Family Strong

 

  Pastor Fred continued our current series by preaching out of Ephesians 2:11-22. One of the themes that the Apostle Paul uses in this letter is one of family. Throughout the letter, Paul references husbands, wives, children all multiple times. So how do the themes that Paul talks about two thousand years ago apply today and how do we apply them to our work family, friends who are like family, our biological family and even the family that we don’t like or talk too. 

  My first thought is that every family has a set of rules that are both spoken and unspoken. If you are to interact within the family, you are going to abide by these rules and when you don’t, it could lead to alienation. Within the extreme conservative Amish culture, when these rules that are set by either the family or the local Bishop are not met, people are shunned. It can be as extreme as the shunned not being able to sit at the family table or meals. They have to sit by themselves and often receive the cold shoulder to the point they are not a part of the family until something is either amended or made right. Healthy families have healthy rules to help people stay in healthy relationships and provide a way for restoration. So here is my question, are there rules that are either stated or implied that tend to either drive people away or alienate them because they are legalistic or not Biblical?

  My second thought is that as a church family we are all adopted. What this means is not only are we now all family and we should act like it, but we were also bought with a great price. Christ great sacrifice is what allows us to be family and that makes none of us are second class citizens in Gods family. My niece and nephew are adopted and I don’t see them as second class citizens, but as family that is apart of me and I in them. When you are adopted, you receive all the benefits and responsibilities of being apart of that family. When we become adopted by God through Jesus, we get the benefit of the Holy Spirit, our sins forgiven and the promise of heaven. 

  My third thought is turning strangers into friends. It goes back to that thing of being responsible. It is more than just telling people about Jesus, but it is loving them like Jesus. As a church, we are blessed to have three different services and most of us go to a particular one on a consistent basis and when we adventure to another service, we see different people we don’t know and each service has its own vibe. For me, I attend the Saturday night service, but this week I attended the 8:30 service and I didn’t know a lot of people. Turning strangers into friends takes some risk on everyone’s part and putting ourselves out there. 

  Another part of turning strangers into friends is called hospitality. We all know that one person who can connect with just about anyone and makes them comfortable. Hospitality is more than this and inviting people over for meals. True hospitality is being intentional at relationships, and finding ways to not only bringing people together but fostering a deeper relationships no matter the team they root for, people they vote for or their view on church and religion. There has been a movement called Dinner Church and its whole design is to bring people together from different backgrounds for a meal and to discuss that weeks message. I do something similar. I meet with two guys on Saturday morning for breakfast and to talk. Now  we do share a lot of laughs, but we are there to encourage each other and we have had some serious discussions. We don’t agree on everything but we are still there to encourage and to pray for each other. I want that for everyone

My final observation is about that dirty little word called submission, and no I am not using it in a Mixed Martial Arts reference or for men to control woman. In Ephesians 5, Paul tells us that we are supposed to submit to each other. To be honest, we can’t submit to each other, unless we are submitting to God first. Submitting to each other doesn’t mean we are on some power trip trying to be controlling, but it means we want what’s the best for each other in the light of Gods grace. This means that we do things that promotes being family strong, both in our individual families and our church family. This also means we do our chores. Just as we do our dishes or laundry at home, there are chores in the church that we need to do. Everything from changing diapers in the nursery to shoveling to for someone who can’t. Submitting means takes a lot of humility because it often takes us to places we don’t want to go, things we don’t want to do or gifts we don’t want to develop. Humility doesn’t mean we think less of ourselves bout we think of ourselves less. It is finding our and others worth in Christ. Godly submission also doesn’t mean we don’t have a backbone, but how we use it. It is finding the right way to do and say things. So being family strong means that we realize that everyone is created in the image of God with unique giftings and how are we living up to that

Grace and Peace

 

Tom Boustead

Trust and Rest

 

  Pastor Haven preached this weekend and his passage was Psalm 23. One of the assumptions that we could make of this passage is that everything is going well for David, but it’s not completely true. This is a season where King Saul becomes jealous of David because he was next in line for the throne, and that he was not only winning battles, but he was also adored by the people. So Saul decided to take matters into his own hands and go after David to end him. This caused David to go on the run and he ended up in a cave scared, hungry, and alone. In the midst of this, David wrote this Psalm. 

  To help give Psalm 23 a little more context, go back and read Psalm 22. It’s a famous Psalm because Jesus quotes it when He was on the cross. Jesus was asking why He was forsaken. If you were a first century Jew and witnessed Jesus crucifixion, you would recognize that He was quoting Psalm 22. This Psalm probably is David reflecting on his time on the run from Saul. This what makes Psalm 23 more important because even though David was on the run, He still trusted in the goodness of God and relied on His protection and promises. So when we are on the run and even pooping in a cave, who are you trusting?

  My first observation is that with God being our Shepherd is that He provides everything we need. I remember growing up and every fall we get the Sears catalog that had all the cool toys and clothes for the Christmas season. I remember going through the massive advertisement and wishing that would get all the cool toys. Here is the thing, I don’t remember getting any of those cool toys. Now I did get Christmas gifts, but there is a difference of getting what I wanted and what I needed. My parents were wise enough to know the difference. This is the same with God, He provides everything we need. Also, how many things do we want or we think we need will be our downfall if we actually get it? According to the ESPN Documentary, after two years of retirement, 78% of NFL Players are either broke or under financial stress and five years after retirement, roughly 60% are bankrupt. Having everything isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. In the documentary, former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar essentially said that when you are broke, no one recognizes you and that is a blessing because they are not hitting you up for money for “great opportunities.”

  My second observation is that we need to be intentional about finding rest.  As many people can attest to, life gets super busy. From working, to various family/friends obligations, and projects around the house means that someone or something is always demanding our attention or time. If we are not intentional about being restful, it won’t happen. Even if we claim that we will rest when the current project is wrapped up, it probably won’t happen because something will demand our attention. When this happens we need to develop healthy boundaries and learning when to put off till later or even saying no. There are times where we need to prioritize our time with God and our mental health because others likely won’t. also means that we do things that are restful.

 Being intentional means knowing the activities that drains us and another activities that restores our soul. For each person, this is different. For me it’s doing laundry, so when I need to rest and for my soul to be restored, I don’t do that. Instead, I grab my camera and head to a local trail or state park to take pictures. This allows me to connect with God and to be constructive. Or if I need a change of pace, I go catch a midweek matinee movie by myself and the theater is usually fairly quiet. If we are not intentional and create plans to rest and connect with God, we end up either becoming super busy and we end up crashing and burning or we accidentally spend hours scrolling on our favorite electronic device and we become mush. If we are not intentional, it won’t happen, no matter how much we want it because we do what we prioritize even if cost us dearly. So are we prioritizing time to rest and to commune with God?

  The biggest take away that I took is this concept of trust and who do we trust more. Do we trust God that his gifts and peace are perfect and what we need, or do we trust ourselves to go out and get what we need? Trusting God is the only way we will find peace and rest. Now there our things that we have to be responsible for and do, but it is trusting God to provide the things that only He can provide. I know there are some of us who have a hard time of creating healthy boundaries and saying no and sticking to it. The only way we can find true rest and peace is when we trust God completely. 

Grace and Peace 

Tom Boustead 

Living on a Prayer

    Pastor Fred continued the current  series by preaching from Ephesians 6:18-22 and the focus is prayer. Throughout his writings the Apostle Paul references prayer or prays for believers multiple times. Prayer is so important that it is one of our core beliefs here at Journey. So here is my question, how is your prayer life? Is it something we only do when our backs are against the wall or something big is coming up, or when we remember or feel like it?

 My first observation on prayer comes from my favorite C.S. Lewis quote of “ I pray not to change God, but I pray so that He changes me.” So here is my question on prayer, what is our intention when we pray. Is it something that we can get what we want or to make God more like us? If that is the case, either God isn’t all who He says He is, or that our egos are pretty inflated and we think we are better than what we really are. In the Lords Prayer, there is the famous line of “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is saying that Gods plan and glory comes before ours and the only way this happens is if God changes us. 

 My second observation is that prayer is a form of communication. Just a thought, if you don’t communicate with a spouse or a loved one, how is that relationship going? My guess is that it isn’t and there could be a lot of hurt and miss managed expectations that comes from this.  The same is with God, how can we know what He wants when we don’t talk. One of the foundations of ant relationship is communication and it is true with God. As we see throughout Scripture, there are many forms of prayer, whether it is a prayer of praise, lamenting, asking God to provide, questioning, to even a prayer of yelling at God because we are mad. Different seasons require different prayers, and my challenge is are we doing them on a consistent basis and for moe than thirty seconds. 

 My third observation is that God commands us to pray for our enemies. If we spend any time watching or reading the news or our social media pages, we realize that we have an easy time distrusting people and creating enemies, especially those who are in power. This is my guess, we would rather crucify them rather than praying for Gods grace for them and that they might walk with Jesus. Even something more radical, how about we pray that God will bless them. Here is the thing, when we pray for our enemies, we might realize that we play a bigger problem in the situation and we are the ones who need to seek forgiveness. In essence prayer is the great equalizer. 

  My final observation is this, when we pray, are we spending time listening? Prayer is more than giving God a laundry list of things to take care of. In all reality, God isn’t a Genie whose sole purpose is to answer our wishes. Any part of good communication is the art of listening not to respond but to understand. I have a running joke with my mom that we don’t tell each other things. Most of the time the problem is that the information does get shared but someone isn’t listening. As the band MercyMe points out in their song, Word of God Speak that sometimes in prayer we are a at a loss for words and that is ok. 

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

Gifts

 

  Pastor Fred continued our series by peaching out of Ephesians 4:7-16. The crux of the message is that we all are a part of the body of Christ with various gifts and that we need to use them not only for the church to run well but it is our form of worship. Using our gifts causes us to be stretched and to grow. 

  My first observation is that God calls us to something unique and special. In essence God gave us a particular gift to use so that we can glorify Him. Even though the two same people may have the same gift, it looks different because of how God has wired us and how He wants us to use it. For those who are gifted with kids, some might be called to children’s ministry and others are called to the foster care system. Same gift, it is just being played out in two different ways. I know when I am out taking pictures, I have met some unique people and the conversations have been random at best. I have even shared by faith with people that I have encountered.

  My second observation is that the gifts are suppose to bring growth and unity. How often when we are using our God given gifts do they stretch us and take us out of our comfort zone. Gods gifts are not only designed to bring Him glory, but for us to rely on Him. How often does God call us out of our comfort zone? Whether it is public speaking, to God having us call out the elephant in the room with family or friends. We can’t always be true Minnesotans and be passive aggressive about everything. If we are truly to use our gifts for God and to do great things, we need to rely on Him and not on our own strength. 

  How Gods gifts bring unity is that our gifts can not operate independently from each other. Just as a baseball pitcher relies on their catcher and defense to have a good game, we need other Christians using their gifts to make our gifts go and to make more of an impact. We all have a role and how our we using it? In order to make something go and run well, everything needs to work and work well. Just like a vehicle, if the battery doesn’t work, neither the lights will work and the vehicle won’t start. This is the same with the Christian faith, if we don’t do what God calls us to do, the church will not run as efficiently as it could or should. This is where unity comes in, it is going in the same direction for the same purpose.

  My third observation is that no one gift is greater than another. How many of us want what I call the big beautiful gifts. Whether it is teaching from the stage to running the sound board. We all have that one gift that we desire and we think is a little better than the rest of the gifts. I will be honest, one gift isn’t better than the other, because they all are used to glorify God. Whether it is sweeping up Cheerios after kids church to fixing a single mom’s car for free, it’s all about glorifying God. Gods gifts are perfect and He gives is those gifts because He has wired us a particular way so that we can reach out to particular people. So instead of whining about the gifts we do have or the lack of the big and beautiful gifts we don’t have, how about using what God gives us to glorify Him

  I will close with this, and that is we all have gifts and God expects us to use them. How often do we think that something isn’t our job or someone is better suited to do it and then it doesn’t get done. When this happens, things don’t run as smoothly or they fail. Also, when we use those gifts, we tend to grow and mature. In essence, God is calling us to get off of our hands and to grow up so we can use our gifts to worship Him. Using our gifts doesn’t save us, but should be a response of what God has done for us and through us.

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

Where are You Walking Towards?

 

   Pastor Fred picked up the current series by preaching out of Ephesians 2:1-10. The theme of this weekends sermon is what are we walking to and more importantly, what are we walking in? How many of us knows someone who walks (or marches) to the beat of their own drum. They do their own thing and don’t care what anyone else thinks or says. My junior high English teacher told me I was a wonder because I could be found wondering the halls and not in class. So when we are walking, do we have purpose and intent or are we just meandering with no purpose. 

  My first observation is that with free will, there are things that are Godly and things that are pure evil. God isn’t going to force us to love Him, or even choose Him. We can choose God or we can choose our own thing and to satisfy our own desires.  To put it another way, in 1 John 1, the Apostle John tells us that if we walk with God, we are in the light, and if we don’t walk with God, we are in darkness. When we are in light, we seek the truth and we live a holy life for all to see. If we walk in darkness, we want to hide in the shadows and we hide our evil thoughts and deeds. In essence we become so warped and calloused, we become like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy 

 My second observation is that there are a lot of times when things are not as they seem. How often have you walked into a room and there is tension in the air and it is extremely uncomfortable, no matter what is being said. I know spiritual warfare is a topic unto its self, but we gave to realize that most of the battles we face are not of flesh and blood, but of good vs evil. One way we can look at is that Satan is trying to deceive us and to make sure that we don’t walk with God and he makes things look awesome until the bill comes due. Are there times when there is spiritual warfare going on and Satan is out in full force trying to deceive us? Yes there is, but we also have to realize that we live in a fallen state and we do what we think is good or makes us comfort able, safe and even happy. When we walk in darkness, we conceal, hide and distort any mention of Godly truth and love because it is all about me. 

  My third observation is there is a difference between walking in darkness vs walking in the light and it is love. My question is, who or what do we love more? Do we love chaos, destruction and ourselves more than walking in light that brings peace, comfort, and a knowledge that God loves us and we don’t have to or need to hide in fear or conceal anything from God. It’s that peace that passes all understanding. In essence, do we love ourselves more and what we can get away with or do we love walking in light and the truth and peace of God?

 So here is my final question? What steps do we need to take in order to walk in the light? If I am brutally honest, we all have that one thing that God has been calling us out on. It could be a small whisper to God using a megaphone announcing what He is calling us too. Most of the time it is an elephant size thing that God is calling us to walk in. To paraphrase an idea and that is the best way to take care of an elephant is one bite at a time. When we decide to walk in the light and to eat that elephant, we can have more success when we share our journey with someone. Not only does it help us with accountability but they also say that confession is good for the soul. How many times have you brought something into the light through confession and you felt ten times better and a weight has been lifted. This means we don’t have to work so hard to hide something and to act a certain way to make ourselves and others think that everything is good. Also it might help with anxiety and depression. To close out with a walking metaphor. Life is a journey and the destination matters and walking in darkness and walking in light takes us to two different places. 

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

Meditaton

  I had the privilege of giving the message at youth group tonight while the youth pastor was at youth camp.  My teaching passage was Psalm 119:1-24. This chapter happens to be the longest chapter the Bible with 176 verses. Even though there is no author listed, David is attributed as the author of the this Psalm. As we have explored this summer, all of the Psalms that we have covered have dealt with a specific story. Whether it is David being on the run from Saul to David confessing his sin with Bathsheba. This chapter doesn’t look at a single story, but takes the big picture approach and shares what it means to live a Christian life. In essence this Psalm is probably written over a long period of time and it is a reflection of David and what he has learned. 

  There are Two words that keep coming up in this passage. The first one is the word law and it comes up 25 times in the chapter. Think of it as God is teaching us His commands and it shows His authority. The second word is the word precept and it has a meaning of a person who manages and investigates Gods law and puts it into practice. We are like the manager inspecting what God has for us and putting it into practice. One of the things I think that God is telling us is that we can investigate His commandments and see for ourselves how good they are. In essence God isn’t afraid to be questioned because He gave us free will and we should use it. 

   I have some observations from this chapter and the first one is how teachable are we? How many of us seek advice from a parent, friend or trusted adult and then not do it? We often do this with God. We seek Him and what He has to say, but then not do it because it will be to hard or it’s not our brand. The Psalmist declares that we need to follow all of Gods laws and not pick and choose which ones we want to follow

   My second observation is that memorizing Scripture is key and something I need to get better at. When we meditate and memorize Scripture, we know what it says and how it applies to our life. Growing up, I had about five phone numbers that I knew by heart. Yes those numbers were called frequently, but also if I had a question or needed help, I could call any one of those numbers and things would be resolved. When we memorize and meditate on Scripture, not only do we know what God desired of us and we can call on it when we are in need.

 May question is that we memorize and meditate on Scripture to make us look better or to worship God. So are we memorizing Scripture as random facts to impress people, or do we do it so we can put Gods commandment to use and honor God in all we do. In verse 11, David writes that he hides God words in his he heart so that he does not sin against God. When life comes at us fast and when we get into sticky situations like wanting to cheat on a rest, we don’t have to ask what would Jesus do, because we would already know what Jesus says and has commanded us to do in those situations. The best way to do this is spending time regularly reading the Bile. Some other ways is writing out our favorite verses and meditating on them while we do it to find out what they mean and asking God to reveal what He has for us. Singing Scripture can help to. A lot of the Psalms were meant to be sung and there are different modern worship groups that puts the Psalms and other famous verses to songs so that we can sing them in our worship services.When we commit Gods law to memory, as Scripture puts it, God is writing it on our hearts. When we have something on our heart, it means that it is important to us and easy to recall in times of need. When we say we love someone with all of our heart, it means that we love them with all we have. Or when we do something with all of our heart, we do that thing with great care and we give it our best effort 

  There is the famous saying of “crap in, crap out.” This often refers to how we eat, because the better foods we eat, the better we feel and less health issues we have. This also applies to the videos we watch, games we play, and the people we read or listen too. If we consume questionable stuff, we are going to think, say and do questionable things. But if we consume Godly things, we often think, speak and act Godly. When we consume Gods word and write it on our hearts, when we encounter new ideas or are faced with a particular choice, we can decipher if it Godly or if it is trash. It also allows us to live out our faith and to glorify God

  In verses 21-23 David tells us that God puts the arrogant and prideful in their place. The prideful often lean on their own understanding and they often attack people who don’t see things their way. As we look at David’s life, he spent plenty of time on the run because people were trying to hunt him down

  The main point that I want us to walk away with is this. Having a position of authority and or knowing things doesn’t make you a Godly person. It is about digging into Gods word, testing it and putting it into practice. Are we taking time to delight and to enjoy Gods teaching. I will close with this question of what are you meditating on and and pairs with the theme verse Revolution Youth which is Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

 

Grace and Peace

    Pastor Ben preached out of Judges 6:1-24 and how God used Gideon to rescue the Israelites from captivity. One themes of the Israelites, especially in the Old Testament is that things go well, then the Israelites get cocky and do what is right in their own eyes, God punishes them by sending them into captivity and the Israelites eventually repents, God forgives them and delivers them from captivity and then all is well. This cycle happens a number of times throughout the Old Testament 

  One of the things that caught my eye is how often do we blame God for our own stupidity and for the situations we get ourselves into? We often want to take responsibility for the good things we do, but when we do something stupid, or even sin, we blame God and or others. We blame God for not taking that temptation away or we wouldn’t have said something that was hurtful if the other person didn’t say what they said or done what they did. In essence, we enjoy quite well playing the victim card and somehow try to escape our punishment. Here is where the rubber meets the road and that is we may not be able to control what others do or say, but we can control our response. God Gave us the gift of a free will, so we can make choices on how we respond. How respond often reveals our heart and our intentions. Consequences, both good and bad are a result of our actions and intentions. They often point out the direction we are going. 

  How often do we make excuses? When God called Gideon to go rescue the nation of Israel from the Midianites, Gideon came up with every excuse not too. He claimed that he was the weakest of his clan and his tribe was the weakest of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Making excuses is nothing new and famous Biblical characters made them also. The biggest one was Moses. When God called him to go free His people, he claimed that he stuttered and that he wasn’t nothing to look at. We often make excuses because it will make us uncomfortable and it is going to cost us something great. We are more concerned with our comfort than doing what God calls us to do. 

  Gideon decided to obey God and go rescue the nation of Israel, here is my question for all of us. When we do this, we are being obedient, even thou we may be entering a storm and we have a peace about doing it. Could it be fixing a broken relationship or making better health decisions, no matter the what comes our way. Here is the thing about Gods peace, it doesn’t mean the absent of strife, but it is our condition and who we trust. The cool thing about Gods peace is that we don’t get it when the battle is over, but it often comes during the battle. In John 14, Jesus is celebrating His last Passover meal with His disciples before He is beaten, crucified and resurrected. The disciples are scared with what Jesus is telling them. Jesus tells them the peace He gives them and peace is what He is leaving them. Gods peace is that comfort that goes beyond human explanation and it keeps us focused and calm. Gods peace is knowing what we are doing is right, no matter the chaos that is going on around us or what others may say, because God is whispering in our ear His comfort, approval and direction.

  I will close with this, Gods peace doesn’t always mean that things will be put back together here on earth. Even though Gideon rescued the Israelites, the Midianites were still out there as neighbors. Or we tried to put the marriage back together but still ended in divorce because of a cheating spouse. The list goes on, but it is seeking God with all we have, even in the midst of the chaos and taking comfort in His grace, goodness and holiness. 

Grace and Peace

Tom