We are currently in a series called “No Perfect People Allowed” that deals specifically with the grace of God provided to us through Christ Jesus. It has been a great reminder for me as I have prepared these messages that I truly am nothing without Christ. Yet even as I have been reminded of this fact I have also been reminded how often I try to wear the “perfect” mask.
Why do I do this? Why do I so often hide behind the mask? Why do I continue to feel the need to try and make myself look better than I am? As I have reflected on the mask I so often hide behind it has become clear that there are several different reasons I reach for the mask. Here is my confession.
Reason #1: I am trying to please people instead of God.
This is a killer and something I am not proud to admit! It is amazing how often I find myself far more concerened with what people think of me than what God thinks of me. When I am focussed on what people think over how God sees me in Christ I always reach for the mask. I am learning more and more to find my confidence and approval in Christ alone. As I am reminded that through Christ I am a new creation it becomes much easier to put down the mask. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters.” If I am living to please people it is impossible for me to please God. It is only when I live for Christ alone that I can find the courage to drop the mask.
Reason #2: I am embarrassed by my Sin.
I have too often bought into the lie that because I am a pastor I can’t let anyone know that I still struggle with sin. Even though I know I am not super human, I am simply a sinner in need of a Savoir who happens to make a living leading the church, I feel the need to act like I always have it all together. However, this is a miserable way to live and can only be done hiding behind a mask! What I am learning in this struggle is that when I refuse to be honest about my struggles I am robbing God of His glory and the credit He deserves for using a broken sinner like me. If I hide my sin and struggles I am basically trying to show the world that I have no need for Jesus because I have it all together. Nothing could be further from the truth! It is only because of Christ that I have been forgiven! It is only because of Christ that I have been made new! It is only because of Christ that I can serve as a Pastor. Everything good in me is a result of what Christ has done to save me from my sin! In reality, the mask of perfection ends up hiding the work that Christ has done in me because the only way to see the power of God at work in my life is to acknowledge my need for Him and admit that it is only by His grace that I live! I cling to Romans 8:1! “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
I say all this to say that I am learning to put down the mask. It is not easy but I have come to believe there is so much freedom in admitting that I am not perfect and it is only by the grace of Jesus Christ that I can do anything worth anything! He is my hope! He is my life! He is my everything! I guess a more appropriate title for this series would be “No Perfect Pastors Allowed”!
This past Sunday we did Cardboard Testimonies at Cedarcrest. This was a huge step of faith for several people in our church to stand up and show their story of God’s grace at work in their life. I can’t thank them enough for being a living example of the power of the Gospel. God used these testimonies in a powerful way and it fires me up to think about the eternal implications that can take place when we have the courage to share our story and point people to the power of Christ in our lives.
I hope you enjoy these real life stories of Grace! It is all because of Jesus!
“This Saturday we are hosting a community wide Easter Egg Hunt on the fields at Allatoona High School. The Egg Hunt will have over 30,000 eggs! (In case you were wondering that is a ton of eggs!) Along with all the plastic eggs filled with candy, we will have a carnival with games, jumpies, cotton candy, and more fun than should be allowed for free!
I invite you to come and bring as many people as you can to attend this exciting event. This is without question the easiest invite of the year at Cedarcrest Church! I look forward to seeing you Saturday, April 11th between 11:00-2:00.”
Sunday afternoon after our services at Cedarcrest I hoped on a plane to head to San Isidro, TX. I am meeting up with our students who are giving up there spring break to serve the people of South Texas. I am blown away that we have 55 people on this trip! 2 years ago our student mininstry consisted of 2 students and now we have 55 people giving up their spring break to serve God in the 90+ degree heat of South Texas! Please be in prayer for our students and leaders who are on this trip. I can’t wait to see how God changes lives this week!
“Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to Him” Luke 15:1
I love this time of year! The winter is fading away and Spring is breaking out. It is a time of new life as the grass goes from dirty brown to bright green and the trees that have looked dead for 5 months begin to bloom. The fish start biting and the crown jewel of professional golf is about to take place in Augusta, GA! Will Tiger when his 5th green jacket?
Spring is a great time of year!
Without question the thing I love most about this time of year is the celebration of Easter. Easter reminds us of the greatest message of hope we could ever hear! Jesus is not dead, He has risen from the grave and with His resurrection sin and death has been forever defeated!
As I think about the unbelievable message of Easter it reminds me of Luke 15. Everywhere Jesus went sinners were drawn to him. In fact it says in Luke 15:1 that sinners where coming near to Him. This means that sinners, people far from God, where coming to Jesus looking for hope. The same is true today. People who are far from God are looking for hope, meaning, and purpose. People who are far from God want to know if the love of God on display through Jesus is real. The only way they can experience the love of God is if someone who already knows Jesus is willing to point them to His love.
This time of year is the greatest opportunity the church has to point people to the undeniable love of Jesus Christ. People who normally don’t go to church are considering attending on Easter Sunday. Many people who are far from God are looking for some hope this Easter season and they just might show up to hear about the love of Jesus if they get invited. So, who will you inivte with you this Easter to hear about the reality of the love of God? Who do you know that is looking for some hope? Who do you know that needs to be confronted with the love of God? Who do you know that is searching for the truth? There are people that you know who are desperate to hear the words of Jesus this Easter!
Why don’t you extend them an invitation to encounter God’s love?
From time to time I encounter people in the church who are very comfortable with their current place on their faith journey. While comfort often seems like a very appealing thing it can also be the very thing that causes us to miss out on seeing God at work in our lives. Comfort often causes us to resist change and refuse to take bold steps of faith. Comfort can cause us to want to stay put instead of continually pursuing God. Comfort can cause us to feel like we have arrived!
The only problem with this concept of arriving in our faith is that it is never associated with followers of Jesus in scripture. Walking with Christ is a journey. Following Christ is a consistent process of growth, renewal, stretching, and steps of faith. We should continue to draw closer to Christ as we journey down the road of faith. There is never a place in scripture that says a follower of Christ should stop growing on this journey because they have arrived! In fact, the way I see it, there are only two things that can happen when we feel like we have “arrived.”
1. We become like the Pharisees.
In case you aren’t aware of this, the Pharisees felt like they had no need for Jesus. They felt like they had “arrived” in their faith and because of this they became the enemies of Jesus who screamed for His death. They loved to look like they had it all together and shouted the loudest criticism at the ministry of Jesus and their cries of criticism ultimately turned to shouting for His death. Yet even as they acted like they had “arrived,” Jesus knew what was taking place in their hearts.
Jesus confronted them on this mentality and said, “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.” Matthew 15:7-8
Have you “arrived” like the Pharisees or do you realize your need for Christ?
2. Your Life on Earth is Over.
The only other possible result of arrival is that our time in this life is complete. The discussion about arrival in scripture points us to our eternal destination with Christ in heaven. The only time that a follower of Christ truly “arrives” is when this life is over and they step across the line into eternity with Christ. Until that takes place we are told to press on toward the goal of eternal arrival with Christ! As long as we are here on earth our journey of faith is not yet complete and God still has great things He wants to do in us and through us if we live available to Him.
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14
According to scripture, if you have “arrived,” you are either like the Pharisees and an enemy of Jesus, or you have completed your time on earth as a follower of Christ and reached the ultimate goal of eternal arrival. My guess is if you are reading this post, the later cannot be true of you!
May you never grow comfortable with your place on the journey of faith! May you press on toward Christ so that He can have His way with you and stretch you and grow you into the person you were created to be in Him as you press on toward the prize! Make yourself available to Him and the journey will be more than you could possibly imagine!
“Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
I don’t know about you, but when I pick up the paper or turn on the news and hear the depressing talk about our current economic situation my first instinct is not to jump for joy. This economy is unlike anything I have ever experienced and it is easy to live in a constant state of frustration and exhaustion as we see the way so many lives have been adversely affected. Yet here in the book of James we are told to “consider it all joy when you encounter various trials!” How can the Bible be so insensitive to the pain and loss people are experiencing? How can we find joy in the midst of this trial?
Here is a thought: Perhaps this current situation in our nation is perfectly in line with the will of God. Perhaps we are supposed to take a step back and re-examine our priorities. Perhaps there are truly more important things in life than material loss or gain.
2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
Maybe, just maybe, God is using this difficult situation to remind us of our need for Him. After all, when things are going great and the money is pouring in it is very difficult for us to fully acknowledge our need for God. Several weeks ago I heard a great quote from an influential pastor. He said, “when you pray about a problem, God does not always change the situation because the situation was intended to change your perspective.”
Has your perspective changed due to this economy? Have you found yourself drawing closer to God because you are more aware of your need for Him? Have you gotten to a place where you realize there just might be things more important in life than your stuff?
If you can answer yes to any of these questions than perhaps you can agree with James and “consider it all joy”, because God is bringing you closer to Him and allowing you to see that only through Christ can you truly be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing!”
Regardless of who you are people will assign characteristics to your life. You will be known for something. The question for all of us is “What are you known for?” What defines your life? Are you known for what you do? Are you known for how you live? Are you known for the way you treat people?
According to Jesus, there is one characteristic that should define the life of His followers.
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
The defining characteristic of a Christian life according to Jesus is love. This is huge! Imagine what it would look like in our culture if everytime someone described a Christian the first thing to come out of their mouth is “they live a life of love.” Think about the impact of this. The repercussions of a life defined by love because of Jesus Christ are incredible! A life based on love because of Christ reveals to others the reality of the Gospel! A Christian’s greatest outreach strategy should be a life of love! The world around us would change if Christians were known for their love above all else.
As you think about what defines your life and what you want to define your life, I challenge you and I challenge myself to live a life that is known for love because of what Christ has done for us so that the world may know the reality of the love Jesus through the love we demonstrate to the world.
This past Sunday we had our 2nd “Spontaneous Baptism” in 6 months at Cedarcrest. All I can say is I was blown away! God moved in an incredible way and 43 people were baptized between our two services! The most exciting thing about this past Sunday was the stories of life change that led to the baptism. Several people accepted Christ in the services and were baptized right there on the spot! This is the kind of stuff we read about in Acts!
All I can do is praise the name of Jesus Christ for what He has done and what He is doing at Cedarcrest! There is nothing more exciting than watching life change take place in front of you!
And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3:9-10
This Sunday at Cedarcrest Church is going to be insane! I am so excited about what we have planned and I can assure you that you don’t want to miss it! I have had a few people ask me what we are going to be doing and all I can say is you need to check it out! I will give you a little hint: I will definatley be wearing flip flops!
