Thanks

Thanks, thanks, thanks to Debbi for putting together another great VBS. Even though I'm writing this before it's all over, what I've seen so far is wonderful.

Thanks to everyone who helped out, too, but I really want to highlight her contribution. Debbi carries a huge load every year for VBS, not only doing what the director should do, but also doing all the things that she can't find volunteers for. It's a stressful responsibility, and she always handles it with excellence.

This is one of DBC's great opportunities to minister to our kids, to reach out to the community, and to make sure the Gospel is clearly presented. It's more than fun and games - it's being missional.

Please remember to pray for Debbi, for the kids who heard the Gospel, and for DBC to increase it's impact on our community.

For us to be more and more the church God wants us to be, it will take more of us to give of ourselves, just as Debbi and her crew gave of themselves for our VBS kids.

The Power of the Very Small

Part of the package of pastoring is that things like kidney stones become a lot more public than for other folks. And I have appreciated your expressions of care and concern that have come with it.

Being a novice in the whole stone thing, I am learning what many of you have already shared - especially the phenomenal amount of pain that can be caused by something so small. I was reduced to a curled ball of writhing whining in pursuit of only one thing - relief. A 2mm mineral pellet took down a 175-lb man. The power of the very small.

This reminds me of James 3:1-12, which speaks of the power of the tongue - like a small rudder, it can cause an entire ship to change directions. Entire lives can be changed by a spoken word. Indeed, wars have been started by the power of the tongue. The power of the very small.

Sin is the same way - even the "small" ones can take you down! We have the mistaken notion that small sins are less dangerous to our souls. They may be less dangerous in the impact they have on others - stealing candy poses less danger to the victim than taking a bat to his kneecaps. But that doesn't mean that selling out your character for candy poses less danger to your soul than selling out your character to get violent revenge. Both eat away at your inner being with the same voracious appetite. "Small" sins can destroy us as readily as the "big" ones. The power of the very small.

But Jesus also talks positively of the power of the very small. He says in Luke 17:5-6 that even the faith of a mustard seed has the power to move mountains. Frequently, Jesus refers to little children as the models of the kind of faith that we can have. Even the Kingdom of God is likened to a mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds, but grows into one of the largest plants in a typical garden in Jerusalem. Not one single Christian should feel too small (or too young, too weak, too inexperienced, too uneducated, too whatever) to be used mightily in God's kingdom. All it takes is the faith of a mustard seed. The power of the very small.

Just like a little kidney stone can take out a grown man, your faith can move mountains. Abdominable pain will forever remind me of what even a little faith can do.

Opportunities Before Us

This Summer, we have many opportunities for each of us to become more missional (which is what our recent Philippians series was all about). I look at these opportunities in two ways: 1) Of course, there is the goal to accomplish some tasks, but my primary motive is: 2) As we give of ourselves to God's mission, He changes us - He develops us more into the image of Christ. I would like for you to consider the following opportunities because I know what God can do both in you and through you when you serve Him in ways like these:

1. Pray for the Youth Mission Trip: In last week's bulletin, and in this week's bulletin, there is an insert of prayer requests for each day that the youth will be on this trip. Please take this insert, stick it in your Bible or on your fridge, and pray daily for them. I believe firmly that the report we get back will be far greater if we commit to pray.
2. Give to the Youth Mission Trip: Fundraising is not yet complete - as of this writing, they still need about $1800 for the entire group. Please considering donating or "hiring" one of the youth after they return to do odd jobs to raise funds.
3. Prepare for VBS: There is a lot of work that needs to be done to get the building and the teaching materials ready for VBS (coming up in less than two weeks!). This Saturday, starting at 9am, we're coming together as a team to get everything ready, from painting to constructing to preparing simple crafts. There's something for everyone. I appreciate those who turned out last Saturday, but to be honest - it was too few people. The return on investment of the prep work we do is enormous - children will discover truths about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please consider the importance of this outreach and help us with quite simple tasks to help make it happen.
4. Volunteer for VBS: Debbi still needs helpers - if you can play games, walk from one part of the building to another, move some chairs, throw away trash, haul away trash, we need your skills. Of course, we need those who are gifted in working with children, but we also need a lot people who don't necessarily have that gift.
5. Moving ABC Women's Clinic: ABC Women's Clinic is moving locations, and they need volunteers Monday and Tuesday. They must be out of their current building by Tuesday, so they need people who can load and unload supplies, people with trucks to provide more capacity, and so on. ABC Women's Clinic is the only clinic for several counties that offers a Christ-centered approach to unwanted pregnancies. To help, just show up at ABC on Monday or Tuesday (ask me if you have any questions).
6. Make Breakfast: We're having a breakfast before church on June 21. We need men who are willing to help make a simple breakfast. We usually get enough men to help with that - but please sign up so that we know what's covered. We often, however, don't have enough help setting up and cleaning up. Please plan to arrive early to help set up and stay a few minutes later to clean up.
7. Organize a Picnic: We'd like to have a few all-church summer activities, and I'm not the world's best at putting even a simple event together. I would love for one or two people to offer to plan a few simple events, like a Sunday evening picnic and volleyball game.

A lot of Christians want to experience more of Christ in their lives, and there are many ways to do that: regular Quiet Times, spiritual retreats, gathering with other believers, and so on. But the Bible is very clear that one of the ways we experience more of Christ is to serve Him and the needs of His Church. He's created a great Win-Win situation - when we serve Him, not only do we accomplish the goals that He has, but we also get to experience more of Him. Yes, it's a sacrifice - but it's a sacrifice that has tremendous rewards.

Please take 60 seconds right now to pray about helping with one or more of these needs.

Why Did God Create Me? (Part 5)

For the last four weeks, we've been exploring the question of why God created us, the human race. (Please refer to the previous posts for those discussions and conclusions.) This leads us to the obvious question about why God created me. Understanding why God created us is theologically interesting, but a little too philosophical to be practical. Why did He create me in particular? (Not that any of us is all that phenomenal, but we are the only me's that we have!)

Although the purpose of creating all of mankind may be a bit philosophical, we've got to understand that purpose before we understand our individual purposes. In other words, I cannot discover why God created me until I understand why God created us.

Whatever purpose I have, it must be related to the purpose of mankind in particular. As a member of the human race, my purpose as a member must be derived from the purpose of the race as a whole. Last week, we concluded that:

We exist to bear His image in order to bring Him glory and to enjoy Him forever.

Therefore, my personal purpose must somehow be to bear God's image and bring Him glory and enjoy Him forever. Whatever my specific purpose is, it must be an example of this larger purpose. God's individual purposes for us can be quite a bit different: Some exist to bring the Gospel to different people groups, others exist to build houses, others exist to raise children, others exist to teach, others exist and so on. (Most of us have purposes that include several different things.) All of these are equal in their ability to serve God's goals - the plumber is no less a part of God's plan than a pastor is.

God's purpose for each is different in its features, but ultimately, God's purpose for each of is a unique example of the purpose of mankind. The homemaker's purpose is an instance of being an image bearer of God, to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Same for the manufacturer, the athlete, or the scholar.

So, as you endeavor to discover God's purpose for you, if it does clearly fit into the purpose of mankind, it cannot be the purpose for your life.

Here are some helpful thoughts in exploring what your purpose might be:

• Discovering your purpose is a journey, not a destination. Your purpose will change over time, so don't expect to suddenly "figure it out" and then never face the question again.
  
  
• We can't just make up any purpose - it must be an example of the overall purpose of mankind.
  
  
• God often gives us great freedom - we know the main purpose, and we have choices before us of how we live to fulfill that purpose. So, "my purpose" may not be something that God has defined narrowly for me - He may well have a broad definition, and as long as I stay within those parameters, I have a lot of freedom. Some have broader parameters than others.
  
  
• Sometimes, God has something very, very specific. Moses had a very specific purpose. David, Paul, Elijah, Isaiah, and many others had very specific purposes (they didn't have the same freedom as most people do).
  
  
• If God had something very specific for you, He won't make it a guessing game where you have to try to decipher the clues. When He has something very specific, He makes it plain and clear. In all the Biblical examples of people with specific purposes, God made it obvious.
  
  
• Use all the God-given resources to discover your purpose: Scripture, wise counselors, prayer, patience, good Christian books, and the immanently useful tool of trial-and-error. (It's OK to fail if you're exploring to find God's purpose.)
  
  
• When you think you have an idea of what God might want of you, and you've made good use of all the God-given resources listed above, then the best thing is to take one step in the direction you think God wants you to go. Then stop and tell the Lord, "To the best of my ability, this is the direction I think would please You. If I'm wrong, please stop me. Otherwise, I'll keep going in this direction as long as I think it's right." Then see what happens. What Lynne and I have discovered is that once you take that first step and then give it back to God, He very often immediately confirms that you're on the right path or that you need to turn back. Rarely do we feel like He's not given us more revelation after taking a step of faith.
  
  
• You are very unlikely to discover your purpose if you do not pursue it.
  

There's a very good reason why God doesn't just write out our specific purposes on a piece of paper. He develops our character and our faith in the journey. It's a growth process that He wants us to go through, and one that we can't skip and still grow to maturity.

Most likely, you won't just discover your purpose like solving a math problem. The common experience that I've observed is that your purpose is gradually clarified over time. Over the years of seeking God, you get a clearer and clearer picture of your purpose as it slowly comes into focus. But I find a greater and greater peace the more I discover God's purpose for me.

Why Did God Create Us? (Part 4)

For the last 3 weeks, we've been exploring the question of why God created us by asking several other questions in order to get to an answer. So far, we've asked:

1. How did God make man different than the animals?
2. How does the penalty of sin drive us away from our purpose?
3. What is the end result of redemption?
4. What is the goal of our mission?
5. Was there an important story before man was created?
6. What is the ultimate purpose of Christ taking on a human nature (the "incarnation")?

Please refer to the previous posts to see how each of these questions has been answered.

All of the answers keep coming back to this concept of the imago Dei (the "image of God"). We were created with it uniquely, sin damaged it, redemption repaired it, our mission is to bring this repair to others, the angels are watching the drama of it unfold, and Jesus bore the image perfectly, which was absolutely necessary for our salvation.

Clearly, God created us to bear His image, and to bear it well. But since the image of God is what allows us to have a relationship with him, we can also add that God created us to have a relationship with Him. That's why He gave us the image, that's why we had to have it repaired when it was damaged, and that's why Jesus had to bear it perfectly. God created us specifically to bear His image and to be in a relationship with Him.

What's the big deal about bearing God's image? Because that's what glorifies Him most. The best thing we can do to glorify God is to reflect His image with excellence. The more we bear His image, the more we glorify Him. There is nothing in this universe more glorious than God, so it makes perfect sense that the best way to bring Him glory is to bear His image - to be like Him as much as possible. If we are like anything else, we cannot bring Him as much glory as being like Him. The more we resemble Him, the more glory we bring to Him.

Therefore, when God created us in His image, He uniquely created us with the ability to bring Him glory - more than any other creature.

One of the classic statements of the faith comes in response to the question, "What is the chief end of man?" The answer that the Church has taught for centuries is, "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." That's exactly correct! Specifically, to glorify Him by bearing His image accurately, and to enjoy Him forever by being in a relationship with Him (which is made possible by the image of God created in us and repaired by Christ).

We exist to bear His image in order to bring Him glory and to enjoy Him forever. We have a lofty purpose indeed! God created us for the grandest purpose imaginable.

Next week, we'll close out this mini-study by exploring how to find our individual purposes, now what we know the general purpose of mankind.

Why Did God Create Us? (Part 3)

We've been carefully tracking down the question of why God created us, asking several key questions in order to find the answer to the big question. So far, our exploratory questions have been:

1. How did God make man different than the animals?
2. How does the penalty of sin drive us away from our purpose?
3. What is the end result of redemption?
4. What is the goal of our mission?

Refer to the previous posts to see how these questions contribute the answer.

There are two more questions that drive us toward an answer to the question of the ages.

First, was there an important story before man was created? If there was a significant story that existed before man was created, then we can speculate that man was created in order to fit into a larger story. Therefore, our purpose can be derived from how we fit into this larger story.

There was, in fact, a story before man was created. We are part of a much larger narrative. The angels were created by God long before man existed, and they were all created good. They were also created with enough free will to be able to sin. At some point in time, that's exactly what happened - Satan and some large number of followers rebelled against God.

There was no grace offered to the rebels. The angels who remained loyal to God appear to be completely confirmed in their position with God, and the angels (now demons) who rebelled are clearly confirmed in their position against God. There is no evidence any where that God has extended a saving grace to the demons - no chance to be forgiven and come back to God.

This larger narrative between good and evil existed long before man was created. When God created us, He created us in His image, which we damaged through sin. However, unlike with the angels, God did not confirm Adam and Eve and their descendants to a fallen state. Since the first day of sin, God has made grace available to us in ways angels never received. He made provision in the Old Testament sacrifice, and ultimately makes provision in the Cross for saving grace to be extended to sinful rebels to allow them to come back into God's family.

Jude 6 and 1 Peter 1:10-12 reveal that angels are anxiously looking down onto the story of mankind, basically to see how it turns out. They are watching to see how this plan of grace will play out. In other words, we were created as just a piece of the larger story of God's universe and the rebellion against Him.

Our purpose somehow comes from our place in the larger narrative. (Don't worry - we're going to be bringing all these strings of thought together next week.)

Second, what is the ultimate purpose of Christ taking on a human nature (the "incarnation")? The purpose of mankind has got to be revealed in large part by the fact that Jesus took on a human nature. Our purpose must be discernible from the one perfect human, and the purpose of the incarnation should clue us in on the reason God created us.

Jesus came to take on a fully human nature while maintaining perfection. In other words, to perfectly bear the image of God (imago Dei). Remember from question 1 that the image of God in us is what distinguishes us from the animals. Our purpose is found in bearing that image, and the incarnation of Christ was for Him to perfectly bear the image of God. Only by perfectly bearing that image can Jesus be a perfect sacrifice for us on the Cross. If He is a flawed image bearer, then His sacrifice on the Cross cannot be adequate for us, and thus we would be without hope for forgiveness.

The pieces are starting to fit together. Next week, we'll bring all 6 questions together and explore how they combine to reveal our purpose as a race. On the following week, we'll then discuss how to discover our individual purposes as members of the human race.

I remind you that these are questions that we have been wrestling with in the Youth Group on Wednesday nights. Yes, we have our fun in the Youth Group, but we dig into Truth in some significant ways. (Thanks to Betty Ann for all her leadership in bringing all the pieces of the youth program together.)

Why Did God Create Us? (Part 2)

Last week, we began to look at the question of why God created us, and we noted that we get clues to the answer from both Creation and the Fall. We were created in the image of God (imago Dei), which makes us uniquely suited for a relationship with Him. However, when Adam and Eve fell, the image of God was damaged, and so was our capacity to be in relationship with Him. Both of these crucial events help us to understand why we were created. We continue this discussion by noting two more areas that give us clues.

First, Redemption. For the first time since Adam, someone with a human nature perfectly bore the image of God - the incarnate Christ, Jesus in the flesh. Jesus is now both fully human and fully divine, and bears the imago Dei without flaw, without sin, without any damage at all to that image. He therefore has a perfect relationship with God in His humanity. Of course, He always enjoyed a perfect relationship with the Father in His deity, but He is also able to relate perfectly with the Father through His human nature as well.

Through the death and resurrection of Christ, paying for all sin (which follows in the pattern of the fall of Adam and Eve), Jesus does two things that relate to our question: He is able to restore the image of God to fallen people, and He is able to restore our relationship with God. When we put our faith in Christ, He puts His righteousness upon us, so that we stand before God in His righteousness with a perfect imago Dei on our account. Furthermore, from the day of salvation, Jesus begins a good work in us to form us into His own likeness - the perfect image bearer (cf. Romans 8:28-30). Then, our relationship with the Father, that was so damaged by sin (ours as much as Adam's and Eve's), is perfectly restored.

Focusing on what Redemption accomplished for us, and the qualities required in Christ to bring Redemption to us, helps us to understand our purpose even more. God created us for something, sin specifically took us in the opposite direction of that purpose, and redemption was designed to bring us back to that purpose.

Second, Mission. As part of the final instructions Jesus gave His disciples, He clearly articulated a mission for them to begin, and for the entire life of the church in the millennia to follow to carry on - a mission we call "The Great Commission," to make disciples of all nations. It is the missio Dei, the "mission of God." (Note how both the imago Dei and the missio Dei are crucial to our purpose!)

What is the Great Commission? The ongoing effort to bring this redemption to others. First, to introduce people to Jesus who offers this redemption, then to have them receive that redemption for themselves, and then to see that redemption overtake more and more of their lives for the rest of their days. We call this process "making disciples."

So, our chief mission while still on this earth is to encourage others to have the damaged imago Dei that they bear to be perfectly restored so that their relationship with God can be perfectly restored. As they grow in their faith, then they too take on more and more Christlikeness - more and more of the image of God.

This is yet another clue: Our creation, our Fall, our redemption, and our chief mission all seem to be pointing in the same direction. Our purpose for existing - the reason God created us - is becoming more and more clear.

Next week, we'll tackle two more very important questions that will help us clarify this purpose. Although it should be quite obvious where this discussion is going, there are still a few missing pieces that we need to fully understand our purpose.