Category: Uncategorized

 we are going to be able to teach our teens and preteens to stay focus then the church need to be the starting point.

I am looking for any and all distraction that can be eliminated so that the teaching of Christ will be center and forefront.

If the children cannot grow then they cannot develop.

How many of you tonight know what happens when you google a word or phrase and something else like an advertisement/ commercial attach itself to your search?

I just call it pop ups when I search for a word. Pop up commercials can be distractions but the persons who created the pop up what to sell you something you are not look for. Life is filled with pop ups. Pop ups will lead you to unhealthy sites.

When a young person is confused and they search for truth they often get pop ups in their life in life that lead them to unhealthy places.

Pop up for commercials can be distractions to what you really what to know?

Why Go to Church?

 

Has the church lost its Purpose?

 

What does the church exist to do in the World?

 

Is the church a social Club?

 

The New Testament church came together for 4 reasons

1. Fellowship
2. Communion 
3. Prayer
4. The teaching of the ways of God as taught by the Apostles

 

The church was together for they had a clear focus on their purpose for existing.

 

They went to the temple to seek God and in their homes for fellowship.

At their center was praising God…

 

Drama belongs at the theatre. Distractions belongs at the club. Worshipping God belongs at the church.

 

When we come to church we must lay aside those things that beset us from making worshipping God the Center focus.

 

 

• Church/Religion

 

 

 Church, or religion. Believe it or not, these can be HUGE interferences in our walk with God. Church does not do this intentionally, but we can easily let it hinder our relationship with God. Why? The main reason I see is that it can be so easy to pursue church, and beliefs about God, but forget to pursue God Himself. It is so easy to go to church to…well…go to church, when the real reason we should be going church is to refuel for our week by coming together with fellow believers to worship and meditate on God.

Also, somewhere along the way, at so many churches, people have gotten the idea that we need to pretend to be perfect at church. That if we show our weaknesses and struggles, we’ll become outcasts…and since so many people parade around in this stained glass masquerade, if one person does reveal their weaknesses, they’re so easily looked down upon. This is opposite of what church is supposed to be. Church is really the body of believers. We are supposed to help each other, hold each other accountable, pray for each other, and love one another!

To keep church from becoming a distraction from God, make sure you are pursuing God before pursuing “beliefs” about Him, or church/religion. We need to get past religion and into a relationship. It starts with you! Love your brothers and sisters, be open to people, and DO NOT CONDEMN others when they fail!!

 

 

• Relationships

 

 

 Relationships. I’m sure you knew this one would be here. Every kind of relationship falls into this category; friends, parents, siblings, spouses, girl/boy friends, children, co-workers, bosses, etc. We can allow any of these relationships to distract us from God. It is our relationships that are our connection with the world, and it is our human nature to have them, but when we allow any one of these relationships threaten to become more important to us than God…well, they become a distraction. Remember, God calls us to love one another (1 John 3:11), so when we do, it is an act of obedience to God. But don’t forget about God in the process. We need to make sure we are giving God ample time everyday.

I would have to say the relationship with the most danger of becoming a distraction from our walk with God would be that of a boy-friend, girl-friend, or spouse. These relationships in their nature, demand the most time, and that is why it is extremely important that they are centered around God. If they aren’t, you will see your walk with God spiraling downward. In a dating relationship, don’t compromise your morals.

In a nut shell, relationships are extremely important, but our relationship with God is of the utmost importance. Remember that!

 

Born in sin and wrapped in iniquity means I am wired wrong from birth. Sin is in my DNA. If that is true then the role of the church is to rewire the believers with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

We fail when we use behavior modification to develop children. What is needed is a complete change in mindset to succeed. It (success) begins with accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and understanding what that truly means.

 

Change in:

Thoughts

Words

Decisions

Actions

Habits

Character

Destiny

 

Stop trying to show children things they don’t have the capacity to see because of their perceptions of reality.

 

Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.

They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. 

They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

 

“But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, ‘The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us’ . . . And all the congregation said to stone them with stones’.”
Numbers 14:6-8, 10

During its early stages, a dream is an incredibly fragile thing. Bobb Biehl says, “Dreams are like soap bubbles floating close to jagged rocks on a windy day.” New dreams are fragile because we haven’t had time yet to let them grow or develop. When a seedling oak is only a year old, a child can tear it out by the roots, but once it’s had some time to become firmly established, even a hurricane can’t knock it down.

Young dreams are also more easily shot down because if they are attacked, it is usually by close confidants, because they’re the only people who know about them. Our hopes and desires may be able to weather the criticism of a stranger, but they have a more difficult time surviving when undermined by a friend.

My prayer today is Lord give me the spirit of Joshua to serve you.

There are those who have gone forth to make serving the Lord more desirable to the eyes. This is OK but somewhere in life you are not going to win every battle. Somewhere in life you will fail.

And those times of failure you will want to question God just as Job did. But God reminded Job when He created the universe Job was not present.

God my prayer is that my eyes will be on you Lord in the good times as well as the bad times.

Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Success or failure does not change who the Lord of host is. In my life I have witness God in more than one way. In the Old Testament God has been recognized as:

• YHWH-Yireh — “The Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:13-14)
• YHWH-Rapha — “The Lord that healeth” (Exodus 15:26)
• YHWH-Niss”i — “The Lord our Banner” (Exodus 17:8-15)
• YHWH-Shalom — “The Lord our Peace” (Judges 6:24)
• YHWH-Ra-ah — “The Lord my Shepherd” (Psalm 23:1)
• YHWH-Tsidkenu — “The Lord our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6)
• YHWH-Shammah — “The Lord is present” (Ezekiel 48:35)

In the New Testament Luke said he came to set the captives free. I know him as a deliver. I choose to serve him today because he is God and no other reason.

By Brandon Cox • July 12, 2018

The story is told of Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, that he once sat quietly through a board meeting listening to his executives brainstorm about how to get bigger. He suddenly interrupted the chatter with a declaration: “If we get better, we won’t have to worry about getting bigger.” Talk about an aha moment!

We can make the church grow, or we can watch the church grow, and the difference boils down to bettering instead of biggering.

In their story is a big answer to what should be next for our church, and probably for yours too. We must focus on bettering and we won’t have to worry about biggering. So how do we get better? These are the principles forming in my own heart and mind about how I want to see the church at large improve:

• We need to depend upon the Spirit’s influence and empowering, and to unashamedly confess that dependence in our prayer and worship.
• We need to learn to tell God’s redemptive story, the good news, in a way that relates to our surrounding culture. We need to make the gospel central to our message and mission.
• We need to focus on people—connecting with people, connecting people to other people, and meeting the needs people experience on a daily basis.
• We need to make disciples and develop leaders rather than simply attracting more fans. Attracting isn’t bad, but failing to challenge those we attract to take the next step is a severe flaw.
• We need to get bold about our vision for a world touched and changed by a God-sized movement. It’s time to stop apologizing for an intense desire to influence and impact the culture with truth and grace.
• We need to sacrifice our comfort, our preferences, and our personal agendas and embrace change—radical, catalytic, movement-shaking change.
• We need to be strategic, pragmatic, and effective. These are curse words in some pockets of evangelicalism, but they are absolutely NOT at odds with biblical Christianity. We can be both faithful and fruitful.
• We need to work together, in unity, as a team. Structural and institutional unity isn’t necessary, but working hand-in-hand for Kingdom-sized causes is.

The world doesn’t necessarily need bigger churches. But it definitely needs better churches, and better churches usually wind up bigger, and bigger isn’t bad.

 

1 Samuel 22:2 (NLT2)
Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented—until David was the captain of about 400 men.

So often churches fail just because their church has become a social club for certain individuals who feel they belong and shut the door on others.

Having a sense of belonging is a common experience. Belonging means acceptance as a member or part. Such a simple word for huge concept. A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter. Feeling that you belong  is most important in seeing value in life and in coping with intensely painful emotions.

Some seek belonging through excluding others. That reflects the idea that there must be those who don’t belong in order for there to be those who do. Yet a single instance of being excluded can undermine self-control and well being and often creates pain and conflict.

A sense of belonging to a greater community improves your motivation, health, and happiness.  When you see your connection to others, you know that all people struggle and have difficult times. You are not alone. There is comfort in that knowledge.

There is a simple approach to make visitors feel they belong. In my 47 years of ministry I have yet to meet a stranger……..

Our faith will grow when we learn to take advantage of growth opportunities. The soil of growth is planted in the pains of the past and presence.

James 1:2-4 (NLT2)
²  Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
³  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
⁴  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

You must not be too quick to rise up when you are hurt remembering that those in the bible rose up when the enemy attacked the name of the Lord their God. The hurts and pains are an opportunity for you to grow in faith.

1 Peter 4:19 (NLT2)
¹⁹  So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

Are you passing the test that God is sending your way?

I had an opportunity to watch the NBA Championship and although my team lost I obtained a valuable lesson. I would like to pass this on to the church.

You cannot turn the ball over and win a championship. A church cannot make too many little mistakes and win souls for Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:22 (NLT2)
When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.

If you feel the need for help with your reaching those souls around your church give us a call and we will gladly come an assist you with developing a strategic to win.

1 Samuel 22:2 (NLT2)
Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented—until David was the captain of about 400 men.

Three things I wish someone would have told me about leadership

1. When build a team start with build a community.
2. Always check your vision against your reality to see if we are moving forward.
3. Understand that there is a difference between skills and talents on a team.

We witness the NBA Championship where both teams had talent but one team had skills to go with the talent. Then the question becomes do you have the right team to win?

After nearly 47 years of leading a church one area has always escaped me. Believe it or not it was guiding people away from the familiar to the unfamiliar which is defined as change.

Churches hoping to survive over the long term will have to remake themselves into better churches at least once along the way. After fifty years all around them have changed. Mostly the people who attend church has changed.

These change efforts have gone under many banners: denominational change, name change, vision/mission statement change, restructuring leader’s titles, cultural change, and new signs on the property, to name a few.

In almost every case, the goal has been to cope with a new, more challenging generation of seekers by changing the way the church worship services. A few of these endeavors have been very successful. A few have utterly crashed. Most fall somewhere in between, with a distinct tilt toward the lower end of the scale.

Leading a church to change will need outside help.  Unless you get buying in from the groups failure is unavoidable.

Unsuccessful transitions almost always break down during at least one of the following phases: generating a sense of importance, establishing a powerful guiding partnership, developing a vision, communicating the vision clearly and often, removing obstacles, planning for and creating short-term wins, avoiding premature declarations of victory, and embedding changes in the corporate culture.

What did I learn most was that just because I see the need for change doesn’t mean the organization see or want to change? Get help sell the need for change should be a priority to change.

2 Kings 6:17 (NLT2)
¹⁷  Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.