Sunday, July 18. 2010
Sermon - "Delegation" Series - Building Blocks of Effective Churches Listen by clicking the box or download the mp3 here.
While preparing for the newest sermon series, “Building Blocks of Effective Churches,” I ran across a bit of satire, written by a guy named Anthony Robinson, that will hopefully make us laugh at ourselves, and prepare us for what God has in store for us over the next seven weeks. I hope you enjoy, “Seven Habits of Ineffective Churches.” 1. Elevate mediocrity to a spiritual discipline. Figure out where average falls and aim below there. Doing things with excellence, joy and flair may make someone uncomfortable. God doesn't really expect much anyhow. 2. Take no risks. A successful practice of risk avoidance is often best achieved by sending any and all new ideas to a minimum of four boards or committees who understand it's their role to say no to any new ideas. This process may need to be reinforced by remarks noting how a particular idea might make the church liable, cost money or ruffle feathers. 3. Practice the following evangelism strategy: "If they want us, they know where to find us." Assume that everyone does know where you are and what you are. It also can be helpful if your building looks like a medieval fortress. If you don't have that going for you, encourage ushers and greeters to look like palace guards as they perform their role. 4. Blame early and often. Maintaining dysfunction in a congregation is made easier if scapegoats are regularly identified. In some congregations, ministers make wonderful scapegoats. You may also blame "newcomers," or "people who don't understand how we do things in this church." If all else fails, blame the association, the denomination or Satan. 5. Always be prepared to make an account of the excuses that are within you. Have an all-purpose excuse such as, "I've just been so busy" (elaborate at great length just how busy you are, implying that no one else is busy). Occasionally try out a creative new excuse, such as, "Our dog ate the printer-ink cartridge and required an emergency appendectomy. He is now very busy, too." 6. Make it clear to all that the job of the pastor and staff is to keep everyone, meaning church members, happy. Think of your church as the "Love Boat" and the pastor as the cruise director and activity planner. The job of clergy and staff members is to keep everyone on board happy. If someone is unhappy, it's a sure sign your pastor is not doing the job. 7. Spend as little money as possible. Even though you may enjoy spending money on personal things like a car or a cruise, you can demonstrate your commitment to modesty and simple lifestyle at church. The very best programs cost nothing. And why would your church building need renovation? If it was good enough for your grandparents, it'll be good enough for your grandchildren Hopefully, you’re smiling a little as you finish up this list, but the truth is that many of our churches today are crippled by ineffectiveness. As we work through these things, perhaps God will reveal some areas where you see that our church is ineffective. What are you doing to make our church more effective? Striving for Efficiency and Effectiveness, Pastor Brian
Sunday, July 11. 2010
Sermon - "Standing in the Gap"- Ezekiel 22:23-31 Series - Summer 2010 Listen by clicking the box or download the mp3 here.
Thursday, July 1. 2010
Sermon - "Truth Under Fire" - 1 John 2:18-26 Series - Summer 2010 Listen by clicking the box or download the mp3 here.
Sunday, June 27. 2010
Sermon - "How Hot Is It?" - Matthew 8:5ff Series - Summer 2010 Listen by clicking the box or download the mp3 here.
Commander Spock called them “colorful metaphors” – expressions that would make our grandma blush and if found on the lips of our children might earn a swift rebuke. Hollywood screen writers are convinced that a good movie cannot be made without them. I suspect that the most popular one in use right now in this June heat wave is “It is hotter than h— outside.” It is hot. Don’t get me wrong. It is hot AND humid. It is the sticky kind of hot that takes your breath away when you go outside. It is the kind of hot that makes you sweat even after the sun goes down. But hotter than the place of everlasting judgment for unbelievers? It’s hot, but not that hot. I realized a couple of weeks ago that I had done you all a great disservice. I had mentioned a place called hell. I have been honest about hell. I have pointed to it as a place of judgment for the lost. But I realized that I have not preached about the reality and horrors of the place called hell. It is interesting that the two pulpit topics that make people cringe the most are two of the topics that Jesus spoke of the most – money and hell. That shouldn’t surprise us at all because Jesus had a knack for getting to the heart of the matter. As I considered this, I began to wonder, why are we so uneasy about these two topics? Money is easy to figure out. Discussing money is quick to reveal our idolatry. In our culture that is driven in so many ways by greed and gamble, this should not surprise us. Hell is a little bit more difficult. Why do we get nervous while talking about hell? It probably has to do with two primary issues. First, speaking of the reality of hell raises questions about the validity of our faith. How many of us have not had that moment of doubt? If hell is a real place, then our life has real consequences. In so many ways, the Jehovah’s Witness doctrine of annihilation for the lost is easy, you go to paradise or you stop existing. Unfortunately, the scriptures do not allow for that doctrine to be true. Whereas the first issue deals with our faith, the second one deals with God’s faithfulness. The discussion of hell makes us nervous because it raises the question, “How can a loving God sentence people to a place so terrible?” That issue is settled with another question, “How just would a judge be who sentenced a child molester or mass murderer to picking up trash on the side of the road?” None of us would agree with this judge. We understand that heinous crimes deserve severe punishment. We understand that a murderer commits his crimes with the full knowledge that doing so will result in severe punishment, even death. In other words, the murderer sentences himself when he commits his crime. So it is with hell. Sinners sentence themselves to eternal punishment due to their rebellion against God. God is the judge who executes the sentence. God doesn’t send people to hell, people send themselves to hell. It is a gracious God who provides the means for sinners to come to repentance and be snatched from the grips of hell through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is a gracious God that answers both questions with one act. At the cross, He guarantees our salvation through His own blood and at the cross He demonstrates His love for us in this, “…while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Aren’t you thankful for a loving God who gives us the means to escape the judgment that we so rightly deserve? Thankful for the Cross! Pastor Brian
Sunday, June 20. 2010
Sermon - "Rainy Days & Sundays" - Ezra 9-10 Series - Summer 2010 Listen by clicking the box or download the mp3 here.
I remember being tortured as a child by having to listen to my dad’s music while in the car. It was terrible. He didn’t like the cool stuff, he liked what they called the “easy listening” station. If my memory serves me, it was 92.3 in Chattanooga. Boy did they ever play the snoozers. In fact, I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open as I think about it. There was one song in particular that I remember hearing. I believe that the song had the physical side effects of narcolepsy and nausea. You would just pray that you fell asleep before you tossed your lunch. It was the Carpenter’s song, Rainy Days and Mondays. Now, if that just happens to be your favorite song, forgive me for being so brutally honest. If it is your favorite song, we can get you some good counseling to help you with that. The only thing that made that song worse was if they played the song while it was raining (which they often did). “Rainy days and Mondays (and this song) always get me down.” I wonder how many of us find ourselves down in the dumps, perhaps emotionally, but especially spiritually. Perhaps we’re just going through the motions and putting on a semi-pretty face. Though most of us are too tough to admit it, how many of us men find ourselves in a spiritual lull? We’ve lost the enthusiasm of serving Jesus. We’ve lost the sense of purpose and vision. We’ve gotten distracted by the world. Maybe we are much like the song, but we feel like “Rainy days and Sundays always get us down.” If you will allow me to be painfully honest for a moment, I found myself in that very place not too long ago. I just didn’t feel victorious. It seemed like I was simply existing with no real purpose or enthusiasm. I had allowed sin a foothold in my life. As I began to diagnose my problem, I realized that I had allowed busyness to interfere with my devotional life. I had allowed passivity to interfere with the practice of my faith. I was going through the motions without really being moved. And so it was, about a month ago, I bumped into Jesus. He was quietly keeping watch over my wayward heart, waiting for me to realize my folly. When I realized his constant presence, even through the lull, I came under great conviction, cried out to him, and fell into his arms for what has become a season of refreshing for me. Part of this refreshing has been a return to fruitful bible study and a commitment to read through the Bible in a year. In doing so, I ran across the most vivid picture of where I was and where I suspect so many others are as well. It is found in Ezra 10:9. It takes place during a time of national crisis and an overall spiritual recession. The people hit rock bottom, and it says that they sat shuddering together because of the seriousness of the matter and the heavy rain. That image became a very real symbol for how I felt not too long ago, and I suspect many people feel the same way. Maybe you’re sitting today shuddering because of the spiritual lull in your life and the heavy spiritual rain that falls on you and quenches the Spirit’s fire. Maybe you feel like the song, “Rainy days and Sundays always get me down.” Maybe it is a good time for you to take a stroll through the corridors of your heart to find a loving Jesus tending to the place waiting for your return. As bad as the song is, the Carpenters actually included a line that could easily be sung to Jesus, “Funny but it seems I always wind up here with you, Nice to know somebody loves me, Funny but it seems that it’s the only thing to do, Run and find the one who loves me.” Rainy days and Sundays do not have to always get us down, but we must always remember to look for the One who loves us supremely! Thankful for Umbrellas! Pastor Brian
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