In one of our board meetings, the devotion challenged and encouraged me at the same time.  I struggle with being a bi-vocational pastor, and many times feel that I could plan my life and the details of my calling a lot better than God has.  I know this might sound shocking. but I have always looked at it with simple math:  a pastor working at a church for 25 hours a week while holding another job 45 – 50 hours, or a pastor working at a church for 80 hours a week full time with no other distractions.  It is simple math!  I felt I would be more effective for Christ as a full time pastor.  At the same time, I have felt guilty for not being a full time pastor.  If I had more faith, prayed more, or just stepped out and quit my job, God would provide; and I just need to get up and “jump in the pool” so to speak.  This devotional really challenged me on the 1^st point and encouraged me on the latter.  I hope it does the same for you.

Ask not what you can do for God because he doesn’t care

           King David had plans all drawn up for the construction of the temple.  He thought he was doing God’s work. God humbled David and showed him that he was not the one to build the temple.  He became obedient to do God’s will and made great preparations for the building that his son Solomon would complete. 

          Throughout the Bible, most of the strongest people when chosen by God said, “God, why me?  You are unwise to choose me because there is nothing good in me.  I have no talent.”  That is exactly why He chooses us As long as we think we are of value to Him,  He cannot use us because we have purposes of our own to serve – not His purposes.

Luke 18:31

³¹Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

          Jesus chose them to fulfill His purpose.  We don’t know why He chose each one, but we can say it was not because of any particular talents they possessed.  The important thing for us to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s purpose, not our own.

John 15:16

¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

The work we do is of no account when compared with the purpose of God.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

 ²⁶Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

          We tend to say that because a person has ability, he/she will make a good Christian.  It’s not a matter of talent but just the opposite, a matter of poverty.  Not of what we bring with us, but what God puts into us.  Virtue, character, knowledge, and experience just don’t happen.  Strong relationships with Christ are built out of poverty.  HE CAN ACCOMPLISH NOTHING WITH THE PERSON WHO THINKS THAT He/SHE IS OF USE TO GOD.

          As Christians, we are not here for our own purpose.  We are here for the purpose of God and the two are not the same.  The most important aspect of Christianity is NOT the work we do, but the relationship we maintain with our Savoir Jesus Christ and the qualities produced by this relationship.

John 5:30

³⁰By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

          We sometimes make mistakes by saying, “God intends for me to be here because I am so useful to Him.”  Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of the greatest use.  God places us where we will bring the most glory to Him, and we are incapable of judging where that may be.  Remember, God sometimes plants his greatest people in the most seemingly useless places!

• Losing your job at age 45
• Walking to a corner market in the inner city
• Giving a report before peers
• Being admitted to the hospital

What’s the riskiest thing you can remember doing?

Why did you do it?

Matthew 14:22-33

After seeing Jesus feed the 5000 with a kid’s sack lunch, Peter must have emerged with a great deal of confidence in his Lord’s ability to provide in every imaginable situation.  Within a few hours, however, Jesus would be asking Peter to do something he had never done before - in fact, something so risky that Peter would never have tried it unless the Lord Himself directed him to it.

1. For a fisherman, his boat is everything.  Why do you think Jesus called Peter out of his boat?

2. Why did Peter do it?

3. What do you think went through Peter’s mind while walking on the water?

4. Why does the Lord often push us into “risky” situations?

5. What caused this water-walker to start swallowing seawater?

6. What might Peter have learned about Jesus here?

7. What would you like to learn about Jesus?

Peter, when overwhelmed by his situation uttered the shortest prayer in the Bible.  In light of your situations how would you like us to pray for you?

You’re Response:

In light of a current risky situation, I will choose to look at Jesus instead of the “waves”

I will commit to, in the next month, tell someone here how my faith has been strengthened.

Theodore Roosevelt-

“Far better it is to dare might things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoyed much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

Are you radically saved with a call for the Youth of today?

Are you culturally astute and scripturally sound as we take the kingdom of God to our youth?

This is a volunteer position with potential for paid position as church grows.

Christ Community Church of Lamong is a smaller  church but things are happening and we are growing.   Are you ready for a challenge?

Interested candidates should submit:
1. Resume
2. Family photo(s)
3. Personal and professional references

All materials should be forwarded to:
Gina Kennedy
Christ Community Church of Lamong
20854 Lamong Road
Sheridan, IN 46069

OR send to: Gina@surfccc.com

]]> http://surfccc.com/?feed=rss2&p=243 http://surfccc.com/?p=237 http://surfccc.com/?p=237#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:38:56 +0000 Joshua http://surfccc.com/?p=237 Position Summary
Christ Community Church of Lamong is seeking a candidate to fill the part-time position of Children’s Ministry to further develop and maintain a ministry of excellence and relevance to the families of children newborn through fifth grade that balances Spirit-filled worship, Biblical teaching, and social interaction,

Specific Qualifications
1. Clear calling to shepherd children and their families.
2. Proficiency in leadership and organizational skills, interpersonal communication, computer applications, multitasking and time management.

We believe in training the called! So we are willing to work with, teach and train the right person.

Currently this is no compensation but it will be available in the future. (may be able to provide a gas allowance to start)

Interested candidates should submit:
1. Resume
2. Family photo(s)
3. Personal and professional references

All materials should be forwarded to:
Gina Kennedy
Christ Community Church of Lamong
20854 Lamong Road
Sheridan, IN 46069

OR send to: Gina@surfccc.com

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

During Superbowl XXXVII, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand.  When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, “Thank you.”  But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, “If I may ask, what was in that package after all?”  She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, “Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds.”
Like the contents in this package, the resources for growth and strength are available for every Christian who will take advantage of them.

• A Bible in the hand is worth two in the bookcase.
• God’s word is like salt in the back of your car in the winter. It’s a lot more useful when you take it out and apply it.
• We get more out of the Bible when we let more of it get into us.

The Bible…
IT IS PROFITABLE TO:

Change you.

The story is told of a South Sea Islander who proudly displayed his Bible to a G.I. during WW II. He had received it as a present from a missionary some time before. The soldier said, “O, we’ve outgrown that sort of thing.” The native smiled back and said, “Well, it’s a good thing we haven’t, because if it weren’t for this book, you would be our evening meal.”

Convict you.

Mark Twain wrote these words: “Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me most are those I do understand.”

Correct you…how to get it right

Coach you…how to keep it right

The late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Holmes was on a train when the conductor came through collecting tickets. Holmes couldn’t find his ticket and became rather distraught. The conductor tried to console him by saying, “Mr. Holmes, don’t worry. When you find your ticket, just mail it in. We trust you.” Mr. Holmes responded in frustration, “My dear man, that’s not my problem. I need my ticket to tell me where I’m going.”

2 Timothy 1

I read a story recently about a little league coach who reminisced about his childhood years playing baseball in little league. He remember back how during his first year, his coach had called together the entire baseball team for a picnic, and he asked the team, “Who here wants to eventually play major league baseball.” Every single hand went up, as every child there dreamed about playing in a major league stadium and hitting the game winning hit. That boy grew up to become a little league coach himself, and the week before opening day his first year of coaching he did the same thing. He had a team picnic, and he asked the team, “Who here wants to grow up and play in the major leagues?” Not one hand went up on a team of twelve kids. He said he could see in their eyes that not one kid on his team believed that he had what it took to become a major league baseball player.

What a contrast between people who have vision and people who lack vision. Vision is that elusive thing that dares to dream big dreams about the future. Vision has been called hope with a blueprint. Vision is what an inventor has when he or she thinks outside the box to create something new. Vision is what a mother has as she looks at her newborn baby and imagines all that child could grow up to become.

Vision has a way of ignoring its critics and chasing its dream regardless of how many people say it can’t be done.  Yet we go through times when our vision fades. The flame of our vision begins to dim, it’s passion begins to ease, and it’s heat begins to cool.

How to maintain and rebuild Vision:

I. DRAWING ON HIS SPIRITUAL HERITAGE.

We all have a heritage. We can trace our families back to where they originated, knowing the careers they worked and the lives they lived. Our ancestors lives continue to shape our lives even today. Our last names bear our ancestors mark. Even our health is connected to that of our ancestors. Our family heritage gives us a complete picture of our identity, who we are and where we came from.

Likewise, as Christians, we all have a spiritual heritage. Our spiritual heritage consists of the people that introduced us to Christ and have helped us to mature in our faith. For some, our spiritual heritage may be linked to a specific church or a minister. It may be linked to a teacher or a friend. Or as in Timothy’s case, our spiritual heritage comes directly from our family.

Paul gives us a glimpse into Timothy’s spiritual heritage. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” II Timothy 1:5 Timothy grew up in a house of faith under his mother and grandmother. His mother and grandmother were both Jewish while Timothy’s father was Gentile. It was his mother and grandmother who taught him about God. In the time period of Timothy, it was common until the age of seven for a Roman boy’s mother to be his main formative influence up until the age of seven. Since Timothy’s father was not religious, being a Gentile, it was customary that boys without a living religious father learned about the law from grandmothers if they were still living. (Bible Background Commentary).

What Paul is reminding Timothy is that he comes from a great family of faith. His mother Eunice and grandmother Lois were great women of faith and Paul sees that Timothy has followed in their footsteps. Timothy needs to draw on his heritage of faith for strength and guidance in order to carry the torch of ministry that Paul is passing on to him.

II. DEVELOPING HIS GOD GIVEN GIFT.

In order for Timothy to fan into flame his gift for ministry he must draw on his spiritual heritage, but he must also develop that gift. Paul encourages him to develop his gift in verse six. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” II Timothy 1:6

The words “fan into flame” that Paul uses here can also mean to “stir up” or “rekindle”. The gift that God has given Timothy is like a fire. It’s burning inside of him. Paul wants Timothy to develop this gift, not to waste it. Paul wants Timothy to intensify the fire within him. Paul wants him to be overcome with passion for this gift that God has given him and use it to its fullest potential.

In the Southwest United States, there is a fire code that helps distinguish the fire danger for the day. WIMS, the Weather Information Management System collects various data and issues these ratings everyday. A low risk is coded by the color green. A moderate risk is alerted by the color blue. A high risk is issued by the color yellow. A very high risk meaning that the conditions are very ripe for a fire to start and spread quickly are indicated by the color orange. An extreme warning is issued when condition are present for a fire to start quickly, spread furiously and burn intensely. This is identified by the color red.

Paul wants the fire in Timothy to be extreme. He wants a code red. He wants Timothy to develop his gift and fan into flame his gift to the point where through Timothy the gospel spreads furiously and its followers burn intensely with a passion for serving Christ and accomplishing his mission.

III. DISPLAYING HIS SPIRIT OF GODLINESS.

Timothy has gift of ministry. It was given to him by God through the laying on of Paul’s hands. Paul has instructed Timothy to fan into flame that gift by drawing on his spiritual heritage and developing this God given gift. He now instructs him to display a new spirit- a spirit of godliness.

Timothy was known for having a spirit of timidity. He was shy and sensitive. We’ve already mentioned how he wept when Paul had left him previously. Paul reminds Timothy that God has given him a new spirit. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” II Timothy 1:7 In order for Timothy to fan into flame his gift and assume the responsibility of the ministry

The spirit of godliness consists of three different areas:

1. Power- Timothy would have to take on a more authoritative role and rely completely on the power of God to sustain him through this time. This would prove to be difficult because of Timothy’s age. He was probably in his early to mid thirties and yet was still considered a youth in the faith. This is probably why Paul wrote these words to Timothy in I Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in live, in faith and in purity.”

2. Love- The Bible declares that God is indeed love. He has given every believer His spirit of love. God’s love for man is so great that it drove him to send his Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. He held back nothing for the world that he loves. Timothy must take on that same spirit of love as he fulfills his ministry.

3. Self-Discipline-In order to fully use his gift of ministry, Timothy is going to have to show a lot of self-discipline and apply himself to keeping the fire burning inside of him. He’s going to have to continually stoke the fire and keep it burning brightly and intensely.

We are no different than Timothy. We must also take on the spirit of godliness that Paul describes here. The word that sticks out in verse seven is the word “us”. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, and of love and of self-discipline.” The same spirit that was given to Paul and Timothy has been given to us as well. We must exercise our gifts with the power of God, the love of God and a self-discipline that comes from God.

How can we become effective Christians? We can fan into flame the gifts that God has given us by drawing on our spiritual heritage, developing our God given gifts and displaying a spirit of godliness.

Where are men the biggest wimps?

It often amazes me that men who are good athletes, or who pride themselves on hard work and self-reliance, are absolute wimps when it comes to fulfilling God’s calling of being the spiritual leader in the home. Many macho men are classic spiritual wimps in this area. They look at religion and church as mostly women’s stuff and often rely on the wife and mother to fill the void of spiritual leadership in the family. The guys simply wimp out.

But Scripture is clear. The father is to have this major responsibility. There is no doubt that a primary reason for the disintegration of the family is that so many men are spiritual wimps rather than spiritual leaders.

If you’re a husband or a father, stop wimping out on what it means to be a man in God’s eyes. Ask the Lord for guidance for what it means to be a spiritual leader. Come on men, rise to the challenge! The future of our land is depending on you.

Are you a man or woman of God? In our super-spiritual saturated world we would all probably say, “Yeah, I’m a man or woman of God”. But in the Bible the phrase “man of God” meant something very significant. It was a phrase that was used to describe Moses, a man who was a spokesman for God and wrote the first five books of the Bible. It was used for prophets who spoke for God and warned against sin, guys like Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha.  In the OT the phrase “Man of God” refers to someone that God used to speak prophecy, or pen the Holy Scriptures, or lead the people. It wasn’t used for just anybody.  So when Paul calls Timothy a man of God he is saying a lot. He is identifying Timothy as a messenger of the gospel and a spokesman for Jesus Christ.

My prayer is that every single one of us would be worthy to be called a man or a woman of God. All of us who are believers are children of God. We are heirs to the kingdom. But we are not all men and women of God. That takes a step beyond a confession of faith. It takes commitment and calling.

What are some of the things that make a Man or Woman of God

1. The man or woman of God will flee from evil.
2. The man or woman of God will follow virtue.
3. The man or woman of God will fight the good fight of faith.
4. The man or woman of God will foster growth.

People who are true men and women of God are not content with keeping it to themselves. They have a hunger for God’s Word, and a hunger for sharing it with others. They are focused on other people.  You cannot be content to simply feed yourself, at some point God is going to expect you to get out there do something

• Are you a man or woman of God?
• Do you desire to become a man or woman of God?
• What will it take to get there?
• What needs to change to accomplish that goal?
• Are you a person that flees from evil?
  • Do you avoid sin and anything that would bring dishonor to the name of God?
• Are you a person that follows virtue?
• Do you seek after things that are holy and noble and righteous?
• Are you a person who fights for the faith?
  • Not just believes it, but lives it, protects it, guards it, and stands up for it?
• And are you a person who fosters growth?
• Do other people blossom around you?
  • Or do they shy away from you?
  • Are you mature to the point that you are now able to teach others, or are you still needing milk?

God doesn’t just call us so that we will avoid hell. He calls us to be men and women of God. Let’s strive together to make that the goal of our lives.

Application

Ø How are we like Stephen’s hearers?

Ø What are some of the ways we try to put God in a box?

Ø How do we try to localize or nationalize or domesticate Him?

Ø How do we try to control or manipulate Him with our religious practices?

Ø Are their leaders or “prophets” sent from God whom we reject, because they challenge our status quo?

Ø Make us uncomfortable, threaten us with change?

Ø Are there aspects of the work of God or character of God we are missing because they don’t conform to they way we expect God to be?