Seven Statements of Gratitude in Light of Seven Promises in Difficulty

This weekend is a nostalgic time for me. Part of it is because I just love the Thanksgiving holiday, but for the last two years, there is another reason. It was this weekend that our family visited College Park for the first time to determine if we were interested in entering the candidating process. The anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and prayerful wrestling were very real. Now, two years later, it is amazing to see what the Lord has done in us and at College Park. It creates a deep level of gratitude in my heart to God when I think about those days.

You may have a similar story in your life or you may be in the midst of “the dark side of God’s will.” Regardless, I’d encourage you to take some time this weekend and reflect on how God has demonstrated his care for you in the past few years. Rehearse, remember, and reflect or you’ll soon forget; that is the regular warning from the Word (see Deut 8:1-18, Ps 42:4-6, 77:11, 143.5).

Gratitude must be cultivated or a self-focused, demanding, and proud heart will soon appear.

Tonight we will be gathering for our annual Thanksgiving Service. I’m working today on my devotional for that service and my exposition of Matthew 10:5-33. It has been an interesting combination.

This evening I’ll be sharing 7 statements of gratitude out of Colossians 1:15-20. I recently memorized this passage, and it has gripped me every day for the last two weeks. It is filled with praiseworthy statements about Christ.

When I consider Christ, I am grateful…

1. That he has made God clear and near (Col 1:15,19)

2. That there is nothing on earth over which Jesus doesn’t say, “Mine!” (Col 1:16)

3. That he is the head, the focus, and the source of the church (Col 1:18a)

4. That he is alive, making hope a reality (Col 1:18b)

5. That he is and will be first in everything (Col 1:18c)

6. That he makes peace possible (Col 1:20)

7. That he holds everything together (Col 1:21)

On Sunday, I’m talking about why following Christ is worth it or what keeps you going when following Jesus gets really hard. There are at least 7 promises to which our hearts should cling when following Jesus is painful.

Here are 7 promises from Matthew 10:16-33 to remember when we start to wonder if following Jesus is really worth it:

1. When challenged, remember that God will give you words to say (v 17-20)

2. When your family attacks, remember the value of endurance (v 21-22)

3. When persecution comes, remember that Jesus has been there too (v 23-25)

4. When you are afraid of people, remember that one day everything will be revealed (v 26)

5. When you tempted to be timid, remember who God is (v 27-28)

6. When you are filled with anxiety, remember you are valuable to God (v 29-31)

7. When following him proves costly, remember that nothing is greater than the affirmation of Jesus (v 32-33)

I hope you’ll join me in some focused gratitude this weekend. After all, we have a lot to be thankful for, don’t we?

WWJD: Jesus' Vision for Ministry

Remember WWJD? Remember the bracelets, t-shirts, gym bags, and even a board game? I do. In fact, the entire WWJD phenomenon started in Holland, Michigan! I remember hearing about it soon after I came to the area. The premise of the 4 letters was to remind people to ask themselves – “What Would Jesus Do?” A good question, even if it was way over-marketed!

On Sunday, we’ll be asking a similar question. What would Jesus do in Carmel, Indiana? What kind of ministry would he run? What priorities would he have? Again, some important questions. I’m not sure we can ever be 100% sure, but our text on Sunday (Matthew 9:35-10:4) gives us a pretty clear picture of some priorities.

The passage is a bridge between Jesus’ words (chapters 5-7), works (chapters 8-9), and his mission (chapter 10). It is the launch of the disciples’ ministry under Jesus’ authority. Much of chapter 10 will identify the various challenges that they will face, particularly talking about persecution and opposition. But for now, Jesus simply outlines some key elements to his ministry:

There are four key commitments in Jesus’ vision for ministry:

1. The Word – He proclaimed (heralded) the gospel of the kingdom
2. Compassion – Jesus saw the crowds as sheep without a shepherd
3. Prayer – earnestly seek laborers from the Lord of the harvest
4. Gifts – he empowered his disciples to conquer the devil and cure the world
   

It’s almost like Ministry 101. We need all four elements/commitments or the church does really function like Jesus intended.

How easy it is to drift from these. A few examples:

1. Word – The emergent church would say that authority doesn’t come from the Word itself but from the community’s interpretation of the Word. Heralding or preaching is passé, conversation is better.
2. Compassion – How easy it is to see sinful people through the lens of disgust, rigid justice, and fault-finding. But Jesus saw them through a lens. If there was blame, it needed to be partly laid at the feet of spiritual leaders (read Ezekiel 34 for a blistering word about that!)
3. Prayer – A commentary I read nailed it: “The demise of the prayer meeting equals the demise of the mission of the church because a church that fails to pray fails to believe.” AMEN!
4. Gifts – 40% of our congregation doesn’t have any area in which they are using their gifts. I’m usually a glass-half-full kind of guy, but I can’t get past just under ½ of our people sitting on sidelines with atrophic gifts.
   

So my appeal on Sunday will be for each of us to ask ourselves what kind of role we have in making College Park Church a place that emanates what Jesus would do.

I’ll close with a great quote from Kevin De Young. He wrote a great article on how to reach the next generation. His words are not only true – they describe what we are trying to do at College Park:

Grap them with passion.
Win them with love.
Hold them with holiness.
Challenge them with truth.
Amaze them with God.

Oh yeah!