I have here the family beside me. Mikey, come right. I don't know if you remember, but it was in 2000, 2001, that a group of young boys would be in a Bible study on Monday nights over in the sanctuary. And we called it Monday Night Live.
And among those, you remember the guys that were there? Yes. Yes. Byron was one of them. Byron was there. And I remember Charles being there. And a group of them. And even Kevin Camato. Was he? I'm trying to remember. My mind escapes me.
But would you take a minute, because your family is already here, introduce your family. I don't think they recognize this young man who was born in this church. I like to think, oh man, meek. Just take a minute to introduce your family.
Thank you for welcoming us back. And Kathleen served in our front office for how many years, Kathleen? Was it just two? Man, two or three, several years. Well, we are excited. We are excited to have you home again. I know you left for a specific ministry, and we are glad that you are here.
We have a motion to accept. Do I hear a second? Oh, somebody was quite loud. You heard who it was. Could your Ernie have the second? All in favor, can we raise our right hand? This is family for you.
And I hope that when at the end of the service, when Mikey stands there and the family stands there, that you can raise your hand. And I hope that you can raise your hand. And I hope that you can raise your hand. And I hope that you come around and welcome him and greet him back.
And I wanted to let you know that, sorry, I'm taking somebody's part. Good morning, boys and girls. Oh, come on. Good morning, boys and girls. There you go.
You know, have you ever watched a movie or a show and said something like, "So that's how it all started?" Have you ever seen a movie where it goes, "Oh, I get it. That's how it all started."
So, for example, when I was in high school, and that was a long, long, long time ago, I watched a movie, and I thought it was awesome. See if you could guess me what the movie was. I watched a movie that had a robot, a lightsaber, and a Jedi. Can you think what? That's right. Yes. Star Wars is right.
You know, you guys know Star Wars, but could you believe that came out when I was in high school? That was, wow, like 40 years ago. That's a long time ago. Yeah. The movie was called Star Wars, and I didn't know that when I first watched the actual Star Wars that I didn't realize I wasn't watching the beginning of the series. I was actually watching the what? The middle of the series.
There's actually movies that come before Star Wars. Does anyone know what the very first movie that started the whole Star Wars a long, long time ago? It came out more current, so you guys may know. Did anyone remember? Oh, it was called The Phantom Menace. That's the very first movie that came out, and that's what you call a prequel.
A prequel is when you have something that takes place before something else started. So if you watch The Phantom Menace, you go, "Oh, that's the prequel to what movie?" Star Wars.
Now, I'm going to put a little guess and see if you guys remember this. If I say the prequel Bumblebee, what movie would that be that came after? The Transformer. That's right. The Transformer.
How about if I said something like Monsters Universe? Monsters, Inc. I heard someone say that. That's right. Monsters, Inc.
Let's see if you get this one. Last one. Do you know the very first prequel to the movie, to the Avengers? Anyone know? Which one? No, no. The Avengers. Not quite Star Wars. Just think a little bit more. I bet you when I say the first word, you'll know what it is. It starts with Captain America. Captain America. Captain. Yeah, Captain America.
Well, the reason why we're talking about prequels today is because last time I preached, I preached on a passage called Matthew 18:5. And Matthew 18:5 talks about what do you do when a person has broken a relationship with you.
And you go, "Oh, Matthew 18:5. What do you do when a person has broken a relationship with you?" And there were three things that we went over. And I'm just going to remind us because it helps us for today's sermon. Those three things, oh, it's almost there.
Those three things are go private, get resolution, and give forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness.
Matthew 18 happens when someone has hurt you. But, you know, there's a saying, see if you can remember this, an ounce of prevention, your mommy and daddy will know this, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of what? A pound of cure.
Well, today our topic is called Relationship Guideline. And the relationship guideline is what you and I, could you see what's up there? What you and I call the what? Jesus. No, that's actually, it kind of looks like Jesus, but it's actually Moses. And what is he holding? The Ten Commandments.
We're going to actually talk about the Ten Commandments today, and we're going to call that the relationship guidelines. But before we do that, we're going to play a little exercise. Can you put out two hands like this? Dusty, can you count for me one through ten? Here we go. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Now, let's see, could you do this in Tagalog? Okay, let's try. Ready? Here we go. I hope I can do this in Tagalog. Let's try. Here we go. Oh, very good. All right. One more. One more. Can you do this in Spanish? Oh, let's try. Let's try. Here we go. Here we go. Ready? And uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.
Wow. Can we give the kids a big hand? Good job. Yeah. You know, I always wondered why God wrote the Ten Guidelines. And I'm wondering maybe it's because he wanted for us to remember what they were, and two, that he knew that it was a very important fact in our lives. But that was a very important fact.
And so, this little piece of the Ten was a little gift that Jesus gave me. And so, today, I'm going to take this gift and we're going to pray for you in the name of Jesus.
G loves to, she is quite an artist. She loves to sketch. And you know about umpteen years ago, God created a sketch when Pastor G was born. And God said today is a very special day because today is Pastor G's birthday, and we want to sing her a happy birthday because she's your pastor, right?
Okay, are you ready? Nice and loud. Would you, can you say a prayer for Pastor G? Yeah, wait, I'm gonna grab a jet. I'm going to grab a microphone here, and it is H7, and we're gonna have one of her young people say a prayer of blessing over Pastor G.
Let's borrow it. Amen. Thank you so much. Thank you, Pastor G. At the end, Pastor G and my wife will have this sketchbook, and here's a little assignment. Out of the 10 guidelines that we have, I'm only going to ask you to give me the first three. How many? Three. Pretty easy, right? The first three.
And if you tell Pastor G or if you tell Auntie Faye over there, because that way it's not a long line, they will help you if you don't quite remember it. They will have one of these sketchbooks. And the reason why I chose a sketchbook is because I hope that as you sketch, you remember that when we look at the 10 commandments, it is a sketch of God's love for you and I.
Okay, so what are we gonna do? Repeat what the first three guidelines. Pretty easy, right? Well, thank you, boys and girls. We're gonna go ahead and give the love offering, and we're gonna ask you to go like that. Amen, thank you, ladies.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel. When you hear the phrase Ten Commandments, what are the first initial thoughts that come into your mind when someone said God's character?
So over the years, Seventh-day Adventists have often been miscategorized because of our choice to keep the Ten Commandments. We've been called oftentimes in the Christian circle as being legalists. Because since we are already saved by grace, then why the need for the Ten Commandments?
So before we look at the Ten Commandments, I believe it's important for us to understand maybe the reasons behind why God wrote it. And today, maybe we'll get a chance to view the Ten Commandments from a different perspective than what we have seen before.
But before we do, let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father God, good morning. Thank you for the opportunity and the privilege to talk about something that is so important to you that you took the time to write it with your own fingers. Help us see this topic, Father God, not out of duty, but maybe from a different perspective, of a love relationship with you. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
I think one of the first misconceptions about the Ten Commandments is that we often think that it begins in verse number three, where it says, "You shall have no other gods before me." And that the Ten Commandments... But today I want us to remember that the Ten Commandments does not begin in verse three. It actually begins in verse what? One.
Verse one says, "Then God gave the people all these instructions." And he says, "I am the Lord your God who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery."
Now, we're going to do a little bit more discussion today. It's going to be a little bit different. But turn to your neighbor right now or someone close to you, and I want you to take 30 seconds and to talk about how much did the Israelites do to obtain their freedom from Egypt? Talk to your neighbor just for a second. How much did they do?
Okay, I'm going to pause this there because it wasn't a deep theological question. But really, the answer is how much? Nothing. That's right. The answer is nothing. The Israelites were unable to do anything to gain their freedom and salvation.
This may be a paradigm shift or a different way of thinking for some. If you grew up thinking that keeping the Ten Commandments is a pathway to salvation, I'm going to say that carefully. But I'm going to say it again. If you grew up thinking that keeping the Ten Commandments is a pathway to salvation, I am going to propose that verse 1 and 2 challenges that thought.
What was impossible for the Israelites was not impossible for who? For God. In fact, Jesus emphasizes this same point in Matthew 9 verse 1 when he talks about a young man, a rich young man, who came up to him. And he says, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to what? To get eternal life?"
And Jesus replies, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you want to enter life," he says this, "keep your life, keep the what? Keep the commandments."
And the young man says to him, "Which ones? Which ones?" And Jesus replies, "You know what they are. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. Honor your father and your mother and love your neighbor as yourself."
You see, Jesus knew that this young man had the same misconception as many have before him. He grew up thinking that the Ten Commandments were a pathway to his salvation. And so therefore, the young man says to him, "Teacher, all of these I have what? All of these I have kept. What am I still lacking?"
You know, if that same scenario happened today, I wonder if that young man may have thought, "I got this. I grew up Adventist. I went to an Adventist school. I went to church faithfully. I paid my tithe and offering. I even volunteered at church."
And maybe that young man was thinking that Jesus would say, "Look at you. Good job, buddy. Way to go. Keep it up." But instead, Jesus responds through him in a loop because Jesus instead says, "But if you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me."
And the passage says that when the young man heard this, he went away sad because he had great wealth. Ultimately, when the disciples heard this, they had to ask, "Well then, Jesus, tell us who then can be saved? How can then we be saved?"
And here was when, as a teacher would call it, a window of teaching opportunity came. And he says, "With man, this is what? Impossible. But with God, all things are possible."
I'm going to have a couple of confessions today. One is this: I had this sermon all written out, and when I was rewriting it last night, it doesn't matter to me. It doesn't happen very often, but I ended up rewriting the whole sermon.
And God and I are going to have to have some talk because he can't do this very often because it's really hard to rewrite a whole sermon and put the PowerPoint together at the last minute. And so I want to say thank you, Elmar, because at 10 o'clock in the morning he says, "Pastor, is your PowerPoint coming?" And I said, "It's on the way."
But as I... Original intent was to literally go over the 10 guidelines. Last night God says, "That's not where you're going." And instead, God took me for a different direction.
Jesus says to them, "With man, this is what? Impossible. With God, all things are possible." When God wrote the 10 commandments, he wanted to remind his children that they weren't saved because of what they were asked to do.
And today I'm going to ask you to stay very closely with me because if you don't, there's a tendency that you may misunderstand what I am trying to say. But again, I'm going to say this: they weren't saved because of what they were asked to do. They weren't saved because of what they were asked to do. Rather, what they were asked to do was because they were saved.
Did you guys catch that? God wasn't saying, "Hey, in order for you to be saved, these are the things that I need for you to do." That's not what he said. What he was saying instead was that, "Listen, you are saved; therefore, these are the things that I am asking you to do."
True obedience is the result of a saving relationship. True obedience is an outcome of a saving relationship. I obey not because I want to get saved; I obey because I am what? Saved.
And if you've been living your life feeling burdened, if you've been living your life feeling discouraged because you go like, "Man, there's no way I can do all of these things," I've got good news for you. It's not about you. Your salvation was never about you. It's not what you can do; it's about already what God has done.
God already said, "I saved you. I took you out of Egypt. I made you free." I like what Ellen White has to say in Steps to Christ. When I saw this passage, I said, "Man, so beautiful." She says, "We do not earn salvation by our obedience, for salvation is the free gift of God to be received how? By faith."
But obedience is the fruit of faith. "Ye know that he was the first to take our sins, and in him is no sin. So whosoever abideth in him sinneth not."
I like that last two passages when she says, "Here is the true test: If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions will be in harmony with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of the law."
And say it again: "Here is the true what? Test. That if we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions will be in harmony with the will of God."
I like how this goes: "If we abide, our thoughts, our purpose, our action will be in harmony." The key word in this passage is if we... What is the word? Abide.
We often see in John 15, that's the famous abiding passage. That passage says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me."
And he says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, how much can you do? Nothing."
You see, abide means to stay connected or remain. It is active. It is not a feeling like, "Oh, I abide." It's not a feeling. It's not a belief. It is literally something that we do. The opposite of abide is also an action. It's to depart, to leave, to break off. They are both an intentional choice.
So today I got to ask the question: How does it look like when we begin to see the 10 commandments from a viewpoint of not abide, not obeying, but rather abiding? What does it look like when we begin to look at the 10 commandments not from the simple purposes of "I need to obey," but rather "I need to what?"
So today I want to give a different perspective. But we don't have time to look at all 10 because then we would be here for a long time. I just want to focus on the first 3. That's it. First 3.
But let me summarize for us that was something we know. Jesus summarized this whole thing. He says the whole 10 commandments can be summarized into two things: love your neighbor, no, love the Lord with God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And then what? Love your neighbor as yourself.
So Jesus took the whole 10 commandments and divided them into two different things. He says love God. Hmm, sounds familiar. Love others. Hmm, sounds familiar. Make disciples.
So the portion of love God is simply this: Guideline number 1, I'm not going to list the whole thing. No other gods. Guideline number 2, no idols. Guideline number 3, don't misuse God's name.
Today I won't be covering Guideline number 4. We're pretty good at that. But I want to look at the first 3 things that we don't cover as much in the pulpit.
So what does the first 3 guidelines look at? But before we get started, I want to remind us what Edgar Dale said. And I'm going to be implementing this a little bit more in the times when I preach, especially when we have our preaching series in November on the church.
Edgar Dale was an educator, and he developed what we consider today the learning pyramid or active learning. And he says this: He says we remember only 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear. So if all you did today was listen, you will be lucky if you remember 20% of it.
30% of what we hear and see, 50%... Oh no, I take it back. 50% of what we see and hear. And then notice the jump: 70% of what we discuss with others, 80% of what we personally experience, and 95% of what we teach.
As one who worked with our kids in drill, I've always said if you want to learn drill, what you have to do is to teach someone. Because when you teach someone, then you really catch it.
But today we're going to do a little bit of a discussion. So I'm actually going to divide the first three guidelines. We're going to divide and conquer, and I'm going to give you guys to talk for a little bit here. Something we don't do often.
So here are the three. If you could show to me the three guidelines that we're going to be talking about today. Three guidelines here, and it's guideline number one. It's the slide after this one. Exodus chapter 20, verse 1 through 11. There it is.
You've got the preamble. You've got guideline one, guideline two, and guideline three. So here it is. I am going to ask from here to here to talk to your neighbor and discuss guideline number one.
So you guys have guideline number what? One. From here to here, you have guideline number two. And from here to the very end, you have guideline number three.
And here's what I want you to talk about. I want you to ask, "How does this guideline look like from an abiding experience?" I'm not asking you what it is that you do, but rather from an abiding experience, what does that look like? What does that feel like? What does that mean for you from an abiding experience?
Meaning to say, when I use the word abiding experience, from a relationship with who? With God. So I'm actually literally going to look at my clock. I'm right on time. I'm going to give you two minutes. How have I seen this in the past? How have I felt about this? How does this now look different from an abiding experience?
Okay, I'm going to let you go. So two minutes, go ahead and make that about 30 seconds. Four, three, two, one.
If I was in VBS, I would say something like this: eyes on me. Guideline number one. I like this. In the class, we call this divide and conquer. Instead of you having to learn all three, you just learn one section, and the others will help you along the way.
So I'm going to go to this group on guideline number one and ask, "What does no other God look like in an abiding relationship with God?"
Now let me say this: There are no rights and wrong answers. In fact, what I'm going to share with you is not the answer, but a way for us to maybe think about this and look at this from a different way of thinking, a different perspective.
So I'm going to ask, as you talk to someone, can I ask a couple of you to share what you discussed? What does an abiding... How does no other God look like in an abiding relationship? Is there a volunteer?
Before the teacher does what the teacher always does, and that's call on someone, because you know that's what teachers do. They call on people. And this is the time when everybody looks down because they don't want to make eye contact, right?
They look down because they don't want to make eye contact because the one who makes the eye contact loses. So Arden over there keeps on looking up and looking down, looking up and looking down, and then they call on him.
So yeah, so Arden, on your discussion, in brief, what does no other God mean from an abiding relationship?
Sorry, can I number? Try it again. It's on now. It's on.
Okay, between the mini group. So guideline number one, we just said that we make God our priority. Number one priority. Very nice. Very nice.
I'm going to go over here. Volunteer over here. I see some... I see a visitor and stuff right there. And so, you know, Arden, you know I was going to pick on you because I haven't seen you for a while. She's right over here. Raise your hand, Arden, because you know who I'm talking about.
Yeah, there you go. Are you two? Right, you're in two. So take that back. That's too early. Anyone here on this side of the here from guideline number one that got a chance to talk?
Oh man, I don't like it when I have to call on people. That's that. Kuya, can you share a little bit? Is it okay? No? No fourth?
And any volunteers? Are you two or one? That's right, two or one. One? Oh, perfect, right here. Group number one. What is it that you just briefly shared about what does no other God look like from an abiding relationship?
See, she was taking it deep. Yeah, there you go. So thank you for just taking that from a whole different perspective, right? Thank you for taking that from a whole...
So I am going to just share with you just an insight that I had as I was studying this passage. Again, it doesn't make mine right and yours wrong. It just gives it a different perspective, right?
And so now all of a sudden, I don't want you to get like, "Pastor, is there anything wrong with shopping?" The answer is no, absolutely not, right? Absolutely not.
But when shopping becomes the priority, then instead of abiding, you become disconnected. Disconnected. And all of a sudden, it's not a matter of, "Did I sin?" But rather the question of, "Am I remaining disconnected? Am I abiding?"
And that's a freeing feeling. It's not about, "Oh God, am I sinning because I went shopping?" But rather, "God, has shopping become my obsession and priority instead of you?"
So guideline number one, I put it this way, and I'm going to go to the next slide: Make God the most important relationship in my life. That's what abiding is.
Make God the most important relationship in my life. That means, and this is where it gets tricky, because when I was growing up, I said, "God, I will follow you. Please do not let me give up my children and my marriage in order for me to follow you."
And you know, God took me where I was. And as I was reflecting on this, I said, "God, do I still believe my relationship with my wife and my kids take a higher priority than my relationship with you?"
And here's what God shared with me last night. He says, "If I am your most important relationship, you will become a better husband, a better father."
God said, "It's not about giving up. It's not about saying, 'You know, my family is not important. My marriage is not important.' It's about knowing that when I have a relationship with God, he makes me the person that if I was single, someone would want to marry."
If I was single... Sorry, because that was off script. But I saw all these wonderful young adults in my mind. A whole different perspective. Sorry, Keisha, I can't believe I...
All love. When God is the most important relationship in my life, regardless of what challenge comes your way, whether you become sick, whether you have cancer, whether you're going through financial struggles, you will be... You can be. Because when you are abiding with God, he's got you.
Guideline number two. Now I'm gonna go from here, Pastor Mark, to over here. Now I'm gonna return the mic to you. What does "no idols" mean from an abiding relationship?
I took Clyde's challenge, and I'm still struggling with it today. Clyde gave me a challenge. He says, "Pastor Manny, when you go to bed, put your phone in a different room."
Put your phone in a different room. And I took that, but sometimes when I'm waiting for something, I kind of like... And I go, "But Clyde, I use it for my alarm clock." You know, and so I would make an excuse.
But you're right. I mean, it's so tough. It's challenging. Just get one more input over here on this side. What does "no idols" mean for you in an abiding relationship?
Is there someone that kind of in the back over there that's kind of willing to share? Because you know, go right over here. Oh, there's... Thank you.
Living in America, number two, easier or harder? Let's take a vote. How many here find number two harder? Raise your hand. How many here find that it is not harder? Raise your hand.
That was a poorly phrased question. Sorry. It was very poorly phrased. I am going to concur that it's more difficult for us because for me, an abiding relationship with God means to intentionally reject... And here's a big word, and kids, I'm going to explain it to you a little bit: reject materialism.
If you're sitting beside a young person, can you turn to them and explain what that word means? Reject materialism.
Right? So if I was going to keep this in a simple term, here's what I would say: Guideline number two, don't worship the stuff that God has given you to care for.
Right? Don't worship the stuff that God has given you to care for. You see, we live in a land flowing with milk and honey, but that's double-edged, isn't it? It's a blessing and a what? A challenge, right?
It's a blessing and a challenge. Money and material things are not inherently evil. I want to say this because oftentimes we misquote the Bible. Money is the root of... It is not. It's the what? It's the love of money that is inherently evil.
Money and materials and the stuff that we have has no good or bad attached to it. It's what we do and the value that we place on them. If the stuff that we have prevents us from having an abiding relationship with God, then it gets in the way.
Last Wednesday, during our midweek prayer, and we had an awesome group last Wednesday, the whole family circle. It was so neat to see you guys there. But if you haven't attended our midweek prayer meeting, it's just one hour. It really is a cool time to just pause in the middle of the week.
Sorry, I'm doing a commercial. Just to pause in the middle of the week, take a chance to reflect on the word of God and to pray together. It's so neat. But last Wednesday, sorry, I just had to do a midweek commercial.
But Pastor Gisella spoke about, of all things, tithe and offering. That was an interesting topic. She spoke about tithe and offering. But I loved the focus that Pastor Gisella said.
She said, "When we have a loving and abiding relationship with God, tithe and offering is not a duty but a privilege and a joy."
Don't need to go up here and say, "Folks, you know what Malachi 3 says? Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse." Twist arms and make you feel like you are not doing your duty if you don't.
Rather, when we have a relationship with Jesus, tithe and offering is a privilege. It's a what? It's a privilege. It's a joy. No wonder the Bible says God blesses a what type of giver? A cheerful giver.
I believe that God instituted tithe and offering as a reminder that who owns all our stuff? All of you believe that? So I'm going to say that again. God instituted tithe and offering as a reminder that who owns all our stuff?
A third of you. Who owns all our stuff? God owns all our stuff.
And I'm going to confess that I struggle with it. I struggle with it when I try to determine how far am I from retirement, how much money will there be when I'm no longer working, will I have enough pay?
I begin to then think that, "Oh, it's about me." But it isn't. I'm not saying not to worry about your future. I'm just saying when we have an abiding relationship with God, he'll take care of you. He'll take care of me and my family.
Which leads us to the last one. Oh man, okay, we're going to use the last one. We're going to go really quick. I'm sorry. The first thing I want to say is don't misuse God's name.
Quickly, just a couple of input. Oh, she's got it right here. When you care more about the argument than the person, right? Thank you.
And I'm going to just leave it at that because you just encapsulated what I was thinking when I thought of this passage. And that is guideline number three: Our life speaks who God is.
Our life speaks who God is. When we have an abiding relationship with God, there is no such thing as a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde.
The story was told of a young man, a young Christian man, who worked in a logging industry. And because the logging industry typically had men in it and no women, when things at the end of the day, you know what happens in the logging industry? The language, the things, and all of that that happens.
And someone went to this young man, and he says, "Hey, didn't you find it hard to be there since you are a Christian? Didn't they make fun of you?"
And the young man replied, "Oh, actually, it wasn't. They somehow never found out I was."
Our life speaks to who God is. When we have an abiding relationship with God, who people see as... Oh, I am going to say this. I am so sorry. I am not throwing darts. Maybe I am throwing darts this way.
When who people see at church should not be different than who people see at work, at home. And this is really tough because no one is a prophet in their own house.
And as a pastor, this hits me hard. I were going to ask my kids, "Do you see me the same way as people in church see me? Do I act differently in front of my members than when I am at home when no one is around?"
You see, when we are compassionate, we speak who God is. When we are caring, we speak who God is. When we are forgiving, we speak who God is.
But what is true for one side is also true for the other. And you nailed it. When we are apathetic to the hurts and needs of people around us, could it be possible that we are misusing God's name?
When we are critical and unforgiving, could it be possible that we misuse God's name? You know, Gandhi famously said, "I would have been a Christian if it weren't for the Christians."
And I am going to be the first to tell you, my life, our life is a work in progress, isn't it? I can be theologically correct, but if I deal with others in an unloving way, my theology becomes null and void.
As a church, we can say love God, love others, and make disciples. But if our actions as a church do not reflect that, they simply are words.
This is my second confession for you, Ernie. Lately, I've been struggling. I've been struggling as pastor of this church, praying for God's wisdom as we navigate between litigious state, the conference requirement, the member and staff expectations, and the safety of our children and our campus.
I echo the words of Professor John Byron when he says, "You know, ministry is not for the faint of heart. It requires courage and fortitude undergirded by confidence in the call of God on your life."
I've been struggling. I've been struggling and asking myself the question, "What does a church who says love God, love others, and make disciples look like in this community?"
The decisions that we make... I'm not going to go into details. It is hard. It is hard because there are certain things that I wish I could do. The conference says, "No, you can't." The members go, "But pastor..."
And I, for the rest of the week, can I give you guys an assignment? You've got 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Take one of those each day in your worship time. Talk about it as a family. Say, "What does this look like in an abiding relationship with God?"
Because I think that as we begin to see the 10 commandments from an abiding relationship, then God takes away the guilt. God takes away the burden. But rather, he begins to say, "God, what kind of person are you making me?"
My prayer is that as a church, we become his hands, his feet, and his voice that shows the world what it truly does mean.
Let us pray.
God, there is no turning back, simply walking forward with you. There is no looking back. There is only looking ahead. God, I realize that that journey is not easy. I realize that we face our own struggles, that we face our own challenges. None of us is perfect.
But God, may we just abide in your presence, knowing that we are loved, knowing that you embrace us, knowing that you carry us, and that with you by our side, we will reflect you in the way that we live our lives so that others may see Jesus.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
It's who I am. And may the God who calls you son and daughter, may his love and peace and compassion be upon you. You reflect them in your life.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Click to upload 
on Oct 10, 2024
