The Anticipation of a Present

Remember when you were really young and Christmas was filled with a sense of awe and wonder? When Christmas lights had a magical glow and a haze of beauty filled the air?

·      When I ponder my Christmas past I always think of the gift I wanted the most. As a young man I was OBSESSED with home stereo systems. I collected speakers from garage sales, hung them on my bedroom walls and then waited in great anticipation for the day I would own a stereo to connect them to. 

I can't remember exactly which year it was, but I will never forget the day I stumbled upon one of the greatest Christmas catalogs to ever be mailed to my home.

The Radio Shack Christmas Catalog!

Don't laugh; the radio shack Christmas catalog had remote control cars, walkmans (I’ll explain those in another blog post) and personal boom box stereo systems!

On page 10, also known as page "wonderful", I saw the glistening beauty of a stereo system, complete with a CASSETTE and CD PLAYER!

< for those who don't have much life experience, here is a picture of a cassette tape. 

I remember circling the stereo system and leaving the catalog around the house for my parents to discover. Obviously, I used similar antics to the ones Ralphie employed in A Christmas Story. But seriously, day after day my parents gracefully ignored my efforts and played my emotions like a weeping violin. It almost got to the point where I really began to question their love for me. It's okay though, my therapist tells me I'm over that. 

As Christmas grew closer my anticipation for this present grew to a fever pitch, until finally, Christmas morning came. I don't even think my eyes were open when I shot out of bed and ran to the bottom of our Christmas tree. One of the most beautiful sights in the world is a Christmas tree with presents underneath it, and one of the most wonderful thoughts is knowing that some of them have your name on it!

There were small presents, medium sized presents and the undeniable BIG present. My name was all over that one. I will never forget the glorious moment of opening that present one strip of paper at a time. The unveiling of the stereo system picture on the side of the box was almost too much to take in. 

The anticipation of that present is what solidified the memory of how I received it, and that stereo brought me joy for many years!

You know, Christmas began with the anticipation of the greatest present of all, and God began to unveil the present to the world hundreds of years before it was time to open it. 

In fact, seven hundred years before Jesus was born, God began speaking through the prophets and filling the hearts and minds of the people with great anticipation. During that time the Jewish world was enveloped in spiritual darkness. The Assyrians had wiped out the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and not long after the Souther Kingdom of Judah would fall. False gods were being worshipped, and the kings in leadership called for people to put their faith in the wrong place. 

The people cried out to God...and God answered.

Isaiah 7:14 

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Micah 5:2 

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. 

These scriptures came hundreds of years before Jesus, but provided a glimmer of hope to a darkened world that desperately needed a light. Even better, it laid the foundation for the anticipation of a present. The first Christmas present...and it was going to be an unforgettable one!

P.S. It might be time to find all my old mix tapes...

Josh

Everybody Comes to Church Sunday

Over the past few weeks I have been preaching on the idea of stepping over a threshold for God. You know, a threshold. We step over them every day in our lives. We move in and out of doors all day, from one place to another, but when that threshold becomes spiritual and God is the one calling us to make a move for Him, that's when our commitment gets a little shaky.

Let me tell a personal story...

When I was in high school I had many annoying habits. One of those habits was my ability to not commit to outings with my friends. For example, if a group of friends asked me if I would like to go out on Friday night, or hang out at some event, I would reply with the annoying phrase, "If I'm there, I'm there." I thought I was being clever, they probably thought I was rude, and I'm ashamed to admit that the whole saying was just dumb. The truth of the matter was, I would not commit to something because I was afraid something better might come along, and if it did, I needed to have my schedule open. No commitments!

When I think of the state of the church in our country, it appears we have the same attitude. Most churches only gather together one time a week. It's usually Sunday morning, and most services are no longer than an hour and ten minutes. But the non-commitment to attending that service leaves me thinking that far too many people approach the worship of God with an if I'm there, I'm there attitude. 

In week 1 of my Threshold series I talked about things that stand in the way of our relationship with God. Ask yourself these questions:

* What are the things you would refuse to give up for God?

* Is church the first thing you erase from your day planner when something else comes up?

* Are you treating time with God and His church with an if I'm there, I'm there attitude?

I think it's time to jump over that threshold. What if we scheduled a Sunday morning where we committed to go to church. We could pretend like it was Easter Sunday or Christmas Day, except it wouldn't be! BUT we would be just as committed to this Sunday! No matter what else comes up, no matter what else was planned, no matter how nice the weather is, everything else gets moved to the number 2 spot, and everybody comes to church.

For my church, that day is Sunday, November 23rd. That's right! Get out your erasers, make some phone calls and let everyone know that everybody is going to be at church, and everybody includes you! 

It's EVERYBODY COMES TO CHURCH SUNDAY!

Stepping Across the Threshold

I believe each of us come to thresholds in our lives. It could be a moment of decision, a passing over or a staying right where you think you should be. Our feet walk up to the edge of a life change and our eyes look to what awaits us on the other side. 

The most comfortable place to stay is right where our feet currently are, on the side of the threshold that usually has us pursuing our own dreams, our own desires, the things we love in life, the careers we want to have, the way we use our time, the way we raise our families and even the way we interact and treat people. The list could go on and on, but I will spare you the details. But the fact of the matter is, when a believer in Christ says the prayer that invites Jesus to be the Lord of their life, it is delivered with a promise to step over any threshold that is placed between them and God.

In other words, the believer says to Jesus, "Where You go, I'll go, When You stay, I'll stay, When You move, I'll move, I will follow You."

But let’s be honest here, taking a step over that spiritual threshold is more like a leap of faith. It can often feel like we have weights attached to our ankles. These weights keep our feet firmly planted to the ground, unable to lift a foot over the THRESHOLD, often leaving us staring at the path that God has for us, yet unwilling to take any step toward it. 

I had a realization for myself some years ago. I looked in a mirror and thought, "You have the biblical knowledge, you have Jesus, but you're living life as though you don't." My feet were stuck at a threshold that I refused to jump over. I refused to trust that following the path of Jesus was the best decision I could ever make. As a result, I held onto bad habits, followed the wrong desires and set goals for myself that had nothing to do with what God had for me. My side of the threshold brought nothing but confusion and pain, and my heart cried out for change. 

My prayer that day is the same prayer I have today: Dear Jesus, my desire is to know you more. My desire is to walk in your ways. My desire is You!

Charles Stanley once wrote:
“So often I see Christians struggling to get to what they perceive as the top. They gather and accumulate and arrange and amass – all the while forging their long list of accomplishments, perhaps with the hope that they will one day be able to hand their resume to God and say, “See what I have done for you.”
God’s work, through brokenness, calls us not to accumulate, but discard. He calls us to get rid of this, toss that, purge ourselves of this trait and that habit, repent of that desire and that goal, and finally strip ourselves of all self until we can truly say, “All that I am and all that I have is God’s. He is in me and I am in Him, and that is all that matters.”

This is a tremendous challenge for each of us, but I believe God equips us to meet this challenge head on. It really stands behind the vision God has given New Hope Community Church. We want to Pursue a Relentless, Unrestricted Relationship with Jesus Christ. Relentless in its desire for Jesus, but Unrestricted in that it's not about the law, or something that we have to do. It's something we WANT to do. 

The apostle Paul considered knowing and pursuing Jesus as the PINNACLE of anything he could do in life. It was the only thing that mattered to him, and yet he was aware of how challenging it would be for him AND all of us. But consider these words as you decide whether to take that leap of faith over your threshold. 

Philippians 3:8-14 (ESV)

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Protect Your Heart

I have been talking about spiritual warfare the past few weeks. In Ephesians, Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God to protect against the attacks of the enemy. Tomorrow we will hit the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate was used to protect the vital organs of the body, most notably, the heart. 

On a spiritual level, there is a great battle that takes place for a persons heart. God fights to win your heart, while the enemy fights to destroy it. When a believer comes to know Jesus, and as the saying goes, "accepts Jesus into their heart," they place full confidence in the fact that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, making believers blameless before God. The enemy wants all people to believe that they are nothing but a bunch of fallen, messed up people who will never be able to live up to God's standard. If a person believes in their heart that God has an impossible standard, and that they'll always come up short, they'll usually just give up. 

That is why Paul tells us to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Protect your heart from the lies of that attack. To be righteous is to be justified and blameless before God, and that IS something you could never be on your own. But the good news is that you are not on your own. We can be righteous before God because of Jesus. It is IN Jesus that we can be righteous before God. As the Scripture says, "He became sin, who knew no sin, so we might become His righteousness!" 

The enemy will attack you with guilt and shame, reminding you that you are not worthy. God's Word reminds us that we never were worthy, but that's why Jesus came, and because of what He did on the cross, we are redeemed. He stood in our place and now we are justified before God. AMEN!

So put on the breastplate of righteousness and protect your heart from any attack that attempts to guilt and shame you! You are redeemed!

Josh

Want

Psalm 23:1-2 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

WANT – It’s not a word that we look at as a dirty word, but if we’re not careful it’s a word that can leave us feeling dirty.

There are things that I WANT

There’s a path for my life that I WANT

There’s a speed at which I WANT things to happen.

But the very definition of WANT can be a little troubling.

Want Definition#1: to have a desire to possess or do something, to wish for.

Want Definition#2: to lack or be short of something desirable or essential.

You see, when you get caught up in a life of WANT, you lose focus on the importance of what you already have.

And if all you can focus on is what you WISH you had, then you can never truly understand how blessed you are with what you DO have.

That is why this Psalm says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..."

Let me explain.

When it comes to the sheep, the shepherd is responsible for the following:

Protection
Feeding
Watering
Grooming
Shelter
Etc.

The job of the sheep is not to want its own way, but to follow, trust, and choose the shepherds way.
The shepherd knows what is best for the sheep, the shepherd sees what is ahead, and the shepherd understands the needs of the sheep. 

As Henry Blackaby says, “Living like a sheep can bring you incredible peace of mind. The biblical shepherd knew everything about his sheep. He understood what foods were best for them and what would bring harm. He knew when they should eat and when they needed their thirst quenched. The shepherd was an expert of the terrain and was aware of the best places for food and water. As long as the sheep trusted and followed their shepherd, they would always have their needs met at the right time. Their shepherd would give them the best that he had."

When you think about it, doesn't it make sense that the Lord should be our shepherd?

It is when WANT creeps in that we find ourselves walking away from the safety and leadership of the shepherd.

It is the goal of the enemy (the devil) to isolate us, and lead us away from the shepherds leading, and that is where want can take us.

WANT can leave us lost.

WANT can leave us feeling inadequate.

WANT can leave us ripe for the picking.

WANT is not the shepherds path for our lives, and it takes us away from the safety of where the shepherd would guide us. 

So the next time you find yourself in "want" for a new direction in life, spend some time in prayer and place yourself in the shepherds care by asking the simple question, "Where are you leading me, Lord?"

Josh

A Top 1 List for Life

Can't we all just calm down a little? It seems to me every new day brings a new blog, written by someone with a new Top 10 list of offensive things people should never say or do. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things people should not say or do to one another, but these blogs are usually made up of "offenses" that are really just a part of everyday life. It's like people stand around hoping to be offended so they can write about it.

Below are just a few examples of what i have seen in the last few days...

* Top 10 Things Not to Say to an Expectant Mother
* Top 10 Things You are Saying to Your Child that will Ruin Their Lives
* Top 10 Things You Shouldn't Say to a Family With Three Children
* Top 10 Things a Woman Should Never Say to a Man
* Top 10 Things a Man Should Never Say to a Woman
* etc, etc, etc...

I could fill up the rest of this blog with Top 10 lists, but I think you get my point. Whenever I see these blogs there is one simple Scripture that always pops in my head.

Proverbs 19:11
Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

We live in a society that is offended by everything. It has become a calling card for our nation! But I believe Christians need to step back and ask themselves if they should be taken in by this "offended" culture. Think about it, if God calls us to love each other how can we do that if we are always upset at what someone said, wrote, or posted as a status update?

Believers in Jesus Christ are given one mission...ONE...to share the love of Jesus with a lost and dying world. We should let nothing stand in the way of that love. As a result, there is only a need for a "Top 1" list, and here it is:

1. Let It Go

Josh