Advent: Peace 02

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

John 20:26

At first glance it is easy to be distracted by the miracle of Jesus appearance in a locked room.  But don't get lost in the flash.  Consider the situation.  Jesus had been crucified before the eyes of the disciples, and His suffering put on public display.  Everything they had followed was seemingly gone. Where do they go from here?  What does it all mean?  What in the world is happening?  Everything is changing in an obvious way, but the reason and needed perspective are unclear.

We have all experienced times in life when we asked the same questions.  What is happening?  What is next?  There is a feeling of shock and unrest.  The loss of a friend or family member, the loss of a job, the loss of a relationship, or even the loss of a pet.  There is such a sense of unrest in the face of grief.  The human experience of grief includes anger, denial, shock, etc.  None of those include tranquility or calm.  It is as if you are enduring a great storm of emotion.

During my college years, a hurricane hit the Gulf Coast of which I was living about 100 miles inland.  The storm came straight in to our little college town of Auburn, AL blowing all night long.  The winds were sustained around 80-100MPH.  There was one point in which there was an erie calm.  We could see some of the destruction by the street lights, but almost no wind was blowing.  We were in the eye of the storm.  

When Jesus entered the grief stricken room of disciples unbeknownst to them, he said, "Peace be with you."  He was the calm, content, completeness they needed in an emotional storm of life.  Even bigger than that, Jesus was the calm, content, completeness the world needed in it's brokenness.  The ministry of the incarnation was peace in the midst of grief and turmoil.  It was healing for the brokenhearted.  It was a peaceful eye in the midst of the storm.

During the storms of life that you experience now, will you cling to Him as He enters the room saying, "Peace be with you"?  Allow Him to be the eye of the storm.  There is much needed peace in the midst of all of our lives.  The circumstances may be irreversible, but there is calm in Christ.

May the lyrics of this song comfort you in the midst of trouble, and may the Son of God minister peace to your heart.

All who sail the sea of faith

Find out before too long

How quickly blue skies can grow dark

And gentle winds grow strong

Suddenly fear is like white water

Pounding on the soul

Still we sail on knowing

That our Lord is in control

Sometimes He calms the storm

With a whispered peace be still

He can settle any sea

But it doesn't mean He will

Sometimes He holds us close

And lets the wind and waves go wild

Sometimes He calms the storm

And other times He calms His child

He has a reason for each trial

That we pass through in life

And though we're shaken

We cannot be pulled apart from Christ

No matter how the driving rain beats down

On those who hold to faith

A heart of trust will always

Be a quiet peaceful place

Sometimes He calms the storm

With a whispered peace be still

He can settle any sea

But it doesn't mean He will

Sometimes He holds us close

And lets the wind and waves go wild

Sometimes He calms the storm

And other times He calms His child

Advent: Peace 01

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:14

"Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered.

The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled.

As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd.

A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.

The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?

A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power.

A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil." 

(Berit Kjos, A Wardrobe from the King, pp. 45-46.)

Where do you look to find peace?  So often we think of escape to find peace, or we think that serenity and calm will follow the life after God's own heart.  Both seem to be contrary to the report of Peace in the New Testament as we will see over the coming days.  Peace is found in the midst of suffering, pain, and worry NOT in its absence.  Surely there are times of peace that come at the absence of difficulties, but there is a certain Christological and Pauline quality to finding peace in the midst of tumultuous times.  After all, when is it that we call out for peace the most?  It is in times of difficulty.  

The incarnation of Christ is the picture of peace that we see illustrated above.  In a world full of anxiety, sin, worry, pain, suffering, etc.  God became man.  God brought His peace to a broken world.  God came to suffer, and in the midst of His suffering He offers peace through grace.  He came because escape wasn't an option.  He came because no one else could offer the peace found in God.  In the midst of tumultuous times the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE among those whom He is pleased."

So as we search and long for peace this season, let us not look for it in escape, but let us look in the midst of trouble to find peace in the presence of Christ.

Lord, may your peace reign in my heart and life.  Help me see the your peace through my circumstances.  And may Your salvation be the nest where I rest in your peace.

Amen

Approaching God Boldly and Respectfully Part 1

Approaching God through prayer can be a very intimidating thing.  After all, He is the creator of the universe.  More powerful than any government or military leader, yet He came to earth as a common man with an uncommon mission. 

As Jesus gave a pattern to pray, He began with how to address God.  Anytime we have a conversation, how we start it is very important.  Many times we will open with small talk or cut right to the chase.  Jesus cuts right to the chase when praying.  He gets right to the proper way we are to address God, boldly and respectfully.

Matthew 6:9 begins, "This then is how you should pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."  As the disciples heard this I can imagine that their response would have been directly opposite from ours.  For almost a generation the emphasis in church has been on the personal relationship with God.  The message can become so personal, like He is our buddy that we hang out with regularly that we lose not only the "Hallowed be your name" part, but also the importance of the "Our Father" part.  The disciples probably would have practiced the reverence toward God in such a way that the personal family address would have seemed very shocking.  There is something essential to be taken from both as we explore what Jesus meant through His opener in prayer.  He is not simply our "buddy" nor is He so distant that we cannot approach Him at all.  Take time befor we continue to examine what your view of God is.  How do you approach the God of the universe?  Is it formal?  Is it casual?  Is it personal?  And how does He want to be addressed?

...to be continued.

Following Jesus Example in Prayer

Can you hear me now?  Good.  We all remember the catch phrase from a popular cell campaign a few years back.  Over mountains, in a swamp, and through the city it is important to be able to communicate with others, but how about God?  Can you hear me now is probably the most common question that both we and God ask of each other. 

Prayer is the cell service of the divine, and its coverage beats any digital network on earth.  We want God to hear us; we also want to know that God can hear us.  He also wants us to listen to Him as He communicates His will for our lives.  With these questions on our mind, where do we start?

Let's begin where the disciples began.  There is only one thing recorded in the Bible that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to do, pray.  Luke 11:1 says, "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.'”

Out of all of the things to ask for, why would the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray?  Why not healing?  Why not turning water into wine?  Why not _____ (you fill in the blank)? 

The reason, I believe, is because many of these other things happened as a result of Jesus getting alone and PRAYING.  So let's begin learning to pray the way the disciples did, by looking at some of the time Jesus prayed.

One of the first times we see that Jesus went to a solitary place to pray is Mark 1:35-39.  When he returned to His disciples they urgently called to Jesus saying, "Everyone is looking for you."  Fresh in from prayer Jesus instructed His followers that it was time to go somewhere else to minister.  What?  You may wonder, as I do, what happened during prayer time that made it more important to go somewhere else even though there seemed to be many people desiring His presence?

Another time Jesus went to pray alone, as a result, He chose who would be His disciples.  Luke 6:12-16 says Jesus spent the night in prayer and then chose the twelve.  What happened during His overnight prayer vigil that inspired Jesus to choose those guys?

Two chapters prior to the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray was perhaps the most magnificent display during prayer.  As Jesus was praying Luke 9:29 recounts that Jesus was transfigured into bright light.  What in the world was Jesus praying when His face changed and His clothes started glowing?

We are left with the questions, but I believe these are the clues as to why the disicples wanted to know how to pray.  It seems that prayer is the key to unlock some of the most mysterious things that happened to Jesus.  I would want to know how to pray too...wait...that is exactly where we are in Luke 11.  So join me in this journey through Jesus' teachings on prayer.  Let's discover together how to approach the God of the universe and listen to what His will is for our lives.  Let's see if we can understand what we can ask Him and if there is any time that He doesn't listen. 

I will be preaching this series on prayer entitled, "Can You Hear Me Now?" every Sunday September 18-October 30, 9:30am at Conifer Community Church.  If you miss a week of worship you can always listen online at http://www.conifercommunitychurch.org/. 

CCC to Hire a Driector of Youth Ministries

Conifer Community Church in Conifer, CO is seeking an entrepreneurial, energetic leader to start a ministry reaching and discipling  the youth and families of the Conifer area.  We are located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains southwest of Denver off HWY 285.  The right candidate for this position will be a self starter willing to work closely with our pastor to establish a family-based youth ministry.  We are hiring a part-time Director of Youth Ministries with the possibility to grow into a full-time Director of Family Ministries based on the growth and success of the ministry.  After you check out (http://www.conifercommunitychurch.org/AboutCCC.html) the job description and our statement of faith, if you are the right person for this position, email your resume, three references, and a one page personal statement of faith to CCCjobs@live.com

Sermon Series on Prayer

Can you hear me now?

Ever felt your prayers are not being answered?  Does God hear us—does prayer really work?

 In his upcoming series on biblical prayer “Can you hear me now?” Pastor Lance will address these questions and more.

When we pray we often want God to listen to us, but powerful, effective prayer, according to God’s Word, begins with a focus on Him in a two-way communication.

Scriptural context for this series will be centered on The Lord’s Prayer and Jesus’ teachings.

The series will begin Sept. 18, coinciding with Back to Church Sunday. This national event encouraging a return to church is also a call to invite friends and neighbors to attend services. Other mountain community churches will also be participating in Back to Church Sunday.

To encourage a deeper study on the topic of prayer, Pastor Lance suggests purchasing the devotional With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray. A copy may be reserved by filling out a communication card in the bulletin.

Natural Church Development

Leveraging our strengths in order to build up the growth areas at CCC is the main objective of participating in the Natural Church Development (NCD) program.

NCD is a research organization which conducts church studies. The group, which has implemented survey questionnaires of churches in 32 countries, promotes a principle-oriented program for church growth.

What NCD discovered as a result of the surveys are eight principles which characterize growing churches. These principles form possible areas of growth to be identified in survey results and include:

1. empowering leadership
2. gift-oriented ministry
3. passionate spirituality
4. functional structures
5. inspiring worship
6. holistic small groups
7. need-oriented evangelism
8. loving relationships

The group discovered that all eight principles must be present in order for a church to have healthy growth. The scriptural principle of Matthew 7:17 that good trees bear good fruit supports this point.

A recent survey of a cross section of CCC individuals who have attended the church for more than three months was given to identify growth areas.  The results are being tallied by ChurchSmart Resources.

Once growth areas are identified a one-year health team will be formed to set and achieve goals to improve these areas, according to Pastor Lance Swearengin.

The pastor hopes the survey results will be “used to identify quality characteristics we can improve in order to become a more healthy church.”

The survey will be given three consecutive years to review progress in the growth areas.