Pastor Ryan looks at how easy it is to be negative with all that is happening in the world, but through gratitude and encouragement, we can be positive.

Positive People

Here’s something many of you didn’t know about me, up until the early part of this week, I was Covid Positive.  For those of you attending this service online, you’re probably glad you are!  Don’t worry, I made it through – and I’m back to 100%.  But today we’re taking a light-hearted approach to our message to Be Positive.

Now I was the obvious person on our pastoral team to give this message, because those who know me know I’m clearly the most optimistic person on the team – with Amy the obvious pessimist.  Just Kidding.  But being positive is more than just how optimistic or pessimistic you view life.  It’s more about how you carry yourself and how you treat others.  

Take a moment to consider some of your favorite people you like to spend time with. Who are the people you love sitting at a dinner with or even the people at church who just make you feel good about yourself after having a conversation with them in the foyer.  What are the attributes you most like about them?

The people I have most enjoyed spending time with in my life are people who make me laugh.  They tend to be good natured.  They have a positive outlook on life most the time, and they have positive words to encourage me.  And on the flip side, those I tend to ignore are those who have an Eyore personality.  You know the types – everything is hard, everything is overwhelming, life isn’t fair, and it never seems to get better.  

Now as we think about the people we enjoy being around, and contrarily, those we don’t – where do you fit?  Are you generally a positive person with a positive attitude who is encouraging to others, or might you be a bit more negative, and have room to grow in this area?

Toxic Positivity

Now when I talk about being positive, one direction I don’t want you to think I’m taking this message is towards toxic positivity.

Defined: Toxic positivity is the assumption, either by one’s self or others, that despite a person’s emotional pain or difficult situation, they should only have a positive mindset.

This is exemplified through an attitude of telling people to “Just Stop it.”  Stop feeling sad, stop feeling frustrated or anxious.  Just think positive.  Just see it as a good thing.  Just ignore the pain.

And to be clear, this is NOT AT ALL what I’m talking about today.  I think all of us can related to having experienced some real losses this year.  We have all missed time with family, experienced stress with kids doing school from home, perhaps lost our jobs, missed vacations and now we’re staring down a holiday season like no other.  And I’m not telling you to simply forget the pain.  It’s real.

It’s human to grieve a loss, but we can’t wallow in it.  

Grief is process that moves us from experiencing loss to accepting it. Now when you google the stages of grief, you will find that there are anywhere from 4-12 stages of grief, and they are in different orders, but thats because thats how we experience grief and loss – through a messy process of all sorts of emotions.  But somehow through the process we come out the other side able to deal with it, and in fact able to once again Be Positive.

Wallowing in the loss implies simply an unrestrained indulgence in your pity.  It is just sitting it, not moving forward, not healing, not growing, and never able to be positive so long as you sit there stuck.

How to Have a Positive Attitude

Now after moving through the stages of grief, after dealing with all the losses we have faced in 2020, we need to be people aiming to be positive.  This world desperately needs more positive people.  And here is how to have a positive attitude:

Internally = Gratitude

First, we have to internalize a positive attitude.  When we do that, it manifests itself in gratitude.  Instead of throwing y

Pastor Brent looks at Psalm 32 and how this is a good time to do a little soul searching and some fall clean-up in our lives.

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Pastor Amy wraps up the Unpause series by looking at the importance of abiding in Jesus so that we might show the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

Discussion Questions

How connected have you been to the vine in 2020? What’s keeping you from remaining?Where have you been fruitful in 2020?Continue the practice of Lectio Divina with Matthew 6:33. Read through the passage four times. Read and listen. Read and reflect. Read and respond. Read and rest.

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Pastors Brent and Ryan talk about the importance of celebration and how even in difficult circumstances we can find reasons to celebrate.

Discussion Questions

How might the world’s opinion of Christians be different if Christians were better known for genuine celebration?If you haven’t already, take a moment to really reflect on what God has done in your life in 2020 and give him thanks for it all.What can you do in your daily / weekly habits to be more aware of God’s goodness in your life and celebrate what he has done?

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Pastor Brent looks at 1 John to see the important role obedience plays in our ability to truly know and experience God.

Discussion Questions

Are you more compliant or strong-willed? How easy is it for you to obey when someone asks (or requires) something of you? Why do you think this is?How have you tried to substitute other things, like religious activity or legalism for obedience to God?Is God calling you to obedience in some area of your life? If so, what area and what is one tangible action you can do this week to move toward obedience in that area?

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Pastor Ryan looks at the unseen war that rages around us and how followers of Jesus need to make sure they are fighting the right battle. Hint: It’s NOT the “other “political party, coworkers, or neighbors.

Never Have I Ever – Halloween Edition

Judging by the weather outside, it sure feels like fall has finally arrived.  And with it, Halloween is now right around the corner.  Unfortunately, we all know halloween may be a bit different this year.  

What I’m seeing is there are 3 camps of how people view halloween this year:

All In – more decorations, costumes, candy – we need something to celebrate nowModified – we’ll go trick or treating, but we’re going to be safe and follow CDC guidelinesNope – like everything else coronavirus ruined, add halloween to the list.  I’m out.

I fall into that 3rd camp, but probably for a totally different reason – I hate halloween.  Always have. Definitely has to do with my upbringing where I was taught halloween was a pagan holiday to worship witches and demons.  Made for a long list of things I couldn’t do growing up.   And today we’re going to have some fun with that by playing the Pastor Ryan edition of Never Have I Ever!

I’m going to say, “Never have I ever…” and then say something I never did growing up and if you have done it, you have to sit down. So everybody stand up.  If you’re online and standing up right now – 5 bonus points.

Never have I ever: 

Decorated our house for halloween (lights, spider webs, ghosts) – Christmas only for my familyGone to a haunted house – if they gave you a Gospel presentation at the end, you get a free passUsed a Ouji board – those things still make me uncomfortableWatched horror movies – nope – I still haven’tWorn a costume to schoolCarved scary faces into pumpkins – we did a cross.  Went trick or treating – nope – my mom just bought me a bag of candyWatched Care Bears – Evangelist came to our church and told all the parents about the black magic

I love designing games I’m guaranteed to win!  But in all seriousness, this game shows we all have an awareness of some version of a spooky, invisible world we can’t see.  But for most people, this unseen world is just fiction.  It’s full of vampires and gremlins, ghosts, and rings that give you special powers. 

So while the spirit world is portrayed all over, most people never consider it’s activity in our ACTUAL LIVES!  What if there was an invisible world full of beings actively working against you?  What if that was part of the source behind:

Our addictions or our unhealthy thought life and temptationsOur relational drama with othersThe racism, division, and injustice we see in our nation

What if there was more than meets the eye behind all these things?  How might that change how we view these challenges, and more importantly, how we might go about trying to overcome them?

There is an Invisible World

Scripture is full of stories that show where an invisible world meets our physical world.  One of my favorites is about Elisha, a great prophet in the Old Testament who was really getting under the skin of the king of Aram.  So the king sent troops out to go capture Elisha.  Lets pick up the story… 

2 Kings 6:15–17 (NIV): When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

I can’t imagine how the servant felt at that moment as the power and presence of God’s invisible army was shown to him.  

But what some might dismiss as almost mythical stories of an ancient world aren’t found only in the old testament.  We continue to see the

Pastor Brent looks at how the pandemic has made everyone a little more risk-averse but how it is always risky following Jesus. From Matthew 14 and the story of Peter walking on water with Jesus.

Discussion Questions

How risk averse are you? What do you think contributes to this?Of the list of obstacles that hold us back from exercising our faith, what one or two are the greatest obstacles for you?Is there something you feel God is calling you to do now? If so, what is it? What could cause you to hesitate or say no?

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Pastors Brent and Ryan discuss how God has spoken to his people in the past and how part of unpausing our lives today is learning to listen to God as he speaks to us today.

Discussion Questions

Take a moment to reflect on what it means that the God of the universe wants to speak to you.What has been your biggest barrier to hearing God speak to you?What action can you take to be prepared to hear God the next time he speaks to you?

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Pastor Ryan looks at John 14 and how God was and is still at work all around us in our world today.

Discussion Questions

Why do you think it is so hard for people to see the work of God in life?Where have you see God at work in your life since this pandemic began?What action can you take this week to join where you see God moving in your life or around you?

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Pastor Brent looks at how often in life, we may get hopeless about situations, like our marriage, family, finances, or even the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Ezekiel 37 shows the nature of God, who hasn’t forgotten you and can still bring life to our lives even when we see nothing but dry bones.

Discussion Questions

Ezekiel explains how the bones were very dry.  What part of your life feels “very dry” and almost hopeless?  What makes it feel so dry?Why do you think God didn’t raise the bones to life himself?  Why is this significant to the story and to your own life?

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