Preparing for the new series coming Sunday

Back on Sept 10, 2012, a group of people began a journey together studying the topic of the Holy Spirit.  Like you would envision any Bible Study, we had our Bibles and journals, there was teaching and discussion, people were challenged as they left each week.   We prayed together, fellowshipped together and enjoyed good food together.  It was definitely a great time.  But little did we know that the Lord was up to something so much bigger than we realized.  But why should we be surprised?!?!  Each time we met, we all physically got on our knees and begged for the Holy Spirit to yes fill us, teach us, and transform us.  But most of all we invited the living God, by his living Spirit, to take us on a journey…to make us aware of his indwelling presence, to allow us to hear is voice, to fill us with his power.  And because we longed so deeply to go on a journey of learning the ropes of living a spirit-filled life, we took seriously the Spirit's leading in our lives every other day of the week.  We wrote specific steps of obedience on note cards and sought to be intentional in our obedience to the Holy Spirit.  The results were powerful.  Each week people came back sharing crazy steps of obedience.  Things they never thought they could do, like forgiving a person who wronged them or seeking to restore a broken relationship or trying to start a spiritual conversation with a non-Christian…these were steps of obedience that had only resulted in failure and shame in the past.  God was at work by his Spirit and literally began answering our prayers.  We saw power where we were typically weak and comfort where we were prone to despair.  People were awakened to the reality that the living God resided in them and was their means to living the Christian life. 

Then birthed out of that groups was a smaller group that longed for more of the power of the Spirit in our lives.  For the past few months we've been meeting, studying, fasting and praying for a move of God by His Spirit to be UNLEASHED in our lives and in our church.  And I'm excited to say that the Father is up to something.  How do I know you ask?  Well the short answer is - He told us.  The longer answer is - when you surrender yourself to the Spirit of God and ask for a move of God, it's a prayer to which He won't say no.

The next three Sundays you will begin to catch a glimpse of the work God is up to.  The name of the series is "UNLEASHED" and we will look at what it means that we as Christians have LIFE in the Spirit, POWER by the Spirit and PURPOSE through the Spirit.  My goal is to paint a biblical picture of what happens to our lives when we let the living God UNLEASH His Spirit into our souls and out through our lives.  It's going to be powerful and I want to help you be prepared for what I believe will begin to change the spiritual landscape of our church.

Here is simply what I'm asking you to do for the next 3 Sundays (3rd, 10th, 17th):

  1. Pray on your ride to church - On your car ride to church for the next 3 Sundays will you pray out loud, with whoever is in your car, asking for God to be unmistakably present.
  2. Arrive to church on time - for the next 3 Sundays the sermon will be toward the beginning of the service so don't be late or you'll miss the beginning.
  3. Be ready to respond - a lot more emphasis and time will be given for responding to the Lord.  This is why the sermon will be toward the beginning, so we can really engage in obedience to his Spirits leading in response to the preaching of His Word.
  4. Pray this simple prayer - "God make me aware of your Holy Spirit."

I'm excited and can't wait for Sunday and I couldn't be more convinced that the Lord has something POWERFUL in store for us.   Will you join me in praying and expecting to that end?


May we never be the same!!!

Dave

5 Ways to Develop a Devotion to Prayer

1. Pray- This is probably the best way to develop a devotion to prayer, just start doing it. Sacrifice, be consistent, pray everyday at the same time in the same place.
2. Ask God for it- Scripture says that you do not have because you do not ask. Ask God to give you a devotion for prayer.
3. Pray in community- God designed us for community. 
• Have someone or a group if people that pray with and pray for. 
• Text people that you are praying for them, ask them what you can pray for. 
• Develop prayer groups that meet with consistency. You do not have to be a pastor or leader to gather some close friends and start praying. 
• Find someone today to pray with or text with about your prayers. 
•  Share your journals with someone.
4. Pray the Psalms- They provide you with the revealed heart, character and personality of God. They give you a rounded perspective of who he is. They help you to commune with God. 
5.   Realize your need- At the heart of prayer is an acknowledgement that we are in need and the one you pray to can fulfill that need. This is the gospel here. We have a need, burden, a desire for relationship, a realized hunger inside of us that is filled by God. He is ready and waiting and accepting of you in full as you are.

From my prayer time

With 2013 being a year where we seek to lead North Church and others to prayer and communion with God, I want to post times some thoughts from my times of prayer and how I am praying.

Typically I will read a Psalm (I am going in order each day) just after I wake up and then allow that Psalm to set the mood for my prayer that morning and throughout the day. Yesterday I read Psalm 40. Two verses stuck in my head and provided the focus for my prayer and desire to commune with God.

40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 
40:4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust.

These verses led me pray something like this, "God teach me to trust you, teach me to wait patiently for you. I want to have an immediate response to trouble of patience and trust in your will and work." God would you burn that into me? Make me a man of patience and trust. God you promise to draw hear and incline your ear to the patient. You promise to make your self known to the one who trusts you. God I want you for the sake of you and not for my circumstances to change. God teach me and show me patience and trust." 

Throughout the day, I said and thought to myself, "wait patiently...blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust." I got a chance to connect with a close friend about a life situation he was wrestling with. These meditation and prayers were just exactly what God was pushing him toward. 

Later, I had two meetings. One with a baseball team for Cooper and another for church. I was feeling overwhelmed and easily agitated and frustrated. I knew it was happening. The trust and patience meditation were no longer winning. The present overwhelming was winning. So, as I went to bed, those meditations came back into my mind and I prayed as I fell asleep and asked God to allow patience and trust to rule.

Thanks for reading!

A Vision for Prayer in 2013

Yesterday, I cast North Church's vision for making 2013 a year that is focused around prayer. I am blogging some of my notes for those who were not in attendance yesterday and for those who read this who do not attend North Church.

Some of the items in the notes were not touched on yesterday.

A Vision for Prayer in 2013

There may be no greater tool for God to use to change us than consistent, fervent prayer.

“The man- God’s man- is made in the closet. His life and his most profound convictions are born in his communion with God.”

EM Bounds

The vision for prayer in 2013-

1.     Consistent- (Luke 22:39-41) Pray on the same days at the same times each week. This will develop habits and habits begin to make patterns. This will change you.

2.     Alone- (Luke 22:41)

a.     Pray by yourself, this develops intimacy and you can have freedom to sing, argue, make mistakes, read, be repetitive like to Psalm, meditate.

b.     Find your prayer closet.

                                               i.     In your car on your way to work. This is a quiet and consistent routine based opportunity.

                                              ii.     Shower. This is what I do. God uses the idea of cleansing to teach me daily and remind me. It is also a quiet and restful place.

                                            iii.     Actual closet.

                                            iv.     Next to your bed. Many married couples require different amounts of sleep or have different schedules. Many times Jen will be finishing up a project and I am just looking for something to do. Kneel next to the bed and pray.

3.     Sacrificially-

a.     Fasting. There will be more to come in the next few weeks sermons about fasting. But, at the heart of fasting is to connect with the heart of God and at the heart of fasting is sacrifice with the express understanding that God can provide.

b.     Wake up early. God will bless this. I love sleep and I hate to wake up before I have to. God will bless this. Sacrifice.

c.      Skip a lunch. Not necessarily fasting, but giving up of time that is “yours” in the middle of the day to seek God.

4.     Model- Your leaders have been doing this for a couple of months now. We do not want to call you to something that we have not been pursing for a while.

a.     Elders have been praying since for this and in this since November.

b.     Deacons have been praying since December.

c.      We are calling the church body to it today.

5.     What to pray/How to Pray-

a.     Allow God to direct this. Foremost, spend sometime with God and allow him to direct this, allow these words to serve as a guide.

b.     Some direction:

                                               i.     Books to help/guide/shepherd your praying mindset:

1.     Everyday Prayers by Scotty Smith.

2.     A Praying Life by Paul Miller.

3.     Humility by Andrew Murray.

4.     Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray.

                                              ii.     Read the Psalms. Read them by day. On the first of the month read Psalm 1 etc. on the first of the second month read Psalm 32 etc. Do not feel obligated to read the entire Psalm. If a phrase in a Psalm connects with your heart, stop, meditate on it, think on it, pray it, memorize it, repeat it to yourself throughout the day, remember this is the WORD OF GOD he is using it to penetrate your spirit and remind you of a part of himself.

Psalm 32 in Practice::

When you see the word Selah, that is an instruction to stop and think deeply on what you just read.

Memorize, meditate, repeat phrases, think on concepts, pray them verbally.

Psalm 32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

For me with this Psalm, this simple verse launched me for a full week to guide my prayers. It directs the rest of the Psalm and leads me to actively ask forgiveness for specific sin.

Closing::

God will shape you and will continue to shape you as you develop this communion, the devotion and as you sacrifice, learn, and hunger for his presence in prayer and in meditation. Come and spend 2013 in prayer and communion with God.

We have been working through Ecclesiastes at North Church. It has been really hard because the book is very dark and depressing. Solomon is terribly redundant by saying that everything is meaningless. As I am honest with the text and with myself it leaves me in a dark place as I study to prepare to preach it.

Many times when studying or when I lay down to sleep or when I prepare to go to work or when I speak to my wife and children, I find myself asking why? I ask why on deep and on surface levels. When I lay down to sleep, I ask, "Why did I do what I did today?" When I correct or speak to my kids I ask, "Why am I doing what I am doing as a parent? What am I teaching my kids and how is this going to impact them?"

I stress over my kids, my family, the election, my church, the people who go to my church, the things that the people that go to my church stress over, my weekly sermon, stuff at the office that is left undone, what people at the office think of me and the job that I am doing, the future of North Church. Ecclesiastes leads me to think dark thoughts about these things and the stress that they bring to me.

As I prepare to preach the verses that I will preach this week, I note that they are especially dark and they remind me of my situation. Each of the things that I listed above that bring stress to me are pressing in presently. My mind reals and so I try to pray, but my disheveled mind goes back to carrying that stress like a super heavy backpack, even as I pray.

Then I am reminded of Psalm 131. Three short verses. These three verses are nourishment to my soul. Just as I am being nourished by it, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" pops up on my study playlist.

We serve a faithful God. I would like to invite you to come and explore these ideas with us at 10:00 am this week at North Church (660 Charbonier in Florissant). 

Take Courage

32 "Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone ; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Jesus spoke these words prior to going into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray the night before he died.  

You will have tribulation, but in Jesus you HAVE peace. Take courage! The Greek word that is translated here as courage here is the marriage of joy and courage. Imagine a boy finished with his homework finished flying out of his front door and bounding down the porch out to play with his best friends on  perfect day. Imagine Todd Beamer's state of mind aboard flight 93 and overtaking hijackers.

This is the state of mind that is ours because Jesus has overcome the world.

When hardness of life and uncertainty presses in, remember these words of our Savior.

Take courage, I have overcome the world. 

The Gospel and a New Home

 Our home was hit by the Good Friday tornado of 2011. We have been back in our home since January of this year. If you have asked me if we are back in yet or how we like the "new" house, chances are I have told you something like, "it is so much more than we deserve."

I say that intentionally. I say it because we could never afford a new house. When I say new, I mean that everything in it is new. Only the exterior walls and the sub floor remains from the Thursday before Good Friday. The interior walls, the lighting, the electric, the plumbing, the HVAC, the furniture...all of it is brand new and we could never afford it on our own.

All of that reminds me of grace.

I sit in my dining room as I type this. My dining room used to be a garage with a door that rarely worked and cob webs everywhere. There was a big plastic bin with my kids sports equipment, yard work tools and other junk . There was an old tire to a van I no longer own. Now that space is filled with a huge table and 10 chairs and friends and family. I don't deserve it.

Earlier today I sat on my porch. My porch used to be a small concrete surface with steps that were falling apart. Today, the porch is bigger and is covered. It is more than I deserve.

Sometimes I sit in my living room and look at the walls and look down the hallway. The lines that the walls create are crisp and clean. The arches going into the dining room and kitchen remind us of the old charm of the former home. The colors that I can see from the living room invoke warmth and smiles.

The walls used to be made of plaster that would fall apart if you ever tried to hang something on them. I always had a fresh jar of plaster patch on a shelf in that worn out garage. But I was never any good at using the plaster patch. I was also never any good at sealing the jar, so I had four or five jars of dried out plaster patch. That really sounds like grace to me. The broken walls that fall apart are gone, the need for me to try to patch the brokenness is gone, the jars of dried out plaster patch found their way into the dumpster.

That dumpster sat in our driveway for 9 months and was filled with yesterday's ruined stuff that was torn down and thrown into the dumpster and hauled off to some land fill. That dumpster reminds me of the cross.

Then there is the kitchen. My bride has always wanted a new kitchen. Our cabinets and drawers used to be part metal and part wood. The wooden parts did not quite shut right and splinters would drop into our silverware drawer all the time. The metal cabinet doors had hinges that were slightly off and the wooden doors never seated properly. The sink leaked and the space below the sink was too small and when I would try to get in there to fix the leaks, my back would hurt for a few days after. Jen got her cabinets and all new appliances too. It is more than we deserve.

All of this reminds me of grace. Many times I just stop and think about all of this and exhale and my mind goes to grace. Traces of grace are all around us. Come by sometime and pop in and ask for the Grace Tour.

Thanks for reading.