"Radical Humility" Sermon from the 2023 Maundy Thursday service at Misty Creek Community Church.

Holy Week 2023

JESUS IN THE WILD Part 6:  THE BEAUTY AFTER THE BATTLE 
Luke 4:14
This Sunday is Palm Sunday. "They took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" John 12:13 Hosanna is from a Biblical Hebrew phrase meaning "Pray, save us." Any kind of thanks and adoration aimed at God could be considered a hosanna. In church, many of the prayers and songs are hosannas. I hope you’ll join us this Sunday as we offer many hosannas to the King of Kings.
 
When we are walking in the fullness of our calling, what are the results in our hearts, homes, churches, and cities?
Resilience is a commonly heard word these days. When challenges come (and our nation has faced many this past week), and we face them with faith and fortitude, we come off our battlefields with a greater capacity to hold up—spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically— through the wilds of life. “Forty days, three temptations, and three vocationally charged answers later, the devil walks away from the battle. In other words, the devil calls it quits on the game—but is not calling it quits on the season.
There are seasons of relief in our battle with the adversary of our souls—and for those, we can be grateful”. Like Jesus, there are battles we go through with the enemy of our souls, battles during which our calling is deeply and relentlessly contested. But every battle has an end, and it is in taking them on one by one that we find the strength to walk with Jesus through them to the other side. Our calling will always be contested but know that with each challenge we can emerge with greater spiritual resilience, capacity to trust, and, hopefully, a more fierce and steadfast commitment to walk in our calling into union with Christ. 
 
Grace and Peace,
Stephen

JESUS IN THE WILD Part 5: THE POWER OF “IT IS WRITTEN”
Luke 4:4, 8, 12
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 
Jesus has been tempted. And the Word-of-God-Made-Flesh begins his answer to each temptation with a form of one, small, universe-bending statement: “It is written.” In a world full of indignation, alarm, and shock, with a social media population reacting online with anger, angst, and argument to all manner of news and offenses, we read that Jesus responded to the devil. In my imagination, Jesus was calm, he was cool, and he was unequivocally clear in those moments. In this wild, Jesus is not reacting to the temptations, the struggle, his own fears, or the attack. He is not controlled by the devil’s plays or moves. Jesus has chosen to answer the devil in his own way, on his own terms.
What promise or passage from the Word of God has most strengthened you in your seasons of battle in the last few years? What word have you hidden deep in your heart that is serving you in this season you are in? What word are you using to address the enemy who seeks to unseat you from your royal throne? What is your “It is written” word for this season? 
Grace and Peace,
Stephen

JESUS IN THE WILD Part 4:

The Jesus Revolution 
Matthew 9:36
Recently, Karen and I watched The Jesus Revolution movie—a depiction of the Jesus Movement, specifically following the stories of Pastor Greg Laurie, Pastor Chuck Smith, Lonnie Frisbee, and Calvary Chapel.  In the mid-1950s through the 1960s, society was unraveling spiritually, relationally, socially, and politically. On top of the growing tension and violence of the civil rights movement, the evolving liberality of the entertainment industry, and the chaotic, disturbing, and divisive political climate, the teens and young adults of the day were challenging and rejecting the accepted norms of life, truth, spirituality, identity, society, and morality. While rejecting the establishment of government, religion, social constructs and the rules and standards they represented, young people turned to sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll to find freedom, love, belonging, truth, consciousness, and identity/self.
If they investigated religion, it was usually Eastern mysticism, not Christianity. The few who dared walk into a church were frequently met with looks of suspicion and judgment. Sadly, churches (pastors, church leaders, and congregations as a whole) did not navigate this season of change, tension, and unraveling well. The light and love of Jesus did not shine brightly from very many churches and Christians. Instead, they frequently preached against the latest headlines, threw their hands in the air at a loss, and saw the young—even society at large—as a lost cause, beyond the reach of the gospel of Jesus Christ and redemption. (Many Christians and churches still struggle with this sense of hopelessness as we find ourselves in a very similar political, social, moral, and spiritual climate.)
But God was neither hopeless or helpless and in His prevenient grace, He sovereignly poured out His Spirit on individuals and churches and the Jesus Movement was birthed. Across the United States through the mid-60s through early 70s, young people were radically encountering and engaging with the living God, turning away from the sex, drugs, rock-n-roll, and the false-religion scene in mass numbers. 
 
I told Karen as we left the theater that the Jesus Revolution never ended. It’s a movement of the Holy Spirit, it’s not an institution, building or personality. Movements go through occasional plateaus and then surge again. God is moving powerfully right now, and lives are being transformed in 2023. I don’t believe It’s a coincidence that this movie came out on the heels of the latest Asbury Revival and the other revivals breaking out at campuses and churches all over the world. 
I do hope people check it out and compare it to 2023. It is based on a very true story, and there are so many similarities to today. Can we love like Jesus has asked us to? Can we share Truth with Grace? Can we leave egos at the door and let God move? Can we understand that God’s movement is always rooted in the Word and in the Gospel itself? It’s about Him! Does God want to move and reach all generations with His truth? Yes! There’s so much we all can learn from one another regardless of our age and our shortcomings. Let’s get out of the way and let God move through us to reach the lost and hurting.
-Stephen

JESUS IN THE WILD Part 3:

FACING DOWN THE IF IN OUR LIVES

JESUS IN THE WILD Part 2 What is Your Identity as a Child of God?

JESUS IN THE WILD PART 1: Tested, Tempted and Challenged 

"Beauty from Ashes" - 2/22/23 Ash Wednesday Service - Misty Creek Community Church

Love that Transforms (Transfiguration Sunday)

A note from our Worship Pastor, Doug Allen:

 Come And See

In the Gospel of John, you will find the account of Jesus calling Philip to follow him. Now Jesus would soon call Nathanael to follow him as well but not before something significant happened.   John 14:45-46 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." "Come and see," said Philip.  3 little words, but words rich with impact. Philip had only been a disciple of Christ for a very short time but he was already actively reaching the world for Jesus. He was bursting at the seams with excitement to tell his friend about the One who changed his life, about the One who could change Nathanael's life, about the One who would change the whole world!  And just like Philip, the Samaritan woman had a similar encounter with Jesus at Jacob's well and an identical response...  John 4:28-30 Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" So, they left the town and made their way toward Jesus.   Both Philip and the Samaritan woman were transformed by Jesus, but they didn't keep the good news to themselves, no they said what everyone should say that has encountered the Son of God, come and see. Christian, this should be our posture every single day. We all personally know people that need their lives touched by Jesus. Just like Philip and the Samaritan woman, God wants to use you and me to prepare the way for Christ to enter and change someone's life.   To the person struggling with a hopeless addiction, come and see.  To the parents with the wayward child who are brokenhearted and wondering where they went wrong, come and see.  To the couple who appear to have it all together, but behind the facade, they're on the brink of divorce, come and see.  To the confused teen who struggles with dark depression and thoughts of suicide, come and see.   To the family that is completely brokenhearted and crushed in spirit at the loss of a loved one, come and see.  Beloved, Christ living in you might be the only Gospel that these hurting, broken people will ever see. God Almighty is counting on you and I to be a witness and a bright light to this dark world. We too were once lost but now we're found...We were blind but now we can see. Christian, this is our challenge every single day from the very lips of Jesus...  Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.   Ask God to bring people across your path that need to hear the Good News of the Gospel, I promise you, He will do it! And then from a heart of gratitude for what the Lord has done in your life may you be willing to humbly say, come and see...

All glory, honor, dominion and power be unto the King of kings, the Lord of lords and the Light of the world, Jesus! Amen and amen...

I love y'all doug