My quote of the week would be: Religion requires behavior - Relationship requires faith. I say that because it is not a prerequisite of Christian growth to do certain religious behaviors in order to please God. But the Bible says it is impossible to please God without faith. Everyone comes to Christ the same - broken and separated from God. No one is, or has ever been, or ever will be an exception. It takes faith to have a relationship with God, not how well we think we are being "good" at our religion.
We can have religion by dutifully following religious behaviors but that does not equate relationship with God. It does not forgive our sin, remove guilt, or reveal God's love for us. It does, however, give us some level of comfort thinking we can have something to do with earning our salvation or that we deserve it or are even owed something from God. Dangerous territory when we start to think we are responsible for our salvation.
God so loved that He gave; John 3:16. Next verse, Jesus didn't come to condemn. How do we get so far off track and try to "fix" ourselves or each other by requiring, controlling, or even manipulating behavior? I think it has it's roots in wanting something tangible to "do" or "prove" or "see". One of my favorite movie scenes is in the movie "Contact" with Jodi Foster. She is a scientist who wants to go into space and look for intelligent life. She was given this dream as a child from her single father after her mother's death. Her minister friend tells her to not take the risk and accept things on faith. She says she cannot accept things on faith because to be real, it has to be proven. He asks her to prove that she loved her now deceased father. She is challenged to consider faith because she cannot prove that very real truth to anyone but herself.
I cannot believe that God so loved this broken, mixed up world as it is, so that He would give us His Only Son so that we could try harder to do better at following religious rules in order to please Him! That is absurd! But it is also a cannonball dive into the world of faith. Faith is evidence of things we cannot see. Faith is relationship with God. Faith is salvation through Christ. Faith is knowing God's will for our life. Faith is knowing Jesus in daily living. Faith is even righteousness according to the scriptures. That's why without it, we cannot please God no matter how well we do church, or agree with theology, or are faithful in giving and attending, or which denomination we belong to.
I want my life to be more like depending on faith and less like depending on behavior!
Pastor Mike
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Friends & Family Success
We've spent months seeking God and praying; organizing church government, structuring administration, building ministry groups, establishing vision and purpose; and now, Friends & Family Preview Sunday, January 17th, 2010, was a great day for Branches Church! It was the beginning of the rest of our journey as a community of believers and seekers who want to do life together as we look to live everyday life in the good things God intends for us as His people.
I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone who stepped up to fill the needs of everything it takes to do "portable church" - from doughnuts to dismissal, from sign placement to nursery and conversations. I believe we communicated our vision and purpose well to the 170 people who were there. I am very encouraged by the surveys they filled out. They spoke highly of us being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.
As God continues to complete His work in us, know that each week will hold new and challenging things as the Spirit directs our path into the will of God for this community. Always remember that Branches Church is safe, authentic, accepting, and growing. We come as we are, but we just don't stay that way because there is so much more God has for His people than just religion...He's offering life! Let's keep doing it together!
Pastor Mike
I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone who stepped up to fill the needs of everything it takes to do "portable church" - from doughnuts to dismissal, from sign placement to nursery and conversations. I believe we communicated our vision and purpose well to the 170 people who were there. I am very encouraged by the surveys they filled out. They spoke highly of us being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.
As God continues to complete His work in us, know that each week will hold new and challenging things as the Spirit directs our path into the will of God for this community. Always remember that Branches Church is safe, authentic, accepting, and growing. We come as we are, but we just don't stay that way because there is so much more God has for His people than just religion...He's offering life! Let's keep doing it together!
Pastor Mike
Monday, January 11, 2010
Friends & Family Preview
This Sunday, January 17th, will be what we are calling Friends & Family Preview Sunday. Even though Branches Church hasn't "officially" opened its doors yet, we want to be ready for our "Grand Opening" on February 14th. One way we are going to do that is to share our vision and purpose and the way we do church with our friends and families, giving them a survey to fill out and evaluate their experience of attending a Branches Church service.
The principle is, we shouldn't do life alone. God made the Body of Christ to be relational and not just with each other, or other churches; but in using the hope that is within us and our generosity of spirit with relationships, families, friends, and businesses in our community. Sunday Church doesn't exist for God, it exists for people and we're going to do our best to get that right from the beginning.
So invite your friends and families, no obligation, but we do need their support with understanding and their input in order to measure our vision and purpose with the needs of the world around us. We have plenty of room, coffee, food, and chairs. The music will be fun, the children will have fun and learn, the day will be filled with hope and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The topic of the day is: Why Branches Church? Because We Shouldn't Do Life Alone.
The principle is, we shouldn't do life alone. God made the Body of Christ to be relational and not just with each other, or other churches; but in using the hope that is within us and our generosity of spirit with relationships, families, friends, and businesses in our community. Sunday Church doesn't exist for God, it exists for people and we're going to do our best to get that right from the beginning.
So invite your friends and families, no obligation, but we do need their support with understanding and their input in order to measure our vision and purpose with the needs of the world around us. We have plenty of room, coffee, food, and chairs. The music will be fun, the children will have fun and learn, the day will be filled with hope and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The topic of the day is: Why Branches Church? Because We Shouldn't Do Life Alone.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Keeping Church Uncomplicated by Thinking Outside the Church
Branches Church is about people. I know there are those who would immediately cringe at that philosophy and say that church is supposed to be about God. I believe the complications of religion begin right there in the why of doing church. One of the things Branches Church values is keeping church uncomplicated. So we're going to try to think outside the box of church, or religion, and see what God is up to in the world around us.
I once spoke with a guy who said he was reading his Bible and asking God to show Himself to him, but he didn't see God anywhere in it--it was just a bunch of stories about people. I replied with, "You mean stories about people who were trying to find God in their own life situations and circumstances and responding by either accepting or rejecting Him?"
"I never thought of it like that!" he said.
You see, even the Bible is written in such a way that we would have example after example of people to learn from, their footsteps to follow in, or their choices to learn from. Yes, it's God's Word - but it's not God, it's His Word. Much like this blog is not me, it's my thoughts and words put down for you to read. If you want to get to know me, come and visit, don't just read this blog. This format is too limited for me to reveal my whole thought process in.
The same goes for church or religion-- it's not God. It's not even for God, as if He needed anything from us. I can't imagine Him saying, "Oh boy, there's something I never thought of!" or "Wow, I never knew where to get one of these, thanks!" Church is supposed to be our expression of worship to God.
If we were to make church for God, it would become a to-do list of things we wouldn't want to forget and things we would want to remember in order to gain His acceptance or approval. Things we would define as acceptable or unacceptable. Things we would consider God is more pleased with because of the way we do them. Church would ultimately become about following the rules we set down for fear of not getting it right. We would constantly be comparing our own behavior to each other's to be sure we were doing it "correctly."
But if we make church about people, our church community becomes a safe place to share the ways God is speaking into our lives. Instead of comparing our to-do lists, we begin encouraging each other by pointing out where God is already at work in us. We begin to see where His life is showing itself in our daily living! That's the "why we do church" Branches is about - people finding God in the twists and turns of daily life! Uncomplicated.
Mike
I once spoke with a guy who said he was reading his Bible and asking God to show Himself to him, but he didn't see God anywhere in it--it was just a bunch of stories about people. I replied with, "You mean stories about people who were trying to find God in their own life situations and circumstances and responding by either accepting or rejecting Him?"
"I never thought of it like that!" he said.
You see, even the Bible is written in such a way that we would have example after example of people to learn from, their footsteps to follow in, or their choices to learn from. Yes, it's God's Word - but it's not God, it's His Word. Much like this blog is not me, it's my thoughts and words put down for you to read. If you want to get to know me, come and visit, don't just read this blog. This format is too limited for me to reveal my whole thought process in.
The same goes for church or religion-- it's not God. It's not even for God, as if He needed anything from us. I can't imagine Him saying, "Oh boy, there's something I never thought of!" or "Wow, I never knew where to get one of these, thanks!" Church is supposed to be our expression of worship to God.
If we were to make church for God, it would become a to-do list of things we wouldn't want to forget and things we would want to remember in order to gain His acceptance or approval. Things we would define as acceptable or unacceptable. Things we would consider God is more pleased with because of the way we do them. Church would ultimately become about following the rules we set down for fear of not getting it right. We would constantly be comparing our own behavior to each other's to be sure we were doing it "correctly."
But if we make church about people, our church community becomes a safe place to share the ways God is speaking into our lives. Instead of comparing our to-do lists, we begin encouraging each other by pointing out where God is already at work in us. We begin to see where His life is showing itself in our daily living! That's the "why we do church" Branches is about - people finding God in the twists and turns of daily life! Uncomplicated.
Mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)