Life Center

We resist the urge to wield power as the world wields power.

Because of God, we can and should resist the things that try to replace him from his rightful place in our lives and world.

Just as Daniel lived faithfully as an exile in Babylon, we are called to live faithfully as exiles wherever we are. We are called to be different!

February 23-24, 2019

The Big Idea: Just as Daniel lived faithfully as an exile in Babylon, we are called to live faithfully as exiles wherever we are. We are called to be different!

Introduction:

ILL: My first two years in high school, the most openly Christian teacher in our school was Miss Helen Stanbrough. She was an elderly spinster who was the faculty advisor for the Bible Club. And she was…different. Different not in a winsome way, but in a weird way. She dressed differently and talked differently and was… different, separate from everyone else. No one could accuse her of being assimilated into the culture—she was different. Nor could they accuse her of impacting the culture—she was completely out of touch, separate. I remember thinking that I didn’t want to be like that.

Contrast Miss Stanbrough with millions of Christians who are virtually indistinct from the culture—no difference at all, other than they claim to be Christian and show up at church occasionally. They have been assimilated, conformed to the culture, squeezed into the culture’s mold. Same, same. I didn’t want to be like that either.

So is there a third way? Yes. Rather than isolation from culture, or assimilation by culture, we can redemptively impact culture.

For the next few weeks, we want to thi

Of course, no one can accurately predict what the next 40 years will bring. But we can affirm God’s calling and dream about how we can do it better!

We’re celebrating what God has done at Life Center in the last 40 years!

February 9-10, 2019

Introduction:

Today, we’re celebrating what God has done at Life Center in the last 40 years!  So our time together is going to be a little different: rather than spending the first half hour singing and praying, and the last 45 minutes in a Bible teaching, we’re going to tell the Life Center story and mix in some worship from each era.

We’re going to condense 40 years into an hour—so we’re going to leave out far more than we include, including events and people.  There are hundreds of people who have had a significant impact on the life of our church in the last 40 years. If I were to name them all, it’s all we would do.  So please forgive me if you don’t hear your name or see your picture.

As you can see on your handout, we’re going to tell the story in three parts—three eras defined where we were meeting at the time.  But before we get to the first era, I have to acknowledge that our church existed long before 1978. Spokane Foursquare Church was chartered on January 15, 1931 (pic of charter).   When Laina and I arrived in 1978, the church had already been here for 47 years, and had been through seasons of growth and decline.  So we didn’t come to nothing—we came to an existing church of about 40 people with a small buildi

When we pray together, we’re not taking turns making speeches to God; we’re having a conversation together with God.  

Why We Hate to Pray

#2—Together

Introduction and offering:

Super Bore Poll: Who is rooting for the Patriots?  The Rams? Don’t care? Just watching the commercials?  Just looking forward to the food?

Last weekend I talked about why we hate to pray personally—but that’s nothing compared to how much we hate to pray out loud with others!  How many of you don’t like to pray out loud with other people? This is almost universal! In a recent Barna survey, 94% said they had prayed at least once in the last 3 months.  Of those 94%, only 2% most often pray with others.  Prayer tends to be almost entirely a solo activity.  Most people do not like to pray with others! If you doubt this, just call a prayer meeting and see who shows up!  Prayer meetings are consistently the least attended of all church meetings—almost everywhere! Why is this? Praying together (the way it’s usually done) is awkward and uncomfortable, dare I say boring, not to mention terribly inefficient—so people stay away from prayer meetings in droves!  

And yet Jesus taught us not only to pray alone, but to pray together, and even said it was especially powerful.  Why is it so hard for us? What if I could show you a way to pray together that is natural and even fun? It’s very different from what you’re used to, but once you get the hang of it, you’re going to love it!  It’s revolutionary!

God wants a conversational relationship with you.

January 26-27, 2019

Introduction and offering:

You might be wondering why I titled this two week series, “Why We Hate to Pray.” How many of would say, “I hate to pray.” See—no one! I’m not surprised. Who in their right mind would say that they hate to pray? Especially in church!

A recent Pew Research survey revealed that 55% of Americans say they pray every day! Evidently, there is a lot of prayer going on! It doesn’t sound like we hate to pray at all! So what in the world was I thinking?

Another question: How many of you wish you prayed more? Most of us believe we should pray more than we do—so why don’t we? What keeps us from praying more? I think that when we enjoy something, we tend to do it a lot. I enjoy eating—I do it every day. I enjoy golf—I play every chance I get. Do you enjoy praying? If you don’t, I’ll bet you don’t do it that much. What if I could show you a way to pray that is natural, rewarding, even fun? That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

So here’s:

The Big Idea: God wants a conversational relationship with you! Make your life one long prayer!

I want you to think differently about prayer—that it’s not an occasional activity but a lifestyle, an all-day ongoing conversation with God. God wants a conversational relationship with you.

I was struck on Tuesday in our Bible reading plan by the interaction between God and Moses at the burning bush. It’s found in Exodus 3-4 (p. 49). God called Moses by name (3:4) and told him what He was planning to do (3:7-10). Moses started asking questions a

God wants the best for you.

This is where our relationship with God starts: not with you loving Him, but with Him loving you.

January 12-13, 2019

Introduction and offering

How many of you are extroverts—you get energy from being with people? How many of you are introverts—you get energy from being alone? How many of you don’t know what type of vert you are? I have a question for the introverts. You are energized by being alone, but does that mean that you want to be alone all the time? That you don’t want anyone in your life? Of course not! Even the most introverted person wants to love and be loved.

This is one of our true desires. We want to love and be loved. We want to know that we matter deeply to someone, that we are valued, treasured and loved. We long to belong. Where does this desire come from?

It comes from God. Our true desires reflect God’s intentions for us. God created us for a relationship with Himself, and for relationships with each other. He made you to love and be loved. This true desire to love and be loved is from God—it’s the way He made us. It’s what He wants for us.

This is part 3 of our series, “True Desire: Getting What You Really Want.” The question is, “What do you really want?” We acknowledge that not everything we want is good for us. We also acknowledge that much of what we want will not satisfy our deepest longings. We want something, we get it, and soon, we want something else. So what do we really want? What are our deepest and truest desires? What are the things we want that truly satisfy? We’ve identified four things.

First, God: we

Focus less on you and more on Jesus.

January 5-6, 2019

Pastor Joe Wittwer

True Desire

Getting what you really want

#2—Change: I want to be a better person

Psalm 37:4 (p. 480) Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Romans 7:15-8:4 (p. 971)

Galatians 5:16-26 (p. 1004), Romans 8:28-30 (p. 972)

Psalm 37:4 (p. 480), 2 Corinthians 3:18 (p. 994), 5:17-18 (p. 995)

January 5-6, 2019

Pastor Joe Wittwer

True Desire

Getting what you really want

#2—Change: I want to be a better person

Introduction and offering

ILL: A story from when our kids were growing up:

Laina and I were heading out of town; we were running late and anxious to leave. A young couple from our church, Ken and Kristi, were staying with our 5 kids and were at the car seeing us off. Andy came out to hug me goodby, and while he was hugging me, Jeff came charging up from behind to surprise Andy. Andy saw him coming, and put his arm up to protect himself, and clocked Jeff in the eye. From my vantage point, it looked like a deliberate slug. Jeff grabbed his eye and headed for the house crying, and I grabbed Andy and gave him a swat on the bottom and marched him into the house after Jeff.

Both boys sat on the couch, and I be