Pastor Randy Frazee shares the following story.

I remember seeing a picture of a husband and wife in a gentleman’s office. I said, “Nice picture”. I turned around and looked at the man, and he had tears in his eyes. So I asked him, “Why are you crying?”

He said, “There was a time in our marriage when I was unfaithful to my wife, and she found out about it. She was so deeply hurt and injured she was going to leave me and take the kids with her. I was overwhelmed at the mistake I had made, and I shut the affair down. I went to my wife in total brokenness. Knowing I did not deserve for her to answer in the affirmative, I asked her to forgive me. And she forgave me. This picture was taken shortly after that. When I see this picture, I see a woman who forgave me. I see a woman who was willing to stand with me in this picture. So when you see this picture you say, ’Nice picture.’ But when I see this picture I see my life given back to me again.”

The above story serves well to demonstrate how in our brokenness, in our lowest of lows, grace can still flow. Where do you turn when you’re broken? What do you do if the brokenness is such that nobody else can make you better again? The little nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty and his plight seemingly bears much truth today. Another version goes. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, and all the people made egg salad.

All around us are wounded, broken, messed up people. As much as we would like to help these people and others in our midst that are hurting, the reality is this. There really isn’t all that much we can do to rebuild a broken person. Now for the Good news. Our God is very capable of rebuilding broken people. In fact, this is one of His specialties:

There is a clear pattern in the Bible that teaches us that brokenness precedes greatness:

1. Before Abraham became the father of many nations, he and Sarah were childless.

2. Before Jacob could be blessed, he was wounded by an angel in a wrestling match.

3. Before Joseph ruled Egypt, he was thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and falsely imprisoned.

4. Before Job’s estate was doubled, he lost everything he had, including his family, his fortune, and his future.

5. Before Moses became the great deliverer, he lost his position, his possessions, and his popularity.

6. Before Joshua conquered the Promised Land, he went through the wilderness.

7. Before Samson crushed the Philistines, he was blinded, binded, and grinded.

8. Before David became king, he was renounced by his family, ridiculed by his foes, and rejected by his friends.

9. Before Daniel could be used mightily, he had to spend the night in the lion’s den.

10. Before Hosea became a powerful spokesman for God, his wife betrayed him and returned to prostitution.

11. Before Peter preached 3,000 souls into the kingdom, he denied his Savior three times and went out and wept bitterly.

12. Before Paul brought the gospel to the Gentiles, he was blinded on the Damascus road.

Are you broken? If you are then be aware, “Our spirit is released according to the degree of our brokenness”.

Oswald Chambers commented, "When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship—when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us."

Sometimes God sees that our life is a mess and He breaks us so that He can remake us.

“And the vessel that He made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so He made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it”. Jeremiah 18:4

The summer is over my friends and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. We will be celebrating communion this Sunday and reflecting on the elements associated with communion to learn more about our Lord’s presence in the midst of our brokenness.

Life is precious.
Handle with care.

Shawn

I am so excited regarding the next two weeks at Trinity as I anticipate the incredible activity of our Lord in our midst. I am convinced that it is highly possible that we will see a several people come to faith and many others experience a sudden spurt in Spiritual growth as the next two weeks unfold. What’s happening?

It all begins this Saturday when we set up a RV city in our South parking lot to house the our 24 visiting missionaries from Circleville Church USA (http://www.circlevillechurch.org/index.html). Our Sunday worship service should be awesome as we worship with our visitors and celebrate and praise God for what he has done in the past during our summer camps and pray for His anointing over the next two weeks. There will be lots of testimonies and celebrating this Sunday. To help welcome our guest we will be holding a potluck luncheon immediately after the service. Since we will be feeding ourselves and our guests it would be most helpful if you were to bring lots and lots of food. If your last name begins with A to M please bring sandwiches or other main dish type finger food and chips. If your last name begins with N to Z please bring a veggie plate and finger food dessert. If you are able, it would be great if you could stay behind after the luncheon to join us in a time of prayer for the following two weeks of camps. Here is what is happening over the next two weeks.

Our missionaries who have been trained and coached in running top level soccer camps, will be coaching us on how run one by running one every morning next week. This is our opportunity to discover firsthand how to use the world’s most popular sport for the glory of God. When our “volunteer” missionaries aren’t helping with the morning soccer program they will be assisting our property team with some much needed renovation around the church. One of the initiatives is to create additional space in our nursery for all those beautiful babies that keep showing up as well as additional office space. What a gift these folks are going to be. Imagine, they are taking their holiday time to come and serve us and our Lord in this manner. What a gift from God.

Regarding the afternoons next week, we will be hosting approximately 70 children for VBS. This is a significant increase from last year. God is good. The following week, we will be hosting our ever popular 4th week camp all day every day. For further details on these three camps (soccer, VBS, 4th Week) please click on the green tag on the right. It is not too late to help or, recruit campers. Why not go for it?

The following quote is something I have been reflecting on this past week in preparation for our Sunday message. “One of the most insidious maladies of our time (is): the tendency in most of us to observe rather than act, avoid rather than participate, not do rather than do; the tendency to give in to the sly, negative, cautionary voices that constantly counsel us to be careful, to be controlled, to be wary and prudent and hesitant and guarded in our approach of this complicated thing called living. Arthur Gordon, a Touch of Wonder. Over the next couple of weeks we as a church will act and participate in the spreading of the gospel to many who have never heard before. We will do it with passion and professionalism as we throw traditional caution to the wind. Over this time we will discover that small acts can and do make a huge difference in the quality of a person’s life in this world and where a person will spend eternity. Help us go for it for His glory.

See ya Sunday

God loves you and so do I

Shawn

“Our Churches are filled with people who outwardly look contented and at peace but inwardly are crying out for someone to love them....just as they are – confused, frustrated, often frightened, guilty, and often unable to communicate even within their own families. But the other people in the church look so happy and contented that one seldom has the courage to admit his own deep needs before such a self-sufficient group as the average church meeting appears to be”. Keith Miller.

It often appears to me as if Church is the place where we are most encouraged to “pretend”. There appears to be this unwritten rule that good Christians are supposed to presented that all is fine. You ask someone during coffee, how are you doing?” and they say “Fine.” because it is easy to say. Saying fine is easier to say than; “Not very well, thank you; my back is bothering me, my teenage children are disappointing me, I’m unhappy with my body, my husband never speaks to me or touches me, and I’m wondering if Christianity is true?”

Yes we pretend, and do you know what the result of pretending is? As Yaconelli says, “pretending perpetuates the illusion of relationship by connecting us on the basis of who we aren’t. People who pretend have pretend relationships.” True spirituality means we decide not to pretend, It is the decision to decide not to lie, or allow others to believe we are something we are not. True spirituality means we stop deceiving other and attempting to deceive God. We come clean.

The way we pretend with others is often a reflection of how we pretend with God. Because many believe that God loves them only when they are clean and whole and fixed, they work hard to present an image of themselves to God that is clean and pure Often we find it difficult to be real with God because we find it hard to believe that He still loves us and wants us “regardless”. Far too often, during those times when we are all messed up we either run from God and hide like Adam or, pretend all is well and have a pretend relationship with God.

What does a pretend relationship with God look like? It is the person who can’t see the beauty of our Lord’s creation. It is the person who can’t see the good around them. It is the person who is not free in worship. It is the person who is terrified of the raised eyebrow when talking about Jesus. It is the person who no longer can cry out to God in desperation. It is the person who can’t reach out in love to all their brothers and sisters in Christ. It is the person who is no longer broken over friends, family members and neighbours who are on their way to a Christ less eternity.

On Sunday we will explore this amazing truth; the things that we believe that will disqualify us from being a spiritual giant ( ie mess in our lives and our brokenness) is what qualifies us to be chosen by Jesus. When we pretend with God, and try to hide our weakness and brokenness, we disqualify ourselves from intimacy with God.

Don’t forget, this Sunday is green jello Sunday. I am hoping that everybody will bring at least one package of green jello to church on Sunday. You want to know why I want green jello? Come to Church this Sunday, and you will find out.

See ya Sunday

God loves you and so do I

Shawn

Charlie Brown has just stopped to visit Lucy at her five-cent psychology booth looking for advice.

“Life is like a deck chair, Charlie,” she says. “On the cruise ship of life, some people place their deck chair at the rear of the ship so they can see where they’ve been. Others place their deck chair at the front of the ship so they can see where they’re going.” The good doctor (Lucy) looks at her puzzled client and ask, “ Which way is your deck chair facing?” Without hesitating, Charlie replies glumly, ‘I can’t even get my deck chair unfolded.”

I can relate well to Charlie on this one. I think Michael Yaconelli expresses it well when he says, “Everywhere I look on the cruise ship of Christianity, I see crews of instructors, teachers, experts and gurus eager to explain God’s plan for the placement of my deck chair, but I still can’t even unfold it. NO wonder, when I peruse the titles in a Christian bookstore, I feel like I am the only Klutz in the kingdom of God, a spiritual nincompoop lost in a shipful of brilliant biblical thinkers, an ungodly midget in a spiritual giants.”

I no longer think that I am the only person who sometimes feels like a spiritual Klutz, a messy spiritual Klutz.

I thank God that he chose not to sanitize the Bible for its words overflow with the stories of messy people. Consider Noah. Everyone must have thought he was crazy building a huge ark in the middle of the desert. God seems to love this guy, he’s presented as a hero of great faith and strong will. Well the floods do come and we see that Noah was right to build the Ark. After a while, the floods reside and Noah triumphantly leaves the Ark gets drunk and naked./

You say, what, drunk and naked? I don’t recall that being preached or taught in Sunday school. Do you mean to say that Noah had a moment of indiscretion and weakness? Yep, Noah did, just like all people he was a mix of strengths and weaknesses. As Yaconelli points out, David, Abraham, Lot, Saul, Solomon, Rahab, and Sarah were God-loving, courageous, brilliant, fearless, loyal, passionate, committed holy men and women who were also murderers, adulterers, and manic depressives. They were men and women who could be gentle, holy, defenders of the faith one minutes and insecure, mentally unstable, unbelieving, shrewd, lying, grudge-holding tyrants the next.

Now, can we all say this together, “they were just like we are today”? We who stand in church, sing songs, smile and tell everybody everything is fine, can we admit that we are no different than the followers of Christ who have gone before us. Can we admit that we are a people who a klutzy, messy spirituality? When we can admit this, it opens the door for incredible acts of the Holy Spirit.

I have wonderful news from you, “When we sin and mess up our lives...we find that God doesn’t go off and leave us – he enters in to our trouble and save us.” (Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction)

See ya Sunday

Shawn

This Sunday is Father’s Day, a day where we traditionally pause and take a closer look at what it means to be a “great” dad of faith. It’s tough out there trying to be a “great” dad of faith isn’t it. In some ways, it’s even tough be a dad of faith much less a “great” dad of faith. There is much that we dads struggle with when attempting to share faith.

Here are what Canadian dads struggle with in passing faith along to their kids:

#1 – Time and busyness (25%)

#2 – Lack of self-discipline (13%)

#3 – Fatigue (11%)

#4 – Consistency (10%)

#5 – Personal Spiritual Walk (7%)

While it is a challenge to pass on faith, it can be done for we dads already have the tools in our tool box to do it. This Sunday I will literally pull out the tools that we all love to play with (screwdrivers, hammers, tape measurers, levels) as we explore how to be a dad of faith. When we truly understand the truth behind these tools we can build that house that is secure. “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1 We are called to join the Lord in this building. As a Father, I believe I am called to build into the life of my wife, my children and, since it is Father’s Day, my own Father. Are you building the right things the right way or are you wasting your time?

Until Sunday, please allow me to pass on a bit of wisdom to all the dads out there. Dad, treat your children’s mother with love and respect. Tell her you love her every day – in front of the kids. Tell her three, four, five times a day. They need to hear you say it. They need to see you live it!

“So guard yourself; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.” (Malachi 2:15)

In the mid-'90s, Sports Illustrated did a cover feature entitled "St. David," on David Robinson, the MVP center for the San Antonio Spurs. One segment described how Robinson handled himself, as a professing Christian, husband, and father, in the midst of the NBA's intense temptations. For example, during television breaks, he'd sit on the bench and stare studiously at the floor to avoid looking at the gyrating cheerleaders out on the court. The article also mentioned that like all NBA players, Robinson was constantly being approached by attractive women who wanted to talk to him . and were probably offering more than just witty conversation. Apparently, he would rather brusquely brush them off. When asked to comment on that seemingly "rude" practice, he said something like this: "If any woman is going to get her feelings hurt, it's not going to be my wife." A protector and hero in action. Each day your wife and mine hold out to us their intense, God-given, little-girl desire (and right) to be treasured. Each day she's threatened on all sides by an offensive and abusive world. And each day-with kind words and faithful eyes-we, too, can be our wife's protector and hero. -Jeff Feldhahn in For Men Only My Response: Can my wife feel confident that I have eyes only for her?

God bless you

Shawn

Did you hear about the Little League coach who suddenly stopped the game. He walked over to one of his players who had just made an out. He looked down at the young player and asked, “Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?” The little boy nodded his head. “Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?” The little boy nodded yes. “So,” the coach continued, “when a strike is called or you’re out at first, you don’t argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?” Again, the little boy nodded. “Good,” said the coach. “Now go over there and explain it to your mother.” (The Executive Speaker, quoted in Bits & Pieces, November 10, 1994, pp. 20-21).

In Palm 78:4 you will find a rather curious expression teaching, “We will not hide them [God’s words and his works] from their children.” Who would hide the things of God from the next generation? Who would hide the words and works from God from their own children? Unfortunately, I suspect we all do it, unknowingly, from time to time but it can be different.

As parents and grandparents, we have a responsibility to teach God’s Word to our children. When we fail to positively, purposefully and systematically teach the Word of God to our children we are hiding His Word from them. Sunday school, youth activities, children’s church, and all of the other kid’s ministries around TBCO are extremely important, but not nearly as important as mom and dad or gramps and grams teaching the Word to the children. We have a tremendous crew of teachers and workers who pour God’s word into kids’ lives week in and week out. They deserve our appreciation and encouragement but they will never impact your children’s lives the way you can.

We can also hide the works of God as well as the Word of God by not being transparent with our children and sharing with them how God has rescued us form temptation. Yes, as parents, our children need to know our challenges and, hear how God has delivered us. We must not hide his answer to prayer. We must tell them about his guidance and faithfulness to us in the defining moments of our lives. To hide the works of God from the next generation is to deprive them of something vital.

There are many ways we unknowingly hide the things of God but, it can be different. This Sunday we will share in a study of Psalm 78:1-7 and together discover what it looks like to have a home where faith is exploding with life changing impact.

Do you, or somebody you know suffer from depression and anxiety. What you like to join me and some other folks in a small confidential discussion group that will focus on this theme. Here are the details. Depression and Anxiety Discussion and Support Group: Starting Thursday, June 17th at 7 to 9 pm at TBCO. Summer, for many is prime vacation time. However, ongoing struggles with depression and anxiety ignore seasonal boundaries. In recognizing a need to address the issue of depression and anxiety many members of our community face, Trinity Bible Church in responding to the needs of the community will be running a discussion and support group. Come forward and express your interest and work toward change in a safe supportive environment. Space is limited so please express your interest to the church office at tbcoffice@yahoo.ca.

They’re coming and they will be arriving here at TBCO on July 11th for seven days. Who are they? They, are a group of missionaries (24) coming up from the States to spend the week at our church and partner with us in our first ever soccer camp. These folks have been involved in over 350 such endeavours and are looking forward to partnering with us. Please pause and take the time to send them a greeting at their church website at http://www.circlevillechurch.org/

See ya Sunday

Shawn

What an incredible letter. 2 Timothy is written by Paul as he sits in prison awaiting death as a consequence of his ministry in the name of Jesus Christ. Tradition tells us that his cell was an underground dungeon, dark, damp and cold. Imagine, sitting in a dungeon awaiting death because you worship the one true God and, being ready. "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Tim 4:6-8. Paul has already appeared for his preliminary hearing before the supreme court of Rome presided over by Nero himself. It is said that he stood there all alone knowing full well that the case for Christ he was presenting would result in his death. As he sits in his cell he is reminded that the Churches he has founded are in turmoil, a leader must surface.

For the past few years, Paul has been mentoring a much younger man, Timothy in how to be a pastor. Paul has chosen well for Timothy posses a sincere faith an unhypocritical faith. The root word used to describe Timothy’s faith is u/po/kritov which is taken from Greek play actors, who wore masks in order to pretend to be something which they were not. Timothy’s faith was not that way. He did not pretend to be a Christian. He was a Christian.

Where did this faith of Timothy begin? Paul states in 2 Tim that Timothy’s faith dwelt in his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice. Both Timothy’s mother and grandmother were true Israelites, who believed the Old Testament promises of the Messiah. Paul mentions both by name, indicating that he knew them personally. Timothy’s faith actually began with his training in the Old Testament Scriptures as a child (2 Timothy 3:14-17). It rested on a firm foundation. The foundation for Timothy’s faith was “laid at home” and Paul, mentored him into his calling.

For the past few weeks we have been looking at the importance of “Faith at Home”. Timothy demonstrates how important “Faith at Home” is. This week we will discover that as a Christian we can also be used by God to help with an “Extended Family Makeover”. Yes, God can use you to impact for eternity your extended loved ones. Until Sunday, I leave you with this interpretation of Paul’s (2 Tim) words of encouragement.

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“Perilous times will come; hypocrites and deceivers will enter the Church under the guise of true religion and will seek to win followers for themselves. But their successes will be short-lived, for God will expose them for the fools they are. The time will come when those who call themselves Christian will not endure wholesome teaching but will gather a crowd of teachers to tickle their ears. But all of this cannot and dare not rob you of your courage and strength, and make you tearful or weary in your work of love! “Take hold of yourself, and keep a clear head by holding to the kind of sturdy, salutary words you have heard from me and by guarding that good deposit that was entrusted to you through the Holy Spirit. Entrust this to reliable men, who will also be qualified to teach others. Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, but in His strength endure hardship with me like a good soldier of Jesus Christ, competing according to the rules, doing your work faultlessly, keeping yourself clean from the contamination of evil. Rebuke all ungodliness, yet with kindness; shut the mouths of those who oppose you and in view of Christ’s imminent return be unswerving in preaching and teaching the Word with great patience and careful instruction. “What is at stake here is the salvation of God’s elect. This is how I have conducted my ministry, and I have not been put to shame. The Lord stood beside me, delivered me from all persecution, and strengthened me, so that through me the gospel might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. Now the Lord will deliver me from the last great evil and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. For I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” (Translated by Prof. John Jeske in the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 3, July, 1975.)

See ya Sunday

Shawn

Are there any false god’s kicking around out there? Could there be any hanging on your back? What about in your laneway? Have you looked in your closet lately; could there be a false god in there?

Our Scripture for this Sunday teaches us that there is but one true God and we are to love Him with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

Some of your may be thinking to yourselves, “False gods? What are you talking about? There isn’t a false god in my closet, on my back or in my laneway. You won’t catch me bowing down to some idol made of wood or stone. That kind of stuff only happens in the underdeveloped nations of the third world. I don’t need to concern myself with falling into the trap of idolatry. I don’t think you know what you’re talking about Pastor Shawn, there are no false gods around here.

I hear your concern with my question and in a way it makes sense. It is doubtful that anyone present could be found guilty of worshiping or following after false gods in the traditional sense. But what happens if we consider the fact that idolatry is not limited to figures of wood and stone—an idol is anything that causes our focus to shift from complete dedication to God. Anything that can divert your attention and causes you to pursue after it rather than God alone, is an idol, and your focus on it makes you an idolater. Shall we take another look? Are there any idols in the closet, in the laneway, in the bank account?

Perhaps you still see no cause for alarm, there’s no danger of you drifting away. Perhaps you see yourself as having it “all” under control. There are no idols in your life because you are “successful” in loving the one true God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Let me ask you to think back over the past week. What I want you to especially focus on is the content of your conversations over the past couple of days. The reason I ask you to perform this little exercise is because it will reveal your true heart. The matters of chief importance in our lives are the things we talk about. With our mouths we confess where our loyalties lie.

What was your conversation about this past week? God? Money? Work? Sports? How about those Habs? Things? What did you focus on when you had the opportunity to talk with others and share the things that weigh heaviest on your heart? What did your children hear you talking about? If you have not noticed, our children are quick to pick up on what is important to us. They are learning from our conversations what their ambitions and dreams should be all about. What are we telling our children is most important in life—our lives? Does our conversation clearly demonstrate that we love the on true God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?

Woodrow Wilson said in an address in 1904, “If you wish your children to be Christians you must really take the trouble to be Christians yourselves.”

This Sunday we will continue our series “Faith at Home” by focusing on “The Family Makeover. In preparation for Sunday I would invite you to reflect on Deuteronomy 6 and watch this clip Gospel Rap, it’s incredible.

See ya Sunday and God bless.

Shawn

For the next 5 weeks, our Sundays will focus on the theme “Faith @ Home”. Please remember that this is a series for everyone, not just families with children. Whether you are a single-person, senior citizen, etc., we all need Christ at the center of the home we live in. According to USA Today, there are 28 forms of family that exist in our culture today. Everyone of them, regardless of the family shape, size, age or demographic, needs Christ at the center.

Allow me to share some sobering realities regarding the necessity or “why” for this series. According to “Faith @ Home” (a ministry of Focus on the Family and Willow Creek), fewer than 10% of parents who regularly attend church with their kids, read the Bible together, pray together (other than at meal times) or participate in an act of service as a family unit. Only 28% of churched youth have talked with mom about faith. Only 13% of churched youth have talked with dad about faith. And finally, 69-94% of evangelical children are leaving the church shortly after they graduate from high school. Admittedly, it is tempting to lay this problem at the feet of our culture. It’s Hollywood’s fault, or the work of secularism run rampant. But is it really that easy? The Scriptures are clear that the home is where faith is nurtured and passed from generation to generation. (Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 2 Timothy 1:5). Since this is the case, is it possible that we should stop blaming others, and pause to take a look at the “log in our own eye”? Could it be that today’s Christian homes are failing in the call to nurture faith because those in leadership in the home are either ill-equipped or are choosing not to lead a household where the truth of Christ is honoured? Is it possible that the local church has failed to equip the leaders of the home with the “how to" for leading a Godly home, a faith based home? Is it possible that the home and the church need a radical “makeover” in order to truly live out the calling?

Do you have a home? An apartment? A dorm room? Is your house full of kids? Are you newly married, single, or now living in an empty nest? Then this series, Faith @ Home is for you. The home—your home, whatever it looks like—is where your faith wears shoe leather. To use a biblical term, it’s where faith becomes incarnate; literally where your faith becomes apparent “in meat”. When this happens, the home is where a faithful person becomes a fruitful person. It’s obvious really. If we’re different people at home than we are at church on Sunday morning, people notice. On the other hand, if we live out the gracious, loving spirituality that makes a typical Sunday morning such a special time, then people will notice this even more. That’s why we say, “Faith begins at home, or not.”

Our focus this Sunday will be “The Home Makeover” based on Joshua 24:1-13. Joshua lived at a time when the people experienced wealth with their land and life; they had plenty of food, clothing, housing, freedom and prosperity. Doesn’t this sound like us? Joshua believed that God’s people were in desperate need of a makeover and so He shared a “deathbed” message. I believe we too are in great need of a “Home Makeover” and I’ll be sharing about this on Sunday.

If you are interested in learning more about our “Faith @ Home” initiative, please join me in the Kidsworks Room at the church on May 25th at 7:00 p.m. for a presentation.

See ya Sunday.

Shawn

A few weeks ago I was granted the opportunity to attend a seminar sponsored by “Focus on the Family” and “Willow Creek” called, “Faith at Home. Since I really appreciate both of these ministries I figured something incredible must be happening since they are working together. Something incredible is happening. Here is what I learned.

Recent statistics from Search Institute reveal that mom and dad are the top influencers in the faith development of children, yet further data depicts a more alarming reality. While mom and dad are the top influencers in the faith development of children, only 12 percent of churched youth have ever talked with their mom about faith, only 5 percent of churched youth have talked with their dad about faith and only 9 percent of church youth have experienced either family devotions, prayer or Bible reading in the home. And these statistics are from churched families.

At this seminar we also learned that parents are the primary influencers in passing on faith. What this means is that the primary influencers in the passing of faith are not presently actively engaged in passing on faith. If we want our children to have a faith that is “impressed on their hearts,” as Deuteronomy 6 depicts, the church must get back to training and equipping parents to talk about the commands to love and obey God “wheverever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up on the morning to when you all into bed at night.” (Deuteronomy 6:7 The Message)

In the past we have measured the success of a children’s youth program by the intensity, excitement or fun that we feel during an event. We might ask ourselves how enthusiastically did the kids sing at camp? How much discussion was there about the bible story in the small groups? Were the kids really engaged and listening during the story? While these are great questions, I no longer think they are the “key” questions. The big question really doesn’t center on the event itself. As Mark Holmen says, “the rubber meets the road when the families go home. What happens in the home as the result of your event is what we must evaluate ourselves on? Want to know if our programs or events at the church are effective? Don’t ask if parents or kids enjoyed the story, activity or music. Ask if they are implementing devotions, prayer or service into their routines at home with their kids. What this implies is significant. If your event, seemed pretty average but dad is doing night time devotions with his daughter, or Mom is praying with the kids before breakfast or your families are now serving together once a month in the community then the event was a success.

The above teachings from “Faith at Home” is really significant for the Christian Church at this time. It is my intention to bring the leaders of TBCO together some time over the next 4 weeks to partake in a 3 our journey that will allow us to determine if we at TBCO are being called to look at our ministries differently. Are we called to equip the home to be the primary source of faith development?

The above theme will be lifted up at church for the next 6 weeks beginning this week with our “Youth Service”.

See ya Sunday and keep praying

Shawn

Does God have a plan for your life? Would you go so far as to say that He has a “destiny” for you? Last Sunday we discovered that God has stamped a destiny on our hearts, that there is something incredible that he wants to do in you and through you. There is an old Jewish Proverb that says, “Every person wears a coat and it’s got two messages, one in each pocket. In one pocket it says you are one of billions of people on the earth, like a grain of sand upon the seas shore. In the other pocket it is a message from the creator and it says, “I made the universe just for you, you’re special, you’re unique”. You have a destiny.

The question we will consider this Sunday is this, can you loose your destiny, or is it set in concrete. If God has a purpose for you, is it true that there is nothing that can altar that no matter how you behave. Is it possible that in some way, because of your behaviour and the things that you do, or because of the work of the devil in your life that you can actually loose out on obtaining your destiny. On Sunday we will answer that question by taking a look at the life of Abraham. Genesis 11:31-13:2

I do believe that you can lose your “earthly” destiny. The things that God promised Abraham could have been lost to Him if he had continued to do some of the things that he started to do in this particular passage. When we go places that God doesn’t support, when we do and say things that are wrong, we put destiny at risk. We can lose our destiny.

There are times when I risk losing my destiny. For me, it is often a result of my confusing food for the mind and bread for the soul. There is a difference you know. Sometimes we get so stuffed with food for the mind that we think it is a substitute for bread for the soul. God is calling us to obtain bread for the soul. When do we confuse the two? When we read the Bible and don’t allow it to speak to our heart. When we think so highly of ourselves that we couldn’t imagine that we are the person being referred to in Scripture. When we read the Bible for head knowledge and not the transformation of our own heart.

Abraham was in a famine so he went to Egypt, the wrong place. When you’re in a famine you need to cry out to God and say, Lord, feed my soul. I wonder, are there any starving people reading this today? You’re crying out to God and saying, I know the Bible inside out. Some of you may have forgotten more than I ever knew. You don’t need any more knowledge; you need bread for the soul. The place to get that is the altar of God. You come to the Lord and you cry out to him. You say Lord, help me. There is a difference between food for the mind and bread for the soul.

On Sunday, we will learn that we can always return to our destiny. We can always go to the altar of God. “Don’t give up; keep on going, the Lord isn’t finished with you.” Abraham, when overwhelmed, went into Egypt when he should have gone to the altar of God. He should have gone back to his friendship with God.

May we enjoy the altar of God this Sunday.

Shawn

You did it. You accepted the opportunity to invite neighbours, friends and relatives to church on Good Friday and they came, heard the truth of Christ and, had the opportunity to receive eternal life. Praise God. Thank the Holy Spirit. This is the first church I have ever heard of that had more people attend the regular Good Friday service than the Sunday morning Easter service, truly amazing. We had 4 more people in attendance for Friday than Sunday. Well done.

After such a high this question may seem strange, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Have you ever blown it? Have you ever stumbled and fallen?

Peter was a sincere, dedicated follower of Jesus who stumbled and fell when he denied Christ three times. Does your theology have any room for a sincere follower of Jesus to hit bottom? Some people can’t see that happening. Like Job’s friends they have a very simple take on life. If you’re godly and love the Lord, you will prosper, you will succeed, you will climb and not never fall.

I believe Peter really did love the Lord. I believe he really did try to do what’s right. Who has tried any harder than Peter to follow his Lord? Peter was a man after God’s own heart. How can it be that a person with such sincere motives could find himself at such a point of failure? If he really loved the Lord, how could he possibly deny him three times?

Here is a truth to consider. Sincere, dedicated people can and sometimes do fail the Lord. David was a man after God’s own heart and he failed. The terrible sin he committed is almost unmentionable. How would the media handle it today if our Prime Minister had gotten involved in an adulterous affair with General Walter Natynczk’s wife and to add insult to injury had the man killed in Afghanistan? David’s sin was an unimaginable crime and it was perpetrated by a man anointed by the Holy Spirit to write most of the Psalms. Could I just say that life is a little more complicated than we would like it to be?

In spite of the fact that Peter failed Jesus, his failure wasn’t permanent. I believe Peter nearly gave up on following Jesus’ after that fateful night. It is my suspicion that Peter believed that Jesus would never ever trust him again. Until Peter met the risen Christ and had that conversation (John 21:15-17) Peter was headed back to his career as a fisherman. Everything changed when Peter met the risen Christ.

"Do you love me?" Jesus asked, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. John 21:15-17 Pause and consider what our Lord asked Peter for He is asking you the same thing right now.

He didn’t ask: Peter, how much have you repented?

How much did you cry?

How much did you pray?

How much did you give in the offering?

How much did you attend church?

How many times did you do good deeds?

He asked: Do you agape me? Do you love me unconditionally? At one time you did. At one time you claimed that you would never forsake Me. At one time you bragged that you would follow me to prison, even to death. Are you still able to make that claim?

Because if you are… then all else will fall into place.

Praise God for this wonderful truth.

Do you love Jesus.

See ya Sunday

Shawn

The stage is set – The curtain rises – The last act of the drama begins. Here comes Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. The word on the street was that a regime change was taking place. This was the day that God's people had been praying for. They had been under the boot of Rome. They had been reduced to nothing more than a puppet state.

The rabbis had said it would happen on Passover—that the Messiah would come and judge the ungodly. Well, it’s Passover week. There are hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over the world who have come to Jerusalem for the Passover. They fill the streets, a victory parade starts to form at the edge of the city–a two-mile parade that will go into the heart of Jerusalem. People turn to each other and say: “This prophet from Nazareth—Jesus—he's the one. He has to be. He just healed two people who were blind. It's incredible!”

Overwhelmed with joy, the people begin to cry out: “Jesus must be the one! He's the new king of Israel! Wow! Praise God! Hosanna! Quick! Take off your coat and lay it down on the road in front of him. Run and cut branches from that tree and lay those down, too. Let's roll out the red carpet!”

He's closer now, and people are yelling: "Bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise the new Son of David! Blessed is the King of Israel!" All the pilgrims to this Passover are singing their ancient Passover song out loud: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

And there's the blessed one himself, finally come to judge the ungodly. The crowd can't wait to see what happens when he rides into Jerusalem. They think to themselves, The Messiah will judge the ungodly. He will finally remove the pagan Romans from power. He will ride right up to the Antonia (the Roman Garrison built right beside the temple housing 600 Roman soldiers), make his way into their fortress—the very heart of the ungodly—and he will drive them out. Then our glorious temple will finally be free and cleansed from the ungodly.

But then something odd happens. Jesus doesn’t go to the Roman fortress. He goes to the temple:

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"

Jesus doesn't go to the Roman fortress, the heart of the enemy occupation. He doesn't go to the barracks to drive out the ungodly. He goes to the temple, the heart of the Jewish religion, and drives out the people who are providing a service for people coming to worship. What gives?

The truth expressed in this transition is a huge message for every person who goes to church on Sunday and is eagerly looking forward to the return of Christ. On Sunday we will explore this truth.

If you have children, please arrive a little bit early so your children can be prepped for our Palm Sunday parade. This Sunday we will parade through the church with Palm branches, Palm crosses for everybody and, worship flags.

See ya Sunday

Shawn

Have you ever experienced any pain in your life? If you have then you’re normal and welcome, to the human race. We all experience pain. Did you know that God is in the business of bringing good things out of pain. It’s true. That pain that you are in can be used by God for incredible good for you and, those around you. In order for good to come out of pain we need to understand how to co-operate with the workings of the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday we will wrap up our “Life’s Healing Choices” series by exploring how God can bring good out of bad, how good comes out of pain. This Sunday we will learn how to co-operate with the workings of the Holy Spirit.

One of God’s great promises in the Bible is Romans 8:28. It’s one of the most well known verses in the Bible. It’s also one of the most misunderstood. On Sunday we will explore it word by word.. This is God’s promise. “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God...” In Celebrate Recovery we are reminded of what this verse does not say.

“It doesn’t say we know that everything will work out the way I want it to work out. That’s not true. It just doesn’t happen that way. Things don’t always work out the way I want them to work out.

It does not promise that all things will have a happy ending here on earth. That’s not true either. There are a lot of unhappy endings on earth. This is a broken planet. It’s not heaven. We shouldn’t expect everything to have a happy ending here on earth. It doesn’t.

What does this verse promise to us about recovery and about growth?

First it says, “We know.” In other words, we’re not guessing, we’re not hoping, we’re not wishing, we’re not desiring. We know for certain. This is a fact of life. We can be confident. We can be absolutely certain. We know this for a certainty, that we can stake our lives on it.

What do we know? “We know God causes.” What does that mean? It means your life is not an accident. There’s no such thing as random chance. There’s no such thing as bad luck. There is a grand design behind everything. Our lives are not a result of fate. Our lives are not a result of chance. Our lives are not a result of accident. You are not an accident. God had a plan and purpose for your life long before you were even born, and there is a grand design.

We make mistakes but God never makes mistakes. Everything that happens in life happens because of choices, not chance. Choices that God has made, choices that I have made, and choices that you have made. It’s not chance; it’s a choice.” See ya Sunday.

If you have never been baptised by full immersion and would like to be please contact the church office. We will be having baptisms at church on Sunday March 21st during the regular worship service. This is a wonderful opportunity. Also, if you have a child that has not been dedicated why not give us the opportunity to celebrate with you this incredible gift that God has given you by having your child dedicated. Child dedication Sunday is also March 21st.

God bless you all

Shawn

Trinity Bible church is a church where people are serious about spiritual growth. It’s for people who really want to grow. People who desire to be casual about their faith may not find this the right church for them. I want to praise you for being so engaged in our present series, “Life’s Healing Choices”, I know it has been particularly challenging. For the past 6 weeks, we have been looking at our painful past, our persistent sins and our personal weaknesses in our small groups. It would be easy to say, I think I’ll just wait until we get to a lighter topic. But you’ve hung in there in your small groups and we have over 20 of them on the go. I’m so proud of you.

The message I will be sharing with you this Sunday may be one of the more important messages I’ve shared with you because it’s about how to finish the race, how to keep on keeping on, how to continue growth your entire life. Because life is not a fifty-yard dash. It’s a marathon.

The Bible says this in 2 John 1:8 “Watch out that you do not lose what you’ve worked for, [That is my prayer for you, as your pastor, as somebody who loves you. I don’t want you to lose what you’ve already gained in your spiritual life. Watch out that you do not lose what you’ve worked for.] but that you may be rewarded fully.”

Friends, if you’ve ever been to a marathon race, you know that there’s a crowd at the start but it thins out at the end. A lot of people start off great in life. But they flame out, they fizzle out. They never finish the race. If you go to a marathon, at the starting point, everybody looks great. All their suits are clean, washed, new shoes, the hair looks nice. They’ve got a lot of energy. It’s a party celebration at the start of a marathon.

This Sunday you will be presented with the seventh choice of our series, the Growth Choice. The Growth Choice says, “I reserve a daily time with God for Bible reading, self-examination and prayer in order [here’s the reason why you do this, in order] to know God [that’s the first thing] and his will for my life [that’s the second thing] and to gain the power [that’s the third thing] to follow his will.”

Spiritual growth is a choice. You are as close to God as you want to be. There is no mystery here. Spiritual growth is intentional. Are you going to be more spiritually mature a year from today? Let’s say, will you be any different than you are today? You say, “I don’t know.” Then you won’t. Because growth is intentional.

The Bible says this in 2 Peter 3:18 “Continue to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” On Sunday we’re going to look at how to continue your growth, how to maintain the momentum you started.

Shawn

It has now been two years since we arrived at Trinity Bible Church to join with you in the furthering of God’s Kingdom. Prior to arriving at TBCO we had already heard of the great impact this church had for evangelising and the furthering of God’s Kingdom. God had been doing incredible things at TBCO since it was birthed some 25 years ago.

The past two years have been a miraculous journey as so many people with varying Christian backgrounds came together to discover how we could journey together with God. The one word that I would use to describe this journey is grace. I have seen and experienced so much grace from each of you as this most recent chapter in the history of TBCO has unfolded. You folks have been awesome.

This Sunday we will spend a few minutes celebrating what God has done in “our” church family and individual lives this past couple of years. I for one am a different person/pastor today than I was two years ago. I thank each of you for helping me in this journey. I thank you for the love, encouragement and “grace” you have offered.

When you arrive at church this Sunday you will see a cake at the front of the church with two candles, it’s “our” anniversary. I am hoping that each of you will come to church with a sentence or two (please no more) of thanks to God for what He has done in your life or in His church this past couple of years. The Lord has blessed us so much, this Sunday I will be inviting you to join me in thanking God for His activity in our souls.

Regarding my sermon, this Sunday we will visit our heavenly Father, The King, who sees the debt that we owe and knows that it’s enormous. He knows that it’s gigantic. He knows that we have blown it. Yet he does not approach us with anything but arms that say come home, welcome home, you’re here, I’ve missed you. And he hugs us and he kisses us and he says you are my child. Why does he do that? Why does he treat us with such kindness? Because He is the God whose name is love.

Because he has treated us this way, he asks us to treat others with that same kind of mercy and grace.

So because I received mercy and forgiveness from God, I can forgive others. Simple, right? A plus B equals C. God forgives me, I forgive you. Simple. We’re done. That’s the way it always goes. Right? Right! Isn’t that the way it is in your life? God forgives you and you forgive everybody else.

There’s a problem. I don’t like to forgive. Let’s be honest. I don’t always like to forgive and I bet you don’t either. As I have really thought about this I think the biggest barriers in my personal relationships through my lifetime up to this very day, through almost thirty years of marriage, through being a parent, through close relationships, the deepest barriers that I have to success in my relationships is me. Not wanting to forgive.

This leads us to the truth of our message this Sunday, The unforgiving become the unforgiven.

Do you want to change? Is it your desire to more closely reflect the person you know God called you to be. This Sunday we will continue our series “Life’s Healing Choices” with Rick Warren from Saddle Back Church. Rick points out that if God’s going to change you, make the changes in your life that you want to see and that God wants to see in your life, you can be certain of this one thing, He is going to use conflict. God uses conflict to change people.

Let me give you a little background on the text we’re going to look at this Sunday from Genesis 31 and 32. Jacob’s entire life can be summed up in one word: conflict. This guy came out of the womb fighting with his twin brother Esau. When Esau came out of the womb, Jacob was holding on to his ankle. They named him “Supplanter” or Jacob – deceiver, cheater.

As you study the life of Jacob you quickly notice that Jacob is always running from conflict. Conflict with his brother, conflict with his wife, conflict with his father-in-law, conflict with his brothers-in-law, conflict with God. He’s having conflict everywhere. God is trying to get his attention.

Jacob attempts to do what we all do when we are in conflict, run. We run, we hide, we do anything but address the conflict in the manner God commands.

Jacob’s biggest conflict is not really with his brother. His biggest conflict is not really with his father-in-law or his wife or anybody else. His biggest struggle is really with God. Which, by the way, is yours too. He’s been running all his life. God says, “Ok, Buddy! You’re caught between a rock and a hard place. We’re going to have it out. We’re going to wrestle right here.” So God shows up in human form and has a wrestling match with Jacob.

Let me make a little parallel here. You know the problems you’re having in your life right now? The crisis, the conflict, the difficulty you’re going through? That ain’t the real problem. That problem you’re having with your kids, with your husband/with your wife, with your friends, with your finances, with your health – that’s the symptom. Your real struggle is with God. That’s really it. It’s who’s going to be God in your life? And does God have a right to tell you what to do? And does God have a right to call the shots in your life? Your biggest problem is not your dad or your mom or your brother or sister or your wife or anybody else. Your real struggle is you’re wrestling with God.

What is my struggle with God? And what is your struggle with God? These are the questions we will address this Sunday as we take a closer look at the life of Jacob and the night he wrestled with God. Part of my struggle with God involves the following; when things don’t act the way I want them to and they don’t go as fast as I want them to I sometimes take matters into my own hands. I find it hard to wait and trust God. I can forget to pray and sit back and wait for God to act and provide. Could this be part of your challenge also.

See ya Sunday

Love Shawn

Sometimes it feels as if we live in a world of don’t; don’t do this, don’t do that. We have rules for everything, ranging from how long I can leave my car idling (it depends on the temperature outdoors), what I can do with my egg shells (green box), what I can put on my lawn and, if I can cut down a tree in my yard.

Sometimes Christianity comes across as a bunch of rules that is best summarized as one big don’t statement. We have all experienced that in the Christian faith. There is the person who sees life as nothing but a bunch of rules and all the rules are don’t. They want you to believe that the Christian life is just Don’t, Don’t, Don’t, No, No, No. They want you to think that’s what life in Christ is all about.

But that’s not what it’s all about. The Christian life is not about don’t. The Christian life is about do. It isn’t about can’t. It’s about can. The Christian life is not about no, it’s about yes. The Christian life is about freedom. Freedom in Christ.

While it is true that Christ never winks at sin, it is also true that there is a freedom to be found in Christ. Jesus doesn’t want me to be religious. He wants me to be real he wants me to be free. The Bible says, John 8:32, “When you know the truth it will set you free.” In other words, there is a freedom to be found in Christ. This freedom is the reward for knowing the truth and being fully honest with ourselves with God and with the people around us.

“Jesus said, ‘I have come in order that you might have life--life in all its fullness.’” John 10:10. Not that you might have religion, but that you might have life, in all its fullness. Are you experiencing fullness of life in Christ or fullness of don’s and don’ts in religion.

The Beatitude this week is the fourth Beatitude. It’s in Matthew 5:8. “Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

The first thing I want you to notice is what it doesn’t say. Jesus did not say “Happy are the religious in heart.” It’s happy are the pure in heart. Some of the most unhappy, sorry-mouth people I know are religious in heart. They’re just miserable. They won’t be happy until everybody else is as miserable as they are.

In the story of Lazarus in John 11:38-45, we discover how Jesus uses people to help one who is dead hear Jesus’s invitation and once alive, be set free. This is an incredible teaching. In preparation for Sunday, I would ask you to read this passage over and consider the following, “Since Jesus could bring Lazarus back to life, why did he ask the people to move the stone and the grave clothes? Why didn’t he include the removal of this in the miracle? What does the stone and grave clothes represent to us today?

See ya Sunday.

Shawn

John Baker provides an illustration that many of us can relate to regarding our church wide series “Life’s Healing Choices” and, our theme for this week. Her is the illustration and explanation.

A pet-store delivery truck driver was traveling down the road. Every time he came to a stoplight, he would get out of the truck and grab a two-by-four. Then he’d run to the back and start beating on the truck’s back doors. This went on for several miles, and nobody could figure out what he was doing. Finally the guy who had been behind him pulled alongside and just had to ask, “What are you doing?”

This is only a two-ton truck,” the truck driver said,” and I’m carrying four tons of canaries. I’ve got to keep two tons of them up in the air all the time.”

That’s how some of us try to live our lives. We take desperate measures, trying to keep our life’s hurts, hang-ups, and habits up in the air so they don’t come crashing down around us. We try so hard to keep up a good front – pretending that everything is okay – when in reality, we’re struggling with real pain, and real issues that we desperately try to ignore.

For the past two weeks at church, we have been discussing this truth, “no matter how hard we try to keep everything under control, we are powerless. Whether it is our tendency to do wrong, experience hurt or cause pain, we are powerless. The good news is twofold, there is one who has the power and, that power is available. The challenge though is this, we are seldom willing to do access this power even when we are experiencing or causing great pain.

You have a choice to make, the Scriptures are clear on this (Romans 6) “Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, [your way, your path your agenda] but that leads ultimately to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.” That is a choice we need to make over and over.

Are you consciously continually committing your life to Christ over and over or, do you simply commit a part of your life, some of “the “ agenda. This choice separates those that walk authentically and intimately with Jesus and those who are casual occasional fans of Jesus. It’s all in the word “all.” All means everything. Choosing a commitment to Jesus is not about half measures. He wants everything.

The cost? Everything! Not my words. I’m just the messenger. Here it is: “No one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me.” All my life and will.

Healing is a choice, what are you going to choose?

Please take a close look at our first promo below and join us this Sunday with an appetite that is ready to receive form, “God is good”.

Shawn

Comfort. We are told that this is what we want, comfort. Much of what we buy is purchased because we believe that in some way it will afford us greater comfort. We avoid or do certain things because we have been convinced that this action will give us greater comfort. It’s all about the “comfort” level. Because it is all about our comfort level we go to great extremes to avoid that which is uncomfortable. We do this in different ways, always looking for comfort. In our series, “Life’s Healing Choices” (Saddleback Church), these “paths” are lifted up.

I don't feel comfortable about life. I didn’t like the way my day went so what do I do? I take a drink. Maybe it'll make me feel better. That becomes my path to comfort. That's what comforts me. That drink. That ice in that glass and that drink. Or it might be your drug of choice, whatever drug you take that makes you feel more comfortable about life.

For some people their path to comfort and hope is gambling. Any time life feels uncomfortable, any time you feel without hope, you either go to Rideau Carleton Raceway or you go online and all of a sudden you're getting the adrenalin up and you think you might win something and you feel better about life.

Other people, their path to comfort and hope is shopping. Just go out and buy something and I feel better about myself and better about my life. Who cares if I can afford it? I've just got to buy something to feel better.

Some people it's sex. Pornography, illicit relationships, getting involved in a relationship, getting involved in sexual immorality that I feel like makes life more exciting. Somehow that helps me escape to a place where I think is comfort and hope.

Some people it's entertainment. I don't just go to a movie to enjoy a movie. Every time I feel bad about my life I immerse myself in television or movies or whatever, just to get away from the fact that I feel bad. I don’t want to face that. So that's my path to comfort and hope.

Other people, it's self-pity, believe it or not. Some of us, the more we feel bad about ourselves, maybe then we feel better about ourselves. When I feel uncomfortable about life I just pity myself in that case and I have this pity party. You know what that's like. You get home, you close all the doors, you pull all the blinds. It gets all dark inside. Usually massive amounts of chocolate or chips are involved somehow. And you have this pity party. And you think that's going to make me feel better about my life. That's your path to comfort and hope.

Other people it's anger, believe it or not. Some people, the way they feel more comfortable about their life is by making you feel less comfortable about your life. If they can make you feel bad somehow they feel more in control. That's their path to supposed false comfort and hope.

Other people, it's work. I've got to achieve something to feel better about myself. We could go on and on and on. But write down one word… the one word we're talking about here is the word escape.

The truth of the matter is this, a comfortable life will not comfort your soul. You and I need something bigger, something greater than that. Something that only God can give. What we really long for is not a comfortable life but rather, comfort in our soul.

Jesus tells us the path for comfort in Matthew 5:4; "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." That's what Jesus said.

The truth of the matter is this, in order to be comforted we need to come to grips with our faults, our habits, our hang-ups, our hurts and mourn them. While we mourn them we will be comforted. As we address the past, healing comes in the present.

This is our theme for Sunday. I look forward to sharing it with you.

Don’t forget to read below so you can follow the link for an update on our mission to Haiti.

Love ya and see you Sunday

Shawn

When my kids were little I used to take them to a place in Ottawa called “Midway”, where they have an assortment of indoor interactive games for children of all ages. My favourite game was a game called Whack-a-Mole. Any of you folks ever play it. Whack-a-Mole. In Whack-a-Mole these moles pop up out of holes and you take a hammer and you slam them back down. As soon as you slam one down what happens? Another one comes up. Then you slam that one down and two come up. You slam that one down and three come up. It goes on and on and on. The thing about that game - is you can't win it. No matter how many you slam down they keep coming back up. You try and try and try and, never win.

Friends, Whack-a-Mole is a metaphor for your life. Just about the time you've got one problem whacked down what happens? Another problem pops up. And you whack that one down and two more come up. You whack that one down and three more come up. That is life. Whack-a-Mole.

This is also true of persistent sins, hurts, temptations and hang-ups that keep popping up. Just about the time you think you've got victory over that weakness in your life, it pops back up again. Just about the time you think you have recovered from that hurt and hang-up something happens and it’s as fresh as ever. Have you noticed this? Certain temptations, sins, guilt, hang-ups, hurts just keeps popping back up.

You can go read self-help books and they will teach you how to whack faster. They will tell you to whack harder, faster and more continually. You try this and it works for a while but then something happens. You become exhausted, discouraged or, simply loose the battle again. There is another way, a way that works. A way that isn’t dependent on YOU.

God has another plan. God's Word teaches us how to end the game with sin, and recover from our hurts and hang-ups once and for all. God’s Word teaches us how to unplug the “power” that feeds temptation, sin, hurts and hang-ups so that the power isn't getting into it anymore and those moles don't just keep popping back up. If the mole isn’t there you don’t need to whack him.

This Sunday we will begin a new series entitled “Life’s Healing Choices”.  Click this link to learn more about this life giving, life changing journey we are about to go on. You won’t want to be left behind.

Many are asking how they can keep up to date on our rescue mission to Haiti. For further information, visit our International Rescue - Haiti webpage which is updated regularly.

God bless you and see ya Sunday.

Shawn

In a recent letter from Bill Fietje, president of the AGC, (our church affiliation) we are reminded to consider a key characteristic of the early church. In Acts 2:42-47 we learn that the first century church demonstrated, alongside the marks of teaching, worship and the Lord's Table an incredible love for one another. "All believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods and they gave to anyone as he had need."

Haiti, a country, which has endured disaster after disaster has now experienced a disaster that is beyond our comprehension. The news of the devastation in Haiti has all of us asking, what should we do? What difference can we make. I humbly suggest the following.

1. Pray for Haiti, our AGC Haiti churches and for our Haitian families in Canada

2. Phase 1…Give immediate humanitarian support to the agency of your choice (I suggest International Rescue).

Why would I, as a pastor, recommend International Rescue? Because I personally know this emergency response group (they worship with us at TBCO) and am confident that not one cent of any donation they receive will go towards salary, bureaucracy support, personal transportation costs. Every cent goes directly to rescue work, there is “NO” overhead. Here is the story on International Rescue, a registered, Canadian Charitable Organisation.

Past International Rescue Engagements

IR has responded to, and assisted with, numerous disasters. They have saved countless lives and helped individuals and communities with the process of recovery and rebuilding. Some of these engagements include:

• Flood recovery in New Orleans, USA

• Tsunami relief in Indonesia (arrived 20 days prior to Canada’s DART team)

• Earthquake response in Bamm, Iran

• Bush fires in Australia

• Twin towers recovery in New York City, NY, USA

Goals, Objectives and Resources

International rescue is seeking financial assistance, to aid the rescue and recovery efforts in Haiti. More information can be found online, including making financial contributions, by going to our church website at "International Rescue - Haiti". and our What's Happening Page .

Donations can be made to TBCO, simply mark your donation “Haiti”. All donations over $10 will be eligible for a charitable donation receipt. The Canadian government will match these donations, thereby making your contribution twice as effective.

International Rescue has been tasked by the United Nations Development Programme to aid in the rescue and recovery operations for two specific villages in Haiti – Tapon and Fermate. The current understanding of the International Rescue assignment is that it involves housing complexes, as much as six stories high, that have collapsed. Contained within these structures were 70,000 inhabitants. Currently, over 20,000 of these people remain unaccounted for. International Rescue’s number one priority is to save as many of these people as possible.

Primary Contacts

• Media – Darryl Praill, me@darrylpraill.com, 613-291-4944

• Volunteer Coordinator – Pastor Shawn Ketcheson, shawn.pastor@yahoo.ca

• Logistics Coordinator – John Dawson, john_christinedawson@rogers.com

• IC Ops – John Green, hazmat1@magma.ca, 613-794-7623

• Deputy IC Ops – Bill Powers

If God is calling you to provide immediate aide to Haiti and you are looking for a guarantee that you are not paying for overhead, a bloated bureaucracy, salaries, personnel transpiration costs, then this is your opportunity.

Together we can see what our Lord will do as we live as an Acts 2 church.

Pastor Shawn

Rick Warren asks the question, “how do you know if you're filled with love for other people”? I suppose one way is to determine if you care about them, if you're thinking about them. If you never think about them you really can't say that you love them, that you care about them.

How do you know if you care about somebody? The only way you know if you care about somebody is if you notice their needs and respond to them. That's how you know if you care about somebody. If you have a neighbour and don’t know any needs in their life, how can you really care for them. If you are sitting near a person in church but don’t know their needs, can you really say that you care for them. If you don’t notice somebody’s needs, can you really say that you love them or care for them?

I believe loving requires us to notice another’s needs. I can say that God’s loves us because I know that he notices every need in our lives. He has compassion on us. If you care you'll be aware of people's needs.

You go to a movie and all of the dramatic music is playing, a dramatic scene comes across and tears are running down from your eyes. Let me ask you a question. Why are the tears running down your face? Because you are aware of the person’s needs and have been moved to tears. Here is another question, when was the last time you cried for a real person? You had compassion on a real person? Not some fake fictional movie with all the fancy music. But a real person.

Often when I conduct a funeral I will look out at the crowd and see eyes filled with tears for the family. Why are those in attendance crying? Because they showed up. They were there. They didn't say, "Oh, it's a Saturday morning. I don't have time to go to a funeral. I have things I have to get done." They showed up. They showed up, noticed and cared.

How do you have compassion on somebody else? You show up. You get involved with another group of people. You show up for somebody who's hurting. That's where the compassion comes from. That's where it starts. We were not meant to go through life alone. We were meant to be so connected with one another that we become aware of the other’s needs and are moved to respond.

We are getting ready in just a couple of weeks to start Life's Healing Choices. We're going to look forward to some incredible things that God's going to do in my life and in your life. My prayer is that everyone reading this email will either make the commitment to join one of our “Life’s Healing Choices” groups or join a similar group in their own church.

Here's why we're going to do Life's Healing Choices. "Jesus Christ heals the broken-hearted." Every one of us has a broken heart. At some point in our lives because of something in our lives our heart has been broken. By some relationship, by some circumstance, by some dream that wasn't realized our heart has been broken. We all have broken hearts.

I, your pastor not only have a broken heart but have also been involved in hurting other people. I know this. How do I know I have hurt others. Because I am human and make mistakes. This I regret. The good news is this, Christ forgives and heals the broken-hearted. We don't have to live with the past in such a way that it paralyzes our future. Christ doesn’t simply look at us and say, I'm sorry that you have wounds and hurts, he’s actually able and willing to heal us and make us whole. This is the reason we are doing “Life’s Healing Choices and why I am asking each of you to get involved. You need this.

This new course will start at TBCO on Sunday Jan 24th. Each week I will preach a sermon which supports the small group teaching and discussion for the week. For more information please visit our website at http://www.trinitybiblechurch.ca/courses-and-small-groups/ and scroll down to “Life’s Healing Choices”. To order your books please contact the church office or follow the link above.

I love you and look forward to journeying with you in “Life’s Healing Choices”. Give yourself a post Christmas gift and sign up right now.

Pastor Shawn

Can you believe it? 2009 is almost over. Is it me or are our calendars speeding up? If you're an average Canadian with the average life expectancy, we can use a clock as an illustration of how many years you have left in your life. If you're 22 years old, it's 8:20 in the morning. If you're 32 years old, it's 11:20 in the morning and you have 2,122 weeks left. If you're 42, its 3:20 in the afternoon. If you're 52 it's 6:20 pm, you have 1092 weeks.

The point is, whatever you're going to do with your life you'd better get on it because time is running out. A secondary point is, if you're not doing something with your life, does it really matter how many days you've got left anyway?

For me, 2009 ended on an incredible high on both a personal and faith level. On a personal note we welcomed our daughter Krysta home after she spent the past 18 months in Korea. Or youngest daughter Melissa got engaged to Kevin and, Sue’s dad had successful deep brain surgery. As a family we had so much to celebrate.

At the church everything was also on a high. For the past couple of weeks we have been encouraging you to extend an invitation to your neighbours, co-workers, friends and relatives to join us on Christmas Eve at the church. Well, you took me up on the offer and packed the church out. After filling the sanctuary we began to rely on the overflow hall. What a blessing it was to partner with you in presenting the gospel to those whom you brought to church. God willing, we will one day stand in heaven and have a stranger tell us that they are spending eternity with Jesus because you invited them to church and they heard the gospel and accepted Christ as their personal Saviour. It’s true, people will attend church with you, if you invite them.

Another high for me at year’s end was your willingness to financially support the mission opportunities we presented you with over the last couple of weeks of 2009. After giving $10,000 to our sleeping bag drive we gave you on Christmas Eve the opportunity to support TBCO’s mission work in Kenya (YFT). Well, you did it again. The offering on Christmas Eve for YFT was $7,887. Wow, you folks are so generous. Nobody gives like you do. Not only did you continue to support TBCO with your tithes but you went one step further and gave almost an additional $20,000 in a few short weeks time to global and foreign missions at year’s end. Praise God.

So what are you going to do with 2010? How many of you would like 2010 to be better than 2009? Last year was a tough year for many. It was a year of challenges, a year of choices. It was a year of changes. It was a year of some crises. We saw this reflected for instance in the economic downturn and the war in Afghanistan. For some 2009 was a disappointment. For some of you, you experienced loss; maybe you lost a loved one, or a job, or a financial strain. Maybe for some of you it feels like 2009 was a year of failure.

The good news is this: In a couple of days we get to start over. God brings us life in bite sized pieces, in hours and days and months. Every year He just says, let's wipe the slate clean and let's start with a brand new year. It's like starting over. And that's good news.

How will 2010 be better than 2009? The key is this; you've got to have a plan, a purpose. You don't just enter 2010 and say, "I hope it's going to be better." You've got to have a plan to make it better.

Proverbs 17:24 "An intelligent person aims at wise actions, but a fool starts off in many directions.” This means that the wise person has a goal, an objective, an aim, a target. Have you set any goals for 2010? Or are you just going to walk into this year and hope it's better? You've got to have a plan. Think ahead!

For the past few months the leadership at TBCO has been meeting and praying to set up the goals, objectives and targets for us as a church for the 2010 year. Our desire is to have you join us in making children/teen ministry and adult discipleship our priorities for 2010. By making these three areas our focus and priorities we are stating that we will support them to the maximum level that we can both financially, with volunteer labour, pulpit support etc. We are convinced that by lifting these three areas up, we can take a giant step forward in impacting our region with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We in leadership at TBCO are asking you to join us in making children/teen ministry and adult discipleship our priorities for 2010. We are so looking forward to the awesome journey that God has in store for us in 2010 as we are faithful to His calling.

Just a reminder that you are all welcome to join us New Years Eve for a family fun night at the church from 7:00pm to1:00am. Feel free to bring your favourite games and some snack food. We will provide drinks (pop and juice). We will be holding a Wii tennis tournament so practice up (but avoid the tennis elbow). If anyone has a Wii at home that we could borrow for the night please let us know. If you have any questions please call Rob Downs 613-621-3739 Thanks.

We think about home a lot this time year. We sing songs like “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays,” or “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” For some reading this note the word “home” evokes wonderful memories. Some of you, when you go to be with your extended family over the holidays, can’t wait because every single person around the table is a model of spiritual health and emotional maturity. For some of you that’s true, but for some not so much. Last Christmas I heard of a guy who went “home” to be with his extended family over Christmas and the first thing he did when he got back was to schedule a two-hour therapy session. I guess for most, there is the home we long for and then there’s the home we have. Always there’s a gap. Sometimes that gap is really big and painful. How can you find “home” over Christmas if the gap is big and painful?

There is a fascinating line in Psalm 90 about home. Psalm 90 is the only Psalm attributed to Moses and as I read this Psalm last week, I began to wonder more about Moses’ thoughts on “home”. Moses never had a home as we would understand it. As you recall Moses was born when his people were oppressed and in slavery with a form of genocide going on. As an infant he was ripped from his family and raised in Pharaoh’s family. As a young man, he is forced to flee as a fugitive and live for many years in the Midian Desert. He gets married and raises a family and then God comes to him in a burning bush and God says, I want you to leave this home. Go back down to Egypt and bring your people out of slavery. So Moses goes and leads all of the people out of the homes they’ve lived in for hundreds of years. For 40 years Moses and the people live in tents wandering around the wilderness. At the end of Moses’ life he’s brought to the brink of the Promised Land. God takes him up on a place called Mount Pisgah and he looks at the place that God says is going to be home to his people. Moses never gets to go there. He never enters it. His life ends, up on Mount Pisgah. This is what Moses learns about home: Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all the generations… (Psalm 90:1) As John Ortberg says, This is the cry of a homeless man: “God, you are our home.” It’s not a house. It’s not a town. It’s not a place. It’s not a group of people. It’s not familiarity. It’s not nice furnishings. Home is where God is. Moses says, To be with God, that’s to be home. There is no safe place on this earth. There is only God.

On Sunday we will explore what it truly means to “go home for the holidays”. We will learn that the Holy Spirit is so awesome that we can all “be at home” for the holidays. This is the blessing of God.

See ya Sunday.

Please remember, your neighbours, co-workers, friends and relatives are all more open at Christmas time to an invite to church. Please allow God to use you by extending an invitation to those around you to hear the gospel message Christmas Eve at 5:00.

Shawn

Have you ever noticed that all successful people have one thing in common, passion. Every successful person exudes passion. Have you ever noticed that every successful team and corporation has a leadership team that exudes passion. Every church that is living out the Great Commission have leaders that have one thing in common, passion. While many churches of leaders who “believe” it is the church that has passionate leaders that reaches its potential.

When it comes to moves of God they always begin with passion. It is passion that fuels the vision. Vision does not ignite growth, passion does. Passion fuels vision and vision is the focus of the power of passion. Leaders who are passionate about their call create vision.

When it comes to passion, John Maxwell says that there are two kinds of people: fire lighters and fire fighters. Maxwell says that you need to stay away from the fire fighters. Why?

1. Fire fighters focus on what’s wrong with an idea rather than what’s right

2. Fire fighters possess a doubting spirit.

3. Fire fighters work behind the scenes to cause dissension

4. Fire fighters hate change

5. Fire fighters love the words, “yes, but”.

6. Fire fighters keep people with great potential from going to the top.

(John Maxwell)

When Israel was attempting to enter the promised land 12 spies were sent out to “check” out the land. 10 of the 12 were firefighters, two were fire igniters. 10 of the 12 focused on what was wrong with the plan to enter the promised land and presented a doubting spirit. These 10, by acting as fire fighters doused the flame of passion that God had placed in the people for entering the promised land. As a result, an entire generation was denied entry. Fire fighters are dangerous.

When Mary was told she was to give birth she could have responded with a litany of what is wrong with this idea and demonstrated a doubting spirit. Nobody would have blamed Mary, after all, the culture she was living in demanded that she be stoned to death for committing adultery. Rather than being a fire fighter Mary “CHOSE” to be a fire lighter as she fanned the flame of God’s vision to bring Salvation. The Scripture we call “The Magnificat”, is the fanning of this flame.

Are you a fire lighter or fire fighter. This Sunday we will explore Mary’s activity as a “fire lighter”. Imagine, what would have happened if she had chosen to be a fire fighter.

Being a fire fighter or fire lighter is a choice we continually make.

See you Sunday.

So, Advent is here. We lit the first candle last Sunday and are committed to preparing our hearts to celebrate the incarnation, God’s visit to redeem His people. Time to do check the pulse rate of our heart and see how we’re doing with Jesus. How is your walk with our Lord, with the one who loves you so much he died for you so he could spend eternity with Him?

Last night the Ketcheson household began a new Advent tradition and I am praying that we can continue it. I know it will be hard with a house hold of university kids etc. After supper last night we went into the living room, sat around the Christmas tree pulled out “Our Daily Bread”, and proceeded to do the devotion. We spent about 45 minutes on the one page devotion. It was incredible, it was almost as if Jesus was being born into our hearts as we shared the Scriptures and allowed Christ to challenge us with His teachings. Our reading was from Romans 8, a passage where we are told that God’s never-failing love and presence is always with us. We read that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us (v.27). We know that God is for us (v.31). And we have this grand assurance: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (v.32). Finally, we are reminded that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus (vv. 38-39).

As we talked around the tree last night and shared how we are with God’s love it was as if His love was growing by the minute. I had visions of the Scrooge and his heart growing 7 times. As your pastor I beg you to put that Christmas Tree to good use this year. Each day, have a household devotion around it. If you live alone, phone up a neighbour, tell them your pastor is encouraging you to do a brief reading and ask them to come over for a coffee and share it with them. Who knows what might happen. If you need a resource grab one of our complementary copies of “Our Daily Bread” on Sunday. When you work through this reading allow God’s truth to challenge you. Sit under it, let it judge you, allow yourself to change, to praise Him for the work He is doing in you. I think this is what Christmas is, allowing the Christ Child to once again be born in us and change us.

See ya tomorrow evening at Bethlehem Live. Remember, it’s not too late to bring a friend.

Don’t forget to bring a couple of household Christmas ornaments to church this Sunday so we can decorate our church family Christmas tree.

Pastor Shawn

Society says: God plays no role in handling money, and my happiness is based on being able to afford my desired standard of living.

Scripture says: as you learn and follow the scriptural principles of how to handle money, you will draw close to Christ and learn to be content in every circumstance.

Contentment is mentioned seven times in the Bible, and six of those refer to money. In Philippians 4:11-13 Paul writes, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

How we handle money affects our fellowship with the Lord. In Luke 16:11 we read, “If therefore you have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?” In this verse Jesus equates how we handle our money with the quality of our spiritual life. Tithing is often an integral part of the solution to one’s own spiritual problem. Question: have you wished that you might truly grow in grace? Are you struggling with the same old trial and temptation? Are you still suffering from a feeling of barrenness? Why do I raise questions like this? Because it is likely that a big hitch in your Christian growth has to do with fidelity in the stewardship of money. Sooner or later every Christian comes face to face with the use of his money. And what happens then? Either he will squarely and honestly face his Christian responsibility or he will draw back.

R.T. Kendall said, “I doubt that there is a more threatening subject than that of tithing. That which touches our wallets and purses taps a very sensitive nerve. Frank M. Hubbard sums it up rather bluntly: “When a fellow says, ‘It ain’t the money but the principle of the thing,’ it’s the money.” Voltaire went so far as to say, “When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion.” Was Voltaire right? I hope not. And yet it’s strange how uneasy we feel when the matter of giving emerges. Many of us, however, would prefer to speak of giving than of tithing. Talk of giving makes us nervous but the idea of tithing arouses feelings of hostility in us. Our immediate reaction is often to dismiss it as either “bringing in the Law” or, at least, the classic example of a minister who has “quit preaching and gone to meddling. “

“If you are a Christian and want to please the Lord, and want to be governed by the Bible, then you are a tither”, that is what I believe.

Let us look at Malachi 3:10: “Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.” Meat can mean many things, including excellence in ministry. It takes money to have “excellence” in ministry.

If every professing Christian would tithe, every congregation (including TBCO) would be free of financial worries and begin truly to be “salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13). If every Christian would tithe the church would begin to make an impact on the world that would change it. The church instead is paralyzed. Tithing Christians could make a big difference.

But because most Christians do not tithe, the church remains in a generally discouraged state. It struggles to pay its own bills: electricity, water, heat, staff salaries.

The world is unimpressed with the church because the church has not commanded the world’s attention and respect. When we do not support the work of God according to the pattern that is set down in the Bible it should not surprise us that the world does not respect us. Why should they, we don’t respect God – or his way? The Bible teaches us to give 10%. If Christ and Christianity have not touched our check books, then Voltaire got it right.

Anybody care to guess what I’ll be preaching on this Sunday.

You, your family, and neighbours won’t want to miss our free interactive event on December 5th 7-9, it’s truly incredible. Visit our web site at www.trinitybiblechurch.ca for more details.

Love ya and see you Sunday

Shawn

Last Sunday we witnessed an amazing move of God during our regular worship service as we were lead in worship by our visiting ministry team “New Generation”. What a blessing it was to be present when the Holy Spirit spoke through Word and song to both seekers and those who had already made commitments to Christ. When the invitation was given for those to raise their hands, if they wanted to accept Christ, 12 people raised their hands. Twelve additional people will spend eternity in heaven, praise God, God is so god. At the conclusion of the service several dozen people came forward for an intense time at His altar as we worked through many issues that we, on our own, are powerless to address. Thank you Lord, for being so evident in a visible manner this past week.

With such a beautiful act of God there must be follow up, here is what we are offering in response to our Lord’s activity this past weekend. For those who have recently accepted Christ we are offering two new “special” small groups. One group will meet Sundays, 9-10 a.m. in the library and a second group will meet Mondays, 7-8 p.m. in the pastor's office.

For those who came forward for the altar ministry this past Sunday and want to continue in their journey of working through their hurts, hang-ups and habits (which we all have), Wayne and Wendy are offering Celebrate Recovery. Eight groups of woman and four groups of men have already worked through this material and have seen God perform miracles of healing and restoration in their relationship and lives. For further details, please contact the office.

So, what’s our focus this Sunday? How to be filled by the Holy Spirit. While every Christian received the Holy Spirit when they accepted Christ not every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit. Many Christians still live lives of quiet desperation, never experiencing the love, joy, peace, power, hope, sense of purpose that God wants desperately to bless them with. On Sunday we will discover how we block this “infilling” and how we can co-operate with the Spirit’s activity. Some people also say that unless you speak in tongues, you have not been filled with the Holy Spirit. Is this true? Is tongues that “significant” of a gift? Lots to talk about on Sunday. You won’t want to miss it. Who knows, maybe we will all be filled with the Holy Spirit on Sunday. I know I need more of the Holy Spirit evident in me.

Don’t forget, there is a church wide potluck meal after church on Sunday and you are invited. Actually, if you aren’t there it won’t be as much fun so please join us. It is never a great family gathering when some of the family are missing.

Shawn

What a joy this morning was, standing in our church parking lot and unloading from a transport truck 500 sleeping bags that will be distributed to those living on the streets of Ottawa this coming winter. We do this in the name of Jesus because we are convinced that it is His will that nobody would freeze to death on our streets. When you arrive at church this Sunday you will see some of these bags and be given the opportunity to support this outreach.

What a joy this morning was, standing in our church and seeing the Christmas Shoe Boxes begin to pile up at the front of the church for distribution to children who are the victims of war, extreme poverty and hopelessness. We do this in the name of Jesus because we are convinced that no child should go through life without hope. What you arrive at church this Sunday you will see these boxes and be given the opportunity to pray for this outreach.

What a joy this morning was, standing in our church parking lot and seeing our visiting ministry team for the weekend “New Generation”. This young family will be ministering to us this evening at the church (7:00 – 9:00) and Sunday morning. This ministry is as real and transparent as any you will experience. On Sunday we will present them with a love offering.

What a joy this morning was, standing in our parking lot and seeing the ground that was tilled for our “You Feed Them” project in Kenya. We do this project in Kenya in the name of Jesus Christ desiring that through the use of physical food many would find Christ as Lord and Saviour.

In Psalm 90:12, 17 (NLT) we read “Teach us to make the most of our time....and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful! We all want to live a life that counts both as individuals and as a church the question is, what really counts. For me, the things that really count are those things that impact eternity, things of eternal purposes. How we as individuals and as a church spend our money is a strong statement regarding our understanding of eternal success.

On the financial front I have news that is good and news that is opportunistic in nature. The good news is this, should we continue to give in the manner we have been, we will be able to support and meet all of our budgetary commitments for 2009. Praise be to God and thanks to you. Regarding the news that is opportunistic in nature, we in leadership at TBCO are begging you to lift us (Deacons/Elders) up in prayer. We have now gone through our 2010 proposed budget three times and are still seeing a discrepancy of approximately $40,000 between projected donations and expenses. As a leadership team we are committed to hearing and following God’s wisdom on our 2010 financial budget and so we continue to pray and meet to work this opportunity out. We need your prayerful help. As the pastor, I am truly excited that we as a church are so committed to hearing from God on this and am convinced that He will continue to direct our budget process.

If you really want to know what a church believes, don’t look at their Mission/Vision Statements or Articles of Faith. If you really want to know what a church believes, look at their financial budget.

These are exciting times to be at TBCO. God is on the move.

Love

Shawn

When you accepted Christ as your Savior, you also received the Holy Spirit. Now that is awesome. Paul, when speaking to a group of Christ followers pleaded with them that they should “....be filled with the Spirit” Ephesians 5:18. What this means is this, you can be a Christian believer, have the Holy Spirit, but not be “filled” with the Holy Spirit. So I ask you, are you continually being filled with the Holy Spirit. People experience the filling of the Holy Spirit in different ways.

As Nikki Gumble says, for many, the experience of the Spirit may be an overwhelming experience of the love of God. Paul prays for the Christians at Ephesus that they might have; “power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18). We see this love for us because he was willing to die for us. Paul prayed that we would ‘grasp’ the extent of this love. Yet he does not stop there. He goes on to pray that we would ‘know this love that surpasses knowledge’-that you would ‘be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God’ (v. 19). It is not enough to understand his love; we need to experience his love that ‘surpasses knowledge’. This experience of the love of God often accompanies the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Thomas Goodwin, one of the puritans of 300 years ago, illustrated this experience. He pictured a man walking along a road hand in hand with his little boy. The little boy knows that this man is his father, and that his father loves him. But suddenly the father stops, picks up the boy, lifts him into his arms, embraces him, kisses him and hugs him. Then he puts him down, and they continue walking. It is a wonderful thing to be walking along, holding your father’s hand; but it is an incomparably greater thing to have his arms enfolded around you.‘He has embraced us,’ says Spurgeon and he pours his love upon us and he ‘hugs’ us.

On Sunday we will take a deep look into what it can look like to be “filled” with the Holy Spirit. We will explore speaking in tongues, passionate worship etc during this exploration. I will also present some instruction on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit and, if the Spirit so leads, we will follow this up with focused prayer regarding the filling of the Holy Spirit.

See ya Sunday

Shawn

One of the key differences in a club and a church is this, “a club focuses on its members and keeping them happy and meeting their needs, while Christ’s Church focuses on those who are still far from God”. Christ’s calling on the church is to continually reach out to those who are far from God and need to hear of His love , grace and mercy. This is the key difference between the club that is disguised as a church and the Church that is on mission with Christ. As the church we are called to pour all the resource we can (time, money etc) into reaching out to those who are far from God.

As a pastor, I am continually trying to prayerfully discover where God is leading us in regards to outreach. This past week has been an extremely busy one in regards to outreach. I thank God for providing His church which such dedicated workers. On Friday we sent a bus load of 50 to Aquire the Fire (a youth Conference), on Saturday we welcomed over 300 people to our free clothing exchange, on Sunday after church we walked through our community giving away bags and bags of vegetables from our “You Feed Them” Garden, and on Monday we met to prayerfully consider if we could take on the responsibility for providing all of the homeless in the City of Ottawa with Sleeping Bags. I am thrilled to announce that we have taken on this ministry. From the bottom of my heart I thank God for you, for your willingness to give of your time, your talents and money to support all of the above. It takes significant resource for the church to be on Mission.

While I am truly ecstatic regarding all of the above I am mindful that we alone are incapable of saving a life or even drawing somebody to Christ, this is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We can work ever so hard, give so much of our time and money but, if the Holy Spirit is not engaged nothing of significance will ever be accomplished. A heart cannot be wonderfully warmed for Christ without the Holy Spirit for it is the Holy Spirit that points the person to Christ.

The process whereby the Holy Spirit takes our human effort to point one to Christ can be called the floodlight ministry. Floodlights are used in exterior illumination in many houses today. When floodlighting is well done, the floodlights are placed so that you do not see them; in fact, you are not supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained. The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness. This perfectly illustrated the Spirit’s role. He is, so to speak, the light shining on the Savior. We and our efforts are the mechanical device, the Holy Spirit is the light and the building is Christ. The Holy Spirit takes our less than adequate effort and causes it to produce light that illuminates Jesus. Like the mechanical exterior lighting fixtures that re unseen, we too are unseen when the Holy Spirit is at work. The Holy Spirit is the light that illuminates Christ.

This Sunday is the third of four week series on the Holy Spirit. This Sunday we will explore what the ministry of the Holy Spirit is, what does the Holy Spirit actually do. We will also be reminded of how we can co-operate with the workings of the Holy Spirit. D. L. Moody said, “I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled.”

See ya Sunday.

Shawn

It is Friday morning and I am sitting in the office at TBCO a very noisy busy place right now. There are twenty or so folks setting up for tomorrow’s free clothing give away. Tomorrow morning we will see over 300 people walk through our doors and leave with bags and bags of free clothing and furniture. This though is not the main source of noise in the church right now.

In our lobby there are also over 50 youth and adults preparing to board a bus and leave for an incredible journey with the Holy Spirit. (Thanks for supporting our church budget making it possible to supply the busy.) They are on their way to “Acquire The Fire”. So many young people have been impacted for eternity by this ministry and I find myself wondering, what He is up to this weekend. How many souls will be claimed for Christ, how many of our young people will recommit to their first love. In a moment I will join them and pray that the Holy Spirit will impact all in a wonderful way. Could God use this weekend to begin a revival?

Did you know that the majority of revival preachers such as John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, and Evan Roberts, were young men when God used them?  Numerous great movements of God occurred on college campuses such as Yale, Howard Payne University, Wheaton College, and Asbury College: The revival under Jonathan Edwards in, Northampton in 1735 began among young people. Written accounts of great revivals show that those first stirred by the revival fires were often youth and young adults. Could this bus of 50 people from God be set a flame for Him this weekend?

On Sunday morning these 50 young people will join us for worship at TBCO. We will hear what God has done and, get this, if some have accepted Christ, if some have re-committed themselves to our Lord we will provide them with the opportunity to be baptised on Sunday morning. I am so excited.

Please also pray for the three who have already stepped forward and requested baptism this Sunday, Catherine, Paul, and Matt.

The series I am preaching on is the “Holy Spirit”. It is my prayer that this Sunday the sermon will be lived out as people share their stories of changed lives.

Love Shawn

I was just reading John 16:6-15 and had a phrase literally jump off the page at me. Jesus said that, “it is good for you that I am going away” (NIV) In the NLT it reads, “it is actually best for you that I go away”. For me these words are astonishing. As a Christ follower it is my thought that the best situation would be that Jesus not go away but be with me at all times, but yet he says, “it is best for you that I go away”. Now the question must be asked, “how can it be better for us that Jesus go away”? In the following verse he tells us, “Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you”. The word Counselor in this verse refers to the Holy Spirit. Do you hear what Jesus is saying to us here. He is saying that it is better that we have the Holy Spirit than have Him in the flesh. Now this is huge. How can He say this? Do you believe it? Would you rather have Jesus sitting beside you right now in the flesh or have the Holy Spirit with you? Jesus says it is better that we have the Holy Spirit or the Counselor.

Jesus speaks so highly of the Holy Spirit but yet our view of the Holy Spirit doesn’t appear to reflect Christ’s. We often talk and act as if the Trinity is actually a duo. We have the big “F” Father, the big “S” Son, and the little “s” spirit. He is kind of like an add on, an afterthought.

We joke that the Evangelical church believes in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Scriptures, not the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But the Charismatic church isn’t really a whole lot better; we often regulate the role of the Spirit to a few spectacular gifts and to ecstatic experiences. The Holy Spirit is this but also so much more.

There is this story of a doctor listening to a little girl’s heart through a stethoscope, the doctor says “Who do I hear in there? Is Donald Duck in there? Is Barney in there?” The little girl says, “No! Jesus is in my heart, Barney is on my underwear!”

We talk to our children about Jesus being in our hearts, but the Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit indwells us. He is the Spirit of Jesus, and we often use the terms Jesus and the Spirit interchangeably in our relation to God, but because we often say Jesus when we mean the Spirit, we regulate the Spirit to the sidelines.

When we are inviting people to become Christian, we usually ask them to receive Jesus, but most often, the Bible calls us to Believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit. I haven’t heard any altar calls where people are invited to receive the Holy Spirit. You might think it is all just semantics, and it might be, but perhaps it also points to an avoidance of the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday I will begin a series on the Holy Spirit by addressing the question, “Who is the Holy Spirit”. I approach this topic with great humility for, “who am I to define the Holy Spirit”. I am totally dependent on the Holy Spirit to answer this question. I will begin by teaching that the Holy Spirit is God, but also a person. I will trace the activity of the Holy Spirit from Creation to today. Together we will discover why it is better for us to have the Holy Spirit than Jesus Christ in the flesh. Trust me on this one, Jesus was right when He said it is better for us to have the Holy Spirit than Him in the flesh.

See ya Sunday

Shawn

A lot of people ask me, “How do I know what God’s will is for my life?” How can I live a life that’s pleasing to God? Fortunately the answer is rather clear. “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) You want to know God’s will for your life? God’s will is that in everything, we would give thanks. What this means is if you’re not experiencing the attitude of gratitude you’re out of God’s will.

Notice what this is not saying. This is not saying that you should give thanks for everything, it says give thanks in every circumstance. You have a flat tire … “Thank God.” ?? I just had a car wreck … “Praise the Lord!” Be serious. That’s loony Christianity not biblical Christianity.

You don’t have to give thanks for evil in the world. If my children were murdered I would not be thankful. If Sue came down with cancer, I would not be thankful for the cancer.

I think the question for all of us is, how can I be thankful in a circumstance that is devastating. How can I be grateful when I’ve lost so much? How can I have an attitude of gratitude if I’ve lost my job, lost my health, lost my husband or wife. How can I be thankful in those situation?

On Sunday we will address this most challenging of questions head on. Since it is God’s will that we would be thankful in all circumstances, how can we live this out when life is more uphill than down, more tears than smiles?

See ya Sunday and get ready to experience the blessings of an attitude of gratitude.

Shawn

What is your vision for living? Do you have a number of them? How important is it to “get” that house, car, job, respect, social network, low golf score, pension plan, image, look, etc? Do you really have more joy as you move towards any of these “gets”? How important is it for you to get “satisfaction”? There is something bigger available to you right now, something so big that Bill Hybels calls it “Grand”. It is a “Grander Vision” for living and get this, God loves you so much He is willing to introduce you to it and allow you to participate in it today. Do you want it? Here it is.

“When Jesus Christ entered the scene more than two thousand years ago, he lived out this “Grander Vision” concept — prioritizing people above all else, seeking out potential in everyone he met, and taking action to draw them toward his Father. As he departed, he in essence said, “What I’ve done, I now want you to do! “Abandon your lesser visions in favour of living life the way I intended . . . with one eye on me, one eye on the people I love, and a heart that beats fast for kingdom-building activity. Live in light of the reality that the only things you can take to heaven are the people whose lives you touch! Throw your one and only life — all of your energies, your resources, your passion — into making a difference with people, and you will one day say, ‘Now that was a life well-lived!’ ”

At its core, Grander Vision Living means allowing other pursuits to fall away in order to focus on the priority that is nearest to the heart of God. And what’s at the heart of God? People. When you choose to pursue the Grander Vision, you will be partnering with God in the most magnificent mission imaginable: finding what’s lost, restoring what’s broken, and reclaiming what’s his.

This Sunday will be awesome. Not only will we be embracing what it means to live the “Grander Vision” but, get this, we will also here from a number of folks as they present to us their 100 word testimony. I have read many of these over and they are truly beautiful.

See ya Sunday.

This Sunday begins week three of our four week "Walk Across The Room" journey. It has been an amazing journey, so many of you have shared with me the incredible stories of what it has meant for you to respond to the nudging of the Holy Spirit and leave your comfort circle, step out in faith, walk across a room and begin to develop a profound relationship with someone who needs to know that God created them, loves them and has an awesome purpose for their life. What a blessing it has been to hear your stories.

This Sunday we will address the following consideration, "are there right words to use when sharing God's story? Is there a right way to tell our personal faith story?"

If you have you ever been in a conversation that turned spiritual and found yourself cotton-mouthed regarding how to explain who God is and what he has done in your life, then this Sunday's message is for you. We Christ-followers often struggle to convey the heart of God's redemptive activity and the "nut" of the before-and-after difference his intervention has made in our lives. Sometimes we talk too much, use fuzzy terminology, drop four-syllable "Christianese" words on the listener. Sometimes we Christians come across as haughty, pious, or superior. How do we tell the story in a manner that it is all about Him and meaningful.

When sharing the Salvation story with others, we must ensure that we are speaking words of life, light, hope, encouragement, authenticity and grace. This approach will lead the listener to a deep desire to know more about this God we know.

This Sunday we will discover how to share two stories, with those we are called to reach out to. The first is God's story of Salvation and the second is our own Salvation story. Both of these stories must be conveyed with humility, clarity and brevity.

We all have a story to tell, together we can learn to share the right story at the right time in the right way or eternal impact.

See ya Sunday

Shawn

We at TBCO share the goal of living out the Great Commissioning under the direction of the Great Commandment. What this means is this, we are engaged in helping those who are far from God find Christ and helping those who have found Christ grow in their ability to reflect Christ. This is the Great Commissioning. We at TBCO, are committed to doing this in love for love, is the great Commandment. Have you noticed how difficult it is to live out the Great Commissioning and Great Commandment?

In order for us to live out the Great Commissioning and Great Commandment, Christ-followers need to be truly engaged in the lives of the people around them, including those who are far from God. This means that we choose to develop deep friendships, discover life stories and stay open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we discern the next steps.

While I suspect that most of us really want to live out the Great Commandment and Great Commissioning, we often feel rather ill-equipped or awkward when trying to fulfill this most important calling that Christ has put on us. Here is the challenge.

Too often, the trajectory Christians follow is that the longer they walk with Christ, the more isolated and insulated they become from the world they are called to reach. Instead of openly accepting and embracing people who are far from God, Christians sometimes appear to be snubbing their noses at anyone who isn’t already “in” the circle. I can say this for I too am a Christian.

On Sunday we will learn how to live in 3D, how to view every interaction as a potential friendship in the making - an opportunity to learn of another person’s journey, as well as to add value to that person’s life by naturally and appropriately responding to their needs. I believe we are called by Christ to live in 3D. 3D living involves developing friendships, discovering stories and, discerning the next step.

The mission Jesus lived and died for can be fulfilled in our lives: people who name the name of Christ can be God’s loving hands and active feet in a world that desperately needs to know God’s care. Effective, relationally based evangelism can only happen when Christ-followers are truly engaged in the lives of people around them. This means they choose to Develop friendships, Discover life stories, and Discern appropriate next steps based on the Holy Spirit’s promptings — in other words, live in “ 3D.”

I look forward to not only sharing this message with you on Sunday but also partying with you after church as we “Walk Across the Room” during our Family Fun Day.

Shawn

Evangelism. The word, makes some of us cringe with fear. It also reminds many of us of the reason we are still here and not in heaven; “there is still work for us to do, there are still people we are called to share our faith with”. The question is, how? How can I, a person who feels inadequate, share my faith in Christ in a meaningful way?

Many Christians spend the vast majority of their lives clinging to safe, insular “Circles of Comfort” instead of looking outside the circle to really see the people they are called to impact. They huddle together with their “already-saved” friends and in doing so, deny God the opportunity to use them in the work of evangelism.

But Christ modeled a far different approach. In metaphorical terms, Christ left his own Circle of Comfort — the warm, perfect fellowship of the Trinity — in order to come to planet earth. He entered the uncertain and unfamiliar “Zone of the Unknown” for the explicit purpose of enfolding wobbly and sin scarred people — just like you and me — with grace and love. And when his earthly ministry came to a close, Christ in essence said, “this walk-across-the room behaviour is exactly what I want all of my followers to do in my place! Listen for the Spirit’s guidance. Leave your Circles of Comfort. Start walking toward the Zone of the Unknown. Reach out your hand, open your mouth, take the risk. And just see what my Father might do!”

What Bill Hybles says is true: the single greatest gift Christ-followers can give to the people in their lives is an introduction to the God who created them, who loves them, and who has a purpose for their days. This is what evangelism is: seizing opportunities to have eternal impact in someone’s life — opportunities that originate with a simple walk across the room.

Are you ready to give the “single greatest gift” to someone? If so, please join me on Sunday as we begin our four week series. If you are not in a small group yet, please pray about it. We are offering a small group opportunity every night of the week. Remember, God wants to use you to point the way to someone who is far from God.

Pastor Shawn

My Dear Friends:

What an incredible summer we have been blessed with at TBCO. We have seen two highly successful missions trips unfold with a return visit to Kenya with our very own You Feed Them Mission, as well as our Youth Missions trip to Nicaragua. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to join God’s activity in such diverse cultures. This past summer we also held two highly impacting youth camps with VBS and 4th Week Camp being used by God to touch numerous young people for eternity. I thank and praise God for His activity through all of this and your willingness to support the above work with your time, talent and money. There is no better place to invest your life than in our Lord’s work.

This past week Sue and I and the girls (and their boyfriends) had the opportunity to enjoy a time-share condo leant to us by a dear friend. I began this vacation with a personal prayer for God to “once again” reveal his love and power to me. I confess, sometimes I am in desperate need to see Him at work. It is not that I don’t believe His promises, for I do. It is just that for my faith to remain fresh and new, I need His personal activity to be fresh and new. I began our long drive to Florida, with a prayer to God, asking Him to bless us with the ability to not only see, but appreciate His power and might. Eleven hours into our drive, we found ourselves in a bad situation and God came shining through. He sent us an angel. As the evening unfolded, I discovered that this angel was in the need of a message of hope. The encounter with this angel left me with tears of joy for our Lord and His providence. This Sunday I will share with you what Our Lord did for us when he sent our “angel.” God is so good.

This Sunday at TBCO promises to be truly exciting as we will be hearing from two of the Missions Teams that TBCO has been supporting for several years.

Russell and Jenny Gant (Jenny is the daughter of Gord and Glenda Mosher) are serving the Lord at St. Peter and St. Paul's Anglican church in Albury, Surrey in church ministry by assisting in worship and youth work. In the fall, Russell will be taking up studies at seminary in Durham, England to prepare him as a Pastor and Minister with the Church of England.

Al and Caulene Bussard have been supported by Trinity for over 20 years. Al is the managing director of Integra Group in Slovakia. They work to help small business grow in Eastern Europe, and thereby impact and affect the lives of the people in that region. As an outgrowth of Integra, Caulene is working with an orphanage and school in Kenya - the Children's Garden Rescue Home.

It is exciting to see how God uses so many people to do His work in all kinds of places.

I love you and look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Pastor Shawn

This past week I listened to a local radio station as the host spoke in a positive manner about the growing trend towards assisted suicide. He spoke of Dignitas, a legal company near Zurich, where a foreigner can check into for $7,000. Upon arrival the client goes into a room lies down on a bed and drinks a lethal dose of barbiturates which has been prescribed. Sleep follows in about five minutes and death a half hour later. Fees are paid in advance with the recommendation that the body be cremated. At one point in the show the host appeared to celebrate the fact that recently a couple (the women was critically ill and the man in good health) made the right decision in ending their lives together.

Something the host of this popular weekday show failed to provide the listener with was the public record regarding “Dignitas”. A former worker for a Dignitas suicide clinic, Soraya Wernli, spent two and a half years working at the suicide clinic. She told the London Daily Mail newspaper in January she began to see the suicide clinic not as the compassionate place for ending lives but as a money-making killing machine taking advantage of the disabled and terminally ill. She explained how its founder and operator, Ludwig Minelli, would rush people through the death process by giving them the deadly drugs just hours after arriving from the airport.

The philosophy behind assisted suicide is rampant in our secular society which believes that suffering is meaningless. In Richard Dawkins book the Selfish Gene, you’ll read that “....there is nothing behind the universe - - nothing behind the force of life beyond the drive to survive.” According to the secularist, suffering is meaningless, since there is nothing beyond.

The world we live in is filled with suffering. Every person reading this email is suffering to some extent, some a great deal. Is this suffering meaningless? In the book of Job we meet a person who is suffering a great deal. He has lost his wealth, his family and his health. Those around him suggest that he should commit suicide. I’m not sure if they offered to help him or not. As we read the story of Job we discover that a human being can hold onto God, faith, life and love when it does not seem to pay off at all. We discover that this type of faithfulness has a meaning beyond the wildest dreams, and when it is lived out, something incredible begins to happen in the cosmos.

This Sunday’s message will be one of encouragement for those who anguish, agonize, hurt, question, don’t know, or don’t understand. On Sunday we will discover that because we are a part of something cosmic and eternal, our suffering matters more than we can imagine.

Does our response to suffering matter? More than we know. Please, if you are suffering, don’t let go. On Sunday you will discover that our God is a great big God.

God Loves you and so do I.

Shawn

Daddy asked his one year old, “how big are you”.  The little girl, who could hardly speak, raised her arms up high and said,  “So big!”.  The little girl was saying, “I’m huge, I’m enormous, there’s no telling how big I’m going to be.”  Daddy watched and smiled because he didn’t want his little girl to grow up thinking that she was  small or weak or insignificant.  He wanted her to grow up with confidence, a belief that she would be big enough to tackle whatever life through at her.

How big is your God?  The way you live your life is a result of your view of God.  How big is your God?  If I go through life believing in a “small” God there will be major consequences for I will go through life with great fear and anxiety.  John Ortberg points out that when we go through life with a shrunken God we will pray without faith, worship without awe, serve without joy, suffer without hope and live without vision and the ability to persevere.  If I live with a shrunken god I will find it unnatural to pray when I have a need, because I’m not really sure if God makes a difference and that prayer matters.  If I live with a shrunken God, I will become a slave to whatever other people think of me, because I don’t live in the security of a big God’s acceptance of me. 

This Sunday we will visit with one of the great heroes of the Bible Gideon.   Gideon, in the beginning was living a life of fear, bitterness and insecurity because he believed in a shrunken God.  Something happened and Gideon was transformed into a  mighty leader.  On Sunday we will explore what this “something” was, and here’s the kicker.  It is available to you.

God says, “I am bigger than your problems.  I am bigger than your failures.  I am bigger than your regrets, many though they may be.  I am bigger than your sin and guilt.  If you let me, if you will try me, if you will open the door of your heart, I will come into your life and I will be your forgiver, and I will be your strength, and I will be your friends. “ 

What is unthinkable and undoable on my own becomes unstoppable when it’s god and me.  See ya Sunday.

Congratulations to Sarah and Mike Schroeter on the birth of their daughter Andrea Rebecca Schroeter who was born 12:31 July 23.  Mom is doing great. 

Help needed.  At present two TBCO families are in the midst of local moves and are in need of moving help.   Julie and Cody McMillan (613-899-2639) and Bryan and Sheanna Tinlin (613-692-4367) are open to a helping hand, can you help out?

I suspect many of us are familiar with the film Chariots of Fire and the story of Eric Liddell, the runner who refused to compete on the Sabbath and so was unable to win the Gold Medal in the 100 metre run at the Olympics.  Did you also know that he not only gave up the medal but that a couple of years later he went off to China as a missionary, giving up his athletic ambitions altogether.  Here is another interesting person to consider, Fraser.  Fraser was a brilliant musician, able to memorise whole symphonies and concertos, yet he gave up all thought of fame and fortune on the concert stage in order to serve God in preaching the gospel to the people of China. Both of these men traded a comfortable future to risk following God’s calling to “Go out into the world to make disciples of all the nations.”

In the Bible we read about Moses, who at the time was roughly 80 years old, raising a family and nicely settled down, when God called him to lead approximately 2.5 million people out of slavery to freedom. Moses’ response was to tell God that he was not qualified, up to the task. Can you relate to Moses? Do you often feel less than qualified to do that which God calls you to?  Sometimes there is a tendency for us to make excuses because we are fearful or uncertain, when we hear God’s calling on us. It may feel easier to ignore God’s calling than to risk responding and being put into an uncomfortable situation. 

God has a wonderful message for those of us who often feel uncertain, inadequate for the calling God places on us.  Your calling can take any form; it can range from being a parent, friend, preacher, nurse, street sweeper; or perhaps accomplishing a task that God has set aside just for you; or maybe the opportunity to participate in something that is much bigger. It may require you to step outside of your comfort zone. You may be required to connect with people you are uncertain of.  Regardless of the calling from God, we can still feel inadequate, less than qualified. When you know that you are not up to the task, you are now in the place where God needs you to be, in order for Him to use you. Are you in that place right now? Do you hear God’s calling? Are you feeling like you are at a crossroads and not sure how to respond?

This Sunday we will explore God’s message to all of us who know we don’t measure up to the task and are praying that God will carry the day. 

God loves you and so do I.

I am told that when human beings experience the moment when they believe they’re going to die, it’s almost instinctive that they want to send a message; they want someone to know their story. Passengers spiraling downward to their deaths on a JAL airliner in 1985 used the last moments of their lives to write letters to those they loved. John Ortberg states that, in that final moment when the scaffolding of life gets stripped away, all the toys we’ve spent our lives chasing--success, reputation, security, wealth, comfort, ease--mean nothing. You are left with what you believe, what you’ve built your life on. If that moment were to come for you, and one day it will, what would you write? What’s the message you want to leave behind? What’s your story?

This Sunday we will take a look at three young men whose story is recorded in the book of Daniel (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) These three men found themselves apparently facing death, unless they compromised their faith in the living God. For Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, death is escapable--all they have to do is bend a knee to worship the golden images, and their nightmare will be over. They will live and be restored to positions of power, honor, and status. They are headed toward unimaginable pain and death, and one word would mean life for them. But they would not say that word, they would not bend that knee. “ Life, or death?” They chose death.

That kind of devotion to God is possible for ordinary people. They say, “ The God we serve is able to save us, but even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods and worship the image of gold you have set up.”

The question I find myself considering is this, if I was facing death today, would I compromise or stay strong? What would my last words be?

In preparation for Sunday feel free to listen to the song a friend of mine pointed out to me on YouTube http://tinyurl.com/64v96z

Our mission to Kenya, You Feed Them is looking for people to participate in a letter exchange between TBCO and our sponsored villages of Yogo and Mwer, Kenya. Bob Trerice will be providing more information on this worthy outreach project during the announcements this Sunday. A sign-up sheet will also be available following the service.

God loves you and so do I. Last Sunday our Lord provided us with a beautiful experience as we told Him how much we loved Him and learned more about the Christian faith. It was awesome. I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday.

Shawn

Last Sunday we celebrated Canada Day from a Christian perspective by reviewing the spiritual heritage of Canada and then hearing a testimony from one of our recent Members of Parliament Derrek Conrad. Derek is an evangelical Christian who accepted God’s call to serve Him on Parliament Hill. If you missed last Sunday I invite you to visit our website to hear Derek’s story and view the slide presentation on the spiritual heritage of Canada. For me this information is extremely powerful. Did you know for instance that

• The first European to land in North America was a convert to Christianity (Leif Ereckson) who came to Canada for the purpose of sharing Jesus Christ.
• Jacques Cartier planted a cross at Gaspe Bay and wrote the following regarding his experience, “We knelt down, in the company of the Indians, and with our hands raised toward heaven, yielded our thanks to God.
• In 1578, Sir Martin Frobisher had the first Christian service in North America, a Thanksgiving service on Baffin Island.
• Samuel de Champlain saw the Indians as being in need of Jesus Christ and His grace. Not as savages to be exploited. He considered it a great sin if he didn’t try to reach them for Jesus Christ.
• Canada’s great educator Ryerson (1802-1882) wrote, “I can now through God’s wonderful grace and by His Holy Spirit rest my all upon Christ, lay my all upon His altar, and say for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Ryerson founded our present public educational system under the vision that it would be Christian.
• Our Father’s of Confederation in 1867 in PEI chose the phrase “Dominion of Canada” to name this great nation based on Psalm 72:8 with the prayerful desire that God would have dominion from sea to sea.
• That then Prime Minister Sir John A/ MacDonald responded in the affirmative to an altar call at Dominion Chalmers United Church Ottawa.

Please take the time to visit our website and learn more about the incredible Christian spiritual heritage of this land Canada. I wonder, is there a connection between our incredible blessings and our commitment to Christ as a nation.

This week at Church we will look at this situation: have you ever made wonderful promises to Christ and then turned your back on these commitments shortly thereafter? Do you struggle with this? Do you carry a bit of guilt? Is there a way to move forward? If so, what is it? Are there relevant stories in the Bible?

Someone can stand up here week after week and talk about how fathers need to spend time with their kids. I can say that the only way to have healthy and emotionally successful kids is to spend time with them. The fathers shake the preacher's hand and say, "Fine sermon, Pastor." Yet we walk out of here and don't change what we actually do about it. We hear sermons on prayer, and we're convinced that prayer is the key to revival in our land. We walk out of here and don't change our prayer habits.

If you heart means well, but you have trouble keeping on the right path, then this Sunday is for you and me. I too need to hear this message. See ya Sunday.

In preparation for Sunday feel free to read the first three chapters of Daniel. There is a way, there is hope.

“We Care Ministry":  I just wanted to let you know that your generous baking and meals have been delivered to a family settling into a new home, a family who just lost a loved one and is planning a funeral, a family where mom is having chemo, a family who’s dad is recuperating from a heart attack, and a family where mom has significant health issues. What a blessing it is to be able to drop off these readymade meals and baking and know how encouraged and supported these families feel. WE CARE has also been able to do some gardening for a few homes and some housework too. Thank you to all of you.

With that being said the freezer has now run dry so if you are able to put aside a bit of baking or a frozen meal please package in a non-returnable container and label with the name of the dish and the re-heating instructions. A date would be helpful to so I can make sure we keep the stock fresh. Please leave them in the freezer at TBCO with a WE CARE label on them.

If you are aware of situations where a meal or baking would be helpful please let me know. This is such a tangible way to reach out to our community.

Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Nancy

Prayer: See below "Praise and Prayer Guide" for the summer. Please join us in calling on God.

Praise an Prayer Guide June 28, 6 pm

4th Week Camp, July 28, 6pm: Praise God that - a speaker has been found for the week! 23 campers have registered (room for 2 more!) - staff is in place, camp resources are mostly in place. Pray for - planning details, alll the little things- prayer partners and snack providers-positive connections with the staff and campers.

Mission Trip: Praise God - everyone has passports! - schedules foe the junior high weekend and the sports camp have been completed- the toiletry bags are almost ready to be filled and we have Cdn Tire money to purchase floor hockey equipment.  Pray for: Deb Spence who needs confirmation of 2 days off work( the rest of the time has been granted) - the 11 to 14 year olds that we will be working with, their heart would be ready to ready to receive the messages that we will share - boldness and passion for the team, to share God's love with excitement and enthusiasm! 

Children's Worker: The Director of Children's Ministry is a part-time position, responsible for the oversight and coordination of all the children's programs, nursery through grade six.  This position will serve under the Pastoral Team Leader(Senior Pastor) and provide appropriate guidance to the volunteer children's ministry team(s), while establishing a comprehensive plan for this ministry in line with the mission and vision of Trinity Bible Church of Ottawa(TBCO).  The primary role will be to identify, recruit, equip, train and deploy children's leaders. These leaders will touch children's loves with God's love, teach them God's Word and provide fellowship with God's people-laying a foundation that will help the child become all God desires. Praise God : that our church can be in a position to hire a part-time Children's Worker. Pray for: the perosn of God's choosing to be found and for him or her to hear the call of God to this ministry.

Vacation Bible School, July 13-17:Praise God for the exciting resources, leaders who have volunteered, and the children who have registered. Pray for many more children from our church and from the community to register(only 25 so far) and for a couple of more helpers. Pray for the children to grow in their love of Jesus and in their commitment to him and His way. Pray for non-believers to come to faith in Jesus as their personal Friend, Saviour and Lord.

Kidz Work: Praise God for the commitment of the leaders to continue to offer this important ministry throughout the summer Pray for a good number of leaders an d children to experience Christ each Sunday through this ministry.

We Care: Praise God for Nancy Halloran and those who work with her to provide meals and other practical help to those in need from our church and from the community.

Door to Door Outreach: Praise God for the many young families who have taken the information about what out church offers. Pray for then to have the courage to come and to learn what Christ has done for them and to ask Christ into their lives.

YouFeedThem: Praise God for open doors that God is giving in order that this ministry can help many more people to grow their own food. Give thanks for the team that is being called by God to go to Kenya in August Pray for safety and guidance for the team members as they witness for Christ by life and by word. Pray that God will accomplish what he wants to accomplish through this outreach.

Take a few minutes to pray for each other's needs.

“It’s as if scales have been removed from my eyes and I can see that which I couldn’t see before. Today I can see the church as I didn’t see her before.” Those are the words I have chosen, to describe what happened to me this weekend during our “Missions Conference” at TBCO. For me it was an amazing experience; one I am excited to share with you. I can see something that I didn’t see before and must now tell you what it is. Here is what happened:

Our guest speaker for the weekend was Gernot Elsner from “Gospel Tribe” in Germany. Gernot told us how the school he runs prepares students to connect with those who are far from God, and be on Mission. One particular story Gernot shared was how his school lives out Luke 10:1-24. In this passage we read that Jesus appointed 72 people and sent them out two by two to do Kingdom work. Those who went out did not take money or extra clothing with them, just their faith in Christ. They were not apostles, clergy or professional pastors. They were ordinary work a day people on a mission of sharing Christ with others. Those attending Gernot’s school are taught that we are to risk being faithful in connecting with those who are far from God and, that it is ok to go into cities far away with no money or extra clothing and share our faith. One of the stories Garnot told was of a small team that was dropped off in Istanbul with nothing but the clothes on their back, and were expected to minister. It was amazing how God met their needs and gave wonderful God moments as they risked being faithful to the call of God. As I listened to this story I was reminded of a contradictory attitude in the North American Church that seems to suggest that everything we do must be filtered to ensure that we are all safe, secure, comfortable and happy. If the church is considering doing something that does not “feel” safe, secure and comfortable, then it wonders “ Does God really want us to do this?” It’s almost as if we Christian in North America believe that God’s primary objective is to keep us safe, secure and happy. What a contrast to the call of Christ. He and His disciples lived lives that were far from safe and secure. I quietly smiled to myself as I recalled the number of hours we have spent working on insurance issues and child protection policies for TBCO, this past year, in comparison to prayerfully strategising on how to connect with those who are far from God.

The great commissioning of Christ is that we are to introduce those who are far from God to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their love for God and people. As I observe North American churches, I see very few churches that are actually interacting with people who are far from God for the purpose of evangelising. Much of the growth in North American churches is little more than a shuffling of the sheep. Sheep will change churches if the pasture seems greener someplace else or, if there is too much manure in the present pasture. Most numerical growth in North American churches today is a result of those who have already accepted Christ, changing worship locations because their new church has a pleasing preacher, newer and better building, better location, better programs, bigger smiles during fellowship time, etc. Where are the churches that are actually sharing God’s Good News to people who have not yet met Christ? I do not see significant evidence that these churches still exist in North America. What is even more disturbing for me is this, the church doesn’t even seem to be concerned that we are not living out the primary call of Christ, to lead those who are far from God into a continuous, personal, intimate, loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

We at TBCO are no different than the other churches around us. As I participated in the events this weekend, I was so excited to join the Men’s/Women’s breakfast, learn of the outreach event in the park, attend the Saturday evening Youth Rally, Sunday morning Bible Teaching, Sunday morning worship, and Sunday potluck and celebration. Something I noticed this weekend was this, almost everyone who was in attendance at the events was already well “churched”. In spite of the awesomeness of the weekend, we were not successful in reaching TBCO’s mission which is doing what the Great Commissioning says.. “ to preach the Good News to the lost.” The point is this: “It is not about us.” We have some wonderful programs, music, Bible studies, potluck socials etc., but are we focusing on our needs or are we truly trying to provide experiences for those who have not yet met Christ, to have that personal encounter with the Saviour? Clubs focus on their members and keeping them safe, secure, happy and comfortable. Churches begin by focusing on those who are far from God and introducing them to Christ. Churches do whatever it takes to share the Gospel of Salvation with those who are perishing. After people meet Christ, we the church, work together to help one another grow in love for God and each other. We need to become the church Christ calls us to be. We need to be reaching a thirsty world.. those who are needing to meet the Saviour. By continuing to do the same thing as we always have, we will get the same results that we always have. We need to change. This cannot continue. We must share the truth with the lost.

So what do we do?

For the past 10 months we have been praying and considering a strategy that would allow us to connect with those who are “far from God”. I am excited that I can now tell you what this strategy is. I believe that this vision is of God and completely supported by all empirical evidence available to the church today. Our question was this, “Where should be allocate our resources, if we are to have the maximum impact in connecting with those who are far from God.” The following three quotes from the renowned pollster Barna provides us with a glimpse into the direction .

George Barna’s research concludes that, “more often than not, what a person decides about truth, sin, forgiveness, and eternal consequences during their pre-teen years is the same perspective they carry with them to their grave and beyond, where ever that may take them.”

In Transforming Children in Spiritual Champions George Barna writes, “I have been discouraged to discover that most American adults – including most parents – see the spiritual development of children as a value added proposition rather than the single, most important aspect of a child’s development.”

Barna goes on to say, “social scientists have known for years that the moral foundations of children are generally determined by the time the individual reaches age nine.....Anyone who wishes to have a significant influence on a person’s moral and spiritual foundations had better exert that influence while the person is still open-minded and impressionable – in other words, while the person is young.”

Based on the above research and the preliminary report by our Project Development Project Manager, the Elders of TBCO have determined that our best chance for making significant in roads with those who are far from God in our culture is to put significant resource into “Children’s Ministry”. Children are going to be our target group and developing strategies to engage children that are far from God will be TBCO’s main focus. Yes, we will still love and care for people of all age groups but, our main focus will be children. Now that we are in a financial position to hire an additional (part time) staff person the Elders have determined that this person must focus on “Children’s Ministry”. It is our prayer that God will bless this act and we will be in a position to hire an additional staff person (an intern from the MET) in the New Year that would focus on Teen Ministry. The Elders are extremely excited over this opportunity that God has provided us with. We have begun a truly exciting journey, one that I pray you will join us on. Yes, we will still do the other ministries at TBCO but, we will be asking people to prayerfully consider that they support this direction even if it means all of us stepping out of our safe, secure, comfortable spot in order to engage those who are far from Christ and the most likely to be open to Him.

This past week I have had two confirmations that we are on the right track. Those of us who have been doing door to door evangelism in the village have discovered that the people who are open to hearing about God and the church are the folks with very young children. These young families are looking for something mid week to take their children to. This is confirmation of the direction we are going.

I have also noticed that the largest mid week group that operates out of the TBCO building is not a church sponsored activity but rather a cub group. This is amazing. Parents are willing to do what is necessary to get their young children out to an excellent mid week group.

I am asking you to pray that God will lead us to that very special person who will come on staff at TBCO this September and help us strengthen our children’s ministry and launch the mid week “children’s” program. Attached you will find the job description. Please pass it around and pray, pray, pray.

God loves you and so do I

Shawn

“People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” Mk. 10:13-16

John Piper asks: “Have you ever asked why God designed the world so that the human race multiplies by having babies that take years to become adults? Why didn’t God design the human race so that we multiply like earthworms: one adult splits to become another adult? He could have done it that way or any number of ways. Why did God ordain that there be children? And not just adults?” Piper gives this answer: “Children stand for something. They point to something. They represent something. They signify something bigger than themselves. They stand for the kind of dependence and helplessness and need and insufficiency and

faith that is required of adults to enter the kingdom of God. To ‘such as these’ (verse 14) belongs the kingdom. That’s the meaning of their unique existence. They point the way to salvation: to such as these belongs the kingdom.”

What a beautiful image Piper has painted for us, that children allow us to see what is required of us if we are to enter the Kingdom of God. As a person who longs to be faithful to God and enter into the full expression of the kingdom of God, I find myself asking, “Do I stand for the kind of dependence and helplessness and need and insufficiency and faith that is required? Do I truly understand just how dependent I am on God and those around me?” The world encourages me to live out of a stance that says that I can do it on my own, it’s all mine, I earned it, I don’t “need” anybody. Piper is so right; the extent, to which I can grasp just how dependent and helpless I am, is the extent to which I will experience God’s kingdom here on earth. I need my Lord, I need more of Him every day. I am dependent on him and totally helpless without Him. I also need my wife, my daughters and you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus tells us that children (and I believe young people) are better positioned to readily grasp the truth that we are dependent and insufficient on our own. They are more willing to step out in faith and trust. As we adults journey through life we experience more and more bumps, bruises and hurts along the way and become less capable of trusting and living out dependence on others in case we are let down once again. I believe this has a negative impact our ability to embrace the fullness of God’s Kingdom.

This weekend we at TBCO are hosting a Church Conference which will focus on our reaching young people for Christ. There will be three events for young and old alike (breakfast, Sunday worship and potluck) and two outreach events for the young people (Saturday afternoon and evening). For details, please see below. Our desire is to reach the young people of our area with the Gospel.

Why is it important to bring them to Jesus while they’re young? A 2004 Barna survey showed that 85 percent of Christians began their relationship with Jesus before age 14. A fairly recent Gallup poll showed that: 19 out of 20 Christians are saved before the age of 25. After age 25, 1 in 10,000. After age 35, 1 in 50,000. After age 45, 1 in 200,000. After age 55, 1 in 300,000. After age 75, 1 in 700,000. If you look at things statistically, it makes sense to spend time evangelizing the young--the prospects of a return for your investment is greater than for older folks D.L. Moody once returned from preaching a revival meeting and reported that there were two and a half conversions. Someone asked, “Two adults and one child?” Moody replied, “No. Two children and one adult. The children gave their whole lives. The adult only had half to give.”

God loves young people and desires the best for them. He works through people like us to introduce Himself to them and demonstrate His love. TBCO has an incredible opportunity this weekend. You have an incredible opportunity this weekend to make an eternal difference. Please join us, “He” needs YOU.

Website Links for our Weekend Conference:

For Conference overview visit TBCO hosting Church Conference THIS WEEKEND!!!!

To register for Saturday breakfast Click here to RSVP

To learn more about our guest speaker from Gernot and the ministry he leads visit the following link at gospeltribe.com 

You Feed Them Update

Last Sunday I mentioned in church that, in faith, I believe that it is possible for the starving of the world to be fed and that our project You Feed Them, could play a major part in this. I truly believe this. With God’s direction and help we can partner in developing self sustaining, replicable agriculture in Africa. Our first crop in Kenya is flourishing in an area where crops never flourished before. Others are already beginning to replicate this agricultural technique with the same results.

To learn more about why I believe this is possible, check out last Sunday’s Sermon from our You Feed Them. 

As you drive into church this Sunday you will notice that the entire 157 feet of TBCO’s community garden has been planted. We have beets, corn, tomatoes.soy beans, cucumbers. Squash and, melon.

God loves you and so do I

Shawn

“When are we gonna do the stuff?” “What stuff?” they wanted to know. He said, “You know....the stuff!” John Wilmber (founder of the band “The Righteous Brothers”) was a fairly young Christian who had been reading in the Bible about all the conversions, healings, deliverances and other miracles. The following Sunday, when went to his neat tidy church he started asking the church during coffee time, “when are we going to do the stuff, when are we going to start seeing, talking and celebrating with incredible passion, conversions, healings, deliverances and other miracles?

It is my sense that every believer who battles addiction, depression, financial worries, illness, feelings of worth, meaning etc eventually asks the question, “Where is the stuff”. Where are the conversions, healings, deliverances and other miracles that accompanied the presentation of the gospel in the New Testament? The person may actually be looking for signs that God is the same yesterday today and forever, that He is still more than willing to do the miraculous.

This Sunday is Pentecost, the day which we celebrate the birthing of the Church and her empowerment by the Holy Spirit. This Sunday I will talk candidly about the work of the Holy Spirit and how we can co-operate more fully with the work of God – the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost the people gathered to wait for this empowerment, that same empowerment is available to us today, right now. Please join me in praying for this Sunday’s worship service and our celebration of Pentecost.

Rick Kirchoff says, “When God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen: barriers are broken, communities are formed, opposites are reconciled, unity is established, disease is cured, addiction is broken, cities are renewed, races are reconciled, hope is established, people are blessed, and church happens. Today the Spirit of God is present and we’re gonna’ have church. So be ready, get ready. . . God is up to something. . . discouraged folks cheer up, dishonest folks ‘fess up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, dry bones shake up, and pew potatoes stand up! But most of all, Christ the Savior of all the world is lifted up.”

May all of the above and more take place at TBCO this Sunday as we celebrate Pentecost. If you are unable to be with us, please catch the podcast on our website. It will be available this Monday.

God loves you and so do I,

Shawn

Every Thursday morning at 7:00 am I meet with a group of guys at Tim Horton’s, to discuss faith and life and to hold each other accountable. I love these guys, I receive so much from them, they are a gift from God. This morning we looked at Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and prove what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” One of the guys said that, for him, this is the essence of the Christian faith, get this and you “get it”. His comment lead me to wonder, “do I get it, is my mind being renewed”?  Do we get it, are our minds being renewed?

I’m bored. Has one of your children ever said, “I’m bored”. We live in a day of unprecedented external stimulation. How can we hear the words, “I’m bored”, and live in a world of television, Internet, movies, iTunes, books and the list goes on and continues to grow day by day? The concept of boredom is a rather recent phenomena. The ancient Greeks had no word for “boredom”, boredom was never contemplated. In English we had no word for boredom until a couple of centuries ago. How is it that the ancient world, with no television, internet, movies, iTunes, had no concept of boredom but we do? I think it’s because we have lost the ability to “renew” our minds. Because there is so much continuous eternal stimulation bouncing around us, we no longer have the ability to delight our mind in sustained thoughts on God’s truth and have our mind “renewed”. We live in a world of constant stimulation, ever changing, keeping us distracted by the World’s stimuli and robbing us of the ability to co-operate with the work of God’s Spirit and “be transformed by the renewing of our mind”. The person who is not being transformed by the renewing of their mind will always be “bored”.

We in Canada are the best housed, fed, clothed, educated, medicated, protected people to ever live on this planet. How is it that we, who have so much, find it so easy to stop and dwell on worry, problems, anger, grudges, temptation. We worry (big time) about our RRSP’s dropping in value when many have no idea where their next meal will come from. We worry about our houses dropping in value, when many have no place to lay their head. We worry about job security when there are many who are unable to work. What is fascinating for me is this, when I meet with people who don’t have RRSP’s, can’t afford a house, are unable to work, they often exhibit what is called the fruits of a transformed life, they exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). While in El Salvador a couple of years ago I spent several weeks with people who had no RRSP’s, no jobs , no safety, but yet possessed a Spirit that exhibited the gifts of the Spirit. How is this possible? It is possible because they were continually being transformed by the renewing of their mind.

Yesterday I received an email from Gord, a friend of mine, sharing with me the last email he got from Art, who just passed away with ALS. This note was written by Art on his farewell road trip. As I read this note yesterday it became obvious that I was reading the words of someone who was continually being transformed by the renewing of his mind.”

"Now on my last leg home, (in San Fran now), all I can say is Wow again and again! After seeing the Grand Canyon I was not expecting what the coast of California was really like, Wow! Then Monterey and the famed Pebble Beach Golf Course...WoW! And if you’re a golfer....well double WoW!!! But aside from all the rugged, majestic and powerful landscape the impact that most affected me is the emails, messages and prayers from all of you, which has left me humbled and so grateful! WOW!! I can't put into words what that has done for me....just WOW! I know that going through this has been easier because of you all...thanks so much! And WOW!

Miracles....if we don't believe in them...why pray for them....well I can tell you they happen every moment, every day, everywhere....and you all are part of that....WOW! So as we make our way home I am sure we will say wow many many more times! Our faith rests eternally as does our hope! Well thanks...humbly and gratefully so, for keeping me in your prayers! I keep hoping and crying for my walls of Jericho to crumble! In the meanwhile I am doing well....God continues to give me faith and hope...and a happy heart. Luke 1:37 I hold close! My voice is all but gone....very difficult. My arms are not strong enough to wash my hair or lift much. I can't drive any longer and limit my walking to only with a walker. Eating is not easy and drink only with a straw. BUT I'm full of hope and good cheer.....a gift from God and a reward for the many prayers from people like you!!”

If you want to see life the way Art saw it during the last weeks of his life, eyes that allow you to see the mighty acts of God every day, then you need to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

On Sunday I will be presenting a teaching on how to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind”. It would be my joy to share this message with you.

TBCO to host Weekend Church Conference. Get out your pen and reserve June 12-14 to attend TBCO’s Church Conference. Our special guest for the weekend will be www.gospeltribe.com, an evangelical outreach ministry from Germany.

Sue and I just got a dog, an Australian Shepherd pup.  If you know of someone who wants a great kitten or two, or three, or four, please let me know. I would be pleased to bless them.

God loves you and so do I

Shawn

Do you love Jesus? He loves you, doesn’t He? Do you love Him? Of course you do. You have a continuous, intimate, personal, loving, relationship with Him. In the course “Experiencing God”, I was taught that God desires a continuous, intimate, personal, loving relationship with me. As a result of this course I memorized that great phrase and learned to keep it at the end of my tongue, readily available as required. When somebody asks, “How are you doing with God” I can say, “I have a continuous, intimate, personal, loving, relationship with Jesus.” Yep, it’s all good. At least that’s what evangelical Christians are programmed to say. When somebody asks me, “Are you the man God wants you to be?” I pause and say, “NO, I’m not there yet”. I want to be, but I’m not. My answer to these two questions, leaves me with a dilemma doesn’t it? How can I say I have a “continuous, intimate, personal, loving relationship with Jesus and not be the person He wants me to be? Anybody out there see a bit of a disconnect? I do.

According to some research done by Willow Creek (Reveal) we Christians really aren’t all that much into personal spiritual transformation. Deep down, we Christians aren’t all that different than those who do not claim to have a “continuous, personal, loving relationship with Jesus.” We know God, we love God but somehow or other we aren’t changing all that much. I think part of the problem stems from how we view “Spiritual Growth/Maturity”. The church has made a mistake in its operative definition of “Spiritual Growth”. Spiritual growth or, spiritual maturity is not about “doing” a bunch of practices. It’s not being able to list a bunch of Spiritual practices and state with confidence that “Yep, I’m committed to doing these. I’m committed to reading my Bible, praying, fasting, tithing etc.” Christian Spiritual maturity/growth is all about living out the same vision that Jesus lives. It’s about becoming a more joyful, loving person each day. The question is not, am I “doing” these spiritual practices but rather, “how can these practices help me to be rooted in Jesus every day”. The goal is not simply “doing” the practices but experiencing and demonstrating the joy and love that comes from living out the Jesus vision.

This Sunday we will continue our Sermon Series “Next Steps” (outline John Ortberg) by discovering how we can practice the presence of God every day. By presence of God I mean the ability to see God, to be with God, to continually connect with God every day, regardless of the day. I am convinced that every person who practices that presence of God will be changed by God; they will become more joyful and loving. The challenge is to live each day with Jesus.

Our Scripture reading for Sunday will be Colossians 3:17. “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” What does it look like to do “everything” in the name of Jesus? For me it means to do “everything” with Jesus. Picture this. What would Monday be like if you took your best friend, perhaps a hockey buddy, a neighbour you have coffee with, a friend since high school, with you for your day. What would the drive in to work be like? What would it be like at your place of work? How much fun would it be during lunch if the two of you were hanging out all day shooting the breeze, telling fun stories, cutting up. If you spent Monday with your best friend, you would be continually connecting with them, talking with them, experiencing joy with them. On Sunday we will explore how we can allow Jesus the space to be that person with us. What do we need to do to live the day with Jesus? It is my prayer that my concrete teaching on this will help all of us take a giant step towards doing “everything” in the name of Jesus.

Two weeks ago we launched our new website and in doing so we launched a new ministry. It’s as if God snuck up on us, said here is an opportunity I want you to take, grab it and see what I will do. Well we launched this site and God has been at work. From May 1 to May 13th, we had 65,560 total hits by 1,213 different individual visitors. Here is what is happening: Because we spent a few extra dollars our website is connected to numerous search engines on the web. Our most popular time for hits on our website is, get this, 1:00 AM. What is happening on our website at 1:00 in the morning. Our print outs show that people found our website after typing in such search words as Satan, loneliness etc. The most listened to sermon was May 3rd sermon, “How to Be Alone with God”. God is using our website to speak words of hope into the lives of people who are lonely and hurting. Our website guests were from such places as Canada, U.S., Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, Zimbabwe, Germany, Russian Federation, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Please continue to pray for this new ministry that his literally exploded.  To see what’s new at TBCO, please go to our What’s New page.

Shawn

Yesterday I had a difficult decision to make regarding my schedule in that there were two wonderful ministry opportunities scheduled for the same time.  I had to choose which one to attend and wondered, why God had allowed both to be scheduled for the same time.   I now think I know.  My choice was between going on a prayer walk with our church through the village or attending a meeting at the local restaurant (Red Dot) with one of the Associated Gospel Church’s key leaders (Bud Penner) and two overseas missionaries (Pardomuan Nainggolan and Leor Sarkar).  Since the two missionaries had travelled all the way from Indonesia and Bangladesh I decided I would meet with them over lunch.  As I drove from the church  to the restaurant I said a quick prayer for those on the prayer walk and thought a bit more about the door to door evangelism we were going to embark on this Sunday.  I wondered, will anybody from the church join us in going door to door.  Will anybody want to  go door to door, offer some literature and “risk”,  if the opportunity presents itself, sharing their faith.  A number of folks have mentioned that they are fearful of being mistaken as being Jehovah Witnesses etc.   There seemed to be a genuine hesitancy in the church to participate in this endeavor.  I can appreciate this and understand it.   At the restaurant I met the group of missionaries.

Pardo leads Cahoya Suku, a mission organization that reaches out to numerous Muslin communities across Indonesia.  I learned that Pardo ministered for many years with no visible results.   Today, things are different in that conversions are common place and leaders have been raised up.   There are now ministry teams working in 11 of the 22 unreached Muslim clusters in Indonesia.  When Pardo had completed his presentation I asked him,  “what are the greatest challenges”.   Pardo responded by telling me that it is a criminal offense to share Christ in Indonesia, to be caught talking about Christ is punishable by imprisonment.  One of the ministry partners is presently serving an 8 year term.   One of the church members they had been discipling recently informed the church that unless the church gave him a sum of money he would turn them all into the police and they would be imprisoned.  I quickly did a little mental comparison of our challenges and concerns at TBCO with the challenges and concerns of the church in Indonesia. 

Next up was Leor who leads the Bangladesh Baptist Fellowship and also struggles with issues of “religious intolerance”.   When Leor finished his presentation I asked him what his greatest challenge was.  Leor responded by stating that it is a challenge to do ministry when the other Christian Leaders around you are being killed for sharing their faith.  Recently one of the key leaders had his throat slashed in public and bled to death.  Recently four Christian leaders have been killed.  Once again I compared the issues that we as a church are working through with those of the church in Bangladesh.

For me it was amazing, both Pardo and Leor told their stories focusing on the joy of being a Christian and the privilege of serving Christ.   The only reason they even lifted up the challenge , was because I asked them if they had any.

After listening to their stories I felt truly humbled to be in the presence of such great men of God.  A week from now they will voluntarily return to Indonesia and Bangladesh and risk imprisonment and death as they continue to share Jesus.   They will do this with joy, never complaining.  I considered the opportunity we have before us at TBCO to share Jesus and the hesitancy we seem to have to act boldly and risk all for Christ.  I considered their journey and the journey that some of us will be taking this Sunday afternoon when we go door to door distributing information and, God willing, faith.   When I returned home later that day I was reminded of that phrase, “Some Christian fear the raised eyebrow while others the raised sword”.  I lowered my head and wept in repentance as I considered that I far too readily allow a raised eyebrow to keep me from being faithful to my Lord’s calling.

THIS SUNDAY

Henri Nouwen wrote:  Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and Him alone.  If we really believe not only that God exists, but that He is actively present in our lives--healing, teaching, and guiding--we need to set aside a time and space to give Him our undivided attention 

Last Sunday we began our new sermon series, “Next Steps”, a series which focuses on the transformation of the human heart.     Our focus this Sunday will be on time alone with God, taking time to just be alone with Him.  We will begin on Sunday by addressing some rather important basic questions.  Does God really intervene and respond as a result of prayer?  Do I really need to spend time alone with God?   If prayer is simply talking to God, why can’t I just toss up prayers during the day (I call these prayer bombs) in random sorts of ways as circumstances unfold that I need help with?  Isn’t that sufficient?   What good is prayer anyway? What’s going to happen is going to happen.  How many of you have prayed for something that didn’t happen… Or hasn’t happened yet? I think we’ve all had that experience.   Some will say, “I don’t have time to put aside to simply be alone with God, I’m really busy”.   Busy people don’t have extra time to spend time alone with God.  Busy people are on the go 24/7. So I need to ask you…

What if prayer were something more than simply trying to get our requests answered? What if shooting up requests to God were sort of like living in the attic of a great big mansion? —a corner of prayer but not the whole big beautiful thing. What if we are missing the point?   

See ya Sunday.

For the past few days I have been on a silent retreat at "Still Point, House of Prayer", with a couple of Pastor buddies. It's interesting what God does when we slow down, sit back and listen for Him. I began my retreat by reflecting on this promise from God, "I will be handling all of your problems today. I will not need your help. So, relax and have a great day." With this promise in mind I relaxed, left all the concerns of home and church behind and began to reflect on the Passion of Christ, His love for us expressed on Good Friday and Easter. Jesus stretches out His hands, says I love you this much and is nailed to the cross for our sins. As a Christian I realize that my eternal destiny is secure because of His activity at Calvary. I began my retreat by thanking God for Jesus and the free gift of Salvation I have received from Him, a gift I did not deserve but yet received at no cost to me. Truly amazing.

As the silence and hours unfolded I sensed an urging to consider the question, "What's Next?" What's the next step on the journey with Christ? Years ago I said "Yes" to His offer to be my Savior. Best decision I ever made. Since that time I have been "trying" to follow Him I say trying because sometimes I don't follow all that well. Sometimes I stumble and fall. During the last couple of days of silence I wondered, "How am I doing at following Him"? Am I a "good" follower of Christ? I live in a culture that is anti-Christian; how does this impact my following Christ? There are so many distractions out there. Do I walk, talk, think, serve, love and give the way Jesus would if He was living in our culture today? Or do I reflect our culture in my living? How close am I? Whose path do I follow most often, society's or Jesus'?

Jesus began his ministry by proclaiming, "The Kingdom of God is near". After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. The time has come, He said. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me", Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men". At once they left their nets and followed Him." ( Mark 1:14-20). As I prayerfully reflected on this verse I was reassured that yes, I had repented and believed Jesus. I also believe that His presence, actions and teachings 2000 years ago ushered in a foretaste of God's Kingdom. While we will not experience this Kingdom in its fullness until eternity, we can receive a glimpse of it today. What this verse also reaffirmed for me, is the invitation to "follow" Jesus. For the fishermen who heard Jesus' invitation to "follow" Him, following meant walking away from their business, worldly security and venturing out into the unknown. I think following Jesus is a journey that refers to how we walk, talk, think, serve, love and give. Am I more like Christ today than I was last year or five years ago? Am I co-operating with the Spirit's activity and allowing the necessary transformation to take place in me?

Over and over again in Scripture Jesus says, "Follow Me". "Follow me", and I will give you life. This invitation from Jesus is a call to be continually transformed by the working of the Spirit of God. As John Ortberg says, "Jesus' plan was not to start a church full of people who call themselves Christians, but remain cranky, egotistical, judgmental, deceptive, greedy, lustful, gossipy, self-righteous, religious people until they die and go to heaven. His plan was to begin a society of the transformed heart. Paul said, Don't conform any longer to the pattern of this world, to life apart from God, but be transformed. That is possible now by the renewing of your mind by something that changes in you from the inside where God is at work. That is why we exist as a church, not to have buildings, not to run programs, not to create services; although those are all good things. Dallas Willard says:

The crying need of our world today is for the church to take the need for transformation seriously as a real practical issue to be dealt with in realistic terms. Dallas Willard

During the past few days I have repeatedly asked this question, How are we doing at co-operating with God's activity to transform lives? How could we do better? This is really hard work. It's not just how many people are coming or what kind of programs we're running. How are we doing at actually pursuing spiritual transformation? Only God can transform a life, but we are not passive. We, both as individuals and as a church, can open ourselves up to it. Dallas Willard writes: My central claim is that we can become like Christ. Spiritual transformation is possible by doing one thing-by following Him in the overall style of life Jesus chose for Himself. We can grow more like Christ. Spiritual transformation is authentically possible through faith and grace if I am willing to arrange my life around the activities Jesus Himself practiced in order to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of His father.

This Sunday we will begin a series called "Next Steps". The outline for this series comes from John Ortberg. Here is the main thought. If Jesus thought He needed to do certain things and He was the Son of God, there's a chance I will need to do these things also. Probably-a good chance of that. Part of what it means to trust Jesus is to trust He actually knew how to live. Following Jesus means we live the way we believe He would if He was here in physical form today.

Spiritual transformation begins with our asking ourselves this question, " Have you decided that you want Spiritual transformation more than anything else? Is your desire to experience the reality of the Kingdom of God greater than any other desire you have. Have you decided that you want Christ's presence in your life more than success, more than a great house, more than applause or security-have you decided that you want this most of all?

On Sunday we will begin our "Next Steps" series by laying the foundation for spiritual transformation. If your journey with Christ is lacking in consistency and sometimes passion, if you are battling doubts, if you are not presently experiencing the joy of "living with Christ", then this series is a must for you. If you are lacking in any of these then I would beg you to make it a personal priority to attend each service in this series. There is nothing more significant than living in the joy of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, do you want to experience it today. If you do, I look forward to seeing you this Sunday.

God loves you and so do I

Shawn

Do you ever have doubts regarding faith issues?  Does God really exist?  Does God really love me?   I’ve asked Him to forgive me, has He?  What does happen to us when we die?  Does it really matter how I live my life?  Will I, or others, be held accountable for the lives we live?  Is the Bible true?  Did Christ really rise from the dead?  Do you ever wonder if, as a Christian, it is ok to have doubts?   Is it ok to share them with others?

Did you know there was a time in Billy Graham’s life when he questioned the truthfulness of the Bible? His faith was shaken and he began to have some doubts. So what did he do? He acknowledged his doubts, he got some help, he trusted God and of course the rest is history. Do you remember Abraham’s wife Sarah? When God told her that she would have a child in her old age, guess what she did? She laughed; she said, “How can an old woman like me have a baby?” In other words, she doubted God’s word. One of the greatest doubters in the NT was John the Baptist. He saw the spirit of the Lord descend on Jesus, he heard God say “This is my beloved Son” and yet when John was thrown into prison, when his circumstances changed, he doubted. Remember what he said? He sent word to Jesus and asked, “Are you really the Messiah or should we look for someone else?”  If you struggle with doubts at times, then it seems as if you are in some pretty good company.

A Biblical scholar that I highly respect, Lee Stroble says that there are 3 kinds of people in the church. Those who are struggling with doubt right now; those who have no doubts now but will struggle with them in the future; and those who have no doubts and will never have any doubts because they are basically brain dead. If you are serious about your faith then there’s going to come a time you’ve got unanswered questions about your circumstances, about the world situation or maybe why God no longer fits neatly into your little man-made box. Doubt doesn’t mean you’ve lost your faith, it simply means you’re trying to figure out how your faith works in this chaotic and sinful world. So instead of being afraid of doubt, why don’t we let God use our doubt as a means of making us stronger in our faith and drawing us closer to Himself.

While Lee gives us good advice, I fear that few in the church are willing to take it. Can you recall the last time somebody in your group shared that they had some doubt about God, the Bible etc?  Have you ever noticed that in the church we basically ignore our questions of doubt?  Most people would never admit that they have any doubts.  I think we’re afraid of being judged and condemned as lacking in faith if we express that we have doubts.  I think we’re afraid that, should we admit we have doubts, others will view us as “second class Christians.” Most people deal with doubt by suppressing it. It’s almost as if we operate with the belief that to have any doubt pertaining to faith issues is a hideous sin; an unpardonable sin.  We work very hard to hide any evidence of our doubt as we put on a mask of faith and pretend that we believe without question. 

Something I have learned in life is this: It is a mistake to deal with doubt by suppressing and ignoring it. By PRETENDING to be faithful and PRETENDING to have no doubts does not cure the doubt problem. Sooner or later, the old doubts resurface.  Is God real?  Did Christ rise from death?  Is the Bible true?  Is it true?  What if it’s not?  What if?  Denial and suppression is not the way to deal with our doubts.

This Sunday, we are giving consideration to a man named Thomas.  Thomas was chosen by Jesus to be one of His disciples.  In Scripture we discover that he was extremely courageous, loyal and, transparent. By studying Thomas this Sunday we will also learn how we can deal with our doubts in a manner that allows faith to flourish.   Thomas doubted the resurrection of Christ.  Something happened Thomas proclaimed that Jesus was His Lord and His God.  (John 20:28).    This Sunday we will discover what happened in Thomas’s life.

In preparation for Sunday why not read John 20:23-31 around the dinner table this evening and invite people to share if they care related to Thomas?  Why not share times when you have had doubts and how God helped you work them through.  If you are doubting right now, why not share it.  Literally put it out there on the table and ask those who you dine with for direction?  Let’s do this and see what God’s Spirit will do?

To hear a video message from the President of our  Church Association (AGC) please click on this link. 

God loves you and so do I

Shawn

For many years now I have been sending out this weekly note, “Sunday’s A Coming”.   Sometimes  I am asked, who gets this note.  Well, I really don’t know for sure.  Seems as if the note gets forwarded and bounced around to all kinds of wonderful people.  A while ago a Queen’s University professor (somebody I didn’t know) sent me a reply to my weekly note.  I really appreciated this response although it was challenging.  Although I don’t know the names of everybody who receives this note directly or indirectly I do appreciate the opportunity I have to send this note to you.  Thanks.

While some of us receiving this note are dealing with huge issues in our lives,  there are others of us who rate our days on whether we got a good parking spot at the mall. Some of us are very good at telling God what we are concerned about while others are most hesitant to have this type of conversation with our Lord.  Sometimes God comes to us and asks us if we want to know what He is concerned about.  As I read the Bible, that’s what God says to me, God tells me what He is concerned about.   What is God concerned about?  God is concerned about  the millions of people in the world who are daily facing starvation, death from disease, war and disaster.  God is concerned about the millions who are facing a Christless eternity. There are thousands in our own city, within a 20 minute drive of TBCO, who do not know that there is a God that they can trust and spend eternity with.   None of this is to suggest that we should not bring our concerns, big or small, to God for there is nothing too small or too big to bring to God.  What I am trying to say is this, sooner or later we must ask God what His concern is.

For the past three weeks we have been studying the book of Jonah.  You know the story well.  In the book of Jonah we discover that God is concerned about Nineveh, God is concerned about people who are far from Him.   You will recall that the first part of the book was summarized as follows,  “God says, "Go." Jonah says, "No." God says, "Blow." Jonah says, "So." Captain says, "Bro." Jonah says, "Throw." Sailors say, "Whoa." Well, that fish did “vomit” Jonah up on land, Jonah preached a week message which God blessed and the city repented, even the animals. 

This week’s sermon will take a bit of a twist as I preach on Jonah chapter 4.  Up until now we have  all assumed that God's big problem in this book is, "What are you going to do about Nineveh?" That is sin city. Those people are degraded and vile. We think God's big problem is, "What are you going to do about Nineveh?" That's not God's big problem.  This week we will discover that Nineveh was responsive to God’s message.   If God’s problem in Jonah is not Nineveh, then what is it.  God's big problem is, "What am I going to do about Jonah? What am I going to do about the man of God with a smug, superior, resentful heart?" God’s big problem is the person who knows God, has served Him and is called “His” prophet.

Scripture teaches us that God has problems with His people when they come across as smug, superior and resentful.  In the Old Testament God had problems with “HIS”  prophets who came across as smug, superior and resentful.  In the New Testament Jesus Christ has problems with a group of people called the Pharisees.  The Pharisees were people who worked really hard at being obedient to all that God taught in the law.  Something that all of us like to say at times like this is,  “praise God that I’m not one of those types”. 

A guy by the name of George Barna has done a lot of research around the faith issues of our day, and quite consistently has found that the main traits people outside the Church associate with those of us who are Christians are superior, judgmental, unloving hearts and attitudes. Are these people all wrong?  Maybe they are. Maybe that's just kind of a cop out to avoid dealing with their own sin, but maybe I have some Jonah in me.  Maybe I come across as being a bit smug, superior, resentful.  Maybe I really don’t demonstrate the calling on my to love the person who is far from God in a way that they can find Christ.

On Sunday we will explore the possibility that we all have a bit of Jonah in us.  We will also affirm this truth, "People matter to God." Which people? All people. People matter to God. 

As John Ortberg says,
“all people matter to God.  The man who cannot afford a car, and so he rides an hour on public transportation to bus tables at a down town restaurant. God looks at that man and says, "I love that guy as much as I have ever loved any human being. I wonder if the people eating lunch at that table, the busy people, the people with money, I wonder if they will understand how much I love that guy. I wonder how they'll talk to him. I wonder if they'll even notice that he's there. I wonder if they'll stop to think that he has a life. He has a story. He has a dream. I wonder if they'll look at him the same way they would look at somebody that they would consider big, or important, or has status, or could do something for them. I wonder if they'll have My heart for that man." People matter to God. The jobless guy. The homeless guy. The wealthy and successful guy. They just matter to God.  Depressed people. Educated people. Divorced people. People with real different politics than yours. They matter to God, conservative people and liberal people. Muslims. Atheists. New Age people. Every color of skin. Asian people. Hispanic people. Caucasian people. African American people. Gay people. Old people. People matter to God. Every one of them. When one of them is separated from God by sin, and we are all separated from God by sin, we are all Nineveh, we are all Jonah, it drives God crazy. It tears Him up. It breaks His heart. He can't sleep at night. He says, "What will I do?" Jesus says, "I will go, Father. I will go to the Earth. I will go to Nineveh. I'll go to TBCO in Osgoode, Ottawa, I will tell them."

Jesus did, and we hung Him on a cross, and that was the great evil. That was the great evil. All of the evil, all of the darkness, all of the discord in this world coming onto Jesus, but God, but God, but God on that cross was doing something great. But God, our God on that cross was reconciling the world to Himself.”

MY HEART IS STIRRING

For the past while, my (Shawn’s) heart has been stirring with the need to connect with those who are far from God to help them find Christ.  When I look out on Sunday morning and don’t see “unfamiliar” faces I wonder, are we still reaching the lost?   When I see who is attending our many small groups and recognize all the familiar names I wonder, are we still reaching the lost?  When I attend a small group meeting and hear prayer requests and nobody asks for prayer for a loved one or friend who is far from God to find Christ I wonder,  are we still reaching the lost?  I want to reach the lost.   I really do.  If this is your calling at this time in your life I invite you to bring a bag lunch to church this Sunday and meet with me in my office at 11:40 at which time we will share what’s on our heart as we share our lunch.  We will be finished by 12:30.  This is open to all who right now are being called to reach out to those who are far from God to help them find Christ.  Please remember, I don’t have a game plan for this, just a burning desire.  Together we will discover the game plan.

Scripture teaches us that God has problems with His people when they come across as smug, superior and resentful.  In the Old Testament God had problems with “HIS”  prophets who came across as smug, superior and resentful.  In the New Testament Jesus Christ has problems with a group of people called the Pharisees.  The Pharisees were people who worked really hard at being obedient to all that God taught in the law.  Something that all of us like to say at times like this is,  “praise God that I’m not one of those types”. 

A guy by the name of George Barna has done a lot of research around the faith issues of our day, and quite consistently has found that the main traits people outside the Church associate with those of us who are Christians are superior, judgmental, unloving hearts and attitudes. Are these people all wrong?  Maybe they are. Maybe that's just kind of a cop out to avoid dealing with their own sin, but maybe I have some Jonah in me.  Maybe I come across as being a bit smug, superior, resentful.  Maybe I really don’t demonstrate the calling on my to love the person who is far from God in a way that they can find Christ

On Sunday we will explore the possibility that we all have a bit of Jonah in us.  We will also affirm this truth, "People matter to God." Which people? All people. People matter to God. 

As John Ortberg says,
“all people matter to God.  The man who cannot afford a car, and so he rides an hour on public transportation to bus tables at a down town restaurant. God looks at that man and says, "I love that guy as much as I have ever loved any human being. I wonder if the people eating lunch at that table, the busy people, the people with money, I wonder if they will understand how much I love that guy. I wonder how they'll talk to him. I wonder if they'll even notice that he's there. I wonder if they'll stop to think that he has a life. He has a story. He has a dream. I wonder if they'll look at him the same way they would look at somebody that they would consider big, or important, or has status, or could do something for them. I wonder if they'll have My heart for that man." People matter to God. The jobless guy. The homeless guy. The wealthy and successful guy. They just matter to God.  Depressed people. Educated people. Divorced people. People with real different politics than yours. They matter to God, conservative people and liberal people. Muslims. Atheists. New Age people. Every color of skin. Asian people. Hispanic people. Caucasian people. African American people. Gay people. Old people. People matter to God. Every one of them. When one of them is separated from God by sin, and we are all separated from God by sin, we are all Nineveh, we are all Jonah, it drives God crazy. It tears Him up. It breaks His heart. He can't sleep at night. He says, "What will I do?" Jesus says, "I will go, Father. I will go to the Earth. I will go to Nineveh. I'll go to TBCO in Osgoode, Ottawa, I will tell them."

Jesus did, and we hung Him on a cross, and that was the great evil. That was the great evil. All of the evil, all of the darkness, all of the discord in this world coming onto Jesus, but God, but God, but God on that cross was doing something great. But God, our God on that cross was reconciling the world to Himself.”

MY HEART IS STIRRING

For the past while, my (Shawn’s) heart has been stirring with the need to connect with those who are far from God to help them find Christ.  When I look out on Sunday morning and don’t see “unfamiliar” faces I wonder, are we still reaching the lost?   When I see who is attending our many small groups and recognize all the familiar names I wonder, are we still reaching the lost?  When I attend a small group meeting and hear prayer requests and nobody asks for prayer for a loved one or friend who is far from God to find Christ I wonder,  are we still reaching the lost?  I want to reach the lost.   I really do.  If this is your calling at this time in your life I invite you to bring a bag lunch to church this Sunday and meet with me in my office at 11:40 at which time we will share what’s on our heart as we share our lunch.  We will be finished by 12:30.  This is open to all who right now are being called to reach out to those who are far from God to help them find Christ.  Please remember, I don’t have a game plan for this, just a burning desire.  Together we will discover the game plan.

You will recall that when we last saw Jonah he was in the belly of the fish.  He was sinking down into the sea, lower and lower.  For three days and three nights, Jonah prays to God, wondering what will become of his life.  In the midst of Jonah’s darkness God answers Jonah’s prayer and we discover that although Jonah had turned his back and God and tried to run from Him, God still loved Jonah and was not about to let Him go.  God causes the fish to “vomit”  Jonah back onto dry land, and Jonah is rescued from sin and death. God has rescued Jonah for a reason.  God still has a bigger than life purpose for Jonah. 

My friend, regardless of how dark your life may seem at times, even if it is of your own making, God is still willing to grab hold of you and save you, if you will just call out to Him.  He still has a huge, exciting purpose for you.  I love what pastor Scoggs has Jonah considering after he has been vomited up on shore and is covered in shrimp cocktail.  “Ah-ha! I’m alive. I’m covered in fish vomit, but I’m alive. God heard my prayer and he saved me. I should do something about this. I should write this down, I should write my spiritual memoirs. I’ll call it ‘Tuesdays with Jonah.’ But heck, why stop with just the story. I should build a church, right here where God delivered me, on the beach. Beautiful location, there’s lots of parking—wouldn’t that be a miracle. I’ll call it the Church of Whales, because that won’t be at all confusing. And we’ll do baptisms by throwing people off boats, and we’ll have testimonies from pagan sailors,” and on and on and on... “

In preparation for Sunday I am asking you to read  Jonah chapter 3 and prayerfully consider the probability that God is calling you to something even greater than what you are doing right now.  God is always up to something great and He is always inviting us to join Him in doing something great.  He is continually telling us to go.   God called Jonah to “go” to Ninevah.  God called Abraham to leave everything behind and go.  God called Moses to stop being a shepherd in Midian and “go” back to Egypt.  After Jesus’ resurrection Jesus told His followers, “Just as the Father sent me, I am sending you.”  In other words, “Go....”  At the heart of Christianity is an outward movement to go; to focus outward; to reach out to others. 

The church, rather than focusing on the word go, usually focuses on the word “stop”.  We seem to focus more in the notion that we are  to stop doing this, stop doing that, stop, stop, stop.   When people tell their story of coming to faith,  they often say something like, “I gave my life to Jesus and then I stopped...” and then they give the list of sins they’ve tried to put off.   Please don’t miss what I’m trying to say here.  While it is right that we stop doing that which breaks the heart of Jesus, it is also crucial that we “go”.    What  I will be suggesting on Sunday is this,  “the heart of Christian discipleship is found in the word “go”.   We are a people called to be on the go. 

What is God telling you today to go and do that you need to say “yes” to?

What is God calling you and your family to go and do that you need to say “yes” to?

What is God calling TBCO to go and do that we need to say “yes” to?

This week’s challenge could be to sit down at the dinner table and read Jonah 3 focusing on Jonah saying yes to God’s call to go.  Invite those at the table to consider what it might look like for each of us to not only focus on the “stops” of Christianity but also the “Go”.

See ya Sunday!