When Your Kid Makes the Highlight Reel!

This is the highlight reel from SBU's 50-20 win last Saturday over Kentucky Wesleyan. Ryan (# 48) had three tackles in his first playing time. His play is at the 3:00 minute mark on the video.

Mission Ahead: Empower!

Last weekend I concluded the Mission Ahead series by making some observations from Luke 10 concerning how Jesus empowered his disciples for mission. Luke alone reports the sending of this large group numbering 72 people. Jesus had previously sent the 12 on a similar mission with similar instructions. Now the group is expanded beyond the 12. It’s encouraging to learn that the mission is not for a select few. If we assume that the 72 does not include the 12 apostles, we can easily calculate that for every “rock star” there were 6 who went in complete and total anonymity. All that we know about the 72 is that they obeyed the call to go.

In what ways did Jesus empower them 2,000 years ago? In what ways does Jesus empower us today?

1. He Gives Abundant Opportunity (Luke 10:1-2)
A recent USA Today article revealed that 14% of our nation considers itself to have no religious preference. The Pew Forum has also projected that in the next 20 years that statistic will increase to 20%. Today’s reality is that if every church of every faith were filled to capacity in every service, there would still be more out of church than in church. We live in a day of abundant opportunity.
How big is the opportunity? The opportunity is so big that before we take our first step on mission we are to pray for more help! Don’t resent the new churches that are being planted. Don’t resent the growth of the churches in the community. According to Jesus and verified by statistics, there’s plenty of opportunity to go around!
2. He Resources the Mission (Luke 10:3-7)
In his pre-mission pep talk, Jesus gave several instructions. He told the disciples to go in pairs, to travel light, and to anticipate indigenous help on the ground. The principle is simple: We must depend on God to resource our mission. God has designed the mission to fail unless he himself comes through!
3. He Provides the Message (Luke 10:8-9)
The missional message of the Kingdom is the whole gospel. This included verbally preaching the kingdom and healing the sick. We share the whole gospel that touches the spiritual and the physical needs of people.
4. He Gives us Perspective on the Mission (Luke 10:10-16)
We are to leave the results to God. Any rejection is a rejection of the kingdom and a rejection of God.
We are not responsible for responses. We are responsible for going. God deals with the responses to his message.
5. He fills us with Joy (Luke 10:17-20)
As the disciples returned from their mission they were filled with joy. Whenever God is glorified the people are filled with joy. Joy is the by-product of God’s glory.

More Research Concerning "The Nones"

Here's another article published by The Pew Forum concerning the growing secularization of the American people. The research conducted projects that in 20 years 1 in 5 Americans will be secular. Click here for the article.

Ashworth Road Man Loses 200 Pounds!

Here's a news story that ran on ABC channel 5 last night in Des Moines featuring one of our church members. Jeremial Rife has lost in excess of 200 pounds on his own without surgery.



For more information check out JTR Foundation. Congratulations Jeremial!

Broken

Here's the artwork for the upcoming series of sermons I'll be preaching at Ashworth Road on the subject of suffering. I've really enjoyed the reading that I've been doing to prepare for the series and I'm praying that God will use it to bring comfort and help to those who are struggling. The series begins the first weekend of October. I'm excited about it and pray that you won't miss a weekend!

Mission Ahead: Equip! (part 2)

Ephesians 4:11-16 gives us the pattern for equipping in the church. I’m going to express that pattern in three progressive steps.

First, we must Discover our S.H.A.P.E. This language is borrowed from Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church. S.H.A.P.E. is an acronym that describes the five essential tools in our personal ministry toolbox.
S = Spiritual Gifts
H = Heart (passion)
A = Abilities (skills, natural talents)
P = Personality (introvert or extrovert)
E = Experiences (positive and painful)
God has hard wired us to serve him. He doesn’t waste anything.

Next, we must Develop our Strengths. The best way to do this, of course, is to get out of the bleachers and onto the playing field. Classroom settings may help us to discover our S.H.A.P.E., but the fact of the matter is that all of the classroom experiences in the world will not make you an effective disciple of Jesus Christ.

Finally, we must Deploy our Service. The goal of equipping is not the activity of equipping itself. The goal is focused on end results. The church is to be a missional training center that is deeply committed to multiplying leaders. The objective is to have the right person in the right place for the right reason. When a church is committed to leadership development, it can anticipate four outcomes:
1. Ministry (Ephesians 4:12, we “do his work”)
2. Muscle (Ephesians 4:12, “and build up the church, the body of Christ”)
3. Maturity (Ephesians 4:13, “This will all continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord”)
4. Measure Up (Ephesians 4:13, “measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”)

Are you prepared? Or will you stand at the point of need and call for help? It has been said that God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called. My prayer for each of us is that we will all become developed so that we can be released into the work of the Kingdom of God.

The Nones

Interesting article in USA Today about the rising number of those in America claiming no religious affilliation. Click here for the article.