Pastor’s Note 10/20/22
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19, 20
This weekend we will be having a New Members Class and it is a chance for folks that are new to the church to learn a bit more about our church, about what it means to be a Christ-follower, to ask questions and to consider being a partner with us in our church ministry. I thought it would be a good chance to remind all of us about our calling as a church, or to put it another way, our mission as a church.
“Love God, Love People, and
Make Disciples of Jesus”
As many of you know, our mission statement consists of this simple, three-part phrase. The phrase has as its foundation the two verses that are above, one from the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus was asked about the Greatest Commandment and the other from the Gospel of Matthew, as Christ charged the church with the task of making disciples of all the nations.
As we live out our calling, we do so by living out these three phrases:
We Love God . . .
- When we abide in Him, trusting in Him;
- When we worship Him with all of our being through serving others;
- When we take time daily to develop our relationship with God through Spiritual Disciplines like prayer, meditating on His Word and hiding His Word (memorizing Scripture) in our hearts.
We Love People . . .
- When we are in authentic relationships with others;
- When we put other’s needs in front of our own;
- When we our generous with our resources toward others.
We Make Disciples of Jesus . . .
- When we study the Scriptures together, engaging in thoughtful Biblical reflection;
- When we are intentional in making disciples;
- When we hold each other accountable.
There are other ways that these phrases can be fleshed-out to include other actions, but these are good starting points for each of us to live out our mission statement with each other and with our neighbors who live in close proximity to us or live a continent away.
Have a great rest of the week and I hope to see you on Sunday.
Pastor’s Note 10/13/2022
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is He who comes
in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of
our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
(Mark 11:8b)
How many hats do you wear? We all wear different “hats” in our lives. These are the different roles that we have or that people perceive we have in the midst of our daily lives.
There are a variety of hats that we wear, throughout our lives. Sometimes we have the role of a spouse, a mother or a father, a grandparent, or a provider. The list would be long for each of us if we were to take some time to make it.
For Jesus, He also had many hats that He wore. Some saw Him as the coming king, the messiah who would save the world, while others saw Him as the rebel who was disrupting the status quo.
This week, as we continue our study in Mark we see these different roles of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. So, in preparation for this Sunday, let me invite you to read Mark chapter 11 and get ready for Jesus’ week in Jerusalem.
Have a great rest of the week and I hope to see you on Sunday.
Pastor’s Note 09/29/2022
Loving Lakeside
“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city
to which I have carried you into exile.
Pray to the Lord for it,
because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Jeremiah 29:7
During the days of Babylonian exile, the people of Israel had been taken by force to live in Babylon. This was a difficult time for the people of God as they lived in a society that didn’t believe in their God nor in the ways of God.
The people of Israel could have resisted their Babylonian captors. They could have tried to overthrow the leaders of Babylon or they could have totally separated themselves from the Babylonians, seeking to be free from the corrupt lives of the people in Babylon. But God had a different plan. He wanted the people of Israel to serve their neighbors and to pray for the city. He wanted the people of Babylon to prosper and to be a great place to live because of the Israelite captives. “If Babylon prospers then you too will prosper.”
This type of serving God’s way applies also to us in Lakeside. We may live in a world that seems un-Godly. We may feel like our neighbor’s lives are far away from God, but the way that we can influence them, the way that we can help them “prosper,” is by loving and serving them.
What if we as the people of God lived in such a way that if we were gone, it would be hard to imagine Lakeside without us? What if we were kind, if we served our neighbors, if we cared for our neighbors? What would happen if we put this into practice in our everyday lives? If we did these things, we would have influence upon our neighbors. It would be a welcomed influence and when our neighbors ask why we do these acts of kindness, we point them to Jesus. When we do these acts of serving others, not expecting anything in return, we do so because of our relationship with Jesus and because this was His way. His ultimate act of serving others was to die on a cross for us. Our response to this great act of love is to provide small acts of kindness to those undeserving. We love Lakeside so that Lakeside will thrive! Our desire is to see Lakeside be a vibrant and flourishing place where people’s needs are met and God’s love shines.
So, as you plan out your day, as you go about the city, do so with an eye for serving others, for loving others, so that they may prosper and so that you may point them to Jesus.