Mendham Hills

We were never meant to do this alone. Maybe a few of us could manage to build a hut on a mountain and live alone. Sometimes we like to think we can, but we were never meant to live life alone. We were built for community at some level. Yet, while living in the most densely populated state in America, we can be very lonely. This week, we will explore narrowing the distance between us and unpacking what God says about this particular topic. Let's gather up on Sunday.

Who is right, who is wrong? What is right, what is wrong? Is it my way or the highway? In an increasingly divided society, we have learned to fight and argue over just about anything. How can we actually reduce the space between us? Do we just give in? Do we fight for our rights? This Sunday, I will show you the most excellent way!

Yes we are. Well, at least Jesus is. Some of you may be familiar with basketball great Allen Iverson's aversion to practice. Spoiler alert - he didn't see much value in it. Truth is that not many of us do, either. Have you ever had to try and convince your kids to practice less? Yet, Jesus sums up his famous Sermon on the Mount with one final counter-cultural teaching: It's not what you know, it's how you practice.

Sunday services at 9 & 10:30am

A THIRD WAY

You and I have been conditioned to believe a lie. At very deep levels, we have come to believe that in the face of opposition, oppression or persecution, we have only two choices: fight or flight. When someone comes hard against us, at work or school or even at home, we either get even or get out. The truth is, and you know this if you have lived long enough, both options leave casualties in their wake. What if there was a third option - a third way of dealing with your "enemies?"

Few words in the Bible have provoked as much anger and debate as these: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The Lex Talionis. The Law of Retribution. Atheists claim it proves the Bible contains internal contradictions. Gandhi said it would leave the whole world blind. For the Pharisees, it was a loophole allowing them to serve up cold-hearted revenge. Jesus acknowledges that many have weighed in on these much-debated words. And once again, as his sermon crescendos, he repeats, "but I say to you," this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

In a world that is sometimes upside down, people say rewards are based on impressing people that you can see in real-time and in real space. In our summer series, Jesus goes the other way: focusing on the reality of the unseen. Lots of things are unseen, but we know they exist. Air. Internet. Wind. Gravity. In the land of mirages, what isn't seen turns out to be real; what seems to be real can be a mirage. Open your eyes...this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

Rewards are powerful things. Lose your wedding ring...I feel bad. Lose your wedding ring and post a reward...I start looking! Our ability to overcome even the most difficult of circumstances is often directly related to our perception of the reward to come. Rewards matter. The Scriptures teach that the "ancients" understood this and it fueled faith and transformation. Have we "moderns" forgotten that a reward has been posted?

I had a friend last week who, while in Guatemala, went to visit a ministry that serves children who are born both blind and deaf. All of us can certainly understand the desperate nature of their conditions. Yet, my friend told me his understanding paled in comparison to their reality - a reality that became his for a morning as they blindfolded him and placed earplugs in his ears. That reality changed his perspective. His eyes became dark and he could not see. Jesus warns us of such a condition, one He insisted was common: eyes that do not see. This Sunday, all of our teams are home from Guatemala but the question each of us must answer is...what are you looking at?

...but money talks and actions speak louder than words. So, as good cynics, when someone tells us they'll do something, we wait to see if they follow through. And, we love to lay the blame for this particular transgression at the feet of lawyers and politicians. But the truth is that the human race as a whole has a tenuous relationship with the truth. Jesus has a new challenge: Say what you mean and mean what you say - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

Living life seems like a mad dash. Racing the clock, looking over your shoulder, and trying to make time-sensitive turns can leave us gasping for air. We jump into the fray Sunday morning in our talk, unpacking what "they" say and what Jesus says. How do I keep my soul from being shattered in the process of just doing life? They say, but I say - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.