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Jesus in Carhartts

This Sunday we will begin a Series on the book written by James the Just (Half-Brother of Jesus) dealing with “Faith that Works.”  This is a book you should read standing up that contains a ringing call for action.  It is intensely practical and been called the “Proverbs of the New Testament.”  James is saying…

• Integrity exists only when words and actions meet
• If you can control your tongue you can conquer any discipline in life
• John Maxwell:   demonstrates a faith beyond mere words, don’t tell me-show me, book for our inner-activist, put some shoe leather on our core-values, the more you walk-the less you have to talk
• Faith+No Works= Dead Faith
  • His audience is the Jewish Christian Believers scattered abroad

Please take time to review at least chapter one before Sunday.  Here are a few key scriptures for memorization from this exciting book of the Bible.

Key Verses

James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

James 1:4 But Let patience have its perfect work that you may be complete lacking nothing

James 1:19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to     become angry.

James 2:17-18 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

James 3:5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

 James 4:7-8 Therefore submit to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

James 5:16B: The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Get ready to be challenged and equipped!

Easter Sunday 2012 Recap!

Several months ago we set out with a 20 step plan to reach 700 on Easter.  700 would be the single largest attendence Clark Fork has ever experienced in 35 years as a church.  Our goals are not driven by the desire to just be a large church, but we know God cares for people in our city and we know we exist for all the people who are not at our church yet!  I will get to our number record at the end of the blog but want to share a few highlights and share a warm thank you to our wonderful team who pulled off an amazing Resurrection Sunday.

11am the second service which was the smaller of our two Sunday meetings!
(also notice the super sweet stage set made of cardboard!)

We decided to have two services instead of one.  This is a scary thought because you need to virtually double your volunteers.  From greeters, ushers, worship teams, parking team, decoration, cleaning, projector and video crew, and office staff our church aced it!  Job well done!  One new lady who came to church had a huge struggle with crowd anxiety.  One of our greeters noticed she was nervous and pulled her aside on the way in, prayed for her and she made it thorugh the whole service sitting in the crowd!  Not only that she let us know she decided to quit smoking after the meeting and has been smoke free since Sunday.  Well done team in taking care of people!

Our Creative Team, Volunteers, Cleaning Staff, and Saturday Grounds Crew got our building and property ready to put our best foot forward.  Elke Olbricht also did a bang-up job on the stage design and flowers/decoration.  From details like flowers even in the bathrooms- to a beautiful new copper cross on stage our church showed a pride of ownership.

Kid's Ministry was over the top!  We had over 70 kids in each service with a live tomb experience, over 2,000 eggs given away, and powerful worship with a full band in kids minsitry.  Thanks team for going above and beyond for our young people.

"Broken Marriage"

"God Restored and Blessed 36 Years"

A highlight for me was the cardboard testimonies.  We had over 40 people share a very personal testimony written on cardboard, then they flipped it over to show how God has worked freedom into their lives.  The testimonies were during the worship time and culminated in a standing ovation as Doug and Tammy Dove came on stage to share their incredible story.  One lady in our church shared on her cardboard testimony that she had been "Molested" and she put on the back that she was healed through forgiveness.   She had several brave ladies approach her and thank her for sharing because they went through the same thing in their past.  God really used your stories to touch hundreds of people!

Our message on Easter was about God's heart for the underdog.  It was so cool to see so many underdog's who the world may have thrown away or discounted living life full in Christ!  

Thank you to every one who prayed, believed, had faith and invited to 2012 Easter Sunday.  We did not quite reach our goal of 700 but we did have 621 people in church Sunday!  This is huge considering we had a down week on April 1st at around 300 people.  Looking back, we had the third highest attendance ever for our church and the largest in over 7 years. That is an amazing jump and great to have two full services and see so many people respond to the message of Hope.  

I can't wait to see what happens this Sunday with baptisms and many more who will be blessed!

Easter Sunday 9 or 11 am

This Sunday April 8th is Easter Sunday.  This is one of the greatest days of the year to be in Church.  We so expect great things to happen that we added an extra Sunday Meeting.  Instead of our typical 10 am service we will be having 9 or 11 am.  Both services will have huge giveaways and egg hunts for kids.  We have a special event called "Cardboard Testimonies" where we will be seeing 50 abbreviated life stories of people in our congregation.  You won't want to miss that.  This special Sunday will also mark the beginning of a new series about God's heart for the underdog.

Save the Drama for your Mama! (Excerpts from message: Low Drama Church)

Matthew 6:12

Forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us.

“Low Drama Church”

How much of your life is consumed with Drama?  As a pastor I have stated a strange goal: "I want to pastor a low-drama church!"  I know what you are thinking- that I have lost my marbles and that is impossible.  In our age of drama-instant communication, 7000 text messages a month, reality t.v. land, Bride-zilla, social media explosion, etc etc it is really hard not to get sucked into drama.  I do want to add I am so blessed that we do have such little drama at Clark Fork City Church!! 

There was plenty of internal fighting and drama in the Bible:  

• Before David fought Goliath he had to deal with Saul
• Paul and Peter had a disagreement about doctrine 
• Joseph had some brothers who didn’t believe in him
• Gentiles were not Jewish enough for the disciples, so they said "get out the knife!" or something like that...

As we have been looking at the Lord's Prayer and in a series called "Teach us to Pray," we are learning as we pray we are caught up with Jesus priority of forgiveness.  Deep Prayer=Low Drama!  One caveat- to be in the kingdom means we will have drama and battles and challenges.  Also being a church that wins new converts and reaches out to a city will illicit a certain amount of drama.  That is the good type of drama.  The bad kind of drama is infighting among believers.  Prayer reminds us to excel in forgiveness and mercy and grace!

Here are a few quick points on being a Low Drama Church:

1. Be quick to forgive (Leave your gift at the altar and go reconcile with your brother.)

• Matthew 5:23-24

2. Don’t be in a hurry to miss those outside the church.  Luke 10:25 (Good Samaritan story)

The Harvest is Plentiful Laborers are few!  It’s not a harvest problem…It's a laborer problem. Could it be we are about so many other things we miss a chance to do what is right?

3.  Our Heart is for those within the church:

·        ^{Ephesians 2:19} Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God

·        ^{Galatians 6:10} Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

4. If you are continually offended by something or someone check your heart condition.  Acts 24:16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

5. Don’t criticize- James 4:11-12 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

·        Judging a person does not define who they are, it defines who you are.

6.  My Seat can be someone else’s

·        I am here to serve.  Our church exists also for everyone else that isn’t here yet and I won't allow my own drama to get in the way of reaching people.

7.  Take Responsibility for your emotional state. 

8.  My people prayer list is not an excuse to gossip. 

·        Eph 4:31-32 

·        Explaining your side to someone who does not want to listen and understand you is like using a pencil that was not sharpened, it’s pointless.

9. Forgiveness Makes Room for God to Move- Unforgivness gives the enemy room to move in our lives.

John 13:34-35 -The will know we are Christians by their love one for another.

For an extreme example of forgivness and response to drama- Check out:

Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (amazon) 

Atheists sue to remove Jesus statue from Big Mountain -So what...God Made Big Mountain!

http://missoulian.com/news/local/atheists-sue-to-remove-jesus-statue-from-big-mountain/article_d8e79fcc-527f-11e1-bcdd-0019bb2963f4.html

Here is a little current event post from our very own state of Montana.  I have never personally seen the "Big Mountain Jesus" statue that was created to honor WW2 vets. He (the statue) became famous and even garnered some national attention when a group of concerned citizens wanted him take down because he stands on public lands.


This has been both sad and humorous to me for several reasons:

1.  God made Big Mountain which stands in greater testominy than a statue. He made the mountain! Creation is one of the greatest testimonies of God there is. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." ( Romans 1:20 )

2.  If they tear down "Big Mountain Jesus," we have to tear down a number of other things that stand on public property based on similar reasoning. A Jesus statue on a mountain in Montana seems trite compared to the top of the Washington Monument that bares the inscription "Laus Deo"- Give Praise to God.  That is a much more prominent monument compared to the obscure Jesus statue outside of Whitefish Montana.  If we did some searching an extensive list could be made of government buildings with faith references and quotes. Even in a recession the amount of lawsuits against such things seem to be going up.  Those funds are sadly misappropriated.

3.  Since when did we need a Statue to promote or represent our faith?  I would argue for keeping the statue up for the reason it was planted: as a memorial to WW2 soliders, particularly members of the Army's 10th mountain division.  That's why it should stay.  Jesus doesnt need a statue to win, besides he preferred not having idols of stones- when he is a living God.  It doesn't need to stay up for His name sake, he will get his Glory.  However it is sad that a nation with a rich Christian Heritage would come to this.

4. I guess it could be a subtle reminder to the wayward snowboarder to find his way home...to a Loving God, who gave us a massive playground like Montana to enjoy life and bring Him Glory.

Teach us to Pray 1: A look at the Lord’s Prayer –part 1

Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death.  ~Author Unknown

Matthew 6:5-13 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." 2He said to them, "When you pray, say…

          Prayer must be specific and targeted: When you aim at nothing, you hit it every time!

          There is a vast difference is saying prayers and praying. On Easter 2007 it was estimated 2 billion people prayed the Lords prayer around the globe!  Was it a rehearsed prayer or people praying to a living God who hears us and responds?

Here are three quick and simple things to remember about the first verse of this super important prayer:

1. We approach God as a Father because prayer is about relationship

          “ It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”  John Bunyan  This is a nice quote and does apply to our heart attitude in situations where we don’t know what to say.  However prayer is a verbal exercise and things usually don’t happen in the kingdom until something is said!  Relationships require communication.  Kingdom Activity requires something to be said! Think of the creation story or many healings in Christ’s ministry: “Pick up your matt and walk!”

Or Joshua 6:20 People shouted with a great shout the walls fell flat.  They had marched around Jericho and did what God had said but something happened when they shouted!  Verbalize your prayers to an almighty God. 

LUK 10:21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

JOH 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

         

2.  We approach with thanks for who he is

    "HALLOWED BE THY NAME."

·        After the address, prayer moves into worship.

·        Upon recognition of the fact that I am in the presence of the Creator of the universe, I worship Him.

I think of how awesome He is.

The Jews felt that the name was too holy to cross the lips of man, thus in the Hebrew text you only find the consonants YHVH. 

·        In Proverbs we are told that the name of Jehovah is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe.

·        It is interesting that Paul tells us in Philippians that God has given to Jesus a name that is above all names that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

·        The angel told Joseph to call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.

So you can imagine if the Pharisees would not utter or write His proper name so for Jesus to come and say “Father” would be offensive to them and mind-blowing!  It was rare people approached God in this way.

3.  We approach with Praise not Petition

       By approaching with praise we are saying he his bigger than our problems. In Prayer mountains turn to mole-hills because our focus and attention is on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We can idolize our problems when we fixate on them.  We will see later in the prayer petitions come and it is not bad to shout prayers from a place of need (much like the lepers in Luke 17 who shouted at Jesus from “A long way off.”  But we should want to request and bring petitions and prayers from a close place of relationship with a God who wants to be near us!

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the thoughts I think toward you says the Lord.  Thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me.  I will listen to you and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. 

       Matthew 6:5-13 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. ¹⁰Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us this day our daily bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.