the Church and the Word

Spiritual Leadership

July 23, 2013 No Comments

prayer-warrior_sm

“Humble teaching and servanthood is the model of spiritual leadership that Jesus sets for his under shepherds. That’s our goal. We want to be—and known by the congregation as—men who are lowly inspirit and gentle at heart, who teach God’s Word with a spiritual authority that comes from God, an authority that’s not rooted in our personalities or techniques, but that’s derived from speaking his Word faithfully.” (Paul Alexander, in 9Marks March/April 2007 Vol 4, Issue 3 “Elder training” page 19)

What a great quote on spiritual leadership! I found this as I continue work on our elder process at Orchard Community Church. This really captures my hope for elders at OCC.

the Church and the Word

Writing Assignment

July 22, 2013 2 Comments

writingOnScroll

Did you know that every new king of Israel was required to write himself a copy of God’s Law? Deuteronomy 17:18-20 states, “When he [the king] takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”

At Orchard Community Church we are working on changing our leadership structure to be an elder led church. The leaders of the church have been studying, praying about, and discussing this issue for about a year now as we want to be sure we are doing this not according to our ideas but according to God’s ideas as set forth in His Word.

Today I am working on a process for assessing the qualifications of an elder candidate and to train that candidate to be an elder. There will be work involved for the candidate going through this process. There will be reading, discussions, maybe even some writing. It will take time and effort and will be intense. I find it challenging that the Israelite kings were to hand copy the entire Old Testament law by themselves before they became king. They had to know God and know His will. They had to understand what it meant to lead God’s people according to God’s ways.

I don’t think we’ll have our elders hand write a copy of all of Scripture, but reading and studying through certain key topics and passages is essential and it will take time and effort. Any less would not be taking seriously God’s call to leadership among His people.

the Church and the Word, Uncategorized

A Letter to Worship Leaders and a Letter to Preachers

May 7, 2012 No Comments

After attending a worship conference this past week, I decided to write two letters, one to worship leaders and one to preaching pastors to help each better understand the other and how we can work together for the glory of God. My experience as both a worship leader and a preaching pastor gives me a bit of a unique perspective on the worship service. It was hard to sit in workshops and hear worship leaders or musicians make comments about how they always have to cut their time short so that the preacher gets his full time. It was hard to hear them encourage worship leaders and musicians to really work on their craft and be the best they could be but then make fun of preachers who get up with their multiple point sermons and powerpoint.

First (in no particular order) my letter to address specific needs and sensitivities of the worship leader:

You are not as important as you might think you are. You are an important part of the worship service, but your area is just that – part of the worship service. You should work with the other aspects of the worship service rather than against them.

Your part in the service is not the only part where God is at work and is not the only time when His truth is being proclaimed. God may really work in some people’s hearts during your part of the worship service, but He may want to work in other people’s hearts during the other parts of the worship service. You have put a lot of effort into your part of the worship service – which is good – but understand that others have also put a lot of time and effort into their areas so this cannot be an excuse for saying your part of the service should get more time or attention or can never be shortened for the sake of the overall requirements of the worship service.

You are like a string on a guitar. Sometimes that string is part of the chord or is played all by itself and rings with great impact. Other times that string may only sound quietly, be muted, or not touched at all. The question should not be whether that string is being heard. The real question should be whether the overall sound of the guitar is good. Be the best “string” you can be and know that whether you get 50 minutes or 15, God can and will work through you but He is also working through others. The worship service as a whole will probably be better if you can accept the truth that you are not as important as you might think you are.

Second (again in no particular order) my letter to address specific needs and sensitivities of the preaching pastor:

———————————————-

As you can see, I really want to relate to both and be sensitive to their specific needs and particular issues.

the Church and the Word

One Nation Under God – Sermon for Day of Prayer

May 3, 2012 4 Comments

I’m not a big “God and country” sort of guy so when I was asked to give the sermon for our town’s Day of Prayer service at Town Hall I was kind of nervous. I told a few guys in a small group about my concerns and some of my thoughts on the way Christians interact with culture and politics. I was sharing ideas about why I probably shouldn’t be the guy giving the Day of Prayer sermon but they said I should just share what I was telling them. So I did. Here is the transcript of my message:

The theme for this year’s day of prayer event is “One Nation Under God” and the text is Psalm 33:12 – “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he chose for his inheritance.”

What makes a Nation “One Nation Under God”?

One Nation Under God would be a nation that recognizes and lives under the gracious and sovereign authority of God. The phrase “In God we Trust” comes to mind. The people of One Nation Under God would trust in God above everything else. They would not trust in politics, presidents or power, but in God for “In God we Trust” and this trust would be evident in their lives.

There is another verse that refers to this idea of One Nation Under God. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” From this we see that a nation that is “One Nation, Under God” is called by God to declare his praises. It is a nation of people who have been saved by God for his glory and his purposes.

The leader of “One Nation Under God” is not chosen by a vote because there is only one who is ever qualified and his term never ends. He was and is the Son of God, Jesus Christ who alone was able to take our sins, die in our place for the punishment for our sins, and raise from the dead offering new life and new citizenship into this One Nation Under God.

This One Nation Under God does not depend on constitutions or campaigns. It is not run by presidents or policies. It is not determined by borders or birth. The citizens of this One Nation Under God come from every background, every language, every era of history and are defined only by one thing, the cross of Jesus Christ.

The cost of citizenship into this One Nation Under God would be listed as “death for the payment of sins” and on the papers of the people of the One Nation Under God there is a bright red stamp that covers over that cost that says, “PAID IN FULL BY JESUS CHRIST”

To the people of this One Nation Under God, that phrase and the phrase “In God We Trust” are not just political campaign slogans or mottos printed on paper, they are truths to be lived in every facet of their lives. The citizens of One Nation Under God do not wring their hands and fret over the current resident in the White House or anything else of any earthly country because they know that the existence of this One Nation Under God does not depend on a vote or a majority but on the sovereign grace of the One True God.

America is a great nation and I am proud to be an American. We are right to pray for America and to pray for the leaders of America and to be involved in politics and policies. If we want America to truly be “One Nation Under God,” then we who have been saved by the cross of Christ and are citizens of the “One Nation Under God” need to stop pointing fingers at our country and its leaders and instead point our words, our actions, and our lives to the God who saves.

America will only be a Christian Nation, a One Nation Under God, when the people of America hear and see the good news of salvation found only through Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection lived out in the lives of the followers of Christ – the citizens of the true One Nation Under God.

Americans, like everyone else in the world, can become part of the One Nation Under God, but it will not happen by us trying to change America, it will happen by God changing the hearts of Americans – one new citizen at a time as they are welcomed into the One Nation Under God and their papers are stamped “Paid in full by Jesus Christ.”

the Church and the Word

The Bride of Christ

January 24, 2012 No Comments

Imagine a wedding day. The guests are all seated. The wedding party is in place at the front of the church. The groom stands waiting. All eyes are glancing at the back doors of the sanctuary – waiting. After an uncomfortable amount of time, there is a great commotion in the hall outside the sanctuary and then the doors burst open. The bride stumbles into the sanctuary with mud all over her shoes and the bottom of her gown because she stopped in her garden before she left to pull up some weeds. She’s very late because her favorite show was on TV. She has headphones on her head listening to the play-by-play for her favorite sports team’s big game. She rushes up to the front of the sanctuary and looks quickly at her groom and then the pastor and asks if they can get this over quickly because she offered to babysit for a friend and on her way home she needs to stop at the bank.

I have never seen a wedding start this way and I hope I never do. It would be deeply insulting to the groom.

Ephesians 5:25-33 states:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church – for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

What is the church? Is it a building? A collection of programs? A club? A self-help group? According to God’s Word, the Church is PEOPLE – people who have been saved by Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection; people who are following Christ and, through the power of the gospel at work in them, living out His will in this world; people who are sinners and deeply flawed but are being renewed and remade into the image of Christ that we were all created to display (Gen. 1:26). Ephesians 5:25-33 gives us the metaphor of the Church as the Bride of Christ. Paul is writing about how the gospel impacts our relationships and is specifically challenging wives and husbands to love each other according to the love that Christ showed to us on the cross. As he writes, it is almost as if in his excitement he wanders off topic a bit and into his favorite subject, Christ’s love for His people – the church.

Christ’s Love for His Bride

We learn some things about Christ’s love for the church in this passage. Christ loves the church with a sacrificial love. Verse 25 says that Christ gave himself up for the church. He laid down his life so that we might live. Christ loves the church with an intentional love. Verse 26 says that Christ gave his life for the church to make us holy. Christ loves the church with an effective love. Verse 26 also says that the way Christ makes us holy is “the washing with water through the word.” Christ is the one who makes us ready for the wedding by washing us through the Word of God.

Christ loves the church with a love of the highest motivation. Christ’s motivation for loving the church, His Bride, is the highest and best possible motivation there could ever be. If I said my greatest motivation for loving my wife is for my own sake – to make me feel or look good – then people would call me selfish. Why? Because I’m saying that I’m more important than my wife or than anything else. I am putting something lesser (me) in the place of greatest importance. Paul says in verse 27 that Christ’s love is motivated by the desire to “present her to himself.” This means that Christ loves the church for Christ’s sake – for his own glory. Selfishness is wrong in us because we are putting ourselves in the place of highest importance. Yet when we speak of Christ, the place of highest importance is rightfully his. Christ loves the church with the highest possible motivation – his own glory. For Christ to love the church for any other reason would be to settle for a lesser motivation and a lesser love.

Christ loves the church with a caring love. Saying Christ loves the church for his own sake does not mean there is no benefit to the church – far from it! Verse 29 says that Christ cares for the church with a loving and tender care because we are his “body” (the church as the Body of Christ is another great metaphor in Scripture). Christ also loves the church with a committed love. Verses 30-32 talk about a husband and wife leaving their past security and identity and becoming “one flesh.” This is a picture of absolute and lasting commitment and this is how Christ loves the church.

Christ looks at the church and says, “I love you with a sacrificial love – I’ve given my life for you. I love you with an intentional love – I have a plan and a purpose that is your greatest good. I love you with an effective love – I will make this happen even though you struggle because my strength is enough. I love you because I want you to be with me and to share in, enjoy, and display my glory. I am watching over you and caring for every need and I am committed to you forever and ever.”

The Radiant Beauty of the Bride

There is something special about a groom not seeing the bride on the wedding day until the doors of the sanctuary open. The bride has put a great amount of effort into looking her best as she presents herself to her groom. When we speak of the church as the Bride of Christ, there is also a display of great beauty, but there is an important difference.

Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” When the church stands as the Bride of Christ, we can claim no credit for our own beauty. It was not our effort that prepared us for this moment. The beauty that we have as the Bride of Christ is because we are made beautiful by God through Christ’s death and resurrection.

Ephesians 3:10-11 says, “[God’s] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms…” The church’s beauty is not her own. It nothing less than the radiant beauty of God and his work on display for the world to see. The church does not exist for people to be amazed or impressed by us. We exist to point to the One who makes us beautiful. This is God’s purposeful plan and design.

One aspect of the church’s beauty that most greatly displays the glory of God at work is our unity. In John 17:23 Jesus prays, “May they [the church] be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you love me.” Jesus is saying that the unity within the church helps prove to the world that Jesus is sent by God. Our unity is one of the greatest proof’s that Jesus is the Son of God because this beautiful unity cannot be accomplished by our work. It only comes as together we submit to the work that God is doing in and through us.

As the Bride of Christ, we stand in the doorway ready to walk down the aisle completely unworthy in and of ourselves to be there. We are beautiful only because of what Christ has done and is doing in us. We radiate the beauty he has accomplished in us for his glory.

Conclusion

So the doors open and the bride appears. People look at the groom as he looks at his bride. A smile grows on his face as he thinks, “This is my beautiful bride and she is perfect in every way because I gave my life for her to make her perfect. I love her with an unending love. I will care for her every need and we will be together forever.”

This is how Christ loves his church – his people. We must treat what Christ loves so much with great honor, respect, commitment and love. The church is not ours and does not exist for our happiness, comfort, traditions, or fulfillment. We do not make the church effective, impressive, or attractive. That is God’s job – our job is to keep our eyes on the groom who loves us so deeply and to live as a display of his power at work in us, his love that changes us, and his glory that draws others to be part of the Bride of Christ.

This post is from a sermon I preached a few weeks ago at Orchard Community Church as we started a series on the church.

photo by flickr user kriffster

the Church and the Word

“Becoming Fully Devoted Followers of Christ” – Core Value # 5 of Orchard Community Church

November 22, 2011 No Comments

Babies sure are cute, but they need people to feed them, change them, comfort them, and clothe them. These things are all part of being a baby…but what if they are still true when the baby becomes a teenager or an adult? A baby drinking from a bottle is cute and normal… an adult drinking from a baby bottle is not so much.

We know this to be true for physical growth, yet for some reason we don’t have the same expectation for spiritual growth. We understand that new believers will need someone to help them grow by helping them to read the bible and pray. We know that they will need “feeding” through topical studies that relate directly to their immediate needs. Yet for some reason we have no problem when someone has been a Christian for 10 or 20 years (or even more) and they still are not growing on their own.

At Orchard Community Church, we believe that it is the goal of every Christian to become “Fully Devoted Followers of Christ.” This is not reserved for the super spiritual or the people who just have way too much time on their hands. It is God’s will that every believer in Jesus grows and matures. Here is the explanation of core value #5, “Becoming Fully Devoted Followers of Christ”:

We see discipleship as a lifelong commitment to follow Jesus as we increasingly strive to learn from and obey Him, abide in Him, and sacrifice for His sake and for the sake of the Gospel. We will live out our lives and give our resources to Christ for the expansion of His Kingdom. (Luke 9:23-27; John 15:5-8; Colossians 2:6-7)

Sometimes churches are partially to blame for immature Christ followers. When a church continues to spoon feed the people and does not lovingly encourage and equip them to feed themselves then growth is stunted. In an effort to attract people and keep them happy, too often churches can inadvertently allow or even encourage people to remain immature in their relationship with Christ. We don’t want this to be true of Orchard Community Church!

Colossians 2:6-7 is sort of my “life verse.” It reads, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” The more we grow and mature as believers in Christ, the more we are able to bring glory to God in everything we do.

Becoming fully devoted followers of Christ means that as we grow, we increasingly yield more and more of our life to God’s will and seek to be obedient to Him. Sometimes well meaning Christians debate about how much you have to obey Christ in order to be a Christian. To me, this question is looking in the wrong direction. God has set before us the goal of being like Christ in our attitude and actions. He has offered us abundant, eternal life through Christ’s death and resurrection. He has called us to live in relationship with Him for His glory and our good. Why would we sit around debating what we can do instead of focusing on what we get to do. We have the incredible privilege of living for the glory of God. We get to see the incredible faithfulness of God as we live in obedience to Him. We get to see God work in and through us as we increasingly yield to His will. We get to know more about the God who made us and loves us enough to send His Son to die for us on the cross. Why would we ever want to stop and discuss whether we have come far enough when there is so much more that God has for us?

Sometimes it is tempting to look at a baby and think, “can’t they just stay like that forever,” but we don’t really mean that. We don’t really want to make bottles and change diapers for the rest of this person’s life! We aren’t born to remain children. We are born to grow and mature. We aren’t born again to remain spiritual infants. We are born again to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

picture is of my daughter a few days after her birth and I believe I took it – though it could have been my wife.

the Church and the Word

“Grace-Driven Transformation” – Core Value #4 of Orchard Community Church

November 17, 2011 No Comments

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13)

Are we there yet? It is the question every parent dreads on a long road trip. It usually starts about 10 minutes into the trip and doesn’t stop until you arrive at your destination. It’s tough being a kid and waiting to get somewhere. In fact, it’s tough being an adult and waiting to get somewhere in our lives. We can wonder when we will “arrive” at the spiritual maturity we see taught in scripture and we think we see in others around us.

Core Value #4 of Orchard Community Church is a strong belief in “Grace-Driven Transformation.” Here is the full description:

We are passionate about the Gospel’s power to bring about long-lasting transformation into the image of Christ. Our gratefulness for God’s saving grace through Christ positions and motivates us to eagerly and intentionally cooperate with the Holy Spirit and access the empowering grace of God in a life-long process of being made more like Jesus. (Philippians 1:6; Titus 2: 11-14; 2 Peter 3:18)

The call to follow Christ involves being transformed. Change is not optional in the Christian life. It is the necessary effect of the gospel in our lives. But it is God who brings about this change. Philippians 2:12-13 says that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but then it goes on to say that “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” This is the essence of Grace-Driven transformation – we are working (or living) out what God is doing in us. It is His grace at work in our lives changing us to who He created us to be.

We believe in the power of God to change lives. We are also very careful to not try to substitute our own power or methods to try to change each other. A call to be changed by God’s grace can easily slip into beating each other up. Believing in Grace-Driven Transformation as a core value means that we trust that God is at work and that it is our work as a church to look to and point others to Him through the power of the gospel so that He can change us.

If you are reading this and struggling with asking God “are we there yet” – wondering when you will be the person you should – know that God is already at work in your life. If you have accepted Christ as your savior then God has promised that He has put His Spirit in your life and is changing you from the inside out. This is why the list of Christian qualities is called the “Fruit of the Spirit” – it isn’t the fruit of our labor, it is the fruit of God’s work in us. Trust what God is doing in your life. When we beat ourselves up we tend to stay away from the means that God uses in our lives to transform us – gathering with believers, God’s Word, and prayer. Yet when we trust in God’s work in our lives we will run to the ways where He is working. We will be encouraged by the truth of God’s grace at work in our lives.

We, the people of Orchard Community Church, trust in God’s Grace-Driven Transformation at work in each believers life. It is God’s job to change people. It is our job to point them to the grace of the gospel that can bring about that change.

photo by Flickr user melissaemmons

the Church and the Word

“Rooted in the Word of God” – Core Value # 3 of Orchard Community Church

November 9, 2011 1 Comment

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

Core Value #3 of Orchard Community Church is that we will be “Rooted in the Word of God” which is further explained as:

We are committed to God’s Word as our exclusive foundation. The Bible is our reference point for truth. All teaching, practice, and life transformation is shaped by God’s truth as revealed in the Scriptures. We will devote ourselves to preaching, teaching and applying God’s Word. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12)

I am convinced that we will either allow God’s Word to sit in judgment on us or we will sit in judgment on God’s Word. There really is no middle ground. To sit in judgment on God’s Word is to claim that we rather than God are more qualified to decide right from wrong, real from unreal, effective from ineffective. This was a bad idea in the Garden of Eden and it is a bad idea today. When we uproot ourselves from God’s Word as the sole authority in our lives and in our churches, we lose our anchor to God’s purposes in this world, God’s salvation for our souls, and God’s will for the church. We become set adrift in a sea of ideas, preferences and opinions that push and pull at us, each competing for our attention yet we leave ourselves with no measure for judging which are right and wrong, helpful or harmful. Ultimately, when we start questioning the authority of God’s Word, we are putting ourselves in God’s place.

As a church we have declared that the Word of God is the ultimate and final authority for everything that we do. We will judge the effectiveness of our ministries, the quality of our worship,and the purposes and means of all we do against this timeless standard. Since the purpose of everything that we do is the glory of God then the means by which we accomplish this must come from God. Our hope as a church is not to get people on board with what we are doing, but with what God is doing and we can only do this as we preach, teach, and lead others to God’s Word.

This is not an easy standard. Times change quickly. People have new questions and needs that are not mentioned in Scripture. But it is through Scripture that we know the unchanging love, grace and holiness of God that apply to every situation. We may have disagreements over how to apply God’s Word to specific situations, but at least we have a common starting point. We will be like a tree that is planted in the rich and deep water of the Word of God. We will be rooted in God’s Word.

photo by Flickr user Big Grey Mare

the Church and the Word

“Dependent on God” – Core Value #2 of Orchard Community Church

November 3, 2011 2 Comments

So it finally happened. After about 6 weeks of writing 5 times a week, I missed a day. Yesterday I took some time off to go to a movie with my wife because I have been working a lot of evenings. After the movie I looked at my phone and saw several missed calls from both my mom and my brother. Immediately I knew something had happened with my dad. The rest of the day was taken up with phone calls back and forth and trying to look at the ever changing options for air fares. Fortunately, today I can say that my dad is doing great. We’re still not sure exactly what happened, but a lot of the really bad possibilities have been ruled out so that is a very good thing.

So that’s my excuse – it was a pretty crazy day yesterday!

I have been using Wednesdays to write about “The Church and the Word” and have mostly been writing about the Mission Statement and Core Values of Orchard Community Church were I serve as the Senior Pastor. This incident actually helps me do something that I’ve been thinking about anyway. I am going to start writing these posts on Thursdays. Every week the church sends out an email about what’s going on at the church and I include a link to my post from Wednesdays. If the email goes out on Thursdays, it makes more sense to have it link to the post from that day. You probably don’t care about my daily blog post schedule, but just in case, there’s the explanation.

Core Value #2 of Orchard Community Church is that we are “Dependent on God.” Here is the longer explanation:

We are committed to daily intimate fellowship with God. Through steadfast prayer, we glorify God by honoring His name, seeking His kingdom, and submitting to His will. It is our individual and corporate responsibility to ensure that all aspects of life, ministry and fellowship are preceded, undergirded, and empowered by prayer. We believe that nothing of lasting eternal value will happen apart from dependent and faith-driven prayer. (Luke 11: 1-12; Ephesians 3:20-21; Colossians 4:2)

Earlier in the week I wrote about the fact that God is always present with us. Because of God’s gracious presence, we can depend upon Him for everything. So what does this look like? How do we do this?

I love the phrase, “It is our individual and corporate responsibility to ensure that all aspects of life, ministry and fellowship are preceded, undergirded, and empowered by prayer.” Prayer is the outward act of a heart that is depending on God. It is the expression of life that is lived in the recognition that God is present and powerfully at work.

Carving time out daily for prayer is really important. When we do this, we are declaring that God is most important in our lives. We are thinking about things in terms of His will and plan rather than just ours. We are seeking His guidance and direction in everything we do. Making time to pray is an act of worship that shows that God is not just somewhere on the list of priorities in our life, He is the #1 priority and everything else that has importance in our lives finds its meaning in Him.

But specific time in prayer is just the beginning. Scripture says to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). What is that about? God isn’t just present with us when we stop to pray. He is present always – when your boss calls you and says he needs to meet immediately; when you look at your bank account and can’t figure out how you’re going to make it through the next few months (weeks…days?); when you look at your phone and see a bunch of missed calls from family members and you know someone you love is in trouble. Since this is true, we can and should pray continually. As we reach for the phone to make or take that difficult call we can pray. As we go to work in the morning we can pray. As we walk into a room we know our kids just trashed, we can pray. Whatever we are doing, whatever we are going through, we can pray to God and ask that we can follow Him and display His glory in that situation.

Did you know that a group of people spends time in prayer before every worship service at Orchard? Why do you think this happens? Why do you think we post a list of daily Scripture readings on the back of the weekly sermon notes? Why do you think I write these posts each week? Why do we even have a Mission Statement and list of Core Values at all? It’s because we are completely and totally dependent on God and we will do anything and everything to remind ourselves of this and to live this out as a church and as individuals. Since we do what we do for God, not us, we must depend on Him for everything so that He gets the glory and we get to grow and learn more about Him.

photo by Flickr user Giampaolo Squarcina

the Church and the Word

“Passionately God-Centered” – Core Value #1 of Orchard Community Church

October 26, 2011 1 Comment

Last Wednesday I introduced the importance of the Core Values for Orchard Community Church saying they were like “Guard Rails” that keep us on track on our mission.

The first Core Value of Orchard Community Church is to be “Passionately God-Centered” which is further explained:

We are passionate about putting God at the center of everything we do as a church and as individuals. We strive to draw attention to the greatness of God and to glorify Him in what we do, say, think and plan. We will be bold in declaring our love for God, giving thanks for His many blessings and making known and remembering what He has done. (1 Chronicles 16: 8-12, 23-26; Psalm 115:1; 1 Corinthians 10:31)

The idea of “putting God at the center” might be best understood as keeping God at the center. He IS the center, the focus, the purpose, the reason for, and the ultimate goal of our lives and our church. To say that we want to put him in the center is to admit that we often put something else in His place and we are seeking to give Him his rightful place back in everything we do.

Keeping God first may seem like a no-brainer for a church, but it is actually very easy to mess this up. It is so easy to put people first instead of God. Putting people first seems like such a good thing. We want to help people. We want them to be loved. We want them to hear and accept the gospel through any means possible. We think that when we put people first we are helping them, but we are leaving unchallenged the main idol of our day – ourselves. We are a poor substitute for God’s glory and grace. Our culture teaches people to live their lives focused on themselves. The Church must teach people to take their focus off of themselves and place it squarely on God.

Have you ever seen someone on a street pointing up? What do you do as you walk by? You look where they are pointing! This is the importance of being God-centered as a church. It means that when people look at us they will see that we are pointing to Someone beyond ourselves – we are pointing to the Almighty God who sent His Son to die on the cross to save us from our sins.

This means that our ultimate goal is to display the glory of God in everything we do and that we will do this in God’s way, not ours. Jesus said that the “first and greatest commandment” is to “Love God” and the 2nd greatest is to “love others” (Matthew 22:37-39). The order is absolutely crucial because the truth is that when we do not keep God first in everything we do we will always love people less than we should.

As a church, we will be “Passionately God-Centered”. This is the first, and most important Core Value of Orchard Community Church.

photo by Flickr user dziner

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