be joy and delight for you, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.

I don’t blame Zechariah for being startled. If I had an angelic visitation while I was in the middle of something “startled and overcome with fear” would probably be a mild understatement. Not trying to be too crass, but under extreme fear many people lose control of bodily functions. I hope Zechariah had a change of clothes in his temple locker 😉 Even with the angelic visitation Zechariah STILL has trouble believing!

“How can I know this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.” The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news. Now listen! You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them. Then they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept making signs to them and remained speechless. When the days of his ministry were completed, he went back home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said, “The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people.”

Darrell Bock laughingly points out that the angel Gabriel’s response is:

“You don’t believe? Now you just be quiet and watch God work!”
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That’s a pretty good way of looking at it.

And God does EXACTLY what he says he’s going to do.

May The Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.

Amen.

We’re going to have some reflection and response time. We have two songs that connect thematically with what we’ve been talking about. Think about the message and focus on the words of the songs.

Our first song is called “Blessed Be Your Name.” The idea is simple and comes from the Bible: In the good times and bad times I will still choose to respond well and praise God. The bridge declares ~

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

As you listen, think about the good times AND bad times in your life – the blessings and the disappointments. What is your natural response to disappointment?

Ask yourself, “Can I choose to worship God despite life’s disappointments?”
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Let’s worship…

We CAN choose to worship no matter what we go through because our response to God does not rely on our life circumstances. The Apostle Paul once had a physical ailment – he called it a “thorn in the flesh.”

We’re not exactly sure what it was but he says he asked God repeatedly to take it away. God’s answer was, “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is perfected in weakness.”

This is the theme of our second song. The songwriter says, “God remember us, remember your promise – even still, your grace is enough:

No matter what we face, the grace of God is sufficient for our lives.
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Let’s worship…

FOR REFLECTION:
– Have I been righteous in the eyes of God? (if not, what do I need to do differently?)
– What undeserved disappointments have I faced in life?
– How can God work in my life in spite of my disappointments?

MAKING IT REAL:
– This week, pick two disappointments you’ve faced and ask God to use you for His purpose in spite of them.
– Share your disappointments with a trusted friend. Then share the hope you have that God will move in your life even though you face disappointments!

– – – – – – – – – –

Thanks for joining us at The Church Plant today. If there’s anything you would like prayer for just contact us and we’ll be happy to pray for you. We also provide pastoral counseling. Let us know how we can serve you.

Finally, if today’s message resonated with you at all, we would appreciate it if you would share this digital church service with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or any other media you use. Help share about Jesus!

Thanks, and have a great week!


Talkin’ To God, About God, and the 411 – September 22

/ Pastor Chris Linzey / 5 Comments

prayer request

Good morning, Church Plant Family! We’re changing up the title of our weekly update post. Ultimately we want our language to avoid being “churchy” – too many Christians speak Christianese and no one understands it unless you’ve been going to church forever and a day!

1. Talkin’ to God = prayer requests: this is a Christian expression that means, “Is there something you want us to pray about for you?” You can get a hold of us 24/7 through our site here, on Facebook, or on Twitter. We believe that God hears our prayer and cares about humanity. Though we don’t always get the answer we want, we take our needs and requests to God and ask for His blessing and his intervention in our lives. *NOTE* If you want a prayer request to remain private just let us know and it will stay 100% private.

2. Talkin’ About God = praise reports: this is a Christian expression that means, “Let me tell you what God has been doing in my life!” When God intervenes and reveals himself we give him praise and share it with others.

3. 411 = news about this ministry: anything we need to communicate to you we’ll get out here. Think about this as your church bulletin or t.v. news flash.

Here is to your weekly update from the past week at The Church Plant:

Talkin’ To God:

– Pray for Maci, a little girl diagnosed in 2013 with Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. She suffers intense pain and has very brittle bones. She is wheelchair bound much of the time.

– Pray for Crystal, who is struggling with COPD.

– Pray for Kayla who has an upcoming job interview for a promotion.

Talkin’ About God:

– We had a God-moment come in this week from someone who asked to have the name redacted (for privacy) but wanted to share:

I was recently compelled to go to a coffee shop 5 miles from my home. Drove past several to get to it. While there was asked by a customer to come speak to her husband. He was sobbing when I got to him. He had been a psychiatric nurse in a residential center when I was a teen. He apologized for being a part of a cover up of a rape. Said he’d thought of me everyday since that day 30 years ago. he’d never spoken of event to wife. I told him I had forgiven staff years ago. I got to pray 3 times with him and his wife. He had the chance to tell why he did what he did. I got to tell him that even though their decision to cover up the rape by documenting that it was consensual was wrong but that I really do understand the fear they were operating under.

Stressed again that they had all been forgiven. Got to talk about Jesus’ healing. Have lived in this town 25 years. Have not run into him until the day I went out of my way to get coffee from a place I don’t particularly like. 2 other staff from that time and place have requested a meeting. God is good and is restoring what was stolen!

– Rejoice with William who wrote to us: “stir our souls to life”….that is a message that I needed. My soul was dying and I needed this. Thank you so much.

The 411:

– This Sunday we launched our first digital service! If you missed seeing it you can still go check it out.

– This past week we initiated our counseling ministry. We are proud to introduce an additional pastoral counselor, Aaron. He is a board certified Biblical Counselor and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors.

– We are always on the lookout for how we can make this ministry better for you and for your unchurched friends. Any ideas you have are always welcome – even if we don’t necessarily implement them. 😉

– Finally, we are SO close to our fundraising goal so that we can create the official The Church Plant non-profit organization! We are 73% of the way there. Please pray about how you can help and support this vital ministry.

Thank you for all of your support as we continue to roll out and develop this ministry. We pray that God uses it to be a blessing to you and to bring the good news of Jesus to the plugged-in culture around the world!

Blessings!


You’re Such a Know It All

/ Pastor Chris Linzey / 11 Comments

welcome to church

This morning we’re kicking off our first week of digital church services at The Church Plant so we’re also kicking off a series through the Gospel According to Luke, the third book of the New Testament. The writer jumps right in saying:

Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us. It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed. (Luke 1:1-4)

That’s it?! That’s how Luke begins his story of Jesus?

Yup.

He’s not just telling a story. He’s writing a letter to his friend, Theophilus, and he wants his letter to bring assurance to Theophilus about the veracity of the story of Jesus.

He doesn’t just want Theophilus to know. Luke wants him to KNOW. It’s like Han Solo and Princess Leia.

When Leia says, “I love you!” and Han replies, “I know” he’s not just saying that he’s heard about her affection. He’s actually experienced it first-hand. He KNOWS.

That’s what everyone seems to want these days – assurance and certainty. That’s true for products we buy in the store to the faith we so desperately search for.

We WANT to believe in something. We WANT a higher power and a grand purpose to life. But sometimes it seems hard to choose from all of the religious alternatives in the world. What assurance is there? What certainty do we have that we’re not being bamboozled?

This is what Luke is talking about – a Han Solo kind of KNOWING. He says, “I’ve investigated and talked to eyewitnesses.” Jesus isn’t a fabrication – a grand illusion – he was real.

I’ve actually had conversations with self-proclaimed atheists who thought Jesus was a myth. When I talked about non-Christian historical evidence for Jesus they’re stunned.

Jesus was real. The testimony is valid and reliable. That means we’re forced to make a decision.

If Jesus was real then we have to decide how we will respond to his words.
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In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.

I have heard the stories about Jesus. I believe they are reliable and dependable. I believe they are true. My hope is that you hear the stories and believe, too.

I hope you’ll stick around as we go through this Gospel together. take time to let the stories sink in. Examine them. Examine your beliefs. What do you believe about Jesus? Why do you believe it? If I’m wrong you’ve lost nothing but a little time. If I’m right, this will change your life.

Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever.

Amen.

We’re going to have some reflection and response time. We have two songs that connect thematically with what we’ve been talking about. Think about the message and focus on the words of the songs.

Our first song is called “Lord, I Need You.” The chorus is simple and proclaims:

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

As you listen, think about the things we say we “need” – what would happen if those things were stripped away from us?

Now ask yourself, “Do I have a need for God? What would happen if God were removed from this world?”

Let’s worship…

Once we realize that humanity DOES have a need for God we have to ask, “What am I gonna do with this realization?”

In our second song, the songwriter cries out:

Awake, awake, awake my soul,
God resurrect these bones
From death to life, for You alone
Awake my soul

The realization of our need for God should lead us to ask for Him to stir our souls to life!
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Do you feel spiritually dead and dry? Ask the Creator of Heaven and Earth to awaken your soul and revive your spirit.

Let’s worship…

FOR REFLECTION:
– What do I believe about my need for God?
– What do I believe about Jesus?
– How am I willing to let those beliefs influence my life?

MAKING IT REAL:
– This week, read The Apostles’ Creed. (You can read our explanation of it here)
– Think about your own beliefs of disbelief and the reasons why you do or don’t believe.
– Talk with someone (a friend, a pastor, anyone) about this message and your response to it.

– – – – – – – – – –

Thanks for joining us at The Church Plant today. If there’s anything you would like prayer for just contact us and we’ll be happy to pray for you. We also provide pastoral counseling. Let us know how we can serve you.

Finally, if today’s message resonated with you at all, we would appreciate it if you would share this digital church service with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or any other media you use. Help share about Jesus!

Thanks, and have a great week!