How to be a Christian when you are tired

  Photo Credit: dprevite

You probably clicked here thinking I was going to give some useful steps about being a Christian when you are tired.

Sorry about that!

The post title is more of a question than a self help post.  You see this week has been exhausting.  I have stayed up later than normal a couple times.  We have had car trouble a couple times.  Errands, chores, and some work stuff took longer than expected or didn't get done.  And there is going to be a big change coming for me at work.  So I am exhausted both mentally and physically.

I am stressed out and worried about various things that are happening and some that aren't happening.  I know God is in control and I genuinely believe that he is looking out for what is best.  That doesn't negate the fact that I have been more cynical this week.  I have had mean thoughts creep in often.  I have snapped at my husband and son more than once.  All I really want to do is curl up in a ball under my covers and go to sleep.

However, I decided to be an adult and go to work even though I really didn't want to do that.  I have tried to stop the negative thoughts and focus on positive things, like smiles and laughter.  Blessings like a full belly and a warm bed.  Maybe that is what growing in your faith is all about.  Maybe it is looking for the blessings more than you do the negatives.  Maybe it is believing God is going to come through even when things look tough.

What do you think?  How are you a Christian when you are tired?

Soul Shift: Slave to Child / Message #3

August 26, 2012
Soul Shift: Slave To Child
Message #3 / Romans 8:14-17
Scott Howard

How do we shift our soul's mindset from Slave to Child?

"...because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."   ---Romans 8:14-17

1. Slavery is recurring  ("...For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear..." Rom 8:14-15)

• The way that you see God is the way that you approach God.
• Slave Mindset = God is judge (first & foremost)
• Vicious cycle: slave to rebellion / slave to religion  --- you may continue to rebel, keeping you enslaved, or you may do deeds and rituals to "atone" for rebellion, keeping you enslaved to religion.
• You can't DO enough to get you into Heaven.  (Jesus paid it ALL)
• As a slave, you are Driven by Fear

   2.    According to the Bible, we have been adopted as God's children.  (Rom 8:15-16)

• Child Mindset = God is Father (first & foremost)
• "Abba" = Aramaic for "Daddy" (implies love, intimacy, and respect)
• when you shift from slave to child everything changes---as a child you have God's love and an inheritance 
• "Adoption" means God Wants YOU!
• As a child, you are Driven by Love---we obey Him because we Love Him, not out of obligation

   3.    To whom much is given, much is required  ("...then we are heirs...if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."  Rom 8:17)

• We are now heirs of God.  We are now co-heirs with Christ Jesus!
• Just because we are God's children doesn't give us permission to act childish.

If we understand (make a soul shift) that we should act like a child of God, maybe we would start acting more like THE Son of God (more Christlike).  Simply trust God as a child trusts his/her Daddy.  Come to Him not with childish behavior, but with a childlike spirit.

"Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
---Matthew 18:3

Next week:  Soul Shift from SEEN to UNSEEN

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. ²⁴ But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.                                                            John 2:13-25
I have read this many times, and it never really seemed that impressive to me.  It never really impressed me much because I always thought of the temple as a church.  Our churches to today are just one of the buildings that make up the block.  The temple in Jerusalem was about four city blocks!  And it wasn’t just a handful of people that he drove out.  The temple was a busy place.  Especially with all the people coming into town for the up coming Passover Festival.  One man with a whip cannot drive hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people out of a structure that takes up four city blocks.  Jesus must have put on a massive display of power to make that many people run from an area that large.  It took them forty-six years to build it.  It must have been massive!  It is estimated that it took an average of 30 years to build a pyramid. 

Why did He do it?  Jesus did it because they were using the Lords house for something other than what it was intended.  They were using it to make a buck.  That meant that Gods house was not being treated as holy.  Think of it this way.  Lets say your neighbor decides to have a yard sale.  Nothing wrong with that. Right?  Now lets say you wake up Saturday morning and he is having it in your garage.  Now that’s a problem.  I would react much the same way Jesus did.  Now I’m not trying to say churches shouldn’t have yard sales.  What God was saying is that His house should be kept holy, not used to make people rich.  I wonder what Christ would do if He came into some of our churches today? 

If this is your first time hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you want to follow Him, you too can know his joy, instead of his wrath. You can have the peace that passes all understanding. All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins. He stands at the door, ready to come in. If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer or one like it. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pray with/for you.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Announcements 8-26

  Have you ever imagined a better you?  God has a dream for you!  It's you restored to his original plan. Join us each Sunday Morning in Pastor Scott's Sunday School Class as we unpack what SoulShifts are with practical Biblical suggestions for life.  NEXT WEEK: SHIFT #3: SEEN TO UNSEEN.

LBA Meeting - The Local Board of Administration will meet Tuesday, August 28 @ 7:00pm

  The NEW Wesleyan Life magazines are now available on the table outside the Nursery.  Take as many copies as you wish and share them with others.

Youth Trip - The youth will leave on Wednesday at 5:30 to go to a Youth Rally at Bessemer City First Wesleyan Church.

WEE Praise - The children's choir will be moving from after Sunday service to the FIRST and THIRD Sunday's at 5:30 in the sanctuary.  Please note this change as the children prepare to perform their first song in the coming weeks.

Youth Swimming Trip- Don't forget the swimming trip the youth will be taking.  Meet at the church at 3:30 on Sunday.  We may or may not swim depending on weather.  However there will be food and fun!

Social Media and the Changing Church

I once heard it said that while the Gospel message itself never changes, the ways to communicate the Gospel are forever changing and evolving. I have found this to be quite true in many ways over the years. One of the ways we have seen change in the realm of how we communicate is with the explosion of social media over the past 5 years. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, and so forth have exploded in popularity. Sadly, many churches have been slow to adapt to this trend. The question I have is – why? Granted, we are merely human and it is a tendency of our human nature to be uncomfortable with change at least on some level – but Jesus has challenged us and called us to go to where the people are at and make a difference for the Kingdom. Social media is where the people are at! Facebook is the new barber shop/beauty salon or neighborhood tavern where people congregate.

So if you are reading this and belong to SRWC, let me encourage you to use the social media tools at our disposal! Please use our website and offer suggestions how we can make it better. Please follow us on Twitter (@SRWC_Hickory). Please read, comment and “like” the church’s Facebook posts. The cool thing about that is that your comments and “likes” will show up in your Facebook news feed and you never know who can see that and how it can impact them!

If you are reading this and belong to another church family, let me encourage you to embrace social media if your local body isn’t doing so. Many people in my age group (35 and younger) are much less likely to even think about visiting a church if you don’t have an active and updated website and don’t embrace social media.

Having said all of this, while I don’t think this should be our primary source of communicating with each other or people outside the church, I do think it is a viable tool for ministry. It is certainly not something we should overlook, write off as silly, or feel that we need to apologize for. The world is a changing place and many ways, not so much for the good. We cannot afford to lose relevance in how we tell others the Good News of Christ!

Soul Shift: Me to You / Message #2

August 19, 2012

Soul Shift: ME to YOU / Message #2

Mark 9 – 10

Scott Howard

The Unholy Trinity:  Me, Myself, and I

Twice, Jesus informed the disciples that he was going to be betrayed, killed, and then be raised from the dead.  And both times, the disciples were not paying attention, they were thinking about themselves.

“He said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.   They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.’…They came to Capernaum.  When he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’  But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who among them was the greatest.”   --- Mark 9:31, 33-34

“’We are going up to Jerusalem,’ Jesus said, ‘and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law.  They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him.  Three days later he will rise.’  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him, ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’  ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked.  They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.’ “   ---Mark 10:33-37

Ø  What does Selfishness look like?

·         Sin  à  Sin is wrapped in self.  We rebel because we  want to satisfy our own desires.

·         Discontent  à if we try to satisfy ourselves, we are never truly happy, we’re still miserable and left wanting more

·         Impatience  à what I want, when I want it; and I’ll be frustrated if I don’t get it, or if someone else has it

·         Greed  à I want more things, I’m entitled to more things---focused on me

“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”                    ---James 3:16   (also read Luke 12:13-21  the parable of the Rich Fool)

·         Lying  à Deceiving and Manipulating…”if you really love me you’ll…”

·         A Critical Spirit  à “my ideas are better”

·         Look out for ourselves first

·         Hold grudges

Ø  What are the Results of Selfishness?

·         I lose my sense of Caring à about other’s needs, about God’s will –James 4:1-3

·         I lose my Joy  à again, if we try to satisfy ourselves, we are never truly happy  --Proverbs 18:1

·         I lose my Freedom  à  in a world focused on me, I don’t see the bigger picture and other opportunities, I’m in a “me” bubble

·         I lose my Connection with God à I’m selfish with my time, I don’t take time to pray, read the Bible, go to church

“There is no room for God in he who is full of himself.”

Ø  How can we be Delivered from Selfishness?

·         Pray For it à “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.”  --Psalm 119:36

·         Put God First  à “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”  --2 Cor 5:15  --Also read Luke 12:22-34

·         Be Generous  à generosity is the opposite of selfishness

·         Practice Humility  à “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”  --Matthew 7:12   --Also read Philippians 2:3-8

Announcements 8-20

  Have you ever imagined a better you?  God has a dream for you!  It's you restored to his original plan. Join us each Sunday Morning in Pastor Scott's Sunday School Class as we unpack what SoulShifts are with practical Biblical suggestions for life.  NEXT WEEK: SHIFT #2: SLAVE TO CHILD (Continued).

Thank you! Thank you to all who helped reach out to Lenoir Rhyne University this past Friday by helping the new students move into their dorms.

LBA Meeting - The Local Board of Administration will meet Tuesday, August 28 @ 7:00pm

  The NEW Wesleyan Life magazines are now available on the table outside the Nursery.  Take as many copies as you wish and share them with others.

Baby Shower - For Buddy & Cassie DeVine Next Sunday, August 26 here at SRWC from 3:00-5:00 pm.  They are registered at Babies - R - Us.