16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Col. 3:16-17 (ESV)

I have been reading a fair amount recently. One of the problems that I keep coming across is that I want to share everything that I read to everyone of you. Reading seems to be a lost art in a world of high speed technology, instant gratification, and social media. Why would we read for 20 minutes the account of a biblical story when we can go and watch a 2 hour movie? Ok maybe a bad example, but for example a Christian research firm called Barna Research Group has recently followed this trend so much so that they are catering to this seeming epidemic in our culture today. People don’t feel as though they have enough time to sit down and read anymore. We are so busy that reading doesn’t seem to be a productive enough use of our time these days. Barna Research has started producing books that are no more than 100 pages in length so that people are not intimidated by the premise of completing a book. The purpose of saying all this is simply to say there are some valuable things to be gained by reading today. 

A book that has garnered great attention to me today that I would recommend for every believer in Christ is called, ”Everyday Talk; Talking with your children about God.” by John Younts. You may say but I don’t have children, that may be true, but this is a very practical guide to making God conversations out of everyday life to everyday people. I can’t make you read a book and promise your life will be more fulfilled as a result of it. One of the things that I would say is that there are a ton of resources that good Godly men and women have written that could be excellent tools in your toolbox. One of the key principles in family ministry and it’s future effectiveness at Faith, is our ability to train ourselves and others how to turn everyday ordinary situations into God moments. In essence, every word that we speak, every action that we take should be consumed with speech, emotions, and actions toward God. Hence the scripture reference at the onset of this writing. Sometimes people ask and legitimately so, do you really think we should do this? Does everything we do have to be pointing to God? It is my desire that, fathers in particular, parents especially, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces and church members especially, as representatives of Christ on this Earth, all that we do point to God. Whether we are teaching, admonishing, worshipping, corporately or at home, or really whatever we do, we would do in order to bring God glory. 

How can we do that? Reading resources that equip us to practically turn everyday conversations to God. Seeing God in situations, or circumstances that we ascribe to normal life and turning them around to give credit to God (who rightfully deserves the credit anyway). I would like for us to call these God sightings, and to pursue them in every aspect of our families at Faith, equip students and singles to see them now and highlight them in their future families, and to have our seasoned saints and empty nesters to adopt spiritual orphans (those who have no spiritual influences at home) and teach them to see God in spite of circumstances.

Thanks and God Bless, 

Bro. Grant

God Sightings

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we are doing we miss the beauty and majesty of God in our daily lives. It’s so easy to see an insurmountable set of tasks and to-do’s that we forget to work God into our schedules. 

Let me share this with you: 

Psalm 19:1-14 (HCSB)

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a groom coming from the bridal chamber; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. 6 It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat. 

7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. 10 They are more desirable than gold, than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey, which comes from the honeycomb. 11 In addition, Your servant is warned by them; there is great reward in keeping them. 12 Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. 13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule over me.Then I will be innocent and cleansed from blatant rebellion. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

This Psalm serves as a reminder to me to slow down and see God! That’s right I said SEE God. God made His handiwork visible to us for a reason. Sometimes I need that reminder that His glory is revealed in the bird chirping outside my window right now all the way down to the picturesque sunset in the evening, and the stars and moon in the sky at night. He is speaking, saying, “ don’t forget me, I’m right here, right outside your window”. If you have or ever have had children, grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews, or even just been a babysitter before, then you have most likely experienced a child that doesn’t want to be left out or ignored or left behind. They just want attention, just want to be noticed, to be paid attention to. God wants that too. He could make the rocks cry out if He so desired. But as the ice and cold temperatures seem to both melt away. Let’s take notice of God. It happens in the everyday moments of life that God reveals Himself not some burning bush experience. (Although that’s what we are all seeking, some handwriting on the wall experience, even though I don’t remember that story working out so well in the Bible.) Use the moments God grants us as gifts to share about Him, about His plan, His story and His Son.  Maybe that subtle reminder of what God is doing, has done in your life or is going to do can come from an everyday experience that we all too often overlook. 

I would like to challenge us to make verses7-14 our prayer this week. 

Seek His perfect instruction.

Trust His perfect words, making our hearts glad, our eyes light up. 

Fear Him. 

Follow His ordinances, and desire them more than the things of this earth. 

Ask for forgiveness, for we will fall short, not just the visible portions of our failure but the things only God sees as well. 

Finally may we pray specifically verse 14; May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. 

I hope that we can see God this week in our daily lives, spot Him in all His glory all around us and share it with others at home, at work, or at school. 

God Bless, 

Bro. Grant

Matthew 13:44-46 (NLT)

44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

It is important that great value is placed on the Kingdom of Heaven. It is worthy of giving up and forsaking all this world has to offer. It is important that we teach others that the most important thing you can obtain in this life is not the best degree from the best school, the highest paying job, the best looking spouse, the nicest car or anything else the world desires us to strive for. The most important thing you can teach your children, your Sunday school class or that new Christian at church is the Kingdom of Heaven is worth all that and more. Are those things wrong or inherently evil? Absolutely not! The problem lies when we act, teach or even infer that the things of this world are of any greater value than the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Did you notice the man in the verse 44 doesn’t just find the treasure and quietly slink away from the field with treasure in hand? He laboriously reburied the treasure, and then, get this, went to the trouble of selling all he owned all that he had, and bought the field with his earnings. All that just to find a treasure of such great value that he could have potentially just snuck away with in the beginning. That’s how important the things of God are! 

What about the Pearl Merchant in the second story? It was his livelihood to search for, buy and sell pearls. However there was something different about this pearl. Do you have something in your life that is of the utmost importance to you? One thing that you could put your finger on and say that’s my most prized possession. Visualize that one thing and then realize that the Kingdom of Heaven is of infinite more value than even that one thing. The Pearl Merchant did. 

How important is the kingdom to you? Are you willing to let everything go that you have worked for on this earth, in order to obtain it? Jesus told stories sometimes rather simple stories in an effort to get a point across. These two stories are actually tied together, not only sequentially but also thematically. We are capable of the very same thing, telling a story or stories that make sense in our time and place in our context that our children,  or students or friends or even coworkers can understand.

As parents, teachers, proclaimers of the Gospel and Christians sometimes it would be beneficial if we would take truths and convey it in a story that people could wrap their minds around. Have you ever noticed that some of the best memories, you may have, would be that one grandparent or family member or even your crazy “Uncle Si” of the family that could really tell a story? Sometimes we will remember that story or its lesson for a lifetime. Jesus really did know what He was doing by giving us great truth so that we could not only remember it but also show us how to transfer that truth to others. Maybe, just maybe we could stand to be better story tellers and convey God’s truth through our stories and help others to understand and relate to the real life situations they are going through. 

God Bless, 

Bro. Grant

Tis’ the Season! 

What a wonderful time of year! Who am I kidding? I can be one of the biggest scrooges this time of year. I guess I am probably a product of the environment in which I was raised. Every Christmas seemed like a perpetual battle. “Whose family are we going to see?” “On what days?” “How long will we stay at each family’s house?” “How quickly can we get to the next place without getting a ticket?” “Who all do we have to buy for?” “Which family was that for again?” “How much is this going to cost us?” “That cost HOW MUCH?!” And on and on and on it went. Does any of this sound familiar? It is this time of year that we get so wrapped up in the who, what, where and how much, that we forget what is going on around us. 

It is this time of year (and only this time of year), where you can go into most malls or department stores and hear music that you might even sing in church. It is this time of year where you can drive down the streets and see nativity scenes proudly displayed in all sorts of areas. It is this time of year where Christmas Carols proudly proclaim the coming of a Savior in a manger. It is also a good time of year to set in order family traditions. The things that you do one year with your children or grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and/or cousins, can become lasting, lifelong traditions that impact generations in the future of your family. 

Can I share a brief testimony? I recently got to spend some time with missionary Jonathan Johnson, where we discussed living intentionally for the gospel, family worship, and family traditions started around Christmas time. Strange assortment of topics, I’m sure. During this time we were discussing Advent Devotionals for families, (Advent simply means the coming of Jesus, no secular or ecumenical or protestant affiliations to be afraid of) and how many great free devotionals and even some very cheap ones that were great. He told me that’s what started their family worship time that is integral to their daily lives now. They started one December and did a short daily devotional each night of the month. It was great. Then came January. They sat around and looked at one another and said well now what do we do? 

They decided to continue on and do different devotionals every night not just for the month of December. You see this simple family tradition that started in this season became not just a holiday tradition but a lifelong legacy that this family started. It was through this family devotional time that their oldest daughter Mary Beth came to know Christ as her personal Savior recently,  that she shared with this church.

My family and I have picked up a free advent devotional and are hoping this is one tradition that supersedes this holiday season, and becomes a family legacy. (For the record we are not perfect we have already missed some days but no need to get discouraged, just pick it up and keep going.) 

So remember “Tis’ the Season” to start traditions and family legacies that may have an eternal impact on those around you. Keep that in mind as we near the celebration of our Savior, King, Eternal Hope, Immanuel, and Messiah who was and is and is to come! Praise the Lord!

Psalm 78:1-4, “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”

Bro. Grant

Family Offering at Faith

Family Offering

Imagery can be extremely moving and motivating. The sight of certain pictures can bring to remembrance a lost loved one, invoking tears. The picture of a sunset or sunrise can remind us of the majesty of God, bringing comfort when we need it or even a smile in times of despair. The same can be said of seeing a family worship an almighty God together. 

This weekend at Faith we took a proverbial giant leap forward by initiating another step in this process of Family Ministry at Faith. By seeing a family bring an offering to the Lord and lead His church in this phase of worship, we are continuing to strive toward a biblical model for all we do.

Let me explain. The Hebrew mindset of family could be described as drastically different than that of today. A family included all members that were living, from grandparents, to their children, to their children’s children, and so on. When God instructed His people to take the land of Israel, He started with a single family in the line of Abraham, and had created a great and mighty nation of families that sprung forth. As they were about to enter the land “that God gave them” He required something of them. Deut. 26:1-2, “And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, 2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.”

You see each family was to begin this process as a point of worship, it goes on in vv.9-10, “He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, “a land flowing with milk and honey”;10 and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.’Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God.” 

It has been said that if you don’t bring a sacrifice to worship, then you probably haven’t worshipped. Here in the Lord’s Church this weekend we saw this very image take place. It was moving to see the image of a multi-generational family bringing an offering to the altar, just like in Deut. 26 and Lev. 1. The image of a family leading a procession of worshippers to give an offering to the Lord is some of the most powerful that I have ever seen. It is our prayer that this image straight out of the Bible moves you in a powerful way.

If you and your family are interested in leading our church in worship in this way please contact; lcarney@faithnlr.org or gmurray@faithnlr.org 

I pray this image blesses you as it did me this week, and for many years to come. 

God Bless, 

Bro. Grant

Some Practical Suggestions to Exercising Faith with your family....

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil.2:12-13 ESV)

One of the things I keep hearing, reading and seeing in the youth of today is, how does my faith apply to real life? How do I live a life dedicated to Jesus and His glory that we talk about all the time? We as fathers, mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers and church members in general have a responsibility to live out our faith and not only that but to also show others how to live out their faith. We should be instructing them, investing in others, teaching them, and showing them how real life faith is worked out in the real world. 

I hope my theologians and scholars in the church don’t crucify me for this one. No deep theological discussions or scriptures this week. This week my aim is to give some simple yet impactful suggestions for exercising faith as a family. 

1.) Open the Word of God as a family, (I told you it wouldn’t be real deep remember) I know it sounds simple but don’t just find time to do a devotion, don’t just squeeze it in on the days you have time. Make time each and every day to open the Word. Show your family it is important, so important that it becomes a priority each and every day. Utilize the tools the church provides like weekly devotions and family lessons. (Dinner time is a great time, in most families it may be the only time a family is completely together, so use it!) This is not age restricted, it should be an all your life practice. Grandparents take time and open the scriptures with your grandkids and show them, tell them what they have meant for you in different stages of your life and how they have gotten you through the good times and the bad. 

2.) Make teachable moments out of everything.  One of the greatest joys a person could ever have is opening up one of life’s moments and being able to relate it to God. Remember the whole WWJD craze? It really isn’t a bad practice to be able to take real life experiences and say, “What does the Bible have to say about this?” An example is when you take your kids, grandkids, or even friends to the movies and something comes up that you weren’t expecting. Maybe crude language, or inappropriate sexual relationships, or any number of things you are likely to see in a movie today; instead of doing what we have always done and saying, “Don’t do that, or we don’t talk like that, or do those types of things” try this, well what did you think of the movie? When the topic of the questionable material comes up then go to the Word of God and say well this is what God has to say about that, but don’t let it stop there. Children, friends and family need to know more. The next step is to say, now why does God tell us not to do those things? We need to be able to provide a reason and not just a “because I said so, or because God said so” moment. Make sure you do the same for positive experiences as well, not just accentuating the negatives. Take advantage of every little thing life hands you and use it as a teachable moment for real life faith. 

3.) Serve alongside others, All good things must come in three points, right? A huge difference maker in the faith of youth today is seeing others serve and not sitting on the sidelines but serving right along with them. Everything that I keep reading and coming across continues to show that if a youth or young person has parents that serve in church and invite them to serve too, it is then that they are more likely to serve and stick in church and in the faith through all of life’s problems; college, kids, family and more. Here is the more startling statistic, the surveys also show that if a youth has at least 5 others in the church who invest in them and show them their faith, and serve alongside them they are 80% more likely to have a faith that “sticks”.  

So you may be saying, I don’t have kids, or my kids live far away, my kids are grown or even I only have my kids every other weekend, there is always a chance to invest in the lives of others, to make disciples here in our field of labor, and to be a church that lives out the great commission. My prayer is that we could do this together and learn to live out our faith as a community working together for the sake of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. 

As for me and my house....

“I don’t want a church that focuses on families, I want a gospel centered church that equips families for the Kingdom of God.” (Dr. Timothy Paul Jones, Family Ministry Field Guide) 

If I had to choose a slogan for family ministry here at Faith, this couldn’t sum it up any better. As I continue to read books upon books and as I continue to study God’s word it is becoming clearer and more apparent that this is God’s design for the family and even for His Church.

If you look at some of the first disciples they immediately went and told their families. (Matt. 4, John 1:43-51) If you look at the culture of Hebrews in the Old Testament they took painstaking care to instruct their children until they were of age to study for themselves. (Deut. 6) Joshua makes the highly quoted statement referenced in the very title of this article, making an all to infamous stand for God in a godless world at the time. 

However the real issue at hand here is discipleship. I have read the book of Acts several times and I have ceased to find large evangelistic campaigns, tent revivals or door knocking. That’s not to say that those things don’t and haven’t worked in times past and presently and even in the future. I’m just simply stating what I have read in the Bible. Jesus charged His Church with the responsibility of disciple making, Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV) (emphasis my own) So if there are no campaigns for winning souls to Christ and then discipling them, how did 12 men turn the world upside down with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  I’m glad you asked. 

It’s not that conventional methods, programs and ministries don’t work, but we must remember Jesus spoke to a different audience 2000 years ago than He does today. He knew in the first century that the most influential position in all the world was the home. There was no large scale gov’t. run education system, a majority of the entire world still received all their training at home. I do find in the book of Acts where a father finds and falls in love with the Good News and he and his whole house/family were saved and baptized. (Acts 16) 

I guess what this young pastor is saying, instead of trying something new and exciting because it’s different, maybe it’s time to try something old that is proven. The Bible and its method of “training up a child” and Deut. 6:7-9, “7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

As we begin making disciples in our own homes and families, I truly believe it will take an act of God Himself to stop the Gospel message from spreading. If we can truly teach the Bible and it’s life altering message to our children (and maybe even ourselves) there will be nothing that can stop us from wanting to share that to everyone else we come into contact with. So here goes nothing..... “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 (ESV)(emphasis my own)