Brad Hayes in Town

Brad Hayes will be joining us this Sunday. Brad and his family are missionaries to Romania. You can learn about his ministry, Outstretched Hands of Romania, here:

http://www.handsofromania.org

Pursue God and He Will Hear Your Prayers

There are a few preachers I like to listen to regularly, one being Matt Chandler. I was listening to a sermon of his this week and he was discussing prayer and whether we are heard by God. There are various verses in the bible discussing why God may or may not hear prayers of people. I thought Chandler's take on John 9:31 was worth posting:

Matt Chandler from "God Hears and Responds" (January 16, 2011):

I’m not saying that you have to be perfect for God to hear your prayers. Even Jesus, when He’s teaching the disciples to pray, says, “And forgive us our trespasses (or sins) as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus is acknowledging, “You’re going to fall short.” So you don’t have to be perfect;you just have to be pursuing. John 9:31 does a great job at this. “We know that God does not listen to sinners. . .” Is anyone in here a sinner? All of us. So the Bible just gave us really bad news. “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.” So we know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, a pursuer of God, He hears him. So we’re not perfect; we’re just pursuing. And the Bible says, “In that place, God hears.” So I’m not saying you have to be perfect for God to hear your prayers. If that were the case, no one would be heard. But because of the cross and because of the grace of God,we are actually told in the Scriptures to boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence. We are to pray with confidence, pursue with confidence and chase with confidence.

Religion and Politics

I've been told "you just don't talk about religion and politics". Sorry, today I'll talk briefly about both. No, I'm not going to take a stance one way or the other in Walker's budget reform bill, so if you're looking for that, you'll have to go elsewhere. I do have an opinion, as does everyone, but because my main purpose is to help as many as possible grow closer to Christ, we'll pass on that.

The purpose of this post is to speak to an issue that rears its head on every major political debate. The issue is the incredible amount of misleading or incorrect "facts" and "truth" being spouted on the issues. I say there are misleading "facts" because it does not take long to read 2 articles written addressing the same "fact" that differ hugely in the numbers and future numbers. In this case, either we are running a surplus for this fiscal year or a deficit depending on who you are reading. And we are talking to the tune of 100 million dollars either way, no small difference. Whether you believe it is one way or the other, I hope we all can honestly say that there is one actual truth. And on the other side of truth is error. Both cannot be true.

So what happens with many people is if you think health/pension benefits should not be cut, they agree with all figures that show a surplus. And for others that want benefits cut, they agree with all figures that show a deficit. I am, of course, making a generalization here that does not fit all people, but you get the point. Really, how can the truth be so obscure?

This situation can give us some insight into the human nature. How common is it for us to love the truth when it fits our personal agenda. Or to love what we think is the truth when it fits our personal agenda. Sometimes the "truth" can become conveniently ignored on the altar of passion for an issue. Or we just stop caring about the "truth" because the "other guys" are either greedy or lazy or vice versa. The fact is, as obvious as this is going to sound, that the truth is the truth........and the truth is important.

At this point, I have to turn the conversation to biblical truth as this is the main point of the post. How many things do we believe or do that we have never considering from a biblical perspective? How many times have we sacrificed truth for passion? Have you ever found yourself arguing passionately about something that you later realized you had little biblical grounds to argue?

I hope it is our desire to have a greater and greater biblical world view as we grow with Christ. I know that I have been guilty of "going with the flow" at times in my walk with Christ and not searching the Scriptures to know the truth on all things. The apostle Paul ran into this as he preached in Thessalonica in the first century. This is not a new issue.

As a contrast the Thessalonians, there was one church that caught Paul's attention as receiving the word eagerly and searching the Scripture to see if what he was teaching was true. This is found in Acts, chapter 17.

Acts 17:11

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things we so.

We often think of nobility in terms of doing the right things, standing up for the weak, or having high integrity. Paul, here, simply says knowing the Scriptures and testing what we hear against the bible is noble. I aim to be a noble Christian. I hope you do to.

And remember, as you listen to the rhetoric from the "wrong side", love your enemy as yourself.

Later- Shane

Use it

Mark 4:24-25

²⁴And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ²⁵ For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

At first, this verse seems so UnJesus-like. Somebody with very little will have it taken away? Is that fair?

The Scripture is found directly after Jesus teaches on the lamp not being brought in to be put under a basket. He is teaching that we have an obligation to use what we have been given to further advance the kingdom of God. According to Jesus, it would be unfair if somebody does not use their God given ability to help others know Jesus and is not punished. Jesus definitely made a habit out of not sugar-coating this teaching. Definitely in line with Matthew 25 and the parable of the talents or Luke 19 and the parable of the minas. Notice "cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness" in Matthew 25:30. I don't want you or I to be that servant.

Bend City Twitter

Courtesy of Andy Christophersen, our church twitter man, you can follow Bend City on twitter at twitter.com/BendCityChurch

Deep conviction

1 Thessalonians 1:4-5

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.

Paul explains to the Thessalonians that a sign that God has chosen them was their deep conviction. The ESV renders it "full conviction." What did the "full conviction" of the Thessalonians look like to Paul. He goes on to list a few things:

1. Imitated Paul and the Lord, v. 6

2. Received the Word although suffering for it, v. 6

3. Became a model for other believers, v. 7

4. Their faith became known to other believers, v. 8

5. Turned away from idols, v. 9

6. Wait for Jesus return, v. 10

As I was thinking on these verses, a few things are clear:

1. These amazing characteristics of these Christians are a result of God "choosing" them. I'm very glad it is not the other way around and we are not chosen only if we have these characteristics.

2. We need to pray in faith for "deep conviction" that accompanies the power of God and Holy Spirit.

Congregational Meeting

Sunday Night January 23rd from 6:30-8pm.  No child care.

Who should come?
ALL who consider Bend City Church there home.

We will be discussing where we believe God is leading us over the course of this year