At the age of 24, I was fired from my first job out of law school. It’s a long story, but the bottom line is that I was asked to do something that, as a Christian, I could not do. So, at the age of 24, I was out of work with a pregnant wife, a house payment, and no income. Do you think I prayed? You better believe I prayed! I prayed every way I knew how to pray. I claimed God’s promises. I prayed in Jesus’ name. I prayed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. I prayed in the name of the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I prayed loudly. I prayed softly. I knelt down. I stood up.
At the dawn of the 21st century, the President of the National Association of Evangelicals, Leith Anderson, was asked what he thought were the most divisive issues facing Christians in the 21st century. His response: how Christians approach the LGBT issue and how Christians approach the exclusivity of Christ. I recently heard Leith say that he was right about the first issue (LGBT has loomed very large) and wrong about the second (Christians have not generally been fighting about the exclusivity of Christ). Leith went on to say, “In my wildest dreams I never imagined that politics would be the most divisive issue for the church in the 21st century!”
As part of our annual discipleship campaigns, we always include a service component. Serving our community is part of our mission statement where we say: “We exist to develop a community of disciples who experience God, love one another, and partner with Christ to heal the world.” Serving is a way we partner with Christ to heal the world!
We are going to be doing another discipleship campaign during the season of Lent this year. If you’ve been here the last two years, you may have experienced one of our all church discipleship campaigns. In 2016, our theme was The Good Life. And then last year, we did a campaign called Fully Alive. As part of the Fully Alive campaign, we had over 850 groups throughout Central Ohio go through the Fully Alive small group materials. 550 of these were brand new groups!
Corporations understand how powerful service is in developing a faithful clientele. This has been the secret of corporations as diverse as Neiman-Marcus and Frito Lays. They serve their customers.
At Christmas, we are urged to be generous – by countless commercials, newspaper editorials, and especially by seeing the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales pulling a sleigh filled with presents. Of course, our model for generosity is God himself. God was generous in creation by giving human beings the earth. God is generous in caring for the earth. God was generous in giving us his Son, Jesus Christ, to teach us about who God is, to show us the way to live, and to die on a cross for our sins. God is generous in giving eternal life to every person who trusts in Christ. God is generous in giving us other human beings so that we wouldn’t be lonely. God is generous in answering our prayers. God was generous in sending us his Spirit. God is generous in healing us when we hurt and filling our hearts with hope when we think we can’t go on. If there is one quality about God that stands out, it is that God is a generous God!
Vineyard Columbus recently hosted a conference titled “Light the Fire” with Jordan Seng, a pastor from Hawaii. Many, many people were encouraged by the conference to believe God for more of his presence and power. Many, many people experienced God’s Spirit in a powerful way. And we have received testimonies of several remarkable healings that spontaneously occurred during the conference sessions.
In the past month, three of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the United States in recorded history brought economic devastation, suffering and at least 120 deaths to Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and several other states. How should a thoughtful Christian think about hurricanes and other natural disasters? There are several unhelpful ways to think about hurricanes:
Like many Americans, I was sickened to watch Nazis and so-called White Nationalists march in Charlottesville last week. As a Jew, I couldn’t believe that in the year 2017 certain Americans would march down a street in our country chanting, “Jews will not replace us!” and “Blood and soil” (a Nazi slogan glorifying people who till the land over against “Jewish shopkeepers” and “Jewish doctors”). One protestor told a reporter, “The reason that we’re here is to kill Jews!”
If you talk with secular people who are upset with Christianity, one of the charges that’s frequently hurled against Christianity is that the Bible oppresses women! How can you believe in a book that denies the full equality of women and men? How can you in the 21st century believe in a book that says that women are not allowed to lead in the church or be ordained or preach to men? What a Neanderthal viewpoint! How backward can you be?