MCC Podcast

We continue our series through the book of James which we’re calling Achilles because, regardless of how mature we are in our faith, we all have at least one, Achilles’ heel (weakness). Maybe more than one.

On any given weekend, I think it would be fair to say that, some of us who gather for worship come looking for answers and you know God’s Word has those answers.  I would think it is equally fair to say that the majority of us are here because, at some point, God’s Word did change our lives. And we were determined to give ourselves to Him.  And, there will be some in worship, online or in the room who have not made a commitment to Jesus through their baptism who are still trying to figure the Book out.  For those who have had God’s Word change you life, let me ask you this, does it still? Does the Word of God still change your life? Because the Bible can become an Achilles’ heel in our lives. How is that even possible?

Achilles; Do you know who he was?

There is no evidence that Achilles was a real person, but he was the central character of Homer’s Iliad. You’ll understand why I want to make that disclaimer in a moment.

Achilles was one of the greatest warriors and heroes in Greek Mythology. He was considered a hero because he was the most successful soldier in the Greek army during the Trojan War.

But to be clear, Achilles was a literary character, not a literal character. I make that clear because, as the story goes, after Achilles was born, his mother wanted to protect him from harm. She held him by the heel and dipped him into the river Styx. In Greek Mythology, the river Styx was located in the Underworld and had special powers. Achilles became invulnerable everywhere but at his heel, where his mother held him. Which is also where he was hit by an arrow and subsequently died.

So the term 'Achilles' heel' refers to a weakness or vulnerable point in someone.

So what we’re going to talk about over the next six weeks are areas of our lives that can be an Achilles’ heel for those of us who are disciples of Jesus.

We believe we should be a church of disciple-makers, who look for opportunities to restore the world around them in service, and who pray every day for clarity, insight, and strength as we trust that God is in control and we are doing the best we can to follow Him well. But, what does that look like as the church gathers each week? What does that look like when we serve in ministry areas? How do we protect from organizational drift and stay focused on our mission? It will take work. It will take putting some things together. It will take all of us committing together to this fundamental work that Jesus calls us to; discipleship.

June 27, 2022, offered a vivid reminder that Americans believe in prayer.  On that Monday, the Supreme Court’s decision in Joseph Kennedy v. Bremerton School District supported the former assistant football coach’s right to pray in public.

For seven years, Kennedy took a knee on the football field after games, and as Washington Post reporter Robert Barnes stated, “From the stands, it might have looked like nothing more than someone tying a shoe.”  The Supreme Court documents identified it as “30 seconds of personal prayer at the conclusion of a football game.”

Barnes noted of the court brief: “The school district decided it had a problem in the 2015 season, when an opposing coach told Bremerton’s principal that he ‘thought it was pretty cool how [the District] would allow’ Kennedy’s religious activity.”  Fearing repercussions for what an opposing coach called “pretty cool,” the Washington high school suspended Kennedy and then later placed him on administrative leave.

The challenge weaved its way through the Judicial System for seven years, culminating in the Supreme Court’s verdict.  The documentation cited Abraham Lincoln for his opinion about faith in public service: “I would be the most foolish person on this footstool earth if I believed for one moment that I could perform the duties assigned to me without the help of One Who is wiser than all.”

I know we all applaud the decision. But do we practice the behavior that causes a stir in our culture? This week we’ll see why that is important to growing us up to be more like Jesus AND how that will affect MCC.

Paul would write this to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:7b-8) - train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  

Look at that: Physical training is of some value. We all know that.  Lifting weights, cardio, yoga, martial arts training, running, swimming, etc…all of those have benefits for our body. Taking a walk is better than just sitting and watching TV Surprisingly, you don’t get in better shape watching ESPN all day. Although if you did, we would most likely have some pretty healthy people around here.  

Paul says the same thing is true of our faith. In other words, with our faith, there is Some Assembly Required. But it's important because it holds promise for both the present life and the life to come.

What we’re going to talk about for the next few weeks, let me just say that there are 3 words that strike fear in some people’s lives. If you had to guess what those 3 little words are, what would you say?

Some of us, when we read those 3 words, we just…sit back and stare at them. We sweat just a little.

When you buy a grill at the hardware store, those words are right there.

You buy a crib for your baby, those words are staring at you when it arrives.

Those 3 little words are: SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

It’s interesting to me that there are other people who do not have that fear at all. When it comes to cars, my friend Tim, takes them all the way down to nothing and brings them back up. It’s pretty cool.

Usually we lean one way or the other.

But most of life is Some Assembly Required.

So is our faith.It doesn’t just happen to you, you don’t just sit in church once a week and bingo bango bongo you’re a growing follower of Jesus.

I want to be real clear, this is not about earning you salvation. Rather, for those who have already given their lives to Jesus, what we’re going to talk about over the next 4 weeks are habits that help us become more like Him.

“Therefore, go,” Jesus said. We’ve all heard the verse that closes Matthew, yet too often, the nature of that commandment is lost on us. There is a depth and a historical resonance to what Jesus is telling us to do. He is telling us to make disciples. Disciples that obey. Obedience to his last command means that, by definition, we aren’t genuine disciples until we’ve made a disciple that obeys everything he’s commanded. Our best marker for making a disciple is when the person we are discipling makes a disciple. The goal of the advancing Kingdom of God doesn’t stop with a pursuit of personal holiness (though that’s part of it) it continues to a commission of others into a lifelong mission to make disciples of Jesus. It’s much more than personal betterment, it extends to global restoration. 

We get to participate in what God is doing.  But it's uncomfortable and it means releasing those you’ve let into your life through discipleship to go and connect with and disciple others. I can’t wait to be together Sunday and talk more about this last and vital component of disciple-making; releasing intentionally.

This week we had a guest speaker, Justin Gravitt, who joined us and talked about how Jesus taught relationally.   

Justin is the Director of Innovation and Advancement with Navigator Church Ministries. In his role, he helps churches all over the area grow and develop disciple-making cultures.   

This week he spoke about how Jesus' disciples.   

The disciples of Jesus left everything and followed. Matthew 4:19-20 makes it look so easy for them. They heard Jesus’ invitation they immediately left their old life behind.   

But, what did he do to transform them from ordinary and unschooled into those who walk on water faith?

In Luke 19 we find the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector who Jesus goes out of his way to step into the story of and as a result Zacchaeus walks away from the encounter changed and begins to follow the way of Jesus. Zacchaeus story doesn’t change if Jesus doesn’t step in. This is true of the people around us as well. Like Mike talked about last week we are called to be disciple makers and part of that calling means stepping into others stories. That why this week we are asking the questions; What would it look like if we lived in such a way where everyone got a seat at the table? And what if I invited the people, who don’t look, act or think like me into the story of who Jesus is?