Friday’s Food for Thought
Here’s some food for thought: Do you spend more time building walls with religion or bridges through relationships? As Christians we should spend more time building bridges rather than walls. Religion is comprised of bricks and mortar that create walls of separation between people. Relationships are more like bridges that connect us to each other. Let me share a bridge building example from earlier this week.
This past Wednesday I spent a few hours with a group of pastors from the KC area. We all come from different tribes (probably better known as denominations). We had large church pastors, small church pastors, and church planters that haven’t even started yet. Some of us were pre-trib and pre-millennial and others were not (don’t worry about what that means because most of us aren’t quite sure). We had Calvinists and Armenians together in one room along with a few caught in the middle (and TULIP wasn’t even brought up).
I say all of that to say this: We didn’t focus on RELIGION! We were all there for the RELATIONSHIPS. Don’t get me wrong. We are all Bible believing pastors that preach and teach Jesus is the only way to heaven. We all agree on our core creed of beliefs. We just choose not to build walls based on our doctrinal differences. We celebrate our differences and focus on building our relationships.
“After all, we need thousands of different kinds of churches to reach millions of different kinds of people.” This quote came from one of my non A/G pastor friends leading our discussion. I couldn’t agree with him more. Let me encourage you to focus on building relationships with other Christians. As long as you can agree upon the core creed of Christianity then why argue about the rest? Focus on what really matters: your relationship with Jesus! Start tearing down your walls and building out your bridges!
Not the sermon…just a thought!
This past Sunday I continued preaching part two of a four part series at EPIC Church entitled Identity Theft. The second message Mugged by the Mirror continues to expose the lies of the enemy. The following is a short thought from the sermon.
A lie believed as truth will affect you as if it were true. Society tells you that your body image determines your worth and value in life. That’s a lie! However most of us spend more time flipping through magazines to see how we can look better on the outside than we spend looking through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to see how we should look on the inside…and what’s on the inside is what really counts!
Not the sermon…just a thought!
(click here to listen to the full message Mugged by the Mirror)
Not the sermon…just a thought
This past Sunday I started a new four part series at EPIC Church entitled Identity Theft. The first message Looted by a Lie is from Genesis 2-3 and Matthew 4. The following is a short thought from the sermon.
A lie believed as truth will affect you as if it were true. Most of the time Satan doesn’t try to convince us that God doesn’t exist, but that God doesn’t mean what He says. Satan asked Eve, “Did God really say?” He still asks us the same question. So do you know what God really said in His Word?
Not the sermon…just a thought!
(click here to listen to the full message Looted by a Lie)
Haiti Relief Offering
This Sunday at EPIC Church we will be taking a special offering to help with the Haiti Relief Effort. The Assemblies of God is partnering with Convoy of Hope to help raise money to send supplies and personnel to help the people of Haiti. This is not the time to condemn people for their beliefs. It’s time to reach out with compassion as we allow the love of Jesus to be demonstrated through our prayers and missions giving. Click here to learn more about Convoy of Hope’s relief plan and please come prepared to give this Sunday. Thanks!
Get in SHAPE in 2010
Every year I set goals to get in SHAPE. I use the word SHAPE as an acronym to focus on the following five areas of my life:
S – Spiritual Growth
- Spiritual growth is at the top of the list because it’s the most important. I set Bible reading goals and focus on areas of my devotional life that need improvement.
H – Health & Fitness
- The older I get the more I realize how much I need to take care of my physical body. This year I have set some weight loss goals as well as workout goals.
A – Activities & Relaxation
- I am a very driven person (with a type A personality) that thrives on the challenges of a busy schedule. However, I realize I need to set some goals to relax and refresh doing things I enjoy.
P – Personal Growth
- I think it’s extremely important as a leader to focus on personal growth in addition to spiritual growth. One of my personal growth goals is to read 52 books this year.
E – Expenses & Giving
- Creating financial goals through a budgeting process is important for everyone. However, I like to take it a step further and set giving goals above and beyond my tithe.
What goals have you set for this new year? If you haven’t set any goals yet then try this pattern and get in SHAPE in 2010!
Blog Break
I’ll be taking a break from posting on this blog and the EPIC blog for the next two weeks.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
-bobby-
Not a sermon…just a thought
The only sickness that can keep you out of Heaven is the sickness known as sin.
The previous statement comes from my message at EPIC Church this past Sunday entitled The Greatest Miracle. This was the seventh and final message in the Miracle Grow series. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we were unable to capture the recording. However, here’s the basic thought from the sermon.
We are all sin-sick people. Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” In other words, we have all missed God’s mark of perfection because of our sin. Therefore, our greatest need as sinners is a Savior. Mark 2:1-12 demonstrates this truth.
Jesus tells a paralytic man, who obviously wants to be able to walk, that his sins have been forgiven. He then asked this question to the teachers of the law: “Which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven? Or get up, take your mat and go home?” Then Jesus proceeds to heal the man and the former paralytic walks out in view of everyone.
So what point was Jesus trying to prove? I believe the greatest need that day for the paralytic was not physical healing…his greatest need was FORGIVENESS! The obvious thing for Jesus to do was to heal him physically because everyone could see the outcome. The more difficult thing for people to grasp was the internal work that Jesus accomplished – FORGIVENESS!
Some things have not changed in 2000 years. Our greatest need is still the same. We can go to Heaven with any disease or sickness except for unforgiven sin…and only Jesus can forgive our sins. The greatest miracle is when we respond to the grace of God and invite Jesus Christ into our lives. As Christmas approaches let’s remember the reason for the season.
If our greatest need was the economy then God could have sent an Economist.
If our greatest need was justice then God could have sent a Judge.
If our greatest need was science then God could have sent a Scientist.
If our greatest need was politics then God could have sent a President.
But our greatest need was forgiveness from our sins so God sent Jesus…and that’s the reason to celebrate this Christmas!
Not a sermon…just a thought!
XMAS or CHRISTMAS
John Lindell, Lead Pastor of James River Assembly, posted the following on his blog:
With Twitter and Facebook–saying as much as you can with an economy of words has become the new challenge. Especially during the Christmas season, with only 140 characters on Twitter, you have to keep it short and on many of my posts Christmas has been written as X-mas which has caused a bit of stir.
Some have thought me disrespectful or using slang. So whether people agree with using X-mas or not, perhaps a little background on its use will at least help people understand why at the very least X-mas is not slang, disrespectful or “taking Christ out of Christmas.” I am indebted to WikiAnswers for helping me provide a concise but detailed explanation.
Writing Xmas is not slang nor is it taking Christ out of the season. In many respects, Greek is the language of Christianity–the New Testament was written in Greek and utilized the Greek alphabet. There are still traces of the Greek in symbols and phrases used today, like calling God ‘the alpha and the omega’ meaning ‘the beginning and the end’ because alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and omega is the last. It’s like calling Him the A to Z!
Another place you might see Greek symbolism used in modern western Christianity is the Ichthys or fish symbol. You’ll have seen it somewhere, it’s the classic fish shape that people sometimes use to show they’re Christian. It’s called an Ichthys because that is Greek for fish. Why a fish as a symbol of Christianity? Because ‘Ichthys’ stands for Içsous Khristos Theou Huios, Sôtçr which means “Jesus Christ God’s Son, Savior.” The ‘ch’ in Ichthys stands for Christ, and the Greek symbol used to for ‘ch’ looks a lot like an ‘X.’
Similarly, the ‘Chi-Rho’ symbol that looks like an ‘X’ superimposed over a ‘P’ is actually the Greek letters Chi (X) and Rho (P) which are the first letters in Christ’s name. This symbol, like the fish, is almost as old as the Cross symbol and can be found scratched on the walls in the early Christian Church catacombs in Rome. The coincidence that the ‘X’ Chi letter also looks like a cross resulted in the ‘X’ being adopted as an abbreviation for “Christ.”
From ancient times, Christians have used the Greek letter that looks like an ‘X’ as an abbreviation of ‘Christ.’ Therefore, ‘Christians’ is abbreviated to ‘Xians,’ ‘Christ’ is abbreviated to ‘X’ and ‘Christmas’ is abbreviated to ‘Xmas.’ This is useful when people want a shorter way of writing something and is a reminder of Christianity’s roots.
The word ‘X-mas’ should never be pronounced ‘Ex-mass’ as the ‘X’ in it is not the letter ‘X’ in our alphabet. The letter is actually the Greek letter Chi “χ” (which looks like an ‘X’) which is the first letter of the Greek word ‘Christos’ meaning ‘Christ’.” Therefore ‘X-mas’ should be pronounced simply ‘Christmas’ because that is exactly what it is.
While you may not like the use of X-mas as an abbreviation for Christmas…the ‘X’ stands for Christ…it has since the earliest of times. Christ is the reason for the season… and for everything else.
Thanks John…I couldn’t agree more!
Not a sermon…just a thought
The Miracle Grow series continued this past Sunday at EPIC Church with a message entitled Growing Faith from Matthew 14:22-33 (click here to listen to the message). The following is an excerpt from Growing Faith.
“These guys are afraid. It’s the middle of the night between 3am and 6am. It’s dark and the disciples are afraid. Why? What are they afraid of? Water. The wind is creating waves that are crashing against the boat. These expert fisherman are afraid of water. And what was Jesus walking on? Water! I believe Jesus was demonstrating his power over their fears. And Jesus is still greater than any fears we may have. That’s why we can release present fears.”
Not a sermon…just a thought!
(listen to Growing Faith or another message from the Miracle Grow series by clicking here)
Not a sermon…just a thought
What we want God to do for us, He often wants to do through us.
Mark 6:30-44 records the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. The miraculous feeding is recorded in all four Gospels. This past weekend I shared a message entitled When a Little Becomes a Lot from the Miracle Grow series (to listen to the message click here). Here’s a thought from the sermon.
Jesus could have done this miracle without the disciples and without the little boy. He could have just rained manna. He could have fed everybody instantly. But He didn’t. He waited for the disciples to get concerned, and He waited until a little boy came forward and said, “Here’s what I’ve got, Lord. It isn’t much but here’s what I’ve got.”
Why? Because God likes to do miracles through people. When it comes to miracles, He likes to use people. It blesses them by being an instrument of a miracle. He didn’t need the little boy’s lunch. He didn’t need the disciples to point out the problem or to pass out the baskets. He chose to do it because God uses people. Men are God’s method.
So remember this truth: What we want God to do for us, He often wants to do through us.
Not a sermon…just a thought!
Bobby’s Bio
Bobby grew up in Independence, Missouri, which is located just outside of Kansas City. He graduated from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri with a BA in Bible/Theology. After graduating from college he married Vanessa and moved to Metro Detroit to plant a church. Bobby and Vanessa spent five years establishing Pontiac Family Worship Center before moving back to Kansas City to start another new church. Bobby launched the Synergy Church Network in 2008. He and Vanessa also started EPIC Church in 2009. In addition to serving as Lead Pastor at EPIC, Bobby’s desire is to plant churches and develop leaders.
Bobby is a passionate Christ follower, a loving husband, a future father, a gifted communicator and a church planting pastor. Bobby has been preaching for the last fourteen years both nationally and internationally. His primary passion is to see people come to Christ. To contact Bobby regarding a speaking engagement or to find out more about EPIC Church or the Synergy Church Network click email me on the right side of the page.
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