Who is helping you find and follow Jesus? Who are you investing in regularly?

September 9-10, 2017

Introduction and offering:

ILL: I became a youth pastor at the tender age of 19. I inherited a group of about 25 high school and middle school students and a Thursday night meeting misnamed “The Hour of Power.” It was anything but that—I was basically a glorified baby sitter. It took 3 weeks of this and I’d had enough. At the end of week 3, I sat the students down and said, “Next week, I’m going to teach you how to pray. If you want to learn how to pray and follow Jesus, come back. If you just want to fart around, do me and yourself a favor and stay home.” One of our adult advisors rushed up afterwards and said, “You’ve just killed our youth group. No one will come back.” But the next week, we didn’t have 25 students; we had 40. And six weeks later, we had 100. They were just waiting for someone to challenge them, to raise the bar and treat them like young adults. They were learning and growing and loving it, and bringing their friends.

As a new youth pastor, one of my guiding assumptions was that middle school and high school students are capable of a fairly sophisticated response to Jesus. I know some of you think I’m delusional—I knew they were young teens and still suffering spasms of maturity! But we often underestimate what young people are capable of, and I didn’t want to do that. I told them that they weren’t the church of tomorrow; they were the church right now, called and gifted by God and capable of doing great things. And they did.

I still have that assumption about young people—and I hope you have it too. There is a relationship in the Bible that illustrates this kind of confidence in young people—it’s the relationship between Paul and Timothy. This weekend and next, I want to tell you their story, explore their friendship, and see what we can learn about Think 3 from older Paul and younger Timothy.

Our big deal this year has been Think 3. We want everyone to think 3 generations ahead and one on either side. A healthy church is a multi-generational church, where young and old and everyone in between works together for Jesus. The temptation for all of us is to think only in terms of our generation. But I want us to be a church that not only I (and my cronies) love, but that my kids love, and my grandkids love, and one day, my great-grandkids love. Did I just mention my grandkids—because on Tuesday,

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Introduction

Of all the things that Jesus said, what is hardest for you? Take answers. For many people, it’s “love your enemies.” That’s hard—do you agree? It’s hard on a personal level. Think of someone who is making your life miserable—is it hard to love them? And it’s hard on a societal level. How are we supposed to love the members of Isis, or North Korea’s Kim Jong Un whose missile launches ought to make you nervous?   Of all the things Jesus said, this may be the hardest—but He said it, and we need to take it seriously.

This is the final message in our Summer Bible Series in the gospel of Luke—and what a way to finish! We’re going to read just 10 verses from Luke 6. In these verses, Jesus lays out His ethic of love—love everyone always. It’s radical, it’s crazy, it’s hard—and it’s what Christians do because it is what God has done for us. Here’s a big idea I want you to take home.

Don’t react to people; respond to God. (let’s say it)

When we react to people, we usually react in kind. Tit for tat. Eye for an eye. Yell at me, I yell at you. Hit me, I hit you back. Hurt me, I hurt you back. But as we’ll see, Jesus is going to tell us that our behavior is not to be conditioned by how others treat us, but by the character of God. Rather than reacting to people, we respond to God. We look to our Father; we look at how He treats us and respond. Like Father, like child.

Here’s the passage.

Luke 6:27–36

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full

Love everyone always.

Jesus has a special place in His heart for children and He wants us to see them as He sees them–to love them as He loves them.

Rich Stearns is the president of World Vision, the world’s largest Christian humanitarian organization which works to relieve poverty in Jesus’ name in more than 100 countries around the world. 

Blessedness is found in total dependance on Jesus!

Skyler’s Story

Jesus calls sinners. This was radical news! Everyone thought that God only wanted righteous people. Jesus turns this upside down. Jesus calls sinners.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

I love baptisms! And I love camp! I’m so proud of our team—the camps they put on for your kids are the gold standard!

I also love the Global Leadership Summit, which we are hosting this week, on Thursday and Friday. There is still time to register—information is in your handout. So far, over 600 people are registered here, but I’ve got to tell you something. Every year, when the Summit ends, I look around our auditorium and think, “Why didn’t we fill this place up? This is so good!” I want to challenge you to invite your boss or your employees. One medical office is closing their practice for two days and bringing all 70 people who work there! I promise you won’t regret it if you come. I hope to see you Thursday and Friday.

When you came in you were given one of these “Join a Team” cards. We’re getting ready for the launch of our new Saturday night service on September 9. It takes hundreds of volunteers to make church happen every weekend—we’d love for you to be one of those. You will get more than you give—that’s the way serving works—you always get more than you give. And you’ll make some friends and get more connected here. We’re going to give you a minute to look this over and fill it out, then you can drop it in the offering when it comes by.

Music while they fill out the cards: 1 minute.

Offering here.

Introduction

This is the Summer Bible Series and we’re working our way through the gospel of Luke, the gospel for everyone. I’m calling it the gospel for everyone because Luke, more than any other gospel writer, emphasizes Jesus’ love for the outcasts, those on the margins of society. And that is clearly seen in today’s story, the calling of Levi, the tax collector. Here’s the story.

Luke 5:27–32

27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the l

We’re called into a relationship with Jesus and into a community with each other.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Introduction:

This is our Summer Bible Series—we are working our way through Luke, the gospel for everyone. A few weeks ago, we read one of my favorite stories, the calling of the first disciples and the miraculous catch of fish in Luke 5. We looked how Jesus called them, and focused on four similarities to how Jesus calls us: go, leave, follow and fish. I was able to cover the first two (go and leave) then, and today, we’re returning to that story to finish the last two (follow and fish). Here’s the story.

Luke 5:1–11

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

We’re going to look at these four characteristics of Simon’s calling that are true of Jesus’ calling you and me: go, leave, follow, and fish. I’ll do a quick review of the first two and we’ll spend most of our time on the last two.

When Simon Peter saw this miraculous catch of fish, he realized that

Active, persistent, and determined faith in Jesus leads to a complete healing.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Introduction and offering:

Welcome to our Summer Bible Series; we’re working our way through the gospel of Luke, “the gospel for everyone.” Last weekend, Pastor David walked us through the story of Jesus touching the leper and healing him—Jesus touched a man who was untouchable, loved a man who was unlovable and forgave a man who was unforgivable. Jesus took all the “uns” away. Don’t you love Jesus? He’s awesome—in the truest and deepest sense of that word.

Last Sunday, I was in my home town, Sweet Home, Oregon, for our extended family reunion. My mom is one of 12 kids. Ten of them are going strong; the oldest is 98 and we celebrated the youngest’s 80th birthday while we were there. And I brought my Momma home to stay a couple weeks with me—wave Mom! I’m blessed to be part of a great family!

The next best thing to great family is great friends, and today we read a story about a man who had some great friends. He was paralyzed, and these friends carried him on a stretcher to Jesus to be healed. When they couldn’t get to Jesus because of the crowd, these friends refused to give up and creatively made a way to get to Jesus. When my kids were little, we would act out Bible stories together, and since the kids are with us today, I’m going to read the story and some friends are going to help act it out.

Luke 5:17–26

17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know th

Untouchable, unloveable, unforgivable is transformed right before his eyes as the “un” is eliminated in a single touch from Jesus.

You are more deeply flawed than you realized, and you are more deeply loved than you ever dreamed.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Introduction:

This is our Summer Bible Series—we are working our way through Luke, the gospel for everyone. Today we come to one of my favorite stories, the calling of the first disciples in Luke 5. I’m going to read the story with some explanatory comments, and then we’ll see what we can learn about our own calling. Here’s the story.

Luke 5:1–11

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. This takes place at the Lake of Gennesaret—also known as the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberias—different names for the same place.

Even today, it’s not unusual for places to have more than one name. For example, a creek flows into the Spokane River just a mile south of here. It’s called…Latah Creek. It’s also called Hangman Creek. This lake—Galilee or Gennesaret—was 13 miles long, 7 miles wide and almost 700 feet below sea level. During Jesus’ time, there were nine towns around it’s shores, all of them 15,000 people or more. Jesus spent a lot of time in this area.

On this day, Jesus was teaching on the lakeshore, but the people were crowding him, so he asked Simon if he could borrow his boat. Simon was a fisherman, who after a fruitless night of fishing, was cleaning his nets and getting ready to go home and get some sleep. Anybody here ever worked the graveyard shift? You know how Simon is feeling. He’d met Jesus before. In fact, we read last week that Jesus had been to Simon’s home and healed his mother in law. So this isn’t Jesus and Simon’s first encounter. Jesus climbs aboard and Simon pushes out a little from shore, and Jesus sat down and continued to teach. The lakeshore setting would have been a natural amphitheater, making it easy for the crowd to hear Jesus. We don’t know for sure where this was, but there is a bay near Capernaum (Simon’s hometown) where Israeli scientists have verified that the bay can transmit a human voice effortlessly to several thousand people on shore. This is why Jesus asked to borrow Simon’s boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets fo