Discipleship

You can’t swim alone…Faith is something lived out in community.

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DSC00958American Christianity is way too focused on individuality.  I constantly here from people “faith is personal, and none of your business.” Faith is a me and God thing leave me alone.  That is hog wash.  This Christian walk is not about being alone.  It is about walking together with others.  It is not just a you and God thing.God’s kingdom here on earth is not just about you.

So for all of you who are mad and screaming at your screen calm down. Stop screaming at the screen it is weird when someone is screaming at a screen.  Second our faith is lived out in community.  Yes your faith is between you and God but it is lived out in community.

Regular worship attendance in a Church is less than once a month.  People who are coming to worship are coming and running back out the door.  Many seem do to it when they have nothing else going on. This is a sad thing.  This is a work of the devil to get us isolated so we can be picked off.  So he can drown us in our own sin.

The early Christian Church thought of the sanctuary as a nave or ship.  They talked about it as the place people came to be together in faith.  Where they could lift each other up.  My comment to people who say they don’t need to come together for worship is “You can swim in the ocean for a long time but without a ship you will die.”  As disciples in Christ we are called lift each other up. We are called to

This week is Holy week.  I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ that they would come and gather with us to hear about what Christ has done for us.  That we may look at each other this weekend reminding each other of our sin, and the work Christ did for us so we could experience forgiveness from God.   We live this faith out in community and that is what we need to encourage each other to do.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

Mountains and valleys…some days life and ministry are hard

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Some days ministry I hard. Some days you have ups and downs. You have that event you have been planning for months fall flat, you have that relationship you work so hard at fall apart, you think you are doing it right and it falls apart. It can be a place of awful valleys.

Some days you have the right words, some days you feel like you changed a life for the better. In ministry I find my ups and downs can even happen in the sane day. I don’t want to live a life that doesn’t have these ups and downs. I can’t live in the middle I have to journey in the peaks and valleys. But how do we survive the journey in ministry and life?

I remind myself of the highs. I pull up the stories of joy, hope and changed lives. I have to be reminded of these because by nature Satan wants me to focus on the mistakes, the pain and the failures. He doesn’t want me to see and remember the changed lives or mountain top moments or remember the right words at the right time. He wants me to focus on the valleys.

Today as we sit down to pray let’s think about the mountain tops and not the valleys. Lets hold up the times God has chosen to show us lives changed. Lets hold on to them so we don’t fall but cling to Jesus who gave us these moments so we could follow him and trust in him as we walk alongside so many people He has placed in our lives.

Psalm 23 ESV
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Light a candle and take a nap…finding rest is Christ

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I like to tell funny stories. I also have been known to embellish a story or two in order to get a good laugh. This one may be slightly embellished but this is how I remember it. I call it my candle story. When I was going through my DCE (Youth Ministry for my non Lutheran friends) Colloquy program we had a professor talk to us about taking time in our lives for prayer. He was talking about levels or prayer..(By that way I am not even sure what that means) But I do remember the 4th level. It was something about lighting a candle getting comfortable and praying to God through breathing. He talked about how you could get to this great place of rest with God. So being the smart aleck I am I raised my hand and said “So what you are saying is, if I want to take a nap at work, I should light a candle first and tell them I am praying!” He quickly told me I was wrong but the damage was done because I was too far gone in my own humor to really hear what he was saying.

So this last month has been tiring. So tiring in fact I have been exhausted and wanting to put my head down and take a nap. In fact I have been reminded of that story more than once this past couple of weeks, and put it to good use…No I haven’t slept in my office, but I have been trying to be more deliberate about resting in Jesus lately. I have tried something to get some rest. I have been making it a point to go home each day for lunch and while I am home I pray while laying down. I set an alarm so I don’t sleep the day away. I am often refreshed after my time with Jesus in prayer and nap. So my question for you is are you resting?

Jesus came not to make us busy, exhausted and tired. He didn’t come so we could be tired and worn down all the time. He didn’t come so I could work through lunch, and run, run, run all the time. He came to bring us rest in him. As you follow Jesus this week I pray you rest in his arms. If you need to, light a candle.

Matthew 11:27-29 English Standard Version (ESV)

27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Breathe, pray, breathe

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untitled (2)Often as we read through twitter, or look on facebook we see a lot of anger, hate, sin, and frustration. We see people with stress, letting it out. We see broken relationships being hashed out online.  Have you ever read the comments under most articles published on the web.  People are angry, broken, and afraid.  I am angry, broken and afraid many times. So my question for today is how can we respond to all the anger, the hurt and pain?

To start I am reminded what my pastor said to me recently.  He said  “I am never surprised when people act like the sinners they are, I am shocked when they act like Christians.”  Too often I think we believe that everyone should be nice and happy all the time.  The reality is we are all sinners. We are all broken, angry and stressed, however we are also loved, redeemed, and saved by the one who came down from heaven.  So what do we do?  How do we make it through the day with so much stress, anger and hurt filling our world?  I have a suggestion, remember to breath, pray, and breath again.

I have seen lots of ways to help us but none has been more effective for me than just breathing, and praying.  Breathing is essential for life and so is prayer. Pray can help us see God at work, Prayer can help us focus on Jesus.  Lots of people take a walk, or look at something pretty. Recently I have see people post pictures of flowers to remember God’s great creation. These can all be good things. I would add breathe, pray and breathe again.  To breathe is to have life and to pray is have life.  Jesus is there with you, you can pray his words, “Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more”John 8:11b

I know we will continue to sin, we will continue to see others sin. I often try to remind myself Jesus has forgiven me, now go back out and follow him again. Be reminded of His kingdom of forgiveness and grace.  So as you are hurting, broken or angry today remember to breath, and pray, and breath again.

How are we helping families pass on faith?

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WP_20140924_19_17_29_ProRecently I have had a few parents come to me after our confirmation classes at St. peters and thank me for making them talk with their children about faith.  Parents have the most influence in shaping kids spiritual life. They have 7 times the amount of time with them each week.  I know I have missed opportunities to help families do the thing God has called them to do which is pass on faith.  We are part of the family team.  We should be a part of helping students grow in faith. The more important thing to do is spend far more time with people who can have the most influence on the young people who we are serving.

This week I received one of the best and slightly shocking compliments I have gotten in ministry.  A mom came to me this week and said thanks for making her talk with her son about faith. I was a little shocked but almost did the imaginary fist bump in the air.  She said they are using the model I taught them in confirmation at home during the week. Not every night but that pattern has been great for them.  She said I never really talked with my kids about God in a direct way and she really appreciated the helpful nudge through confirmation.

I was blown away. This year we made a tweak to confirmation, I thought it would be better for all involved I just didn’t know it would have such a profound impact on families.  For our confirmation classes we have added and extra 30 minutes for parents to sit with their child and share three things; Highs and lows for  the week, questions based on the topic for the week, and most importantly how can we use this information during our daily lives. It is a requirement I thought would be good for families. I just didn’t know how much of an impact.

Parents and kids have been blown away by this simple questions.  It has helped parents share about how they see Jesus. It has helped students share with parents all the things they have questions about, and how they are living out their faith.  It has truly been profound.

So my question for all of us is how are you helping families pass on faith.  How can we share simple things for parents to disciple their children in Christ.  This simple thing is having profound effect in my ministry. How about you?