A Life of Faith

This past Sunday I taught from John’s account of Jesus calling some of his first disciples (John 1:43-51). During that message, I explored the idea of how the human experience that forms our preconceived notions and prejudices can keep us from fully exercising our faith. As Phillip shared with Nathanael that he had found The promised Messiah, Nathanael’s skepticism was met with a simple invitation to “come and see” what he experienced in Jesus. 

Faith can be a bit of a funny thing. Faith requires hope and perspective in the face of life experience.  It gets tricky when we have to begin using our reason and intellect to see God in the midst of our circumstances, especially when those events seem to contradict what we think faith should be. What we’re left with is reconciling the gap between our reality and God’s potential for us, even when it doesn't seem to make sense. 

As Nathanael encountered Jesus, the Lord spoke truth into his life. This astounded Nathanael and helped him commit to follow Christ. In the midst of Nathanael’s excitement, Jesus told him that he would see greater things happen than these if he followed him.

Nathanael’s preconceived notions about someone from Nazareth, as well as his excitement for the potential of the future, were met in Jesus. As he contemplated his past feelings and future hopes, he could not overcome the magnitude of his own life experience. The same is true for you and me. 

Jesus wants to enter into your life and help you make sense of your past — regardless of how messy it is. Jesus also wants to invite you into an actual living breathing relationship to follow him and help you navigate your future — you guessed it, regardless of how messy it might be. 

Are you finding yourself at the intersection of your past, present, and future and trying to see God in the middle of it all? Are your preconceived notions based on your life experience clouding your vision as to what God can do with a life of faith? Are you scratching your head as to where you’ve been and left wondering where you will go next? It is true that Jesus doesn’t exactly lay out a roadmap to follow, but what He does promise to do is lead you along the way. 

Why don’t you give it a shot to “come and see” who God has given us in Jesus. He can definitely help you find peace with your past and make sense of your future. Follow Jesus and you will truly see greater things you can imagine!

The Arrow

I recently discovered the television show, Arrow. If you aren’t familiar with Arrow, it is about the DC Comics character, Oliver Queen, and his hero alter ego, The Green Arrow. Oliver was a billionaire shipwrecked on a mysterious island for five years where he learned archery and martial arts in order to survive. After his rescue, he returns home to the fictitious Starling City to fight crime and right the wrongs caused by corrupt leaders in business and politics.

Initially, Queen has no qualms about killing for the sake of his brand of vigilante justice. As the story goes, however, Queen’s friend is killed, and in his emotional recovery, he decides that he must go about his hero work without taking a life. This requires a tremendous amount of creativity and restraint on The Green Arrow’s part to find new ways to fight crime and subdue criminals. As the ne’er-do-wells realize that Green Arrow is no longer in the killing business, they feel somewhat emboldened, believing they have a leg up in their struggle for Starling City. This leads Queen to ponder the concept of sacrifice and he comes to the realization that he must be willing to lay down his own life if necessary to save the city and people he loves.

There is a very poignant scene that really struck me after The Arrow defeated his arch nemesis. Throughout their epic battle, the villainous Deathstroke was goading Arrow to end his life, saying that no matter what happens, he wins. If Arrow is defeated in the battle, then Deathstroke wins, but if Arrow is able to defeat Deathstroke (which Deathstroke only thought would be possible in his own death) then Arrow’s hero mantle would be lost. Spoiler alert: Arrow was able to defeat his enemy without murder, which led Deathstroke to declare that Arrow’s unwillingness to kill exhibited his weakness. Arrow replied to the effect that his restraint did not show his weakness, but revealed his strength. He then thanked Deathstroke for helping make him the hero he could never be on his own.

I loved that scene. As I watched it, I could not help but think of Jesus saying, “ ” (John 15:15) It also brought to mind Romans 4.25 where Paul wrote, “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.” Jesus willingly laid down his life to save us from our sins.

In the Greek language, ‘sin’ is actually an archery term which literally means, “to miss the mark”. If you’re familiar with The Green Arrow, you might know that he rarely misses his mark. Initially, his enemies feared him because of the lethality of his bow; what I love, though, is how he became a hero when he learned the power of sacrifice and restraint in order to save those he loved.

I had a seminary professor who once said something that stuck in my brain: GOD shows ultimate power in loving restraint. GOD has all the power and ability to strike us down when we miss the mark, but the fact the GOD does not – yet gives us grace for salvation through the forgiveness of sin – is evidence that GOD has a higher aim. We might feel that we get away with sin sometimes, but GOD sees it all. So to ensure that we are not lost in the sights of our enemy, Jesus laid down his life to save us.

If you have been missing the mark (and let’s face it, all of us have!), allow the Lord to take your hand, refocus your eye, and steady your aim. If you feel as though your empty quiver leaves you quivering through life, allow the Lord to fill it with love and assurance. If you need deliverance from the enemy, know the ultimate hero is nearby and never misses. May this encourage and embolden you to live your life with a new aim of faith, hope, and love!

On Setting Goals

Today is January 7^th. Much has been written and said about New Year’s resolutions that even the very topic seems cliché. Still, the New Year provides a wonderful opportunity – a clean slate, if you will – for us to make the intentional choice to do things differently and make this our best year yet.

Honestly, I quit making New Year’s resolutions several years ago. More accurately, I made four resolutions that I knew had to be more than something I did at the start of a new year…they had to become part of what I did at the start of each and every new day. These were my four:

1. Daily Bible reading apart from sermon preparation;
2. Get in control of my health;
3. Get in control of my schedule;
4. Make sure my family knows they are a priority.

It did not take long for me to realize that these were not just New Year’s resolutions, but new day resolutions that require my regular focus and attention.

When I made those resolutions a couple years back, it dawned on me that what I wanted to change was innate behavior. This is probably true for the vast majority of people who make New Year’s resolutions. You likely have a temperament trait or two that you do not like and choose to use the clean slate of the New Year to change them. What happens more often than not, though, is a few days into the New Year, we lose our will power and revert to comfortable behavior patterns. So now that we are one week in to the New Year, how are you doing with your resolutions?

As the calendar changed to 2015 – perhaps like you – I reflected upon my resolutions, realizing that to make real lasting change, I still have to work and focus on these each and every day. Without daily attention, I slip back into old worn out ways of thinking and behaving that caused me to want to make changes in the first place. There are a few things I definitely want to accomplish at the start of this New Year. So to help me with my goals for 2015, I am using these five tips for goal setting that I want to share with you. May these tips help you achieve positive and lasting change, not just for this new year, but for each and every new day:

• Set a specific goal – know what you want to achieve as opposed to some nebulous thought

• Make it reasonable – know what you can do, but also be mindful of your limits
• Set a timeframe in which to achieve your goal – know when you want to achieve your goal; this will help you in times of weakness when you might want to stray. This can also help you create margin for times when you know you will need to deviate from your plan.
• Make it measurable so you know when you’ve reached it, along with some touch points along the way to help keep you motivated.
• Be accountable to others who can help keep you on track, or get you back on track before you get too far off course.

I hope that these tips might be helpful for you to set and achieve your goals for 2015. Whether they are changing unhealthy patterns, or maintaining healthy ones, these tips can help you achieve great things not just in this new year, but in each and every new day!

Happy New Year,

Pastor Mark

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which
God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 3:12-14, NIV)

Your Road to the Manger

Christmas Eve is TODAY...can you believe it? There is so much that still needs to be done for so many of us before we can declare ourselves "ready," but what does it mean to truly be "ready" for Christmas?

The road that led Mary and Joseph to the place where Jesus would be delivered was full of challenge, anxiety, and danger, but the love of GOD kept them on the path so the world could know the Lord of HOPE, JOY, PEACE, and LOVE.

The proverbial roads that we each are taking to Christmas this year are as varied and diverse as we are. Through the ups and downs, victories and defeats, triumphs and trials of this year (and of life for that matter), our many roads will converge at the humble manger...a feeding trough that cradled Jesus, the Bread of Life.

If your road has been full of strangers and dangers this year, know that love is waiting for you at the manger. If your road has been full of darkness, know that the Light of the World still shines, piercing the darkness that cannot understand it. At the manger — as the beautiful hymn, "O Little Town of Bethlehem," states — "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight."

I pray that you persevere on your individual road to the manger to find the Living Lord...Immanuel...GOD with us waiting for you there. Jesus was sent to be our hope, to be our joy, to be our peace, to be our love, and to be our light. Come and allow His creating and re-creating hand to dispel the darkness, the lovelessness, peacelessness, joylessness, and hopelessness so you will find the life GOD has in store for you!

If you are tired and weary, joyful and jubilant, lost and lonely, or just seemingly on cruise control, may your road lead you to the manger where you will find Jesus, the point in which life and eternity converge.

GOD Bless, Merry Christmas, and I hope to see you Christmas Eve,

Pastor Mark

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.

(1 John 4:9, NLT)

Merry Christmas!

Confession: last night I was overwhelmed. There was so much on my to-do and honey-do lists, that in a moment of anxiety, I actually felt as though the coming of Christmas depended on ME. It wasn't until my quiet time this morning that I was reminded Christmas already came! In Galatians 4:4-5, Paul wrote, "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." Christmas requires us to acknowledge that in Jesus, God came...Immanuel...God with us (Matthew 1:23).

If you awoke this morning feeling overwhelmed about all that has to be done today, thinking as though the coming of Christmas depends on you, take a moment, pause, and reflect over the FACT that in Jesus, God came. This will help you realign priorities and place the emphasis where it belongs as opposed to the trappings and ancillary things that help us enjoy the celebration of the season.

As I type this little note, I have the same hymn running through my mind that has been there all month, "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus." Check out the first verse:
"Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart."

May Christ's eternal presence release you from the fears and sins that might occur in your mind on this day. May Christ's eternal presence bring you the peace that only God can bring (John 14:27). In the middle of all the preparations for the fun and festivities, may we remember that God does so love the world, and for that reason, God sent His one and only Son (John 3:16). May that be central today, Christmas Day, and everyday!

In Jesus, God came. May we celebrate that and remember that the Lord is the focus, not us. And may we look forward with great anticipation to the celebration that points us to the time when Jesus will come again.

Merry Christmas!

Do You Know the Password?

The house where I grew up in Austell had some very special spots. One of my favorites was the cellar my grandfather dug out when he owned the house. The cellar was originally a crawlspace, but he painstakingly excavated it by hand to give him some extra storage, a place to do some work, and almost quite literally, a man-cave. When he and my nana moved to Cartersville, we moved into that house and my Papa’s man-cave became a magical lair for my brother and me. In there we would have epic battles with our GI Joes, imagine we were in our own bunker, and do other things that little boys would do in a grungy utilitarian retreat.

This space wasn’t just special for my brother and me, it served as a sort of clubhouse for the handful of kids on our small dead-end street. In classic “Little Rascals” fashion, we had a secret password to grant entrance through the doors, descending into our hideout. And though we were “He-Men” in our own eyes, there certainly was no woman hating in our club (the name of the club in the Little Rascals was the He-Man Woman Haters). Our passwords ranged from the intricate to the absurd, served no purpose whatsoever, but for a bunch of kids, it added to the mystique.

Passwords are interesting things, aren’t they? These days, with all of the different websites, apps, and other accounts we use in this digital age, we have passwords for everything! In fact, now there are password protected apps to keep track of your passwords! Need entrance to a special or protected place? Use the password.

Did you know that the Bible teaches us that there is an actual password into the most special of all places, the presence of GOD? Check out Psalm 100:4, “Enter with the password: ‘Thank you!’ Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.” How about that?!? The password into GOD’s holy presence is rooted in thanksgiving!

This week, as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, many people will pause and reflect upon the things for which they are thankful. This is something we will do around our dinner table, and I hope you will, too. The concept of giving thanks is a very biblical one, and a concept that when practiced regularly – and not just on the 4^th Thursday of November – can radically change the trajectory of your life!

When was the last time you paused to give thanks to GOD for all you have in life? When was the last time you paused to give thanks to GOD for all you need not worry about in life? Check out Philippians 4:6-7 in the New International Version: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

As you pause to celebrate this Thanksgiving, remember that it is a simple Thank You that is the password into GOD’s presence. May your heart and mind be guarded in Christ Jesus. May all the worries and anxieties melt away as you enjoy time with friends and family. And in the midst of so much uncertainty in the world, may the peace of GOD manifest in your life and on your home. 

Let the River Flow

This past weekend, Cokes Chapel joined with other United Methodist Churches in our community, to make a difference in the name of Jesus through River of Life: Coweta. The impetus for this event came as a result of our FOCUS Youth’s faithful participation in River of Life: Macon for the past several years. The goal was to help the River branch out into our community and begin providing opportunities for the youth in our church and community to come together in worship, fellowship, and service to experience the synergistic power of the Holy Spirit that occurs when followers of Jesus gather to make a difference. After watching the event unfold this past week, I can emphatically say the goal was achieved!

In John 7:38, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” This verse is something that many got to witness as our youth joined in with others to passionately serve and worship the Lord. The Holy Spirit descended into our church in a mighty way, filled the hearts of the participants, which they then carried out in service to impact others. This is precisely how the flow of the Spirit works in our lives…it sweeps us up and then moves us in ways only God can orchestrate to accomplish God’s task for us to share the Good News. Just think of it – youth and adults, giving of their weekend, working and serving in the record cold temperatures, to share the love of God and experiencing God’s love in a new and profound way.

In worship on Sunday, we were blessed to hear the record of service from this River of Life. I want to share it with you again in this format so you can see and celebrate with us how the flow of God swept us up as a church, joining together with others in the community, to serve, share, and shine for God. Consider what was accomplished:

   

·        17 months of prep work

·        288 hours of planning

·        72 hour prayer vigil

·        Included 4 states

·        427 work hours

·        63 facility hours

·        92 kitchen hours

·        52 lbs meat

·        180 pancakes

·        112 gallons of beverages

·        20 lbs of fruit

·        12 actually consumed

·        1 lb actually juggled

·        40 students

·        72 adults

·        6 worksites

·        50 people served yesterday

·        Over 300 served this week

·        Infinite number of lives changed!

I hope you will join with me to celebrate what God accomplished through our youth and leadership. And as we prepare for Thanksgiving and the holy seasons of Advent and Christmas, remember these impacts and let the river flow from us to share with others the goodness and love of God!