Modeling The Kingdom

September 10, 2020

As Jesus followers we are called to influence the world as an ambassador residing in a foreign kingdom.

Some are hoping to hunker down and try to isolate from this world scarred by sin, but that’s not the posture to which Christ is calling us. Jesus came to bring heaven to earth, not to just extract us from the world. The Lord launched a “rescue” plan by sending Jesus to come and die for us to ensure we could be in heaven forever; he never had an “escape” plan for us to leave before it’s time.

Yesterday the sky turned orange and ash rained down on our city. It reminded me of the first day of the Camp Fire and the emotions were running high, for sure. As I watched the city come unraveled, I knew that this was an important day to reflect Jesus to a very stressed-out world. 

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Seated With Christ In Heaven

September 3, 2020

We are dual citizens.

As followers of Jesus, the Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 3:20 that we are considered citizens of Heaven. Since we are still living on the earth, we are also citizens of the Kingdom of this World, but our new homeland and allegiance belong first to our King, who is seated in Heaven.

It can be a great challenge for us to learn how to live between two Kingdoms that are in great conflict. We are tempted to separate from the world altogether and protect ourselves instead of remaining present in the world to be the “light of the world” that Jesus tells us to be. We are also tempted to assimilate and blend into the world, losing our distinctiveness as Jesus followers and forfeiting our true identity as sons and daughters of the King.

We need to live our lives realizing that the Bible declares that positionally, we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly realms.

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Upside-Down Kingdom

August 27, 2020

Jesus rules over an upside-down kingdom. The values of the Kingdom of God are directly opposite from the alternative kingdom that humans set up on earth. When Jesus addressed the questions from his disciples about how to be the greatest, I think his disciples were shocked!

Jesus tells us the most important core values of His kingdom.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ~ Matthew 18:1-4 (NIV)

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Building On The Values And Truth Of The Kingdom

August 20, 2020


Jesus talked about the importance of building the house of your life on the values and truth of the Kingdom. 

 

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."   Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV) 

The year 2020 has inspired a lot of jokes and quips about the changes and challenges necessary to face a year filled with tragedy. Some have featured the idea that we are all playing an apocalyptic bingo game where the squares of the board have different natural disasters and tragedies on them. Certainly, the Coronavirus would be the center of the bingo card. In Chico we can now cross off a square that might read, “choked with smoke and ash.”  I was hoping after we had crossed that off in 2018, we could skip it for at least ten years 

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Moving Forward With Expectation

August 14, 2020

As we walk into the vision that God has been writing on our hearts as Neighborhood C hurch, it is our desire to be more and more a reflection of the nations of the world here in Chico.  We want to nurture and encourage reaching those in our city who are from other countries and cultures. 

 

Our aim is to be a “multi-generational, multi-ethnic and multi-site family.”  

 

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Quick to Hear Slow to Speak

July 30, 2020

Can You Hear Me Now?

That is the title of the message I preached last Sunday.

Years ago, I was an elementary school administrator, one day after chapel as I headed back to my office a short distance away, feeling the satisfaction of helping students to connect with God and His Word giving myself a high-five for doing so I was confronted by six angry faces, all parents of students who had just attended chapel; demanding an immediate meeting.

As we walked the short distance to my office, my brain raced, I quickly thought about the two previous days of the week questioning what could have happened that would require this immediate attention. There was absolutely nothing that came to mind.

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Friends and Brothers of Jesus

July 9, 2020

Amy calls me her friend.

 

Years ago I noticed that Amy Wadlow would say to others, “Hey friend, how are you?”  She didn’t say that because she didn’t remember their name and she was using that phrase as a stop gap until she could recall it.  What Amy has done for years in using that phrase is declare the truth of identity and revealed love and loyalty to others by using a simple descriptive phrase.  There is fondness and affection built into that phrase, and while I know that I am Amy’s friend, it’s really nice to hear her say it.

 

What does Jesus call you?   

 

In the book of John, we see a progression of intimacy tucked into the ways Jesus addresses his followers.  While all three distinctions of our identity are true, I believe that as we walk with Jesus more and more, he draws us into a deeper and deeper place of intimacy with him.  As we grow in our knowledge of Jesus and have experiences with Him, we learn to appreciate Him more and see him more clearly.   

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Living As Victorious Overcomers

July 2, 2020


"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny” – CS Lewis  

Our God is constantly shaping us through people, events and circumstances.  Many of the things that help us to grow and prepare us for future victorious moments are times of hardship.

When I think back on my sophomore year at Chico High school, one of the first things I remember is playing football.  I remember the applause of fans as we won every game and won the league title for Junior Varsity.  Few final scores were even close, which means that second string players like me were able to play in almost every game.

That extraordinary season was probably won even before the first day of school started. Late summer practices twice a day to get us in shape and teach us how to work together as a team was a winning strategy. Suffering through “hell week” before the start of school prepared us for lesser hardships later during actual competition because theywould pale in comparison.

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From Orphans to Sons and Daughters

June 25, 2020


Our true destiny is to belong to a family as sons or daughters, not to strive and perform in desperate hope of being noticed like an orphan.  

As a son, I know I can do things to disappoint my parents, but I don’t believe that I can do anything to stop being a son.

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Embracing Our Sainthood

June 18, 2020


As a follower of Jesus, I am a saint.   

That statement sounds bold, and maybe a little bit overblown, but the Bible says sixty (60) times in the New Testament that those who are disciples of Jesus Christ are pure, holy, blameless and holy ones (saints).  This doesn’t mean that as Christians we don’t blow it and sin, but God is faithful to grant us forgiveness when we ask for it. 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 

I take sin seriously.  It equates to acts of unfaithfulness against Jesus, to whom I have pledged my love.  As one who is growing in my faith, I am grieved when I sin and convicted by the Spirit of God – but as soon as I confess that sin and release it to God – then I am released.  We are not supposed to live our lives looking in the rear-view mirror of what has happened before.  We are called to be looking forward to see where God is working so we can join Him in his work.  My life is not defined by my past; it is defined by who God says I am. 

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