2012: A Year To Grow

This year we have the opportunity to grow. We will even help you with continued Life Groups, Classes, opportunities to give your life away through service and teachings that you can apply to your life. But the truth is that no one else can really help you grow. It is up to you to position yourself to expand your faith and be better. Your spiritual growth is not that complicated. The movement of growth is your pursuit of more of God. The measurement of growth is love. If someone asks how my spiritual life is going, the two diagnostic questions are: Am I pursuing God more and am I growing more or less loving, these days? Our goal for 2012 is simple: Pursue God more, Love God more and love people more. The pursuit of God and the love of God are intrinsically connected. And the love of God and the love of people are also intrinsically connected. If we pursue God, His love will touch our hearts and when His love touches our hearts we will love what He loves and that is people.

A good verse to consider is Hebrews 5: 12 – 14
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (NIV)

Chuck Swindoll shares that humans are odd creatures. He says, ‘We run faster when we lose our way. Instead of pausing to regroup, we ricochet from place to place. Three words describe our times: hurry, worry, and bury. In this race called life, when the pressing demands of time are upon us, we need to stop and get oriented. We need to discover that the Lord is God. He will be exalted; He is with us; He is our stronghold.’

I don’t know if your parents had a spot on a wall or door jam where they made pencil marks to show how much you grew each year. My parents did that. It was really great during the growth spurts of my sister, brother or me. At some point the marks stop. We outgrow the being measured by lines. But do we keep growing? If not, why does it stop?

God has given us so many tools for growth. The bible, prayer, worship, gratitude, forgiveness, people who sharpen us….and He has given us our church. This church offers opportunities to grow through Life Groups (coming up) serving teams (growth happens when you give yourself away) relationships, group teachings and more.

There is no one means to instant spiritual growth. It’s a painstaking process that God takes us through, and it includes such things as waiting, failing, losing, and being disappointed and of course, being misunderstood—each one of these experiences is an opportunity to grow and stretch our faith, trust in God, forgive others and forgive ourselves. In your own spiritual growth, where are the marks on the wall or door jam of your life? Where do you stand as you think of 2011?

Christian growth comes through hard-core, gutsy perseverance of applying what you hear and read and obeying it.

 Christian growth comes through pursing God and falling more in love with Him.

Christian growth comes through loving others more and putting them above yourself.

Spiritual growth is not complicated.

Let’s grow in 2012.

See you next to the door jam,

Pastor Bernie

I Wish You Christmas Time

I am so grateful to any of you that assisted us in providing food for the over 35 families from LFC, toys for a few others and helping some outside our walls as well. Thanks to those in our choir, worship team, children and others who are participating in our two Christmas Eve services, at 5 and 7 pm. I am praying for all the people that have been invited to come to our services and to those of you who will be bringing others with you that don’t now the Savior.

Thanks to all those that helped with free gift-wrapping Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights this week. Hundreds of gifts were wrapped and lots of people were able to see the joy of Jesus through the heart of serving – thank you all. And thanks in advance to an amazing team who have been working on our one Christmas day service at 9:00 am too. It will be a great time. We will have a simple treat for all the kids that come that day too, so break away from your Christmas toys and gather with us for about an hour on Christmas morning.

Christmas time is here

Happiness and cheer

Fun for all that children call

Their favorite time of the year

 

Snowflakes in the air

Carols everywhere

Olden times and ancient rhymes

Of love and dreams to share

 

Sleigh bells in the air

Beauty everywhere

Yuletide by the fireside

And joyful memories there

 

Christmas time is here

We’ll be drawing near

Oh, that we could always see

Such spirit through the year

Oh, that we could always see

Such spirit through the year…

That song has always caught my attention and I love the Charlie Brown version, the Bebo Norman version is great too. I never stopped to take a look at the Charlie Brown version until this writing. I love this, “Christmas time is here, we’ll be drawing near, Oh that we could always see such spirit through the year.” That spirit of hope that seems to fill hearts, since Christmas is about hope in the world as Jesus came to earth. A spirit of joy, sharing, generosity and singing – some who rarely sing, will take an attempt at singing Christmas carols. Most of all, people are more open to hearing about the birth of Jesus in the manger and hopefully the birth of Jesus in their hearts – Christmas time is here. The beauty that you and I can direct people to “The Prince Of Peace”–Jesus! When they come to know Him, new and eternal life is extended to them.

“He Himself is our peace…” (Ephesians 2:14)

So, do I wish you “Merry Christmas”? Sure!

Do I hope for your “Peace, hope, laughter”, and times with family and friends? Absolutely!

 

But more importantly, I echo the words of the Apostle Paul:

 

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)

That is my Christmas wish for you…and for all of us!

Christmas Time is Here, embrace it and open to Christ,

Merry Christmas,

Pastor Bernie Federmann

The Deeper Message

1 John 5:11-13

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (NIV)

Have you ever told someone  a story and they somehow missed the best parts, or shared your heart with someone and they only caught the superficial stuff and missed the depth of what you shared? I was thinking of how many people will go through this Christmas season, seeing the sights of Christmas, hearing the songs of Christmas and totally missing the real and deeper message of Christmas.

In December 1903, after great perseverance, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their “flying machine” to actually lift off the ground and for those brief seconds, they flew. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper with great excitement and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He had completely missed the deeper news of their flight!

Fabricated joy, seasonal sauce, songs of attempted merriness will be played and many will miss the deeper news of Christmas and only know of the side notes of commercialism and gifts and food. They can totally miss the deeper story of the baby that was miraculously born inBethlehem, so that He could eventually be the Savior of the world and give His life for their sins. They do not know of the greatest gift ever given on Christmas, wrapped in cloth, the greater gift of salvation and forgiveness and access to God’s presence.

Jesus was and is not simply a temporary gift. He is not like a new toy that soon may become broken or end up in the bottom of the toy box or the back of a shelf. Nor is Jesus like the new car that someone somewhere will be given on Christmas – a car that will eventually lose its new car smell and someday get its first scratch or ding. All that time and money that their parents put into finding that special gift are easily wasted or all the hopes that the car would always remain so very new and pristine are a pipe dream. But there is deeper news: The gift that God has given us in Jesus Christ is a gift that will last for all eternity. It is the opportunity to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. What a gift! This gift will never break, wear down, fade, get scratched or get old. It is forever!

God has given us the everlasting gift of salvation! Stop a moment and think about that and then give God thanks. Joy to the world the Lord has come – Hark the Herald Angels sing, glory to the newborn King! Kick it up a notch and rejoice!  If you and I believe on the baby born inBethlehemand who died upon the cross ofCalvary, we are accepting and opening the gift of all that Jesus is.

John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.  (NIV)

What a great gift! Take time to thank God today for His free gift of salvation. Take time this Christmas season to tell those around you of the true meaning of Christmas-God’s everlasting gift to man.  Think and pray in these coming days of who you will invite and then bring with you to Christmas Eve Services. Bring them with you! Think of those you can pray for who might be missing the deeper message.

I am praying that many will come to open the gift of the Savior this Christmas.

Jesus is the joy of the world.

Merry CHRISTmas,

Pastor Bernie

Bearing Fruit

The Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be really lives without being shared. It will be shared through our words and service, attitude and compassion and when it is shared, it will bring forth fruit. As we are reading through the book of Colossians I have had a great reminder of the power of the Gospel – the Good News of Jesus ad the fruit it produces.

Scripture:

Colossians 1:6 In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.  (NIV)

Observation:

The Gospel has the power to transform us once we hear it and understand it. It was never intended to be private but rather to be shared. I hear people say all the time; ‘my faith is private.” While your faith is personal it was never meant to be kept private. The Gospel was never intended to be reduced to a ‘teaching’ but rather to be a truth applied to our lives, lived and shared. (Colossians 1:7 & 8 ) “You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,  and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” It was Epahphras who taught the Colossians the truth and shared it with them.  The Apostle Paul was now praying (Col. 1:10) that we would live a live ‘worthy of the Lord,’ and that we would ‘please Him in every way by ‘bearing fruit in every good work.’  This is not an option for the believer but our calling.

So many people feel disqualified to share the Gospel with others, but God has qualified you. (Colossians 1:12) ‘Because of the rescue He provided from darkness into the Kingdom of the Son He loves…in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.

It is our redemption, the understanding of God’s grace, that qualifies us to share the Gospel and bear fruit.

Colossians 1:23 But to bear fruit we must continue in our faith. We cannot be weak but rather we must be firm and not moved and shaken by this world, but rather, hold out for the hope held out in the Gospel. This is our calling.

Application:

To see real fruit, we must take up the Gospel and share it with those around us. It must be shared to be heard and heard to be understood. Our lives can be a strong voice or proclamation to others.

• The fruit bearing is the raised up servants. (Colossians 3:1) ‘We are seated with Christ.’

 

• The fruit bearing is a changed mindset. (Colossians 3:2) ‘We set our minds on things above.’  What we can do on earth is to be heavenly minded and this mindset causes a desire to share the Gospel with others, to see their lives transformed and raised up too.

 

• The fruit bearing is that we live wise and make the most of every opportunity for the being fruitful.  These opportunities are all around us. (Colossians 4:5)

 

• The fruit bearing is that we complete the work that we have received from the Lord.   (Colossians 4:17)

I am praying for you this Christmas season that you will see the many ways in which you can bear fruit. People need to know the truth of the Gospel and grace that has come into your life and heart.

Prayer:

God, Father of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, give each of us strength and courage to share the truth of the Gospel so that others might hear it and understand it and be transformed. Give all those at LFC the desire to connect all they do and all we do back to a soul. We desire to show others the way so that the Gospel will continue to bear fruit. We pray for those who are far from you, that they may come one step closer to you in this season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior. Thank you for the power of the Gospel. Amen.

Sharing the Gospel,

Pastor Bernie

The Most Important Thing

What is the most important thing we can be doing as a church? For some it would be the ministry to and care of children, others believe it is worship, some would say that our youth ministry is the most important thing, some would contend it is our Life Groups and others would say Sunday services and still others would weigh in with the Monday night feedings. It all depends upon who you ask. The most important thing is all of them! If they are connected back to souls and bringing people to Jesus, then all of them are important.
Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers in His harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).
The evaluation of our ministries and efforts is simple: Does this connect to souls? Does this bring anyone to Jesus? Is it equipping and training up others to bring people to Jesus? And is this the best use of our energies, resources and faculties? We need to keep asking these questions of all we do or otherwise we are just busy doing and not doing well.
I spoke with someone in our church recently that is serving and very involved. Their engines were fried. I told them to take a break and fill up on devotional time with God and to recalibrate their heart to their calling and to a place of compassion. Of course, the break for them was good, but their willingness to move to a place of strength and compassion for others is what fueled them to rise up and serve again.

• Jesus’ compassion is what fueled His ministry.

Moved With Compassion – Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom (verse 35). “When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd” (verse 36). At the time Jesus came on the scene, there was no one to guide these lost souls. He was moved with compassion for them and realized what He possessed could change their lives and eternities. In our hearts as Christians, how much compassion do we have for the lost? Are we truly concerned that those around us are dying in sin with no hope for a future in heaven? Are we raising up a church that will go into the harvest? Some churches are concerned on building the church and forgetting to build people to reach out to others.

The Harvest Is Plentiful – There were many at that time who were “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). On Pentecost, “there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Three thousand of those obeyed the gospel in baptism (verse 41). When Jesus spoke these words, there was not a shortage of people who wanted to know about God’s plan and needed His grace. Jesus said, “Do you not say, `There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Pay attention, (this is the most important thing you have to do and it must be done now) lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35). As one would see from a distance the crowds of people coming to hear Jesus preach, wearing their whitish outer garments (like a long dress) and they look like cotton fields coming our way. The truth is, it is a bit harder today to find ripe souls, but work the fields and until we find the harvest is what we must do. Jesus did not say, ‘pray for bigger buildings, more property, better music’ though all these things are fine. His priority prayer was for laborers for the field.

Pray For Laborers – To many this marks the end of the story. Since it takes work to bring people to Christ, we simply pray that others will go and we feel complete. We need to be praying for laborers to do every aspect of the work and to be as creative as possible in everyway we can to win as many as we can for Christ. All of the work is not in harvesting. In fact, there can be no harvesting until there has been some planting and some watering. We must plant seeds of prayer, service, love and compassion. We must plant seeds of creativity and excellence in the hearts of others…preparing for the harvest to come. When you are at work or over the back fence, do you give up because you cannot harvest? Don’t give up! Do some planting! Do some watering! Our compassion for lost souls ought to demand that we are working at every stage to cultivate a lost soul for Christ. Let’s keep sharing our faith in practical ways and if you have not yet done so, find a place to serve at LFC where we are working hard to focus on the most important thing – souls.

Let us know how we can help you in finding that right spot for you to serve, or giving you tools to plant and harvest.
In the fields with you,

Pastor Bernie