Reliant Church

Sermon 01-29-12 :: Here Am I

2012-01-29T14:23:00.002-06:00

Genesis 22:1-18

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

New sermon at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 01-22-12 :: I Will

2012-01-23T14:47:00.001-06:00

Genesis 17: 1-14

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 01-15-12 :: Covenant

2012-01-15T18:11:00.002-06:00

Genesis 15

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

New sermon at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 01-08-12 :: Connect the Dots

2012-01-09T13:10:00.002-06:00

Family Tree – The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

If God wanted to, he could have communicated his character and will to us by inspiring a set of doctrinal textbooks that explain our relationship to him in a logical, coherent fashion. At the risk of being boring and academic, at least we would have clear answers. But instead, God did something far more complex, dramatic, and at times, downright crazy. At a specific time in history God called a specific man named Abraham to go to a specific land where he would become the father of a specific family. This family of God to which we belong has continued throughout the ages, through joy and struggle, faithfulness and failure, growth and decline, all the way up to this present day in which we gather as family to worship. In the following weeks we focus our attention on the stories in Genesis that narrate the formation of this family of God – our family. For many of us, these stories may be somewhat familiar, but we struggle to understand how our lives fit within them, perhaps wondering how the episodes about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob intersect the chaotic episodes of our lives. And so we go back to our “family tree,” knowing that the same family God created long ago through Abraham is the same family we belong to today.

New sermon at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 01-01-12 :: Hope

2012-01-01T20:48:00.002-06:00

New Year

A clean slate. A fresh start. A new beginning. January is a time to reestablish routines. What will this year hold? What should I do? What can I change? Today our Scripture readings deal with names and identity. What we do is based on who we are. We begin 2012 grounded in our foundational identity.

Pastor Jeff Cloeter preaches on "Hope"

Luke 2:21 - And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Numbers 6:22-27 - The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance1 upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

Galatians 3:23-29 - Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

Sermon 12-24-11 Christmas Eve Reflections

2011-12-26T12:15:00.002-06:00

Christmas Eve Reflections on Luke 2

Sermon 12-18-11 With Us, Apart from Us

2011-12-19T18:37:00.001-06:00

“Every Stone Shall Cry” Richard Wilbur

A stable-lamp is lighted

Whose glow shall wake the sky;

The stars shall bend their voices,

And every stone shall cry.

And straw like gold shall shine;

A barn shall harbor heaven,

A stalk become a shrine.

This child through David’s city

Shall ride in triumph by;

The palm shall strew its branches,

And every stone shall cry.

Though heavy, dull, and dumb,

And lie within the roadway

To pave his kingdom come.

Yet he shall be forsaken,

And yielded up to die;

The sky shall groan and darken,

And every stone shall cry

For stony hearts of men:

God’s blood upon the spearhead,

God’s love refused again.

But now as at the ending,

The low is lifted high;

The stars shall bend their voices,

And every stone shall cry

In praises of the child

By whose descent among us

The worlds are reconciled.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch

Sermon 12-11-11 Voice

2011-12-19T18:35:00.001-06:00

new sermon posted at www.reliantchurch.org

The Pastor's Wife: On Being a Friend

2011-12-12T14:54:00.001-06:00

by Bobbi Cloeter

This past Monday was my birthday. Not a milestone birthday; not a “check-a-new-box” birthday, but a quiet, uneventful birthday. And at this stage in my life, that’s good. I have too many other loud and eventful days to worry about one more. But this birthday did offer me the chance to see how many people care about me and call me “friend.”

I looked up the word friend in the dictionary and Webster defines it as this: one attached to another by affection or esteem; one that is not hostile; a favored companion. All those definitions ring true. When you think of a friend, you think of people you like; nice people; people you hold in esteem and have affection towards. You don’t think of the barista at Starbuck’s or the mailman or the driver of the car in front of you who doesn’t use their directional signals…You think of those who love and care for you. Who support you. People you trust and enjoy spending time with.

My friends are awesome. They are people I trust. They are honest, loyal and have integrity. We have a good time together and wish we could hang out more often. We share similar interests and viewpoints. We like the same types of music and food. And most importantly, we are bonded by our faith in Jesus. My friends are people who will lift me up and hold me accountable.

As great as my friends are, Jesus is a way better friend. No I can’t borrow his clothes or go to the movies with him, but I can always count on him. His friendship with me is selfless. He doesn’t want anything from me except my love and trust. He is willing to give himself up completely for me.

Right now, some of my friends are mocking me with youtube videos or old hymns, but stop and think about your friendship with Jesus. Would you put up with a friend like he puts up with you? His birthday is all about what YOU are getting. You go to his house every week; you only stay an hour, but act like it’s a chore. You talk to him occasionally or intermittently, but it’s about what YOU need, what YOU want, what YOUR thoughts are. You don’t call. You don’t write. You don’t visit. It’s a completely one-sided relationship. And yet, Jesus was still willing to die for you.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15: 12-13

See, friends really aren’t the 1000 people you stalk on Facebook, but the ones you’ll go to the depths for. The ones to whom you’ll admit you’re having a bad day, or sit up all night with and sacrifice sleep and coffee and other things that are dear to you. A study from the University of Oxford found that 15 is the maximum number of deep friendships one can maintain. As your numbers of friends increase, the health of the relationship you have with those friends decreases. Those 15 are your “GO-TO” friends. The ones you talk to weekly and interact with regularly. You have deep friendships with them, not just a surface knowledge of their lives. And you have an even smaller circle of friends that you are tightly connected to. This number is closer to five. These are the ones that you have their backs and they have yours. You can (and do) tell them everything that is going on in your life. They know you inside and out – and they still like you.

So, what does this mean? Well, it doesn’t mean you should decline friend requests and unfriend all those people you know on the social networks. And it doesn’t mean that you become hyperfocused on just those closest to you. We live in a world with 7 billion people; you’re going to have to learn to interact with others at some point. You need to remember to 5 who have your back and one who came back – from the grave, for you.

I don’t want to sound ungrateful for the many well-wishes and happy strolls down memory lane. I’m blessed to have friends like you. It was a nice reminder to cherish those God brings into our lives. Speaking of memory lane, remember calling in to the radio stations and sending dedications out to your friends? Well, I’d like to make a dedication to you: “Thank-you for being my friend…”

Sermon 12-04-11: Advent Meditations

2011-12-12T13:08:00.002-06:00

3 meditations on 3 different readings:

1. 2 Peter 3:4-18
2. Isaiah 40:1-11
3. Mark 1:1-8

Blessing to you this Advent Season.

Sermon 11-27-11: Savior of the Nations, Come

2011-11-28T15:02:00.003-06:00

Savior of the nations, come;
Virgin’s Son, here make Thy home!
Marvel now, O heaven and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth.

- Martin Luther

This advent we take a cue from Luther’s hymn, “Savior of the Nations, Come.” A “Savior” is one who comes to rescue from a desperate situation. “Nations” means that this Rescuer is worldwide, and his work is for all humanity. “Come” means that this saving act would involve God himself coming to the nations. The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival,” and we use this season to consider the scope of this divine rescue mission, its inclusion of all nations, and its inclusion of us.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 11-20-11 Status as Future Beings

2011-11-21T15:01:00.006-06:00

We conclude our "Status" series today with a look into chapter 15 and our status as future, resurrected beings.

"God's future is arriving in the present, in the person and work of Jesus. And you can practice, right now, the habits of life which will find their goal in that coming future." - N.T. Wright

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

The Pastor's Wife: On Being a Friend

2011-11-21T14:32:00.001-06:00

by Bobbi Cloeter

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15: 12-13

Sermon 11-13-11 Status: Builders

2011-11-14T15:34:00.005-06:00

Christianity in a Culture of Status

How do you live in a culture obsessed with status? The Corinthian church lived in a culture of self-promotion, driven by an intense need for power and control. Paul sets forth “Christ crucified” – the release of need for power, control, and status. With a new status comes a new value system where status is bestowed, not made. Under the new status comes a new approach to love, service, gifts, sex, worship, and hope.

“Paul’s self humiliation and assumption of a servant role was directly at variance with the accepted values of Corinthian city culture . . . In such a culture a person’s sense of worth is based on recognition by others of one’s accomplishments.”

“A unifying theme in the book is a re-proclamation of the different value system of grace, gifts, the cross, and the resurrection as divine status bestowal. Glorying in the Lord and receiving status derived from identification with the crucified Christ lead to a new value system demonstrable in a wide array of life issues.”

Anthony Thiselton

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

The Pastor's Wife: On Being A Mother

2011-11-10T18:39:00.000-06:00

by: Bobbi Cloeter

As I sit here writing this in the toy-strewn basement, my children are attempting to climb into the washer. Before you call to report me, not to worry; they can’t shut the door from the inside. And besides, “Super Daddy” is on his way to stop the mayhem.

I vaguely remember my life without children. It consisted of sleeping whenever I wanted and for however long I wanted, not eating vegetables if I didn’t want to, and actually leaving at the planned time when I had somewhere to go. Now, I’m a sleep-deprived, veggie-eating, habitually late mother-of-three. And I love it.

My children are amazing. They are loving, funny, curious, smart and caring. They like playing with each other and they look out for each other. They love each other. And they love God. I know I sound like I’m bragging…and I guess I am. But, I’m their mom. And I haven’t said anything that isn’t actually true. They are little witnesses for Jesus. Bella often wants to include others in her prayers. Joshua is quick to share manger-cross-crown with anyone willing to listen. And Em…well, she’s only one, but she’s a really good hugger. She’s my cuddle-bug.

Being a mom isn’t just about getting them to eat their vegetables and share their toys and be respectful. It’s about teaching them about Jesus’ love for us and how we show Jesus’ love to others. It’s about showing them that worship is a time to honor Jesus, not a hassle or obligation. It’s about laying a foundation of faith that will last their entire lives.

I am not a perfect mom. I yell. I get frustrated. I have thrown away toys. But my children know that I love them and want what is best for them. I am blessed to have happy, healthy, wonderful kids. I am honored that God has entrusted me with their care and upbringing. And I pray that they see Jesus in my life and actions; that being perfect isn’t a requirement for God’s love and forgiveness. I know that God loves me the way I am, and I hope that my children know that I love them the way they are.

Parenting is challenging, but a parents’ love is bigger than the challenges. It’s 3 a.m. and they screeching cries make my head pound. There is vomit on the carpet, me, the baby…and yet this is where I choose to be. Being a mom has shown me another side of love. I’ve learned what love is to an even greater degree. Which is why I will conclude my writing, and rescue my children from washing machine. Turns out they can close the door from the inside. I love being “mommy.”

The Pastor's Wife: On Being A Wife

2011-11-07T14:12:00.001-06:00

by Bobbi Cloeter

I’ve spent a third of my life as a wife. Remember that I am young, so it’s not as long as you think. I met my husband 12 ½ years ago when we were both camp counselors. I knew the moment I saw him, I was going to marry him. Needless to say, he didn’t stand a chance. Back then he was a quiet, serious, thoughtful college student. I was pretty much the opposite. We instantly clashed. In fact, I’m pretty sure the staff was taking bets as to how long before there was a brawl between the two of us. As it turns out, we didn’t hate each other, but were actually attracted to each other. We would spend hours talking and sharing stories and dreams and silly jokes and confessing our deepest, darkest secrets.

At the time, I didn’t know how important those hours were. We still think back to those days with a wistfulness for more times like that and probably a bit of disbelief that we could survive on two hours of sleep a night. In all my years of wifery, I have learned a few things that I think are keys to a strong, loving, God-centered marriage; a top ten of sorts.

10. Say “I love you” everyday. Text it, write it, pantomime…get that message out there!

9. Sleep on it… I actually think going to bed angry is OK. Then you don’t argue while crabby. Start fresh in the AM.

8. Do stuff together. Take walks together. Cook together. Never stop dating. Even grocery shopping is more fun with your spouse…usually. Sitting by each other while both on your smart phone doesn’t count.

7. Dream together. What do you want to do as a couple? Where would you like to travel? Where do you see your family in the future? Plan your dreams together.

6. Support each other. I know this may come as a shock, but sometimes Jeff and I don’t see eye to eye on everything. Still, I try to show a united front. Be your spouse’s biggest cheerleader.

5. Have fun together. It’s ok to be goofy with your spouse. Let your silly side come out and laugh with each other.

4. Trust each other. Share your secrets, your thoughts, your fears. Learn to rely on each other for the important stuff and the “unimportant” stuff.

3. Forgive each other. Though some of us are close J, none of us are perfect. It isn’t fair to expect perfection from another person.

2. Pray together. Share a prayer journal, say it out loud, hold hands during worship. All of these connect you to each other and to God.

1. Be humble. Aim to put your spouse above yourself. Jesus humbled himself for us. This isn’t a suggestion to neglect yourself, but to consider the wants and needs of your spouse.

This list is not comprehensive. It’s also not a check list of rules to be followed. It is merely a few suggestions on how to approach marriage and make it work. There are people who’ve been married for decades longer than us, and we often set them and their marriages up as models for our relationship. My parents still date each other. Jeff’s parents spend a week in the Boundary Waters camping together. John and Sharon are each other’s biggest supporters. Bob and Lynn share a passion for ministry together. All these couples have been married for decades and are still committed to each other and to God. God created man and woman for each other and the list above is our approach to ensuring our marriage lasts.

Book Fads

2011-10-26T13:17:00.000-05:00

by John Rasmussen

I’m not a big fan of Christian book stores. Somewhere between the “How to Manipulate God into Giving You What You Want” section and the “The Christian Biker Serendipity Study Bible” titles I get lost. But every once in awhile I like to give them a quick five minutes of my time to check out the latest Christian title everyone is talking about. As a future pastor, I have interest in what God’s people are reading. It seems like there’s always “the book” that everyone is reading, recommending, and forming bible studies around. When I was in high school, The Prayer of Jabez was a sensation, so much so that the band Mercy Me wrote a song about the theme (“Bless Me”). In college, a church’s success was determined by whether or not they used Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life. A few years ago it was The Shack. I’ve seen Francis Chan’s Crazy Love at more than one Starbucks. And more recently, the Christian book gone viral is Heaven is for Real, the story of a young boy who dies, goes to heaven, and returns to enlighten his family and friends about the afterlife. At this point I have to mention Rob Bell’s controversial book Love Wins, which would more appropriately be titled Hell is not for Real (Sorry… that was too easy). More than a few people urged me to read Heaven is for Real while I was living in Florida last year – so much so that I have two copies on my shelf given to me as gifts. The topic is obviously catchy, perhaps even personal for those who have lost loved ones recently. Yet while the above mentioned books, especially the current favorite circulating through Christian circles, are no doubt interesting and thought provoking, a word of caution needs to added – Just because something is sincere, popular, and on the shelves of your local Christian book store, doesn’t mean it’s edifying or even in line with Jesus for that matter. There’s a part of me that feels bad for being so skeptical, but experience has taught me that just because it’s a best seller doesn’t mean it’s on target. As Christians, we’re called to be open as well as critical. We are open to people’s stories and new perspectives, but also careful to weigh everything against the rule of our faith. As far as Heaven is for Real goes, I’ll leave the critical part to someone more gifted than myself. If you’ve heard of the book, had it recommended to you, or even read it, take some time to check out an open-minded, yet equally critical review by Dr. Jeff Gibbs at Concordia Seminary: http://concordiatheology.org/2011/05/heaven-is-for-real/

Sermon 10-23-11 "Status and Love"

2011-10-24T13:49:00.002-05:00

Today we look at how the new status in Christ animates a revolutionary view of love toward others.

"Love ain't love until you give it up." Eddie Vedder

“This is why love is a virtue. It is a language to be learned, a musical instrument to be practiced, a mountain to be climbed via some steep and tricky cliff paths but with the most amazing view from the top. It is one of the things that will last; one of the traits of character which provides a genuine anticipation of that complete humanness we are promised in the End.” N.T. Wright

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

When Vocations Compete

2011-10-17T15:56:00.000-05:00

by John Rasmussen

Sometimes I feel like there’s just not enough hours in the day. Trying to responsibly balance different areas of our lives can be a challenge at best. In my experience, this challenge becomes more complex the more I realize the importance of my vocations. Simply put, vocation is what you do. Vocation is your unique place in life through which God sustains and provides for his creation. We all have multiple vocations. Some of us are spouses. Some are parents. Some are students. Others have vocations related to our daily work, whether or not that work receives compensation. We are citizens, church members, volunteers… the list goes on and on.

First of all, our vocations are unique to us as individuals. I am the only one who has the vocation of husband to my wife. Therefore, God has given me a unique set of responsibilities toward my wife that no one else can fulfill. If you have children, you are the only father or mother to that child – under most circumstances, no one fills that role except you. In other words, God provides a certain aspect of his loving care through you and no one else. The more we understand this truth, the more we realize the high calling and importance of our vocations. In other words, we realize how much is demanded of us in daily life. Here enters the tension we often feel as we are pulled between the demands of competing vocations. In a perfect world, there would be no collisions between work deadlines, midterms, little league baseball games, and wedding anniversaries. But God is still at work in the chaos. Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We don’t deny ourselves in imaginary situations outside of reality. We deny ourselves within the context of the demands of our vocations. In fact, you could say that our sanctification (the living out of our justification) is played out in vocation. Sanctification often (but not always) involves a certain level of suffering. One aspect of that suffering involves the pull and pressure of competing vocations. For example, as a graduate student with a full time job and a spouse, what do you do when the demands of work and school relentlessly prevent you from needed time with your better half? Either way you''ll be dropping the ball. The trick is picking which ball is more important. School and work may come and go. The same should never be said of your spouse. In this case, vocations are competing, but one naturally wins out over the other. People come first. Other priorities come second. With that said, sometimes the decision for one competing vocation over the other is not as simple. At that point, to quote Luther, "sin boldly." Make the best decision you can and leave the rest to God. For example, this quarter I'm taking an overload of classes in preparation for our second child. It is inevitable that one of those classes will be relegated tot he status of "blow-off class." I show up as often as I can, but if there's ever a conflict between completing my reading and watching the Cardinals beat the Brewers with my family (as I write this the series is 1-1, so I may take that back), I usually pick the game over a book about 16th century heretics. Some would call that being a bad student. I call it being healthy. There are only twenty-four hours in a day, and that's more than enough.

Sermon 10-16-11 "Single or Married"

2011-10-17T15:55:00.001-05:00

“I know some muddle-headed Christians have talked as if Christianity thought that sex, or the body, or pleasure, were bad in themselves. But they were wrong. Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which thoroughly approves of the body—which believes that matter is good, that God himself once took on a human body, that some kind of body is going to be given to us even in Heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness, or beauty, and our energy.” - C. S. Lewis

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 10-09-11 "The Best Thing"

2011-10-17T15:53:00.002-05:00

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Words that Shape me

2011-10-05T15:05:00.002-05:00

by John Rasmussen

Prayer is a tricky thing. I’ve been praying for a long time, but I still have to admit that there are times when I feel like I’m just beginning to learn what it means to pray. As a child prayer seemed simple enough. I remember praying with my father before bed during my early elementary years, which usually included enumerating every person I knew in my small world and asking God to “bless them.” I didn’t know what the word “bless” meant, but it had a churchy ring to it. As I grew older I only addressed God formally during difficult math tests or when I wanted a pretty girl to hang out with me. In other words, talking to God became a means to my own ends. The interesting thing is that I haven’t really grown out of this bad habit. I still catch myself describing in painful detail my own needs, preferences, or anxieties in a sort of heaven directed, one-way monologue. This is not to say that God does not listen to such self-centered litanies, but even during these prayers I know deep down that there’s more to prayer than this.

Prayer is a life-long journey – a discipline that is always in progress and never complete. There will never be a day that we can say, “I have arrived.” In fact, a life patterned by prayer will often go from one extreme to another as life passes through season after season. For example, do we pray from the heart, with our own words, or do we pray formal prayers written and prayed by saints through the ages? In my own experience, I have found myself on both sides. Earlier on in my serious pursuit of prayer I measured its validity according to my own sincerity and uniquely spoken words. In my mind, written prayers were dead with formality. But as I continued to pray with this mindset, I found myself at loss for words, or even worse, stuck with my own words. I slowly discovered that the words of others – the words of saints who have lived and suffered and struggled and prayed far before I was even born – that these words often expressed what was too profound for me to voice myself. In a way, I found that these words were shaping me, or even teaching me a language of prayer, so that when I open my mouth and dare to speak to the living God, I have words that belong not just to me, but to countless other believers. The other night my son William surprised me while I was putting him to bed. For a while we’ve been praying, “God bless momma and dada and grandma and grandpa,” etc. before bed, but this particular evening I decided to mix it up and say the Lord’s prayer with him, something we had not done before bed. I was surprised that he followed along with me, speaking about half the words. Somewhere in between playing with his cars and being distracted with pretzels during church, he’s been absorbing ancient words. Words common to believers from all ages and all nations. Words that shape us. Words I pray he’ll pray his entire life, finding more and more depth each time he says, “Our Father, who art in heaven…”

Sermon 10-02-11 "Status as Servant"

2011-10-03T13:43:00.004-05:00

"The church lived within the cosmopolitan character of the city of Corinth. There was radical individualism emerging in their behavior aberrations, arrogance in regards to spirituality, and accommodation to surrounding culture." - Gordon Fee

"Strength is for service, not status." - Eugene Peterson

"In a healthy church, your strongest are serving and your weakest are prized." - Anonymous

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 09-25-11 "Status"

2011-09-26T22:00:00.002-05:00

Anthony Thiselton

“In this epistle, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to be on in faith and love, and to see to it that they learn well the chief thing, namely, that Christ is our salvation, the thing over which all reason and wisdom stumbles.”

Martin Luther

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 09-18-11 "Pardon to Power"

2011-09-18T23:29:00.003-05:00

Presence. Pardon. Power. These words define who God is for us. These words also define who we are for others. Today we meditate on the power of God over us.

Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon. - John Piper

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 09-11-11 "Worse and Better"

2011-09-12T14:02:00.001-05:00

Let my sins rise to the surface like stones in a field. Let me see them and feel their damaging pain. And then pick them up and throw them into oblivion.

Anonymous

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 09-04-11 "Messes"

2011-09-04T16:09:00.001-05:00

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.” At times our love for others is lukewarm at best – we may be concerned for another’s wellbeing, but not to the point that we would do something costly. God’s love, on the other hand, is never an emotion or feeling of goodwill alone – it is costly. Gods love acts. It sends. Today we ponder again what it means that God has sent Jesus to be present among us. We call that sending incarnation, and in that incarnation we are inseparably bound to him, now and forever. He is present among us. And that presence sends us out into a world that desperately needs God’s presence. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The mystery of Christ, that He sunk Himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding.

- Martin Luther

The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.

- C.S. Lewis

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sanctification

2011-08-31T19:19:00.002-05:00

by Brett Hartmann

For the most part Lutherans are good with the justification preaching. Lutherans stress that we are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The verse we often point to is written by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2: 8). Justification means we are made righteous before God, and it is his doing.

Lutherans tend to put less emphasis on sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being made holy. I do not want to blame Lutherans specifically. We simply stress justification more heavily than sanctification. But the two go hand in hand.

After being justified before God, Christians should not simply stop being Christian. We should continue to be transformed. Grace is not cheap. If we continue to wade around in our sin after being justified, we trample on God’s grace. Remember, “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6: 20). God’s grace will not simply stop at justification. It keeps working. It has a transforming element known as sanctification.

In C.S. Lewis’ book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from the series The Chronicles of Narnia, Eustace Scrubb experiences sanctification. Eustace wonders away from the group and discovers a dead dragon’s cave. In this cave, Eustace finds gold. Enticed by greed he puts on a gold bracelet. When he wakes up the next day, Eustace has become a dragon, representative of his greed which wants to protect what it has, and yet isolates him from everyone else.

The next day Eustace sees his image in the lake and realizes what a monster he has become. Feeling remorseful, Eustace tries to remove the bracelet, but it has become lodged to his swollen dragon wrist. The only way to get it off is to peel back the layers of scaly dragon skin. Eustace starts the painful process tearing away skin little by little but seems to be making little headway. When Aslan appears (the lion representing Christ in the novels), he tells Eustace that he must remove the skin. Eustace is hesitant because the lion is a very intimidating creature. He could harm Eustace. Eventually Eustace consents, and Aslan punctures deep into his skin, removing the dragon façade entirely.

Eustace has been sanctified. Why is this a good image of sanctification? Because sanctification is the process of being made holy. Usually it is a painful process. This is why the Bible often talks about gold being refined by fire. After being refined, gold is even more pure—more like exactly what it is supposed to be. It is a painful process, but it is necessary to be made holy to enter into Heaven’s gates.

As Christians we must practice sanctification daily. God’s grace allows us to become more holy. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes we have to give up the gold that we think is ours. Sometimes we have to humble ourselves and submit to the will of God. We must let God be the surgeon. He operates on us to remove our imperfections. This process is painful. In the end it will make sense. But in the moment it can feel miserable.

Despite our inklings to turn back or to dodge sanctification, we must move forward. As the hymn “Just as I am, without One Plea” says,

“Just as I am, though tossed about,

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

fightings and fears, within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

Sanctification is done by God, but it requires our involvement. Or at the very least, it involves our consent. So we move on, allowing the Divine surgeon to make us more holy each day.

(For another good sanctification story, see Isaiah 6)

Sermon 08-28-11 "Loved, Sent"

2011-08-29T21:52:00.000-05:00

At the heart, Reliant is a community loved by God and sent by God. It’s simply who we are. A community of deep love - love from God and love for one another. And we are a community “sent.” The word “mission” comes from the Latin missio, or sent. We are in the business of sending people. We have sent people anywhere from Bogotá to England, from San Diego to Seattle, from Minneapolis to Miami. And we send locally, from South City to Soulard, from the West End to West County, from SLU to Wash U.

Annually in August, we celebrate our Call to Mission, where we review and refocus our mission. While nothing has changed fundamentally, prayer and discussion have led us to a refined focus on “loved, sent.” We will grow as a community deeply rooted in the love of God. And we will send one another out to as many places as we can.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 08-21-11 "You are because I AM"

2011-08-22T14:58:00.003-05:00

Next week we have our annual Call to Mission. Every year we revisit the heart of who we are and what our mission is. In advance of that, we consider today the heart of who Jesus is. Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Little did he know what that confession would mean.

“I did not make it, no it is making me.”

- Rich Mullins, on the Creed

“It is to be believed because it is absurd.”

- Tertullian (155-222 A.D.) on why he

believed the Christian faith

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Vulnerability

2011-08-19T18:20:00.000-05:00

by: Brett Hartmann

C.S. Lewis writes, “There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable” (The Four Loves, 121). But who wants to be vulnerable? It almost seems like a weakness. We do not want people to know we may be hurt, and we certainly do not wish to be hurt. In order to protect against vulnerability, we may even put up walls, isolating ourselves in a major way.

The word vulnerable comes from a Latin root meaning “wound”. And to be vulnerable means that one has the ability to be wounded. Being vulnerable means letting your guard down, even though you know you will probably get hurt at times. Vulnerability directly relates to suffering, which comes from the Latin root meaning “to bear”. Simply put suffering means bearing a wound.

The Christian notion of love entails vulnerability and at times suffering. Jesus, the model of Love, made himself entirely vulnerable and suffered greatly for us. It is strange to think that Divine love involves an ability to be hurt. You would think that nothing would be able to harm the Divine. Yet the Son of God was crucified!

The point here is not that God is any less powerful. Certainly He could’ve come down from the tree. The point to focus on here is the nature of God’s love, and what it tells us about how we should love.

Later Lewis goes on to write, “The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell” (The Four Love, 121). Lewis’ point is that love involves exposing ourselves to wounds. And if we are not willing to do that, we can certainly shut ourselves off from the notion of love entirely, but as Lewis points out, that is Hell.

When we suffer we show that we have truly loved. My grandma died last October, and my grandpa still has not healed. He cries. He has his good days and bad days. But his suffering is a sign of his true love for her. He made himself vulnerable, and when she died, it wounded him deeply. But love is worth it. Love is worth risking suffering. To truly love there can be no self-defense mechanisms.

Sermon 08-14-11 "Our Father"

2011-08-14T22:30:00.005-05:00

We have devoted ourselves to prayer this summer. From May through August. Praying the Psalms. Prayer meetings. Praying for our church’s mission. Seeking God on “his own terms,” not placing him under our conditions and restrictions. We now bring this season of prayer to a close. This of course does not mean a conclusion to our praying. Today we consider the ongoing rhythm of prayer. Varying from the routine, we structure our whole service today around Jesus’ prayer given to his disciples (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).

“That we may know what and how to pray, Jesus has taught us both the way and the words.”

- Martin Luther on the Lord’s

- Prayer, Large Catechism

“Let this be understood above all: the power of prayer is not in us, that we speak. It is in God, that he listens! It is his hearing that causes a true connection.”

- Walter Wangerin, Whole Prayer

“We humans, somewhere along the way, seem to have picked up the bad habit of trying to get life on our terms, without all the bother of God . . . Worse, the word has gotten around in recent years that ‘spirituality’ itself might be a way of getting a more intense life without having to deal with God . . . But true spirituality is a passion for life and a willingness to risk identity and security in following Jesus, no matter what.”

- Eugene Peterson

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

It Starts Today

2011-08-11T21:28:00.001-05:00

By Brett Hartmann

It is easy to push things off until tomorrow. The dishes pile up in the sink. “I’ll do them tomorrow.” A paper is due in less than a week. “I’ll start that tomorrow.” You haven’t prayed in a while, but you aren’t quite in the mood. “I’ll pray tomorrow.”

Not all of us are guilty of this mindset, but it can infect our lives as Christians. I have caught myself saying that I’ll be a better Christian tomorrow. This type of attitude hampers us from living in the moment. It must start today—now.

St. Augustine had this problem. Despite his mother’s ceaseless prayers, Augustine delayed his total submission to the Christian faith. He was well-educated and skeptical of the Christian faith at first, but over time he grew to believe it. However, he was still slow in fully converting because he enjoyed living his life which was full of vice. Despite his best efforts, God sought him out, calling him to be a pastor and a great leader for the Christian faith.

In many of St. Augustine’s writings he focuses in on sound doctrine and practicing one’s faith. The two are necessary for faith. The Latin word for faith is fides. From this root we also get the English word “fidelity”. Having faith in something is more than simply believing it—more than a mental assent to a set of ideals. Having faith means believing something and practicing it. It means faith and faithfulness.

Throughout scripture God always maintains the quality of faithfulness. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew people continuously turn away from their God. They trample on God’s faithfulness. Often times we do that too.

The good news is that God, in His ultimate act of faithfulness, sent Jesus to die and rise again, defeating sin, death, and the devil. God has remained faithful, while we tend to stray and wonder from faith.

Living the Christian life is difficult. We screw up. We lapse in our prayer life. Sometimes living the Christian life seems impossible, and we simply want to give up. But it is never too late to repent—to do a 180. It is never too late to hop back on that road and give it another crack at living out our faith. It is something we must do daily. It certainly isn’t easy. Worldly prosperity won’t necessarily follow us for doing it. We may think we are missing out on certain vices, in which the world invests much stock. But those vices won’t fill us. They will always leave us lacking.

But it starts today—now! No more putting off our faith until tomorrow. We must get up, dust ourselves off, and get back on the road of faith. And while we walk, we can bask in the mercy and faithfulness of God who never abandons us.

Sermon 08-07-11 "On God's Terms"

2011-08-10T06:37:00.001-05:00

Today we “get humbled.” Lest we seek to bend God’s will to our prayers, Job and the account of Jesus walking on water give us humble pause. We dare not look for God to “grant our wishes,” or “fit in our box.” Prayer requires knee-bending, holy fear, and hopeful expectation in God alone.

New sermon at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 07-31-11 "God IS for Us"

2011-08-01T12:33:00.001-05:00

As part of this season of transition, we welcome some guest preachers. Today, we have Pastor Ed Dubberke. After 50+ years of ministry, his “retirement” consists of pastoral care at Christ Memorial, preaching in rural congregations, and raising grandkids. We love Pastor Ed and welcome him today.

Pastor Ed's sermon

The Surprising Jesus

2011-08-01T12:31:00.001-05:00

In the last blog posting I made brief reference to Philip Yancey’s book, The Jesus I Never Knew (Zondervan, 1995). I strongly encourage readers, Christians and non-Christian alike, to pick it up. Ideally one would read this particular book in parallel with one or more of the Gospels. Yancey, a journalist by trade, set out to understand Jesus by comparing the Jesus that he learned about in Sunday School, and how Jesus has been portrayed in movies to a public audience, compared with the Jesus that emerges from the four Gospels in the Bible.

I followed my own advice of reading each Gospel end-to-end so that Jesus’ life would not be a collection of index cards creating a mosaic of Jesus anecdotes and godly sayings. Then I followed with a second read of Yancey’s book. In The Jesus I Never Knew, Yancey zeros in on Jesus profile as it plays out particularly in the narratives associated with the Temptations by Satan in the desert, the Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes in particular), a sampling of His miracles, Holy Week, Crucifixion, Resurrection and His Ascension. He discovers, as may you, that Jesus is not nearly as predictable as we have tended to believe or as we would prefer Him to be.

Christians and the Church have often drifted toward the shallow end of the pool by subtly recasting Jesus to fit our needs at the time. When I was a rebellious high school student in the early 70’s I recall defending my new style of dress and my longer hair by declaring to my parents that “Jesus had long hair. Jesus wore sandals.” The Jesus I was conjuring out of the air may well have been all supportive of me, and of course, He would never have confronted me about my lack of respect for my parents or the variety of Pharisaical attitudes and hypocritical behaviors I was cultivating at the time. But the Jesus we find in the Gospels is much more complex and much less accommodating. Yancey summarizes (p. 82):

The personality that emerges from the Gospels differs radically from the image of Jesus I grew up with, an image I now recognize in some of the older Hollywood films about Jesus. In those films, Jesus recites his lines evenly and without emotion. He strides through life as the one calm character among a cast of flustered extras. Nothing rattles him. He dispenses wisdom in flat, measured tones. He is, in short, the Prozac Jesus.

In contrast, the Gospels present a man who has such a charisma that people will sit three days straight, without food, just to hear his riveting words. He seems excitable, impulsively “moved with compassion” or “filled with pity.” The Gospels reveal a range of Jesus’ emotional responses: sudden sympathy for a person with leprosy, exuberance over his disciples’ successes, a blast of anger at coldhearted legalists, grief over an unreceptive city, and then those awful cries of anguish in Gethsemane and on the cross. He has nearly inexhaustible patience with individuals but no patience at all with institutions and injustice.

Yancey explores the ongoing tension played out in Jesus’ ministry. Sometimes it comes out in his character as true Man and true God. In other cases he is frustrated and seemingly inpatient with his closest followers who never seemed to “get it” until after the Resurrection and Pentecost. What seems clear to believers today in reading of the Gospels was apparently not clear to his disciples. How could this be? Did he put blinders on them? Was he not a great communicator? Were they just pathetically dense? Who hasn’t wished that Jesus’ story was just more tightly woven without all the surprises? How appealing it would be to have a story line both predictable and so powerful no one could miss it and not believe. Why not have a story where Jesus utterly triumphs over evil and explains all so that only those truly bedeviled would deny him and turn away? But that’s not Jesus and that’s not His story.

Yancey concludes that it is because God insists on human freedom. “[He] granted us the power to live as though he did not exist, to spit in his face, to crucify him. … Why does God content himself with the slow, unencouraging way of making righteousness grow rather than avenging it? That’s how love is. Love has its own power, the only power ultimately capable of conquering the human heart” (p.78). And as you have heard, God is Love itself.

You will surprise yourself with what you discover about Jesus if you set aside some time to dig back into the Gospels to get reacquainted with Him.

In Jesus name,

Ken Bickel

Sermon 7-24-11: God's Mission - Tears!

2011-07-24T20:52:00.002-05:00

In our series of guest preachers, we have Pastor Greg Smith this Sunday. Pastor Greg has been a pastor at Christ Memorial for 35 years, 30 years as the senior pastor. Pastor Greg’s wisdom and experience have been recognized both within and outside of the Lutheran community. He has served on numerous ministry boards including the founding board of Pastoral Leadership Institute, and Apple of His Eye Jewish Evangelism. He has a deep heart for missional vision, missional leadership, and the future of the church.

Pastor Greg Smith's sermon

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds?

2011-07-20T21:05:00.001-05:00

Several years ago it suddenly struck me how very rare it is to hear adults say the name of Jesus or Jesus Christ in normal conversation, that is, of course, outside of Christian worship, Bible study or use in profanity. The more I think about this the more incredibly odd it seems, since Jesus is the central figure in the Christian faith. In Saint Louis, Missouri, we are much more likely to hear the name or invoke the name of Albert Pujols, our hometown baseball star.

I recall the Presidential debates leading up to the 2000 election in which the moderator asked each of the participants to share the name of the person they most admired. When George W. Bush’s turn came, he answered “Jesus Christ”. How odd this felt, even to me, I hate to say. In other faiths which have a central prophet-figure, adherents frequently recite the very words of their leader, be it Mohammed or Buddha. Perhaps most of us, Christians included, may not know Jesus Christ well enough to use His name in conversation. Or there may be other reasons.

It seems like we are more comfortable referring to “God” in conversation where “Jesus” may be perfectly suitable. Again how very odd this now seems to me. And, I should add, it is completely true with reference to me personally. I don’t think there is anything wrong with choosing “God” phrases instead of “Jesus” references. But I truly believe it is worth our individual search to find out why “Jesus” is somewhat foreign to our conversation. One reason may be our own fear of what others think.

C. S. Lewis tackled this issue under his critique of what is sometimes called “pantheism” (Miracles, Harper, 1947, p129, cf.)

We who defend Christianity find ourselves constantly opposed not to the irreligion of our hearers but by their real religion. Speak about beauty, truth and goodness, or about God who is simply the indwelling principle of these three, speak about great spiritual force pervading all things, a common mind of which we are all parts, a pool of generalized spirituality to which we can all flow, and you will command friendly interest. But the temperature drops as soon as you mention a God who has purposes and performs particular actions, who does one thing and not another, a concrete, choosing, commanding, prohibiting God with determinate character. People become embarrassed or angry. … This popular religion may be called Pantheism.

There is some security is leaving it go as general “God” talk. It can encompass a wide variety of faiths without insulting anyone or creating awkward moments. This is often true for me when I am conversing with anyone not in my very closest circles.

So why else is it easier to say “God” than “Jesus”? If we use Jesus’ name we attach ourselves to a real person, a person we also believe is God, who lived on earth at a particular time, said certain things over a period of three years sometimes to thousands at a time sometimes to just to a handful –words that were written down and shared with us in the Scriptures-- who intervened in nature (did miracles), who was executed and was bodily resurrected.

What about you? Do you feel you know Jesus? Here is a suggestion If you wish to know Him better so that you can say His name easily, with a kind of convincing familiarity. Take a few months or a year to read about Him. Start with the Gospels. Pick one. Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Read one, end to end. I also recommend a book by Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, (Zondervan, 1995). As the title suggests, Yancey shares his own Scriptural search for understanding who Jesus was, and is. Then read the Book of Acts in the New Testament. In Acts we observe how Jesus’ ministry revolutionized and infected His followers. They changed the world forever. Let’s get to know this Jesus and speak His name when we have the chance.

In Jesus Name,

Ken Bickel

What? No Rapture?

2011-07-13T07:41:00.002-05:00

What? The scheduled Rapture on May 21 failed to materialize? I personally marked the day by choosing not to shave. What a waste of time that would have been.

I’ve been hearing different people’s takes on the cataclysm that never materialized. Mainstream Christian theologians have done a fully adequate job of pointing out the errors in Biblical interpretation committed by Harold Camping. No need to go back over that. Now that the whole non-event has cycled through the news I have concluded that this was all a good thing.

Why, you ask? Wasn’t this just another opportunity for people to ridicule Christians? Even though Camping and his followers are on the fringe of the fringe, it makes Christians all look a little kooky you say. I’m not too concerned about the potential for ridicule-by-false-association. I believe this has created a wonderful opportunity for Christians to seek out their friends’ personal views regarding some universally interesting questions: The End of the World, Death, my Death, the Death of those I love, the Afterlife, what I’m going to do in the Afterlife, if there is an Afterlife might I have hair again?. It is a subject that all rational people can explore, regardless of their religious views – whether believer, AWOL believer, misbeliever, agnostic, or atheist.

Woody Allen once commented, “I don’t believe there is a hell, and I’m pretty sure there is no heaven, but I’m taking an extra pair of underwear just in case.” Once when I was taking calls from viewers of a Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Christmas TV broadcast I spoke with a young women from Kansas whose concern about the end of life moved her to take a baby step toward belief. She said a death in the family had caused her great concern, but that a friend had told her about God and Jesus and Heaven and she didn’t want to miss out. She wanted to get information on becoming a Christian. She was not being cynical like Woody Allen. She was dead serious. She rationalized her thinking to me, “If I’m wrong, what’s the worst that can happen? I die and nothing happens. But at least I won’t miss out if it’s all true.” The first step toward saving faith can be awkward, embarrassing, even humorous.

The failed end of the world or the Rapture may have already cycled through the news agenda. The American Idol finale in May grabbed a lot of mental shelf space away from the vital issues, while on the other hand, horrendous weather-related events have helped re-emphasize the universal sense of personal mortality and the fragility of life.

The non-event of May 21 and the new “Rain Date” scheduled for October 21 create a wonderful opportunity for Christians. Any time people are prompted to consider their own mortality there is opportunity for faith to develop. Normally some Believers might feel a little awkward about asking seeker or non-believer friends things about death and the “afterlife”. But now these sorts of questions are suddenly more acceptable, current and relevant. Here are a few questions you can ask which may launch a meaningful conversation: “How about that Harold Camping guy, huh? What’s your take on this end of the world business?” “What do you think the end will really be like, or will there be an end at all?” “What about dying? What happens then?” “Do you think there is an Afterlife?” Normally, if you would ask questions like these you might be suspected of being potentially kooky. But now the media and Harold Camping have teed up the Afterlife topic so that it is more acceptable fare for non-kooky people. Strange looks won’t necessarily follow.

Don’t worry that you may have to explain the problems with Rapture Theology or dissuade your friends from following Harold Camping. Hey, he IS kooky. Just ask your friends questions like those above. Then sit back. Sit back and listen. And ask another question. And listen again. Do not share your own views unless you are asked. Initially, your witness is that you are a respectful listener. The Holy Spirit is always working in the neighborhood when someone is contemplating the topic of death, the end of the world or the afterlife. How can it be otherwise? You can be a facilitator of that search. And you have Harold Camping to thank for it (at least a little). Who knows, if you listen long enough and show respect for your friend’s questions and views, you may be blessed by the opportunity to share your own beliefs ---because your friend asks you to. Check out I Peter 3:15 and see what I mean.

Let’s not lose the opportunity to ask our friends to share their views about death, heaven, hell and the like while these are still current topics. Even if the fleeting news cycle has pushed it off the radar for now, we have another few months to be personally prepared for the next big date. Remember, Harold Camping has scheduled a “do over” for October 21. It’s a great opportunity. Let’s make the most of it. I’m just hoping he doesn’t cancel it.

Sincerely Yours in Christ

Ken Bickel

Sermon 07-10-11 "An Interview with Pastor Bill Simmons"

2011-07-11T10:30:00.003-05:00

Throughout the summer we have been devoting ourselves to the Psalms, using them as a prayer book. In conjunction with our look at the Psalms, we are devoting ourselves to prayer and discussion over Reliant’s mission. We are in a season of transition, which is a prime time to evaluate our ministry and listen for God’s guidance on how best to move forward. With great anticipation, we push into the next season.

As part of this summer’s time of prayer and listening, we are blessed with guest preachers. Today we have Pastor Bill Simmons, Administrative Pastor at our “home base,” Christ Memorial. Pastor Bill comes to bring encouragement, love, and support from our broader church. He also comes to bring his expertise in mission, strategy, and pastoral leadership. Pastor Bill is husband to Gail, father of four (and a daughter-in-law), and grandfather of one. He has over 30 years of ministry experience from rural to suburban congregations, as well as a stint at Concordia Publishing House. He is also a St. Louis County Police chaplain, and on the boards of Lutheran Senior Services, and The Dakota Boys Club. We are blessed by his presence today.

Listen to an interview with Pastor Bill Simmons

Sermon 07-03-11 "Enemies"

2011-07-03T13:28:00.005-05:00

¹ LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
² Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”^[b]

³ But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
⁴ I call out to the LORD,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

⁵ I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
⁶ I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.

⁷ Arise, LORD!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.

New sermon posted!

Sermon 06-26-11: Waiting

2011-06-27T10:15:00.001-05:00

Psalm 62

1 For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

3 How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

9 Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11 Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.

New sermon posted!

Journal Notes: Missed Assignements

2011-06-20T10:42:00.003-05:00

by Susan Spitz-Morrison

Sometimes it’s hard to realize that the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do something. And there are other times when I realize that I’m just ignoring those promptings. If I tune in, and become more aware of the thoughts running through my mind in regard to caring for others, I would do many things differently. In fact, if we all paid more attention to the Holy Spirit’s whispers, I believe we would end up blessing many more of the people around us with Christ’s love - shown through us. Have you ever had an experience like the one below?

As I drove through my old neighborhood one morning, I saw them clearing out the home of my lonely elderly neighbor, Jim H. He had sent me a Christmas card this past December and I had meant to check in on him – thought about it every now and then, but never did it. I suppose I felt like it would be awkward, and not something that would be “the best use of my time”.

I stopped and walked in to inquire about what happened to him, hoping that he had been relocated to a facility or to live with a family member. I know he wasn’t close to his family, and I know he was very much alone. Instead, I learned that he passed away.

So now I’m left wondering, did he die alone? Was anyone aware of it? Did his family help him out in the end? Did he go to heaven? (I doubt it, when we had touched on the subject he was always pretty vocally against it.)

I feel guilty and sad – that I, once again, didn’t heed God’s nudge to check in on him – I’d meant to do it – so many times I’d thought of it. And I missed a possible opportunity to talk to him one more time about Christ. Even if he rejected the idea, at least I would have done my part. It would still have been sad, but for different reasons. (Remember the parable of the watchman – if the people are warned, it’s their own fault if they ignore the warning and are destroyed. But if the watchman doesn’t warn, then the disaster is on his(her) head.)

The flip side of this missed opportunity, of course, would have been a most amazing blessing for both of us. He might possibly have been able to look forward to an eternity in paradise, rather than – I hate to even think about the alternative. And I deprived myself of that gift that God may have wanted to give me in response to obeying Him, and helping to save one of his little ones. I usually excuse these nudgings by thinking (or even sometimes praying!) that someone else will do it for that person, if I chicken out or get lazy and don’t do it. But how do I know that it isn’t ME whom God had appointed to speak to that person? And again, what an amazing blessing it would be if there were a positive result???

This is not the first time I have had this experience. In fact, I think it is the third. Over the past few decades, there have been two co-workers who committed suicide, and both times I had been in a position to reach out to them, knew they were struggling, and just ‘never got around to it’.

So I asked myself, “How many more times do I need to go through this, to understand Your priorities, Lord???” Please strengthen me to hear your Holy Spirit and to respond to it – right away!

If this resonates with you, please join me in asking God’s supernatural help through this prayer:

“Lord, help me to stay vigilant and aware of your assignments for me. Rather than dismiss them, saying:

1) Oh, I’m sure someone else will take care of that, or

2) It’s not a good use of my time, I’m too busy, or

3) Eww, it’ll be awkward. What if they reject me, yell at me, etc.? What if I chicken out?

Instead let me say, “Yes, Lord. I will spend time with this person. He/she is the one to whom I am assigned right now. I will just love that person, and look for the workings of the Holy Spirit and not run ahead of you, God, but not squirm away either. I will stay, interact, and simply show Your love to that person until they ask “Why?” or “What compels you to do this?” “Why are you paying attention to me?” When that question does eventually come up, I will have this story to tell. And I will have done the job that You have assigned to me, Lord. The rest will be up to You, Holy Spirit.

Also, I will pray every day for You to soften the heart of that person, and for You to bless my other time and work abundantly, because this is how Your economy works. Please forgive me for my sinful, selfish denial of Your assigned task of spending time with Jim. I pray that He accepted you into his heart before he died, before it was too late, and that I will one day see him in heaven.

I love you Lord, I am so grateful for your unconditional love, forgiveness, and acceptance of all people.”

Amen

Sermon 06-19-11 "Certainty"

2011-06-20T09:34:00.003-05:00

^{Psalm 16

1} Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

² I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
³ I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
⁴ Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.

⁵ LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
⁷ I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 06-12-11 "General and Specific"

2011-06-13T19:34:00.001-05:00

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice^[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
⁵ It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.

⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the LORD are firm,
and all of them are righteous.

¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
¹¹ By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 06-05-11 "Be Still"

2011-06-06T11:26:00.001-05:00

Psalm 46

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
⁷The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 05-29-11 "Big and Little"

2011-05-31T11:17:00.004-05:00

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “It is a dangerous error, surely very widespread among Christians, to think that the heart can pray by itself. For then we confuse wishes, hopes, sighs, and laments . . . with prayer.” Lest we confuse prayer and emotion, God gives us words to pray. The Psalms are essentially a collection of prayers. Poetic and lyrical, all 150 Psalms thread divine words throughout the rugged terrain of the human heart. When God gives us words to pray, our prayer becomes sacred speech that aligns us with our God. So we devote ourselves to the Psalms, and we learn how to pray.

“The child learns to speak because his father speaks to him. He learns the speech of his father. So we learn to speak to God because God has spoken to us and speaks to us.”

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Semper Fidelis: Sacrifice

2011-05-25T08:09:00.001-05:00

by Hernando Quandt

All of the obstacles on The Crucible (the four day test at the end of the Marine Corps boot camp) are named after Medal of Honor Recipients. A vast majority of those recipients received their Medals of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade to shield their brothers in arms. Consider how a grenade works. It contains a powerful explosive that launches dozens of pieces of shrapnel in all directions. The grenade is designed to kill or wound anyone within a specified radius. It is an indirect weapon designed to inflict mass damage. The reason I describe the grenade in such detail is because it is important to understand how this weapon works. Everyone who chooses to jump on a grenade is very much aware of how it works but jumps willingly. In some cases where someone jumps on a grenade, death is instant but in many cases it is not. A lot of the armor used by the military is designed to protect the wearer from shrapnel (usually from a distance) but for someone directly on top of a grenade when it explodes, the shrapnel penetrates the armor a lot less than it would an uncovered body, but because of the proximity of the jumper it still makes contact with his body. The person is injured, if not severely enough to die instantly, enough to kill the victim as he slowly succumbs to fatal wounds. It would be the equivalent of being shot several times. Death usually follows within a few minutes.

Imagine yourself as a member of a Marine unit in Iraq. Your fellow Marines are people that you have suffered sleepless nights with as well as homesickness and less than palatable food. Some of these guys might even have gone through boot camp with you. One of them may even have saved your life. You sleep together in the sand, endure the terrors of combat together, and even rejoice together when there is something to rejoice about. You are brothers. As you are entering an abandoned building you all spread out and clear the room (make sure there is no apparent danger). It appears as if the room is empty but as you prepare to go upstairs and clear the rooms above, you hear the distinctive thump of a grenade rolling down the stairs. Thump, thump, thump! It comes to rest at the foot of the stairs in the middle of all of you. Enough time has elapsed that the fuse is about to ignite the grenade, so there is no time to throw it back up. If nothing is done, all of you will die. What would you do?

Sacrifice is part of our daily lives. Many of us sacrifice sleep, time with family, and even our health for various endeavors. Most of us gladly sacrifice these things because they allow us to provide for our loved ones. Would you take on the ultimate sacrifice? What would it take for you to willingly lay down your life? For what or for whom would you be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice? John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Think about what Christ did. His love for us was so great that he chose to lay down His life for people who persecuted Him, people who were sinners, and people who were unsure of what to make of him. We must never forget that this is what we were to Him. His own people had chosen to crucify Him instead of a criminal! His dear apostles had abandoned him. Even in the midst of all of this solitude and suffering he graciously went to the cross. What greater love is there, then, than that of Christ, who lay down his life for those who weren’t even “friends?”

Not all of us a meant to be martyrs, or military and civil heroes, but if others lay down their lives, if Christ lay down his life – surely we can make other types of sacrifices for our fellow Christians, and those who are yet to hear the saving word.

For the past month I have compared Christianity to the military. My hope is that through these essays you have been inspired to see yourselves as soldiers for God. Training to know the word of God, living like a band of brothers, faithfully following our commander’s orders, and always remembering Christ’s sacrifice. The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fidelis, Latin for “always faithful.” It is important to remember God for his eternal faithfulness and strive to remain to faithful to Him.

Sermon 05-22-11 "Remarkable People"

2011-05-23T08:59:00.001-05:00

As a “chosen people, a royal priesthood,” the church is a remarkable people in the world. What makes them so remarkable? What makes them such powerful witnesses? What would cause such conviction, that a man like Stephen would die for it? Martin Luther wrote: "This is the meaning of the word of Christ spoken here: to believe in God and to face without fear whatever may oppose and confront us." As we examine the remarkable nature of Stephen’s witness in Acts 6 and 7, we ask, “What makes us a remarkable people of God today?”

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Semper Fidelis: Follow Your Last Order

2011-05-18T08:34:00.000-05:00

by Hernando Quandt

“Follow the last order you received.” The military abides by this simple, but important principle. The military, like most places, is an environment of constantly changing rules and regulations, not to mention rumors that all together make things confusing. The military has the acute problem of having to give crystal clear instructions and directives in the chaos of combat. “Follow the last order you received” is the simple solution to this problem. Imagine a situation where a Soldier or Marine has been instructed by his superior to muster (to assemble) at a particular place at a particular time, but he encounters a higher-ranking person who informs him that the meeting place has been changed to a different location at a different time. You might simply conclude that since the new information has come from a higher rank that it should be followed, but that would be wrong. That higher-ranking person might have a different mission in mind or might be from a different unit. There are various situations where the scenario I just described could lead to disaster. So how do you know what orders to follow? You follow your general orders and your “last orders.”

All Marines must memorize eleven general orders. These orders are always in effect when standing guard. (I would suggest you do an Internet search for “11 general orders.”) God also left us general orders, the number of which is debated, but ten is the number most often referenced. We all know the Ten Commandments as the mirror that shows us that we need Christ but we should still strive to follow the Commandments, even if we are not always successful. Christ himself said that loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself are the greatest commandments. If he did not really expect us to at least attempt to abide by them, when he was asked what the greatest commandments were, why didn’t he say, “It doesn’t really matter, you can’t abide by them anyway?” We all strive to honor our mother and father and we avoid giving false testimony against our neighbor just as a minimum level of respect. So although the clear objective of the Ten Commandments’ is to show us that we need Christ, it is also expected that we keep them as best as possible. They are always in effect, and in many cases can be very helpful guides to how you should act.

Along with general orders, the military issues specific orders like, capture hill X, secure depot Y, and so forth. All Marines are expected to follow any lawful order issued to them by their command. In the absence of new orders from their command, Marines are expected to follow their last order. Technically, we Christians have been “cut off” from our command (Jesus) for about 2000 years. I don’t want to undermine the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our daily lives, In fact I firmly believe that it guides us and is an ever-present companion. What I mean by “cut off” is that we have not had official, in writing, (or booming voices and burning bushes) orders since the Bible was completed. So in the absence of new directives we must follow our last order issued. Matthew finishes with The Great Commission and Mark finishes with an order to preach the gospel to all creation. It is clear that evangelism is one of our last orders.

In my youth one of the most difficult questions that I wrestled with was, “Were the indigenous people of the Americas saved?” I have Chibcha (a South American tribe) blood in me from me from my mother. I wondered about my ancestors and I worried that since they had not known that Christ had died for their sins, they were not saved. I felt this was terribly unfair. These people should not be condemned simply for being born in the wrong continent or at the wrong time. I asked pastor after pastor for an answer that would satisfy me, but I always received “fluffy” answers that sounded nice, or harsh answers that affirmed my belief that the peoples’ condemnation was unfair. I have not found a definitive answer to my question, but I have found an answer that satisfies me, and the answer came from a layman not a pastor! A close friend of mine used the analogy of a General and his troops. Sometimes a General may order his troops to charge a hill that has clear strategic value. Other times a General will order his troops to capture a hill that has no apparent strategic value. What would you conclude if you were one of the troops capturing the valuable hill watching other troops attempting to capture an apparently worthless hill? The General has lost his mind, those troops are derelict in their duties, or perhaps that it is not you that is capturing the valuable target. Whatever you may conclude, it is wrong. It is not the place of a troop member in the field to question the orders of his superiors if they are lawful orders. A general definitely does not have to justify his orders to lowly grunt (an infantryman). All you can do is trust that the General has a grand plan, and you are privileged to be a part of that plan. It is a unique concept to accept. The Marine Corps defines discipline as “instant and willing obedience to all orders.” It may sound harsh or strange but it is essential to the proper function of the Corps. We know that God is just (1 John 1:9 and 2 Thessalonians 1:6) and that God wants all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). As good subordinates we must be content to know that for God to be just, and all to be saved, there must be some plan that God has for those who have not heard his message. I do not know what that plan is, but I know that my General is fair and has a grand plan.

As we anxiously await the return of our General it is important that we remember and abide by the last orders that he gave us. Even though he has been gone (physically) for a long time, he promised to return and left us well equipped to withstand the onslaught of the enemy. While the enemy may try to distract us with false intelligence, attempt to convince us that our cause is lost, or tell us that we have been abandoned; we must stand our ground with honor, courage, and commitment.

Sermon 05-15-11 "Reflections on Baptismal Remembrance"

2011-05-16T15:41:00.004-05:00

In a special service, we mark the significance of baptism today. In doing so, we dedicate a new baptismal font in memory of two members we have lost in recent months – Jamaine Hamlin and Ruth Kempff. Their lives give us pause to consider what we are doing with our own time and resources. Life is short. Death is still an evil tyrant. Our resurrection hope compels us to things present, while eyeing things future. Our faith drives us to a deep love for our neighbor, dedication to our vocations, excellence in all we do, and clear witness to what we believe. Jamaine and Ruth help us to do this. Today, we remember these two baptized saints of God. And we remember our own baptism. And we set our hearts on those yet to be baptized.

"Baptism is not magic, a conjuring trick with water. But neither is it simply a visual aid. It is one of the points, established by Jesus himself, where heaven and earth interlock, where new creation, resurrection life, appears within the midst of the old." - N.T. Wright

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Semper Fidelis: Brothers in Arms

2011-05-11T08:02:00.001-05:00

by Hernando Quandt

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.” This is a famous line from Shakespeare’s Henry V that has been frequently attributed to the military, including the Marines. We’ve heard it in movies and books, but what does it mean to be a band of brothers? To most of us it is an aphorism about camaraderie, but this is only scratching the surface of what it means to be a Marine. It is a bond forged through mutual suffering, a common cause, and a proud history. Marines have a saying, “once a Marine, always a Marine.” It shows that once inducted onto this elite brotherhood, you will always remain a brother. As Christians we too have a bond that was forged in mutual suffering, the suffering of Christ. He is our drill instructor, forging us to be more like him, to love God and our neighbors. It is important that we remember the price that was paid for us, and remain faithful to each other while we wait for Christ to return.

Teamwork is a cornerstone of the Marines. Marines are trained from the first days of boot camp that we are no longer individuals, but members of one cohesive unit whether a part of a fire-team, a squad, a platoon, a unit, or the Marine Corps as a whole. In boot camp the use of the word “I” is punished with IT an affectionate abbreviation for what the drill instructors called “incentive training.” As I quickly learned, the use of “I” is quickly followed by IT. As much as I hated IT, the shared experience of doing push-ups over a pool of your own sweat with other recruits bonded me to the others sharing my fate. It is said that a common enemy unites. Well, let’s just say that the drill instructors were great at uniting us. Once we were finished with boot camp the recruits of Charlie Company Platoon 1119 marched as a single unit. Even though there were about fifty of us marching, when we paraded by it sounded like one single pair of boots. We executed our movements with pride and force. Romans 12:5 reads, “So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Like Marines that have graduated boot camp we, as Christians are united. We should strive to work cooperatively towards our mutual goals. We must always support and encourage each other.

The Israelites endured their own “IT” as they wandered in the desert. God had delivered them from Egypt but they were not content. Numbers 14:2-4 details how the Israelites grumbled to Moses and Aaron. I was tempted to copy the text as part of this article, but in the spirit of last week’s article I would like you to take up your sword (the Bible) and look up the previous verse and also God’s response to their complaints, found in Numbers 14:26-35. In these verses we see a dynamic similar to that in boot camp. On one side we have an entire nation of ungrateful malcontents (whiny recruits) and a response from a powerful and angry God (the drill instructors). God rightfully responds with harsh and angry words. These people were not ready, they had to be tempered and in some cases eliminated so that Israel would be ready to take the land that God had promised them. The Israelites that we see in the Book of Joshua are not the same Israelites we saw in previous books of the bible. They were still sinful and in need of God, but they had been tempered, hardened, and prepared for conquering the Promised Land.

Brotherhood and teamwork definitely mean that as Christians we suffer together, we support one another, and we fight for a common cause, but it also means that we feel the loss of a brother collectively, as Marines do. Marine lore is full of larger than life characters like John Basilone. He fell during the battle for Iwo Jima in WWII, and to this day remains the only Marine Medal of Honor recipient to return to combat and be killed-in-action. He led his Marines through insurmountable odds, and although he perished in battle, he still achieved victory. As Americans we live our faith without fear of prosecution or retribution, but this is not the case in the rest of world. Those Christians that are being persecuted throughout the world are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Although they die at the hands of their oppressors, they too will have eternal victory.

I would like to leave you with a story that I read as a young man. It is from a book titled Voice of the Martyrs. It takes place in 320 A.D. in what is modern-day Turkey. Forty Roman soldiers refused to pay tribute to the Roman gods and had been given an ultimatum by the Roman governor: pay tribute or die. The governor tried several tactics to intimidate the Roman soldiers. In the end they stood together and resisted. As a final threat, the Roman soldiers were stripped naked and forced to march to the middle of a frozen lake. They were to remain in the middle of the lake until they capitulated. The forty soldiers huddled together to keep warm and encouraged each other, “How many of our companions in arms fell on the battle front, showing themselves loyal to an earthly king? Let us not turn aside, o warriors, let us not turn our backs in flight from the devil,” said one of the soldiers. To heighten the torment of the cold lake, the governor set up hot baths near the lake and offered to let them come ashore and warm themselves in the baths if they paid tribute. Frantically one of the forty soldiers ran from the middle of the lake and got into the hot baths. One of the “loyal” Roman soldiers that was on the shore was inspired by the fortitude of the remaining thirty-nine soldiers. He ran towards the center of the lake and shed his armor as he ran to join the condemned soldiers. All forty who remained on the lake died in faith. This story inspired me. The selfless actions of these men epitomize what it means to be a band of brothers.

Sermon 05-08-11 "Bold"

2011-05-09T10:50:00.001-05:00

The word “apostle” means “sent one,” indicating that the gospel of Jesus was not intended to be static. The apostolic faith is always on the move. The book of Acts records the life of the early church, their activity always “caffeinated” and “electric.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “Without our God we are afraid to move; but when He tells us to, it is dangerous to linger.”

“Let us not seek to make it less monstrous, for our own convenience.”

- John Updike on the resurrection

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 05-01-11 "Faith - A Living Hope"

2011-05-04T09:35:00.003-05:00

"Because the story of Jesus is so impressive - God among us and saving us - there is a danger that we will be impressed, and only impressed. As spectacular dimensions of this story dawn upon us, that. In the book of Acts, it is Luke's task to prevent that, to prevent us from becoming mere spectators of Jesus, fans of the Message. The story of Jesus doesn't end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in him. Luke makes it clear that the first generation of Christians were more than fans of Jesus. They were in on the action of God, God acting them, God living in them. Which also mean, of course, in us." - Eugene Peterson

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Semper Fidelis: Taking Up the Armor

2011-05-04T09:19:00.003-05:00

by Hernando Quandt

The Marine Corps is considered by many to be the finest fighting force in existence. Ask any current of former Marine and he most likely will talk your ear off about how good the Marines are. The Marine Corps trains and fosters what we call a warrior ethos: a mindset that emphasizes fundamental values that lead to supremacy in combat. There is much that can be learned by understanding Marines. If their methods create troops that embody military professionalism, should we not strive to emulate them in whatever task is presented to us? I would like to compare and contrast the Marine Corps with skills that we can learn and apply to being Christians. While some may see these as mutually exclusive or antagonist ideas, I disagree. With the same dedication and focus that Marine Corps uses to pursue the warrior ethos, we can peruse Christ’s example, the Christian ethos if you will.

One of the fundamental principles that set the Marines apart from other branches is that every Marine is a rifleman first. It doesn’t matter if you are a pencil pushing supply guru – like I was – or a grease monkey mechanic: you are a skilled marksman capable of hitting a life size silhouette at 500 yards with open sights. In the same way, we should all be equipped with basic biblical knowledge. We should all be able to answer questions like, what is a Christian? Why is Jesus so important? What makes Lutherans different? Why did Luther break away from the Catholic Church? Why do Lutherans make such a big deal over communion? These are all questions that I have been asked by friends and family. Many of us have had times in our lives where we have doubted or questioned our faith. Sometimes events in life test our faith to the extreme and force us to evaluate it in a way we never had before. It is important for us to seek the answers God has for us. Many of the same issues you have dealt with are the same issues others are dealing with. Answering these difficult questions for ourselves equips us with the knowledge to proclaim God’s message and respond the scrutiny that sometimes follows. This knowledge can only come from a firm understanding of the Bible.

I remember the first time I ever heard of Lutherans. I was around ten years old watching The Simpsons and they were playing the episode where Lisa creates life by running an electric current through a tooth. Her “creation” goes through a timeline similar to our society, and at one point she looks in her microscope and sees a bald character posting a piece of paper on a church door. Lisa looks away from her microscope and realizes, “I’ve created Lutherans!” So, that day I learned that Lutherans post things on church doors. That was the extent of my knowledge on Lutheranism until I attended Concordia University in Irvine, California. It wasn’t until then that I was exposed to what happened after the posting on the wall. I valued the vast knowledge and understanding that my professors had. Every time I had a question on Christianity or Lutheranism I was able to approach my professors and I would have an answer that satisfied my curiosity. More importantly, most of my questions were answered with a recommendation to read a particular verse in the bible. The detailed explanations and the willingness with which my professors shared their faith with me was one of the reasons that my wife and I decided to become Lutherans.

These professors embodied the Christian ethos through their knowledge of the scriptures and Christ-like patience. They proclaimed the Good News to me in a way that I had not heard before. At one point we were discussing Christ’s divinity. In the middle of the conversation my professor handed me a bible and said “read 1 Kings 17:7-24.” I flipped through the bible and found the verse. It was the story of Elijah, a widow, and the widow’s son. It went on to tell how the three of them lived off of a small jar of flour and a jug of oil that, although nearly depleted, never ran out. It also told the story of how Elijah brought the widow’s son back from near death. I am not sure if I had been asleep every time that this story was retold in church, or if I just had never heard it, but I was amazed. I couldn’t help but see the parallels between this story and Christ. To be honest, I got goose bumps.

I have digressed from my original point of “every Marine is a rifleman first,” but I think that every Christian should be a biblical scholar first. We should know the Bible as a rifleman knows his weapon; we should be as precise with the Bible as sniper is with his scope; and we should cling to the Bible as an infantryman clings to his rifle for life. In boot camp, every Marine must memorize the Rifleman’s Creed: “This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless.” Without the Bible we would not know the plan that God had from creation, we would not see how the Old Testament leaves a trail of crumbs that leads to Christ and the New Testament points back to Him. Without the Bible we would have no record of who Christ was, we would not be able to see how He was both divine and human. Without the Bible we are useless, we should seek to master it, for our lives depend on it.

The last story I would like to share with you is from World War I. A British unit had orders to take a town in the holy land by the name of Michmash from the Ottoman Turks. Among the British forces there was a Brigade Major by the name of Vivian Gilbert. The name of the town they had been ordered to take sounded strangely familiar to him. In a dark tent by the light of candle, Major Gilbert scoured the pages of his Bible for the name “Michmash” (I guess concordances were not standard issue in the British military). Finally he found the town in 1 Samuel 14. I would recommend reading the entire story, but here is a synopsis of what happened. In the book of Samuel he read about an impending battle between the Israelites and the Philistines. Jonathan, aided by his armor bearer, found a narrow passage that allowed Jonathan and his companion to flank the rear of the Philistine army. Jonathan's flanking maneuver caused chaos among the Philistines. They believed that a much larger force was flanking them. According to verse 14 "In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre." Israel won the battle thanks to God, through Jonathan’s courage. Major Gilbert wondered if this pass still existed. He sent out scouts who, guided by the description in Samuel, eventually found the same pass that Jonathan used. Major Gilbert’s unit decided to change their tactics, took a page out of God’s playbook, and won the battle. Major Gilbert’s biblical knowledge brought victory to his unit. It is a simple and practical example of the power of biblical knowledge.

Over the next month I will continue to share my perspective in a way that I hope you find interesting and relevant to Christianity. I hope to discuss camaraderie, sacrifice, and Christ the ultimate leader. I hope to bring a unique perspective, historical anecdotes, an interesting read, and above all sound biblical opinion.

I would like to leave you with this verse:

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Emphasis added)

Semper Fidelis.

Missional Church: Intentionally Missional - Trying

2011-04-28T20:55:00.002-05:00

by Amy Hamlin

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” Sven Goran Eriksson

Well, I must confess, when I was first asked to write for the Reliant blog, everything in me said RUN! I wanted to pull a Jonah and head in the opposite direction. Oh, and the excuses! They ran through my head faster than a speeding bullet, and more powerful than a locomotive. I am not able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and my feeling was that I was definitely not a writer. I tried reasoning with myself, but the excuses would not stop materializing. I don’t have time to write four (count them four) blog articles. I am not a good speller. I haven’t a clue what to say. If only I had been asked to do something else - create a poster, bring dessert, or even run a 5K for YoungLife (go Maggie!) - I would have felt up to the challenge. Anything would have been better than writing a blog! My fear of failure was overwhelming. However, God has a plan and His plan was to put this idea about being intentionally missional into my head. And once that idea was in my head, it stuck. I could not shake the need to write about being intentionally missional.

Over the past several weeks, we have talked about:

· Getting ready to be uncomfortable

· Focusing on the basics and loving people

· Praying, trusting and then freefalling

Now the question is: How do we put all these ideas into purposeful actions of being intentionally missional? Scot McKnight, professor in religious studies at North Park University in Chicago and an award-winning author, states “being missional comes down to answering a simple question: How can I help you? Missional behavior becomes the active response to that question.” Hmmm…active response, huh? I guess that means we, as a community of believers, actually have to do something. McKnight goes on to say that, “in missional churches, people’s ears are open, their eyes are open, and they are asking, what does our community need? How can we help our community? However, it is not missional to say, we know the answer, and are going to give it to you. Being a missional church means showing responsiveness to the central issues of community. “ Nicely articulated, McKnight.

It’s one thing to say that we are an intentionally missional community, but actions speak louder than words. Jamaine used to say, “I can show you better than I can tell you.” Also, you have heard me say before that the world will only see Jesus through us, individually (that means you) and communally (that means Reliant/YoungLife). That is a great reason why “way of life,” behavior, and practice (not just words) are important. It is easy to tell someone about Jesus – facts, figures, spouting Bible passages, etc. However, demonstrating Jesus’ love through caring actions is oftentimes a stronger witness for the unchurched people we meet.

In the book Right Here, Right Now, co-authors Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford, assert that through moving out (into missional engagement): learning the art of the small---one person can make an impact. The idea is to concentrate your efforts on smaller and smaller areas, trying to find an area that will cause a tipping point by focusing on small changes that will spread. What great practical advice for each of us - to understand that one person (it only takes one) can change the life of another by allowing the Holy Spirit to use us in even the smallest of ways to give a witness of our faith in Jesus Christ.

Don’t worry about failing. As individuals within the larger context of the Reliant faith family we can connect with neighbors, friends, co-workers or family members in ways that allow them to clearly see the love of God. This includes taking time to be available to those in need, having meaningful conversations, being fully engaged with those around us, making time for our hurting neighbors, listening to what’s going on in people’s lives, and demonstrating hospitality. Being intentionally missional means demonstrating a different way of life – one guided by the Holy Spirit, and so unlike the “norm” - that people take note and wonder why we choose to live that way. Even though they don’t understand, what they are seeing is God love working in us and through us. Jesus told the disciples, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Missional living is a direct result of our ability rely on the Lord to help us put into practice this kind of love – His kind of love - for those He brings into our lives.

I give you permission to get uncomfortable, to love people, to pray, and to trust God to bless your efforts. Fail or succeed, just try. That is your mission for this week, if you choose to accept it . . . and the journey continues.

Missional Church: Intentionally Missional - Pray, Trust, Freefall

2011-04-20T08:42:00.002-05:00

By Amy Hamlin

How was your journey this week? Did you have moments of being intentionally focused on the basics? Did you do well with loving people where they are? Did you have the chance to be intentionally missional at all this week? Did you take the challenge? Well, whether you did better this week and or failed miserably, keep practicing the mission at hand.

So, this week we are going to “freefall” a bit. Our focus is to be intentionally prayerful and completely trusting in God. Now that is a doozy!

May I regress a bit? When I was asked to write the blog articles for Reliant during the month of April, I really wanted to write about how we (as a church) and I (as an individual) could be more outreach- focused. I also decided that I wanted to explore and concentrate on a few key topics within the context of being missional. I delved into many aspects of missional churches until I came up with a topic for each week. But when it came to this week’s topic, I almost talked myself out of writing about prayer and trust. It just seemed so obvious. Right? Wrong! Obvious or not, I was very recently reminded about how important going to the Lord in prayer is. That same situation reminded that I need to "trust in the Lord with all (my) heart, and lean not on (my) own understanding; in all (my) ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct (my) paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Have I ever told you about a little game that I play with God? You have probably played it too. The game goes something like this. Here God, you can be in charge of my life and every aspect of it. Then something happens and oops, God, I was just kidding about that whole you can be in charge of every aspect. What I actually meant to say is that I think I can do a better job, so I am going to handle my life and be in charge for a while. I don’t know about you, but things NEVER seem to work out quite right when I am “in charge;” yet I struggle with leaving things in God’s hands. I am an Indian-giver if there ever was one!

Speaking of games, have you ever participated in a trust fall? For those of you that don’t know what it is; it is a trust-building game often conducted as a group exercise in which a person deliberately allows themselves to freefall, relying on the other members of the group (spotters) to catch the person. Well, it is the same thing with putting all your trust in God. For me personally, I find that I am too enamored with my own “abilities” to do things on my “own” that I forget to relax and let God be my strength and power. Needless to say, I definitely needed to be reminded that I am to be in PRAYER and put my complete TRUST in GOD (not myself) at ALL times. Many of us, me included, need to trust less in our own devices and spend more time in prayer—listening to and speaking with God. Proverbs 28:26 says, "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool...." So, we are all fools. Great! And I thought I was doing so well this morning. Another way of looking at Proverbs 28:26 would be to say that our clever devices and doing it all by ourselves are worthless unless it is put in God’s hands. I like that interpretation much better.

Ready to see how it’s done? Let’s shift the setting from the upper room to Gethsemane, to an olive grove on the outskirts of the city. The vision of a very violent death looms over Jesus. And as Jesus had done several times in the gospel, he prays. This time His prayer was in no way a heroic prayer. He prayed, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will." (Mark 14:36). Remember that Jesus was human, and as a human, he was fearful of what was to come. Let’s put this in perspective. Webster’s dictionary says that crucifixion is arguably the most painful death ever invented by man and is where we get our term "excruciating." It was so severe a punishment, that it was reserved primarily for the most vicious of criminals. If you have never read about the medical aspects of the crucifixion, I would invite you to do so at some point. You will never be the same.

It’s amazing what God can do when we relinquish our will to His will. We would be so much better off if we would just do things His way! Jesus trusted His Heavenly Father to do what was best, even though it meant He was to hang on a cross, with nails driven into his hands and feet. Because of Jesus’ willingness to pray, trust in His Father’s plan, and finally “freefall”, we were given the ultimate gift.

And the journey continues.

Your mission for this week, should you choose to accept it, is simple. Be in prayer. Trust in God for all things. Freefall.

Sermon 04-17-11 "The Worst"

2011-04-18T09:01:00.000-05:00

Today is Palm Sunday, when Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death and resurrection. Palm Sunday, often referred to as "Passion Sunday," marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday. The Bible reveals that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds greeted him by waving palm branches and covering his path with them. Immediately following this great “parade,” he begins his journey to the cross.

New sermon at reliantchurch.org

Intentional Missional - Focus on the Basics and Love People

2011-04-15T16:33:00.003-05:00

By Amy Hamlin

Okay, so how did you do this last week? Did you accept your mission and get uncomfortable? To be precise, did you follow what God commands us to do? Did you allow His Spirit to guide you through the ins and outs? Didn’t do so hot, huh? Well, no one said this would be easy. Continue to work on the task that God has put before you (aka last week’s mission), as we now move our focus to the basics of being intentionally missional and loving people.

So, what are the basics of being intentionally missional? I know what I think the ins and outs of being intentionally missional are, but doing a little research never hurts. So, once again, I must thank Google for the advances that allow me to look up information in an instant to gather more facts and figures than I could possibly get to in a life time.

I found that everyone has his or her own interpretation of what the basics of missional communities are. Not surprised? Well, me either. However one of the Blog’s I came across was written by Ed Stetzer. Stetzer’s primary role is Vice President of Research and Ministry Development for LifeWay Christian Resources. He wrote an article titled, “A Missional Church”, which gives a broad interpretation of basic intentional missions. Of course, there are more than the things just listed below (according to Ed and all of the articles I came across), but being intentionally missional is certainly:

Incarnational: Missional churches are deeply connected to the community. The church is not focused on its facility, but is focused on living, demonstrating, and offering biblical community to a lost world.

Indigenous: Missional churches are indigenous. Churches that are indigenous have taken root in the soil and reflect, to some degree, the culture of their community. An indigenous church looks different from Seattle to Senegal to Singapore.

Intentional: Missional churches are intentional about their methodologies. There are scripturally commanded requirements about church, preaching, discipline, baptism and many other biblical practices.

Stetzer goes on to say that, “a church is not missional because it is contemporary or traditional. A church becomes missional when it remains faithful to the Gospel message while simultaneously contextualizing its ministry (to the degree it can) so that the Gospel can engage the worldview of the hearers.” Remaining faithful to the Gospel sounds like a great idea. Let’s look there. The words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 talks about the Spirit’s call for us to be missional in culture.

¹⁹ Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings.

So that leads us into the “loving people” part. Paul’s mission was to lead lost people to Jesus. One of the Blog’s I came across was written by Ben Williams (not sure what his Bio is, but I like what he had to say). He says that “a good missionary does EVERYTHING (short of sinning) to bring people to a relationship with Christ.” Did you catch the key phrase in that last sentence? Okay, well go back and read that last sentence. Do you see it now? A good missionary does EVERYTHING (short of sinning) to bring people to a relationship with Christ. This does not mean we need to bring people to a brick and mortar structure so they can have a relationship with Jesus. It means we need to be about building relationships with non-Christians in order to have Spirit-led opportunities to share the Good News with them-meeting them where they are.

Okay, so that got me thinking. WDJD (What Did Jesus Do)? Jesus' approach was to go where people were. He traveled far and wide. He hung out with the poor, the outcast, the lonely. Sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, Samaritans, women caught in adultery, lepers, cheats, thieves, drunkards, idolaters, and murderers. The unclean. He went to went places like weddings, parties, and religious festival celebrations. What is the common thread? PEOPLE! He loved people. Jesus didn’t just invite people to the temple. He didn’t wait for people to come to him. Rather, he frequently had dealings with people who happened to intersect with His life as they went about their daily lives.

Stetzer also wrote that, “’When Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, so send I you," (John 20:21) that was not to a select group of cross-cultural missionaries. Instead, that was a commission to our churches, you and me. We have a sender (Jesus), a message (the Gospel), and a people to whom we are sent (real people with whom we intersect in the course of our everyday lives). It is worth the effort to go beyond our personal preferences and to proclaim the Good News of a Risen Savior in whatever context we find ourselves. That's being intentionally missional.”’

So, the journey continues.

Your mission for this week, if you choose to accept it, is to be an intentional 24/7 presence within your daily activities.

Sermon 04-10-11 "Death is not Final"

2011-04-11T13:45:00.002-05:00

We describe certain events as “life-shattering.” It feels like we have been broken into a million little pieces, and we struggle to put them back together. In this penitential season of Lent, we pick up the pieces, making sense of life’s chaos. Shattered pieces leave us wondering, “Why is this happening? What is going on? Why can’t I control this?” Through stories of Jesus in the gospel of John, we look at pieces like confusion, the past, tragedy, grief, and suffering. We take these pieces and interpret them through the lens of the cross event.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Missional Church: Intentionally Missional - Get Ready to be Uncomfortable

2011-04-06T09:19:00.004-05:00

By Amy Hamlin

In the last few months, there has been lots of activity surrounding YoungLife and the partnership with Reliant. As exciting as this is, I can’t help the many questions that are flooding my brain. Where do I fit in? Where do we as a community fit in? How do we get from here to there? How can we have the most impact? Are we an intentionally missional church?

Most, if not all, of us have heard about being on a mission for Christ. But doing mission is not the same as being missional. So what does it mean to be missional? Looking for some answers, I went to the web. After reading quite a few articles and blogs, I found that missional communities/churches are being called different things in different places, but the idea is the same: a group of people, doing the mission of God together outside the confines of the regular church building.

Having Googled myself silly, I came across a blog written by a guy named Rick Meigs. I love what he says about how we as a church body deal with being on a mission. "Jesus told us to go into all the world and be his ambassadors (Matthew 28:18-25), but many churches today have inadvertently changed the "go and be" command to a "come and see" appeal. We have grown attached to buildings, programs, staff and a wide variety of goods and services designed to attract and entertain people.” So true! Guilty as charged. So how do we change our “come and see” mentality to “go and be”?

All of a sudden, I am hearing this “but that is SCARY! It means that I might actually have to get uncomfortable and share my faith with someone!”

“Yes, I, too, have that knot in my stomach. But what if . . . ?”

What if you and I replace the "come to us" invitations with a "go to them" life? Meigs suggests that our mission becomes “’a life where "the way of Jesus" informs and radically transforms our existence to one wholly focused on sacrificially living for Him and others, and where we adopt a missionary stance in relation to our culture. It speaks of the very nature of the Jesus follower.”’ Sounds good to you, but you are probably still sitting in your chair, white-knuckled and gripping on for dear life. Maybe you need a little more motivation than the Great Commission. Thom Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, which provides church health insights. Some interesting statistics about groups of people that “accept” Jesus as their Lord and Savior jumped out at me:

- 63% of people who accept Christ do so before the age of 18

- 18% are between the age of 18-25

- 26% are 26 years old or over

Wow! Are you motivated to share your faith yet? I see some head nodding, but who is going to talk to “those” people over there you ask? Jesus says, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). We are the presence of Jesus in this world. Only through us, individually (that means you) and communally (that means Reliant/YoungLife), does the world see Jesus. That is a great reason why “way of life,” behavior, and practice, not just words, are important.

Welcome to the journey.

Your mission for this week, if you choose to accept it, is to get uncomfortable. You might already know this passage, but just as a refresher, Matthew 28:18-25 says, ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus didn’t ask us if we’d like to go. To be precise, He commanded us to go. He expects it of each of us. He authorized us to do it in His stead. He provides His Spirit to guide us through the ins and outs of it – right down to providing us with the courage and the necessary words. Are you up to His task for you?

Sermon 04-03-01 "As He Is"

2011-04-04T18:40:00.005-05:00

Today we examine the “pieces” that cloud our view of Jesus. Many pieces get in the way of our spiritual vision, and can even cause blindness. John’s gospel sets forth a very stubborn segment of people known as the Pharisees (9:13). While they had two good eyes, Jesus called them blind (9:41). And it turns out that the man who had dysfunctional eyes was the one who could actually see (9:39). So we rest on the mercy of God to show us Jesus, lest we too be considered blind. In Lent, we focus our eyes on the cross, illuminated by a sacrificial death. And we humbly ask, “Lord, we want to see Jesus.”

New sermon at reliantchurch.org

Made for Community - Clothed

2011-03-30T09:59:00.000-05:00

by Michelle

This series of blogs began with a question inspired by the movie Up in the Air – are people ‘swans’ or ‘sharks’? Looking at the first few chapters of Genesis, I think the answer is yes. People are swans. And people are most definitely sharks. While we were created to live in community, to help each other and carry one another, we can be pretty awful at it. Like Adam and Eve, we try to cover up our wrongdoing, they did this literally by sewing together fig leaves (Genesis 3:7), and we hide, Adam and Eve hid from God (Genesis 3:8). Transparency is not our best quality.

Of course, we cannot always avoid the consequences. Thus, we have struggling friendships, relationships, and marriages. Adam, Eve, and the serpent, which tempted them, all received punishment from God (Genesis 3: 14-19). However, Adam and Eve received more than just consequences from God. They were given clothes (Genesis 3: 21). After God had finished reprimanding them, He made them garments.

Now, God had created Adam and Eve naked. He had created them to live in openness and honesty. God did not intend for them to hide from Him or each other. Only after Adam and Eve fell to temptation and their eyes were opened, did they feel the need to cover themselves. They made clothes out of leaves to cover their guilt. In a way, Adam and Eve took care of their lack of innocence, or so they thought.

However, God knew this was not enough. God knew, from that point on, people were not innocent and they were not going to be able to fix it by their own strength or ability. While we might try, like Adam and Eve, to mend our own mistakes; we end up with partially mended clothes and situations, which are always on the brink of falling apart. We end up as ‘sharks’ pretending to be ‘swans’. To make up for our inability, God takes care of us – He covers us. To me, this is an exceptionally tender moment in scripture. God creates garments for Adam and Eve, even if clothes were not needed at the start of creation and even if clothes represent their mistake.

When it comes to community, we fall short and miss the mark of what God intended. We have historically and I think it’s unavoidable as we go forward. However, this does not mean we should not try. It means when we are found lacking, which is only a matter of time, we have to rely on God to cover us and to make up for our shortcomings.

Go out and find community.

When things fall apart, run to God.

He’ll be there waiting to cover you.

Sermon 03-27-11 "Pieces of the Past"

2011-03-28T08:39:00.002-05:00

I have a sin of fear

That when I’ve spun my last thread,

I shall perish on the shore;

Swear by thyself, that at my death

Thy Son shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore.

And having done that, thou hast done, I fear no more.

John Donne (1573-1631)

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Made for Community - Hidden

2011-03-23T08:43:00.001-05:00

by Michelle

The last verse of Genesis chapter two describes an ideal world and harmonious community. Yet, only one verse later, this all falls apart. You may be familiar with the story – a serpent entices Eve to eat fruit from a tree that God had specifically forbidden, Adam stands idly by, Adam and Eve eat the fruit, and their eyes are opened. After Adam and Eve’s eyes are opened, they react in two ways. One of their reactions is typical, in light of the circumstances, and the other is not so. The first thing Adam and Eve do is clothe themselves. Then, when they hear God coming towards them, they hide. Clothing. Hiding.

It is not unusual for a child to hide when they are in trouble. Even more, it is not uncommon for an adult to hide when they have committed a crime. The hiding is obvious. Adam and Eve had done something wrong and wanted to avoid any consequences. I think we can all relate to that on some level. Whether it is a full kitchen trashcan or rear-ending another car, not many people look forward to dealing with the consequences of smelling the rotting food or paying to repair the other car. It’s easier to hide.

What about the ‘clothing’? I don’t know many people who do something wrong and then put on a sweater to feel better. If only it were that easy, I probably would have tons of sweaters! Wouldn’t we all!? To understand why they clothed themselves before they hid, we have to look at what the serpent told them. The serpent said, “…when you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (3:5). What the serpent told them was half true. Their eyes were opened. However, rather than having infinite knowledge and wisdom (like God), they saw their nakedness.

In chapter two of Genesis, nudity is essentially a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we all join nudist colonies. Physical nudity is not necessarily desirable, but transparency is very much so. Imagine not having to hide your own mistakes or wonder who has wronged you. And not having to consider who is a ‘swan’ or ‘shark’ (see my first blog), such clarity would be refreshing to say the least. Yet, Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened and innocence was lost. Without openness and transparency, Adam and Eve hid. I would argue this still continues today. We simply are not innocent and we respond by hiding, concealing everything from shame to anger to hurt to arrogance to greed. We are all too good at hiding.

Sermon 03-20-11 "Broken Identity"

2011-03-21T11:05:00.001-05:00

I struck the board, and cried, No more;

I will abroad!

What? shall I ever sigh and pine?

My lines and life are free, free as the road,

Loose as the wind, as large as store.

Shall I be still in suit?

Have I no harvest but a thorn

To let me blood, and not restore

What I have lost with cordial fruit?

Sure there was wine

Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn

Before my tears did drown it.

“The Collar” George Herbert (1593-1633)

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Made for Community - Naked

2011-03-16T10:31:00.003-05:00

by Michelle

In scripture, we do not have to look far to find an example where someone has been manipulative (Adam and Eve), filled with rage (Cain and Abel), or heartless (Joseph’s brothers). Not to mention, all of these stories are found within the first book of the Bible, Genesis. Genesis is filled with people acting poorly, hurting one another, lying to each other, cheating one another, and taking advantage of each other.

The book of Genesis opens with the words “In the beginning” (1:1) and goes on to describe how God created the heavens, earth, and man. However, most of the first chapter is dedicated to describing how God created the heavens and earth. The writer uses dramatic and moving words to illustrate how God did so. We read that God hovered over the waters (1:2), He separated light from darkness (1:4), and He created great sea creatures (1:21). It reminds me of clips from Inception, where things hover in mid air; images from the Matrix, where lights suddenly illuminate a space; and scenes from Big Fish showing unusual people and creatures. Personally, I love images, thus all the movie references. Images that make me feel small and wrapped up in another world. And in Genesis chapter one, we are taken to a place that is awe-inspiring, perhaps a little frightening, and wonderful. We also understand from this same chapter that God is a powerful creator and the world is perfect.

Now, enter man. We are told man is made in “God’s image” (Genesis 1:27), which might be a hard thing to swallow at first considering people tend to do some pretty awful things to each other. Thankfully, Genesis chapter two offers a longer account of the creation of Adam. In this chapter, we read, “It is not good for man to be alone” (2:18), the solution to this dilemma is the creation of Eve (2:22), and “The man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame” (2:25). The last verse is perhaps the only place in the Bible were two people are living together in perfect harmony. There is no bickering, jealousy, shame, or deceit. They are naked in the sense that they have nothing to hide. The world is perfect and people are at peace with one another.

Of course, we know this is not our world today. In fact, it is a far cry from what we see on an everyday basis. We live in a place where we are too often confronted with hate, greed, and insensitivity. Not to mention, what we might consider lesser evils, such as lies by omission, road rage, and individuals trying to get ahead at the expense of others. We all have so much to hide, whether it is big or small. No wonder we wear clothes.

Sermon 03-13-11 "When It All Falls Apart - Temptation in the Christian Life"

2011-03-14T09:41:00.003-05:00

I have a sin of fear

That when I've spun my last thread,

I shall perish on the shore;

Swear by thyself, that at my death

Thy Son shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore.

And having done that, thou hast done, I fear no more.

John Donne (1573-1631)

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Made for Community - Swans or Sharks?

2011-03-09T09:01:00.002-06:00

by Michelle

Our lives are filled with many different types of relationships, relationships with co-workers, friends, significant others, parents, children, etc. These interactions can be positive, uplifting, and encouraging, but they can also be trying, suffocating, and altogether negative, unfortunately. Relationships can also change with time, for the better or for the worse. The complexity of relationships can leave us feeling as if we just want to hide away in isolation. The movie Up in the Air perhaps best captures this sentiment when the main character states:

Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises… Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks.

So what are we – ‘swans’ or ‘sharks’? In an attempt to address this question, I will be blogging about relationships for the month of March. Since all interactions involve at least two people, I hope you will join the conversation by commenting at the end of the blog. Hint, hint, wink, wink.

I want to start the conversation by telling you why this topic is interesting to me. Many of my friends know that I have been in a difficult work situation for a few years now. A situation where I have felt that some of my co-workers, at times, have been ‘sharks,’ to reference the quote above. Even more, these same co-workers have not been consistent in their behavior, sometimes acting kind and at other times acting in very deceptive ways. This type of relationship is one of the worst I have ever experienced. The type of relationship where every time things seem to be heading in a positive direction, you are surprised to find the exact opposite happening, a new low. I’m not sure what has been worse – experiencing the new low or being taken by surprise. The ups and downs, especially the downs, have made me extremely cautious and careful in my interactions with others, in all areas of my life. Almost as if, I have lost my ability to tell who is a ‘swan’ and who is a ‘shark’. In truth, maybe it is not as clear-cut as identifying a person as a ‘swan’ or ‘shark’, perhaps we all alternate between the two types. Maybe the question I should be asking is: What are you right now, at this very moment, ‘swan’ or ‘shark’?

My question for you – What do you think? Are we trapped as a ‘swan’ or ‘shark’? Can we alternate between the two states? What does scripture tell us? I look forward to discussing these questions with you in the upcoming weeks. Until then, God’s grace, peace, and blessings to you and yours.

Sermon 03-06-11 "Facing the Wind"

2011-03-07T10:39:00.001-06:00

Today we listen to Habakkuk. Habakkuk was probably written about 640-615 BC just before the fall of Assyria and the rise of Babylon. God used Assyria to punish Israel; now he would use Babylon to punish Judah. The theme question of Habakkuk is, how can God use a wicked nation such as Babylon for his divine purpose? Though God’s ways are sometimes mysterious, a central verse to the prophesy is 2:4, “the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Listen to the sermon at reliantchurch.org

Lessons in Sacrifice: Abraham

2011-03-02T21:58:00.001-06:00

by Megan Roegner

When I first decided to write about Biblical parents and children, there was one story, I was sure I wasn’t going to touch—it’s too hard, too horrifying. But since I committed to writing about parents and sacrifice, how can I really avoid writing about Abraham and Isaac?

Genesis 22:1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

I’m not sure it’s OK to say you don’t like a Bible story, but I don’t like this Bible story. However, I do think there are some things that are interesting. First of all, the chapter starts off with “After these things.” What things, you ask? Well, in the previous few chapters, Abraham has, among other events: claimed his wife was his sister twice and given her away to other men (apparently, Sarah was a knockout); laughed when God told him he and Sarah would have a child; and impregnated Sarah’s maid and then cast her and his son Ishmael out because of Sarah’s jealousy (however, God did tell him to do what Sarah said). I suppose “after these things,” Abraham deserved to be tested by God. But what a test!

Another thing I found interesting is that when God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac (reminding him that he is his only son, whom he loves), the author of Genesis does not note Abraham’s reaction—we don’t know if he was shocked, scared, sad, regretful, all we know is that immediately the next day he set out to Moriah to sacrifice his son. Similarly, I’m not sure how to interpret Abraham’s instruction to the servants, which indicates that both he and Isaac will be returning after their worship. Is Abraham saying this so the servants don’t suspect what he is about to do? Or is he confident that God will not make him go through with the sacrifice? The editors of my Lutheran Study Bible say that Abraham believed God would resurrect Isaac, and they know a lot more than me. Then, when Isaac asks where the lamb to be sacrificed is, Abraham says that God will provide the lamb. Is Abraham trying to hide the truth from his son for as long as possible, or is this more evidence to suggest that he believes God will intervene?

What does this story teach today’s parents? I think that the story of Abraham and Isaac is a very painful lesson for very well-meaning parents. Lately I’ve had a very hard time finding balance between my faith life and motherhood. Those of you who attend Reliant are without a doubt aware that Sam can be…shall we say…rambunctious. If either Jeremy or I are not chasing him around downstairs, we’re frantically pulling toys and snacks out of the diaper bag in a desperate attempt to keep him entertained. It doesn’t make for a very worshipful experience. I used to pray every night before bed. Now, I’m asleep within nanoseconds of my head hitting the pillow. I used to be a part of a community group, which I loved and was nourished by, now my evenings center around Sam’s seven o’clock bedtime. In fact, more than just my evenings center on Sam. I’m constantly tempted to make him the most important part of my life, and that’s a weak foundation—a job that’s much too big for a baby, no matter how energetic. Saying motherhood makes me too busy to put God first may sound like a noble excuse, but it’s still just an excuse. With Abraham and Isaac, God shows that even the bond between parent and child is not to come before Him.

Of course, the story doesn’t end with Abraham’s knife poised about his beloved son:

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

The thing that really interests me in the end of the story is that earlier Isaac asks where the sacrificial lamb is and Abraham responds that God will provide the lamb. But what God sends is a ram. God tells Abraham that Isaac, the young innocent lamb, is the sacrifice, but the real sacrifice is Abraham, the old ram, who must deny every human and fatherly instinct to show that He places God above everything else.

I have to admit, I’m not there with Abraham. Not yet. I am such a sinner. Thankfully, this story is another that directly points to Christ. Just like Abraham, God is willing to sacrifice his only Son, whom He loves. But, of course, no one intervened in that sacrifice. And in Abraham’s hope, we see our own—that God resurrects the Son, the happy ending that only His grace provides.

Sermon 02-27-11 "Hearts and Priorities"

2011-02-27T21:15:00.002-06:00

Today we listen to Haggai. When the first wave of Jewish exiles returned from Babylon to Jerusalem in 538 BC, they began to rebuild the temple but soon gave up. Inspired by the prophetic ministries of Haggai and Zechariah, they finally completed the task in 515. Haggai rebuked the people for living in “paneled houses” while the house of God remained in ruins. The rebuilding of the temple symbolized God’s restored presence among his people, unique among the nations of the earth.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Lessons in Sacrifice: Hannah

2011-02-23T09:00:00.001-06:00

by Megan Roegner

When I first found out that I was pregnant with Samuel, I had some reasons to fear that I might have a miscarriage. It took several days for the results of the bloodwork to come back to my doctor’s, and during that time, I was a wreck. I spent most of my time outside of work crying and Googling (which, of course, is the worst thing to do). I also spent a lot of time praying; when I think of my desperate prayers at that time, I am reminded of Hannah, mother of the original Samuel.

Hannah was barren and wanted a child more than anything else. Year after year, when Hannah traveled with her husband to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice, she prayed and prayed to conceive. She wept, she wouldn’t eat. Although our situations were not exactly the same, I think Hannah and I shared many of the same feelings: we were both desperate, wild with hope and fear for a child who had not been born yet. In those moments, Hannah and I would have given anything for that child.

After who knows how many years of desperate prayers, Hannah made a vow: “O Lord of hosts, if you indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head” (1 Samuel 1:11). She prayed so intently that Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk. When he asked her to leave, Hannah responded, “I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:15) (which I think is such a beautiful description of prayer). Soon after Hannah and her husband returned from Shiloh, she conceived and then gave birth to a son.

It’s a happy story, right? Hannah got what she wanted, her prayers had been answered. But, of course, she had made a vow to give her son to God. As soon as her Samuel was weaned (my study Bible estimates this to have probably been around the age of three), she took him back to Shiloh and left him with Eli to be raised as a priest.

It’s paradoxical. To get what she most desperately wants, Hannah promises to give it up. I can’t say I’d do the same. I have a feeling that if I were in Hannah’s position, I would be finding ways to logic myself out of that vow pretty darn quick. However, although Hannah’s situation is extreme, I think it is illustrative of the challenge Christian parents face. We work hard to provide for our children, we carefully ponder every decision about how to raise them, we kiss their boo-boos, we rock them back to sleep at night, but in the end, as Christians, we must put their lives entirely in God’s hands. How many of us sacrifice control as trustingly and worshipfully as Hannah? When she leaves Samuel at Shiloh, she does not regret her vow, nor does she ask God to take it away, rather she exclaims, “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation” (1 Samuel 2:1).

Just like Ruth, Hannah is another parent whose story is a shadow of the sacrificial love God shows us through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The paradox exists in Jesus’ story as well. God’s law requires perfection from his children, so He sacrificed His perfect Child. Also like Ruth, Hannah’s story shows us that when we trust God, the return is much greater than the investment. God had great plans for Hannah’s Samuel, who anointed and guided the first kings of Israel. I pray that God’s will be done in my Samuel’s life and that God gives me the courage to place my son’s life entirely in His gracious hands.

Sermon 02-20-11 "Stirred Up"

2011-02-21T10:40:00.001-06:00

Today we listen to Zechariah, a prophet during the rebuilding of the Temple. Zechariah provided a continued message giving purpose and support to the rebuilding of the Temple as wearied exiles returned to their promised land. His message is mostly a message of hope for the people of God and a promise of the coming Messiah. His style of writing is mostly prose and recordings of divine visions, setting him apart from the other prophets we have covered in the series. We focus on his message when reading Zechariah and believe his words of comfort and hope bring us pointed prophecies about Jesus Christ.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 02-13-11 "Action Every Day"

2011-02-21T10:37:00.001-06:00

Today we listen to Moses. In addition to being a leader of God’s people, a mediator before God, and the bearer of God’s Law, Moses was a prophet, speaking on God’s behalf. “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you . . .” (Deut. 18:15).

Deuteronomy, which means “second law,” is Moses’ concluding sermon to a new generation of Israelites as they stood on the threshold of the Promised Land. He recaps the people’s history and reviews the commands and statutes of God. Deuteronomy is a solemn call to love and obey the one, true God. Like a father repeating the house rules with a teenager, God shows a loving forbearance with a rebellious people. C.S. Lewis wrote, “It’s not always that we need to be taught as much as we need to be reminded.” Today, with faithful attentiveness, we hear God’s call to love and obedience.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Lessons in Sacrifice: Ruth

2011-02-16T08:33:00.002-06:00

by Megan Roegner

I’ve read Ruth more than any other book of the Bible. I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit I’ve read it so much because it’s romantic. Well, at least in my imagination it is…Ruth and Boaz cast fleeting looks at each other across the barley field; her heart skips a beat when Naomi tells her to meet him on threshing floor; Boaz is gripped with anxiety at the thought of another man being Ruth’s kinsman redeemer; and they live happily ever after. Sigh…

But that’s not why I’m writing about Ruth today. Last week, I wrote about how Mary’s role as a mother teaches us about sacrifice and joy. Throughout the Bible there is a motif of sacrificial love displayed through the parent-child relationship. Jesus is sacrificial love personified, and hundreds of years before His birth, we see that God is preparing His people for His arrival. There are many different levels of parent-child sacrifice shown in Ruth.

First is the sacrifice Ruth makes as a loving daughter to Naomi. The most famous verse in Ruth is the vow she gives Naomi: “For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried” (1:22). What an incredible promise for Ruth to make! To leave her home and everything familiar out of devotion to a woman who could provide her little to no security must have taken tremendous courage and strength of character. Ruth must have had to make many smaller sacrifices after this: She must sacrifice her pride to become a beggar, gleaning in Boaz’s fields. When she is sent by Naomi to prostrate herself at Boaz’s feet on the threshing floor, some small part of her must have been willing to sacrifice her reputation.

Another level of sacrifice is the role of Boaz as the kinsman redeemer. A kinsman redeemer was needed to provide for a childless widow and give her late husband an heir; his biological son would be considered the legal son of the woman’s dead husband. Despite the glorious romance I envision, “redeeming” Ruth and Naomi is a sacrifice for Boaz because his future son and the land he was required to buy and tend would never be fully his.

When Ruth and Boaz do have a son, this seems to contain another level of sacrifice for Ruth as well as Boaz. This young, first-time mother has her baby, and her mother-in-law takes him over! “And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi’” (4:17). OK, I’m exaggerating, and knowing Ruth’s selflessness, I’m sure she didn’t mind anyway. But as a new mother myself, I see this as a lesson on how a child does not just belong to his parents, he is also a valuable part of a community. When my son Samuel was a newborn, this was hard for me to comprehend. There were many family members and friends who claimed Samuel in one way or another as their own. It was easy for me to feel possessive, but I found that there was so much more to be gained when I was willing to “give” Samuel to those who loved him too. At his Baptism, it was an awe-inspiring comfort and blessing to see him surrounded by people who promised to help guide him and teach him in his faith.

This child of Ruth’s is named Obed, which means “one who serves.” Obed is the father of Jesse, who is the father of King David. The return for Boaz’s and Ruth’s sacrifice is being the great-grandparents of Israel’s greatest king. And, of course, it doesn’t end there since Jesus is of the lineage of David. The Book of Ruth truly foreshadows the Messiah in many ways. At the heart of it is the love between parents and children and the big and small sacrifices we sometimes are called to make in these relationships. The happy ending is that we gain much more than we are asked to give.

Sermon 02-06-11 "Were We Not Created By One Father"

2011-02-07T13:25:00.002-06:00

Today we listen to Malachi, a prophet to the people of Israel who’s name means ‘my messenger’. Malachi is the last of the prophets and was active around 430 B.C. Once again a prophet is sent to speak in a land that has turned its eyes away from the Lord. The message of Malachi is for the people of God to serve and be with Him. Israel should be faithful, not because God is needy, but because God loves them. Malachi proclaims God’s love and the coming of the Son of God, the messenger of a better covenant.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Lessons in Sacrifice: Mary

2011-02-03T09:19:00.002-06:00

by Megan Roegner

There is one part of the Christmas story that has always captured my attention more than any other: “But Mary treasured up these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). That sentence has always been so beautifully poetic to me, especially in the context of the rest of the reading: In Luke 2: 8-21, ten sentences start with the word “And.” I imagine a flurry of activity surrounding the birth of Jesus. The angels are singing, the shepherds are worshipping—Luke’s narration can barely keep up—“And…And…And.” Only verse 19 starts with “But.” Only Mary is still, a lull in the storm. I love the verb “treasured,” showing the priceless worth of the experience. My very favorite part is “pondering them in her heart.” Pondering is usually the in the domain of the mind, but Mary ponders in her heart, a blend of thought and emotion, of wisdom and feeling. Young, inexperienced Mary becomes a symbol of the most profound joy.

On Christmas Eve 2009, I was nine months pregnant. When the pastor read this verse, I could feel my baby move inside me, and I started to understand what this verse really means. Two weeks later, my son Samuel was born. There were so many things to treasure up—his comforting warmth on my chest, his sweet milky smell, watching my husband become a father. I remember once at the hospital, Jeremy and I were watching Samuel sleep. He wasn’t doing anything—his chest was just rising and falling gently, and yet it kept us transfixed. I loved him so much that I wanted to cry (and did). But my joyful pondering led me to an unexpected epiphany. I wondered to Jeremy in amazement at the idea that this was probably how our parents felt about us. How incredible that someone could love me this way!

God reveals different aspects of himself through our experiences, and becoming a parent has helped me understand what it means to be a child. The love I have for my son is sacrificial—if I could, I would take the burden of every pain and every sadness and bear it myself without hesitation. But to be honest, that is what I expected to feel even before I knew what it would actually feel like. This kind of sacrificial love is expected from parents. However, how often do we think about what it means to be that child a parent would die for? It is overwhelming and a little bit disconcerting to think about being the recipient of such a sacrifice. Immediately, at least for me, feelings of unworthiness creep up, the fear of being a disappointment. When I think back to Sam, though, I know that no sleepless nights now or teenage hijinks in the future will bear any weight on my love for him. My love just is; how astounding to know that this pales in comparison with God’s perfect and eternal love for me.

On the other end of the spectrum, once a child has accepted a parent’s sacrifice, it becomes too easy to take it for granted. Even though it seems as though the Christmas season has just ended, Lent will be here soon—it’s a season Lutherans love with its solemnity and minor chords and the drama of the Passion. But maybe it sometimes becomes a little too familiar. This year, when I feel like I’ve lost my grip on the enormity of the sacrifice God has made for me, I’m going to think of Mary.

I like the fact that Luke never reveals what exactly Mary ponders as she treasures up the experience of Jesus’ birth. I imagine, after giving birth in a stable and then being visited by any number of earthly and heavenly creatures, one deserves a moment of private reflection. I have to wonder, though, if she had yet begun to imagine the pain that would accompany the honor of being the mother of the Messiah. Did she ever think about Isaiah’s prophecies?

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed. (53:4-5)

If Mary is a symbol of profound joy during Christmas, she is a symbol of the deepest grief on Good Friday, kneeling powerless at the foot of the cross as her son is being killed in the most horrifying way for others’ sins, for her sins—the mother becomes the child, the recipient of the ultimate sacrifice. As a parent, I can’t imagine anything worse. No amount of suffering I bear would equate to watching my son suffer and being powerless to stop it.

Thankfully, Mary’s story doesn’t end at the foot of the cross, and neither does ours. After suffering his death, Mary witnesses her son’s resurrection—what indescribable joy that must have been! Becoming a parent has helped me understand this joy even more. I think it’s interesting that in the last reference to Mary by name in the Bible, Acts 1:14, she is praying together with the other disciples after Jesus’ ascension. Contrasting with her private moment in Luke 2, in Acts 1 she is an active part of a community of believers. Mary ultimately becomes a symbol of how the joy of the resurrection is not just to be pondered, but shared.

Missional Vocation: Missional Living and Faith

2011-01-31T09:17:00.002-06:00

by Natalie McLaury

For the past few weeks, Ryan and I have been sharing our thoughts on Missional Vocation. We’ve applied the idea to the workplace, the community, and the home. The idea of Missional Vocation in the various realms in which we interact is a good one; as Christians, we are called to live out our faith. As Christ’s disciples in the year 2011, we are compelled to follow the Great Commission that was laid out thousands of years ago.

Now that we have considered a few different ideas about missional living, however, we need to take a step back. Ultimately, we cannot be missional in our actions with our co-workers, our neighbors, and our family members, unless we have a right relationship with our Lord and Savior.

If the coaches of the Green Bay Packers were using the same plays season after season, with the same players in the same positions, they probably wouldn’t be very effective. In order to better their team and win games, they have to be continuously learning. The coaches must research new plays, study lineups, and have an understanding of the game that is always growing and evolving. A stagnant team will never be a successful team.

The same could be said about our faith. A stagnant faith has the power to hinder missional living. To be effective missionaries, wherever we are and whomever we encounter, we have to be continuously growing in our own faith journeys. Much like the Packers study the playbooks, we must study our playbook: the Bible. A deeper understanding of the Word will better equip us to live it out. A more consistent prayer life will better equip us to use it as a tool. A disciplined devotional practice will better equip us to keep missional living a priority.

I encourage you, and myself, to be missional. Be missional in your occupation. Be missional in your community. Be missional in your home. But first, be diligent and intentional about your faith, your beliefs, and your relationship with Jesus Christ. Sharpen this and watch God teach you, grow you, and use you.

Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Missional Vocation: In the Home

2011-01-24T11:18:00.000-06:00

by Ryan McLaury

One setting where we often do not think we are—or should be—missional is in the home. Just as I mentioned the many different types of workplaces we have a couple weeks ago, there are a number of different vocations within the home. Siblings, children, fathers, mothers, spouses, grandparents, etc. God has called each of these to live out the Gospel, although these roles have varying degrees of responsibility within the home. Not all of us have experienced each stratum within the domestic hierarchy. A bachelor is not yet a spouse. I am not yet a father. However, we must be prepared to live missionally in both present and future states.

So how do we live missionally in the home? Surely we aren’t sharing the Gospel on a daily basis with our immediate family members? For some, that is exactly what it means. Not all of us are blessed enough to share the hope and promise we find in Christ with each family member. Even those who are so blessed have responsibilities commanded to them by God. For parents, it means teaching the Gospel to children and providing a Christ-centered environment in which to grow. For spouses, it means being a spiritual leader and providing Christ-like support and love. For children, it means honoring and loving parents and siblings.

I will be the first to admit that it isn’t easy living missionally as a son, brother, and husband. It’s hard enough just to keep these relationships running smoothly each day, and God expects us to take on spiritual responsibilities on top of that? The good news is that when we are living according to God’s commands and allow Him to guide these relationships, it’s actually quite easy to succeed in these roles. That hardest part for me is remembering that piece of good news, rather than trying to rely on my own abilities (or lack thereof). God has equipped us with the proper tools to succeed (the Word and the Church). We just have to trust Him and take full advantage of His blessings.

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. –Hebrews 3: 12-13

Sermon 01-16-11 "Game Plan"

2011-01-17T09:51:00.001-06:00

What would it be like to hear a Biblical prophet speak in the 21^st century? What would they say to our church and context? In the New Year, we allow Old Testament prophets to speak. And we listen. They are mouthpieces for God. Thus we believe that in listening to the prophets, we are hearing the divine voice of God. A voice of justice and mercy, of judgment and promise.

We begin this series with a guest preacher, Dr. Andy Bartelt. Dr. Bartelt is the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. As a Hebrew scholar and respected churchman, he sets the prophetic stage today, helping us understand the role of an Old Testament prophet within God’s overall plan. We appreciate Dr. Bartelt’s service to us this morning.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Missional Vocation: In the Community

2011-01-12T11:34:00.001-06:00

by Natalie McLaury

If you ask those around me to describe me, you’ll get a lot of different answers. My siblings will tell you that I’m a little bossy and a lot protective of them. My co-workers will tell you that I’m dependable and willing to tackle any project. My friends will tell you that I love to cook and bake, especially in their company. Ryan will tell you that I’m happiest when I’m running and that I tend to steal the covers. These various groups of people all see me differently, but hopefully they’d all also mention my love for the Lord and my commitment to my faith.

But what about those people who don’t know me? The ones who catch glimpses of me and the way I live my life? The pharmacist at Walgreens might mention how impatient I seemed. My neighbors might tell you I’ve never once said “hi” or asked how their day is going. The security guard at work might speak of my frown. I doubt any of them might think there’s something noticeably different about me, something that might make them think I belong to Jesus.

Don’t be misled. No Christian is meant to be happy and overtly kind one hundred percent of the time. But have you ever stopped to think about the way you live those little moments in your life? In all our communities, we have the opportunity to interact with a vast group of people on a regular basis. Every trip to the grocery story, every walk to the mailbox, every traffic jam on the highway, we find ourselves with people who don’t know the intricacies of our personalities like our families, co-workers, and friends do. Our interactions with the members of our extended community are often brief and fleeting. How can we, as Christians, make an impact on those people?

To live missionally requires a certain attitude and mindset. We’re human. We don’t wake up eager to let someone cut into our checkout lane, to have a conversation with the man behind the counter, to pay for the person in line behind us. Actions like this require humility and bravery. But God equips us for moments like this, especially if we ask him. As we begin to string these moments together, eventually we can live lives that stand out, lives that cause strangers to stop and question our motives. It is then that we can plant seeds and begin to share God’s love and grace with those in our communities.

Hebrews 13:20-21 “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Sermon 01-09-11 "Boundless Scope"

2011-01-10T09:49:00.001-06:00

In the church calendar, Jesus gets a 12 day birthday celebration (the 12 days of Christmas). Christmas is officially ended by Epiphany, which celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles and the visit of the Wise Men to the Christ child. Epiphany is traditionally celebrated on January 6. With the story of these Eastern sages, we are reminded of the global nature of the gospel. The Christ-child’s significance has no limits, and knows no boundaries.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Missional Vocation: In the Workplace

2011-01-07T10:18:00.002-06:00

By Ryan McLaury

Throughout January, my wife Natalie and I will be pondering what missional living looks like in a variety of vocations. We begin this week by examining mission in the workplace.

We each have a workplace of some sort, although a workplace can take on many forms, depending on age, circumstance, career path, etc. In the last two years, I have worked in the classroom, in the job market, behind a cash register, and in a cubicle. Others work in their homes, hospitals, churches, and so on. The commonality between us is that we all work in some setting.

It’s difficult enough deciding where to work, securing a position, executing daily tasks, and growing in a given career. But I believe that living missionally in the workplace poses an even greater challenge (and is correspondingly more important). Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 19-20, stating, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Despite Jesus’ command, I often struggle to be an intentional missionary at work. Regardless of the work setting, one key to successfully (and appropriately) sharing the Gospel is earning the right to be heard. Simply developing friendships and showing genuine care and concern for others will earn you a lot of leeway in your conversations. I feel that I have done fairly well in this regard. Okay, so I don’t have any friends at work that I spend time with outside the office, but I have developed informal relationships with numerous coworkers. I feel that I have gained their respect, and they know that I go to church, and I believe I set a good example through my behavior. I have earned the right to be heard, but I too often am not.

Two attributes essential to be intentionally missional are motivation and courage. I am intrinsically motivated when I am reminded that the Gospel is a generous gift from God and that I would be selfish to not share it. Courage is often more difficult to muster, due to fear of rejection and overstepping social boundaries. We must pray for the courage to put aside human comforts. I find this especially difficult in the workplace, but where else do I spend forty hours or more each week surrounded by people in need of the Gospel? We all have been given great opportunities to serve God in our workplaces. I challenge all of us to be heard. Better yet, God commands it.

Sermon 01-02-11 "The Old and The New"

2011-01-05T12:50:00.001-06:00

The images of Christmas are starting to fade in our society. The time for presents has past and most of the decorations have come down. However, the Church is still in its Christmas season. Christmas is a twelve-day celebration of the incarnation and lasts until January 6 when Epiphany is celebrated. Before we move on to think about the journey of the Wise Men in Epiphany, we continue to reflect on the importance of our God coming to us in the flesh, coming to be present with us. Christmas is more than a baby in a manger, it is a God coming in the flesh and the anticipation of His return.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Sermon 12-26-10 "After Christmas"

2011-01-05T09:40:00.002-06:00

New sermon given by Robert Millar posted at reliantchurch.org

Images of God: Salvation He Brings

2010-12-23T10:47:00.004-06:00

by Brad Malone

It’s uncommon to look to the death of Christ during this season. This week of Christmas celebrations is normally a time where we do not think about death rather we think of life. Well, maybe that is not completely true. Sometimes when we are gathered with our families it is hard not to think of the person who couldn’t be there because they have since shuffled off this mortal coil. But after a few brief thoughts and a small cry we move on to carols, cookies, and comedy. It would be ridiculous to think that this is something that should stop or that it is all-together a bad thing. We are in the darkest part of the year, if it were not for Christmas we would all move a bit slower and be a bit sadder because of the grey winter skies and the overwhelming, cold night. However with the message of Christmas there is a low-key theme of death. The Savior has come to die.

In a way what should be on our minds Christmas day is the death the babe Jesus will come to face. Without the death of Christ, the incarnation would not have shown its power and work. “What Child Is This”—which happens to be my favorite Christmas song—highlights both the incarnation and the death of the babe. The song pleads, “Good Christian, fear: for sinners here The silent Word is pleading.Nails, spear shall pierce him through,The Cross be borne for me, for you;Hail, hail the Word Made Flesh,The babe, the son of Mary!” The birth we celebrate on the 25^th was a birth with a purpose. The birth, one of extraordinary circumstances as is, was the incarnation of God in the flesh. Knowing that the world would reject Him, the birth of Christ was a birth focused on an untimely death at the hands of everyone. The very King of kings in the manger, who wears the crown and the shepherds guard and the angels sing, comes to bear the cross.

To continue looking at interpretations of Christ’s life we look at another painting by Sergei Chepik called Golgotha. The image does not actually show the death of the King of kings or even the throne on which He hangs, but shows the crowd at the foot of His tree. Some of the people could barely look at the atrocity of the cross while others stand in judgment affirming their actions, some stand in outrage with arms outstretch, and then on the ground barely able to hold herself up is the mother Mary. The same Mary who the angel spoke to and brought tidings of joy and the same Mary who clung to her son in the manger. The Man on the cross is her babe, the son of Mary, the Son of Man, the Son of God. Congregated at the foot of the cross stands the guilty (even the ones we would consider innocent) who watch the purpose of the birth come to fruition.

Something different about Chepik’s image of Golgotha is the color. In the other images we have seen there are backgrounds of dark and deep colors. The colors made what we had thought to be joyous and light-hearted moments much more serious. This image of Christ’s death actually has a very light and vibrant color scheme. Despite the dark shadows of death at the bottom, the sky is blue and light is shining brightly. The color scheme affirms us that despite the darkness of the death of the King of kings, there is still the Christmas hope. The incarnation has served its purpose; the Savior has paid the ultimate price. The hope of Christmas is there because at the cross the Savior laid down His life. The peace of man’s salvation has come and in His death the angels sing of joy for “the King of kings salvation brings.”

Images of God: The Search

2010-12-13T10:27:00.004-06:00

by Brad Malone

We are in the season of crowds. People are pushing and shoving their way through the mall, restaurants, and even Churches. It has always been odd to me that at the darkest time of year people are the most active and most rambunctious. Maybe it is because people need to keep warm or stay awake despite the increasing darkness. As an extravert I get excited by the crammed crowds and could spend hours milling around shopping for friends and families. The one thing that is noticeable about these crowds is that everyone is on a search, whether it be gifts, food, or company.

This makes me think that these crowds are not some American phenomenon, but something that is universal and has been a part of humanity since its Fall in the Garden. Throughout the Gospels in Scripture we see episodes of Christ’s life where He is followed by similar crowds looking for something. Some of the crowds came bearing questions about faith, law, and life while others were searching for a simple cure or raising from the dead. One story has a crowd so big and dense that people removed part of a rough to lower down their paralytic friend (Mark 2). Many of us grew up singing about wee little Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to get above a crowd in order to see Jesus. At Christ’s first coming crowds of angels appeared and a group of shepherds sought Him.

During the Middle Ages and Renaissance time periods many paintings made for churches or altars portrayed the events of Christ’s life with multitudes of people surrounding Him. Sergie Chepik in his second instillation at St. Paul’s Cathedral intentionally did the same. The painting is entitled The Public Ministry of Our Lord and depicts acts of Christ before His death and resurrection. The painting has three sections the first, to the left, with Christ healing, the second of Christ standing in the midst of water holding up a cross, and the third of Him preaching and teaching. In all three sections of the painting Christ is surrounded by large crowds. In the first section crowds of people are bringing their ill friends and the lame are crawling up the steps to reach Him. In the third section a mass of people are surrounding Him listening, contemplating, arguing, challenging, and reflecting. In the second section, the focal point of the composition, the crowd stands to the back watching and listening as Christ points to the event of salvation, the event of His death on the cross. The person, on his knees, stares up to the wooden cross raised-up high for all to see.

What is important to see in this painting is that in the midst of the searching crowds Christ stands tall and in the center. In answer to all their questions, all their ailments, and all their damnation, Christ stands before them. In the midst of the darkness, as they climb the stairs to be healed, or in the night of their confusion, Christ sheds light from the center exposing all. He brings healing to those searching for Him and gives lessons to those looking for answers, and holds before the eyes of the redeemed the cross, the sign pointing to His purpose in coming. In Advent we rejoice in Christ’s first coming and call out a prayer for His second, Come, Lord Jesus, Come! With every scene of His life and every crowd in Scriptures we yearn more for Him to return, because in His Second Coming all will be healed, all will be raised, and all will know.

For now the crowds continue to search and continue to cram. People still search for answers and look for healing. However, just like in Chepik’s image, the cross is held high and in the center. The Church—the people of God—gathers in the Living Water and at the feet of its savior looking to the cross. Christ is where our search ends, the answers are found, the sick are secured, the dead die in hope of life, and the knowledge of God brings peace.

2010-12-13T10:15:00.001-06:00

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The season of Advent is a double focus on past and future. As followers of Christ, we affirm that He has broken into humanity with his birth 2,000 years ago. We also affirm that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. This results in a profound sense that we live "between the times" and are called to live lives of radical commitment to his mission.

New sermon posted at reliantchurch.org

Advent by Candlelight

2010-12-08T09:04:00.006-06:00

by Bobbi Cloeter

Advent is the time when we wait with anticipation for the coming of our Savior, Jesus. It is also the beginning of the holiday season. While the hustle and bustle of the holiday season can be overwhelming, Advent is a purposeful pause in our busy days. One way to take a much needed break from the busy-ness of the season is spending time with good friends and remembering the reason for this Christmas season. This was our second year of participation in the Advent By Candlelight reception held at our mother church Christ Memorial.

Sara Poppitz and I played hostesses to 9 ladies from Reliant. The tables were decorated with elegant place settings, red and silver decorations, and the entire room was lit only with candle light. In addition to delicious desserts and snacks, we also enjoyed a performance from the Christ Memorial Hand Bell Choir. The setting was lovely, the food was delectable, the company was phenomenal, but the reason for this holiday season is Jesus. And taking a break in the madness of the season allowed us to shrug off the commercial feelings of Christmas and refocus on the real reason we celebrate. Enjoy your holiday season and (ladies) plan to join us next year for an evening of quiet and peace in the midst of a busy season.