Good Monday morning all,

I am working from home today as I have a dentist appointment midmorning.  I also have an orthodontics appointment midmorning next Monday.  I am hoping that we can get all this metal out of my mouth in the next week!

Thank you for a Sunday off to watch our granddaughter Lucy wrap up her volleyball season.  Her team went 2-0 on the day winning both matches 2-1.  And we were able to take our youngest granddaughter to church with us on Sunday.  When we arrived at their house, Posey, they youngest grand, was at a birthday party.  When my daughter pulled into the drive way, she said Posey asked her if she thought Oma and Opa were going to church on Sunday because she wanted to go. Yeah!  We found out she already had a “fit” laid out for Sunday morning.  For those of you not dealing with the younger generation, “fit” is an outfit!  And without knowing it for sure, she matched up pretty good with me in my jeans and boots.

I also want to thank you for the time away at the Church Leaders Conference in Dallas.  There are always great takeaways from this gathering.  As I sat through the general sessions and some breakouts my mind was grinding away.  The theme was “Undivided.”  We live in a culture where we are divided by so much but the church should be united in two things:  Jesus and mission.  If we are “all in” on Jesus and his great commission, there should be little to stop the church.  After all, Jesus told Peter and the disciples that he would build his church and “not even the gates of hell would prevail against it.”  What if we – as a church family – were “all in?”

This coming Sunday I want to go back to Saul’s conversion after going “all in” on Jesus.  What did it cost him?  What did he give up? The one thing we can say about Saul is that he wasn’t a “cultural Christian.”  Cultural Christians identify as followers of Christ but do so primarily because of cultural heritage rather than a personal or committed faith in Christ. Mom or grandma were committed followers like Timothy’s!  More men seem to be cultural Christians than women.  Cultural Christians see holidays like Christmas and Easter more as social events than a time to reflect on faith.  Another defining characteristic of cultural Christians is their moral compass, which frequently stems from Christian principles even when the individuals do not hold a substantial commitment to the faith.  Their alignment with these moral principles, however, can sometimes be selective, depending on cultural times and personal beliefs.  In other words, they pick and choose from God’s Word which teachings they want to follow depending on how it affects them and their preferences.  Jesus never said deny self and follow me only when it is convenient or when it is profitable for you.  No, we are told to deny self daily…daily!

This coming Sunday I want to take a look at going “all in” on Jesus like Saul did. Join us if you dare!  Going to be hard to hear but sometimes hard is good for us.

P.R.

Hey all,

A little later than usual getting this to you this week.  Monday was a travel day to Dallas and today was day one of the conference.  And a good day it was!

This past Sunday we talked about spiritual maturity being a process, a process that is lifelong. We will not be all that we are created to be until we stand in the presence of Jesus one day but we all need to continue to “grow in wisdom and in favor with God and all the people.”

How do we grow spiritually? No matter our age, we need to continue to study – not just read – the Bible. While we might read the Bible in a year are we really digging in and understanding?  Do you check different translations to see how they read?  Do you have any commentaries to see what other scholars think the passage means?  How about checking the Hebrew and Greek words being used?  Both of those languages are much richer than English.  Take the commandment “Thou shalt not kill (Deut. 5:17)” for example.  Do you know there are seven different Hebrew words for kill? And don’t forget the word “love” that we have talked about as in love the Lord or love your neighbor or your enemy?  I know of four different Greek words for love. These varying words can easily change the meaning or the intent of a passage.  Try journaling and keeping a notebook of what you have read, what it means to you and how you can apply the lessons to your life,

Prayer is our means of communication.  Do you have an active prayer life?  Do you take the bulletin home and pray for any of those listed on the prayer requests again during the week? Do you pray for others first and then your needs?  This morning we began our conference with prayer…lots of prayer.  We covered a few passages of scripture and then prayed for its application in our lives or in the lives of our churches.  Then we dug into a few more verses and prayed again.  At the end of the day, how do you think we ended it?  That’s right in prayer…people on their knees, people at the platform, people in the hallways all praying.

We must all be in community as well. There are over 3000 church leaders from around the world here.  Sherry and I had lunch this afternoon with a young lady who is the creative director in her church in Lubbock.  Lubbock isn’t a foreign country but it is far enough away it could be.  We talked to people from Springfield, MO and saw people from Florida and even our old congregants from FBC Augusta. All of us in one place for the purpose of being in community with likeminded people – people striving to be better at their ministries.

What are you doing to grow spiritually and in wisdom?  It should be purposeful and done with intention.  There is always something new to learn, new prayers to be said, and new people to meet and learn from.  Don’t shy away from it or think you are too old to learn…as long as your living, you should be learning.

Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.  Abigail Adams

Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.  Albert Einstein

P.R.

Good Monday Morning!

This past week was a great week of studying.  Preparing for Sunday’s message and for my Sunday evening small group crossed paths.   Last night I was leading my group in a study of Romans 6:1-14.  We have been in Romans now for about 9 weeks and as usual, God’s timing is just right.  We missed about 3 weeks in a row before last night. Sherry and I were gone one week.  Two of the families were going to be gone one week and then Easter was last week and we didn’t meet.  So, “at just the right time,” Romans chapter 6 appears.

In 1979, Bob Dylan wrote the song “Serve Somebody.”  I am not a huge fan of Dylan but in my reading it sounds like he went through a “Christian” or “gospel” phase around that time.  In 1980 the song won a Grammy award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male.  In this song, Dylan hits about every kind of occupation, every kind of “pleasure.”  He hits on ambassadors, socialites, construction workers, state troopers, barbers, city council leaders and even preachers are noted.  Gambling, dancing, drugs, bribery, adultery and drinking are some of the so called pleasures mentioned.  And he says, “you are going to serve somebody.  It may be the Devil or it may be the Lord, but you are going to serve somebody.”  Nobody gets a pass on choosing who you will serve. It’s either or.

I think Paul is talking about this very thing in Romans 6.  Verse 12 says “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.”  Do not serve the Devil!  Verse 14 tells us that “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law.” Serve the Lord, not sin.  It is verse 13 where we find the strength to not serve the Devil but serve the Lord…

         Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead (in sin), but now you have new life (in Christ). So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.  (parentheses are mine, P.R.)

Before we gave ourselves completely to the Lord we were dead in our sins and the wages for those sins was death.  When Christ died for our sins, he cleared our account.  That doesn’t mean we are done sinning though.  We still must die to our sinful nature each and every day.  Dying to sin is not just a one-time event it is a process…a lifelong process.  Jesus talks about daily denying self if we are to follow him.  The apostle Paul says I die daily.  Later on Paul says that he is striving, pressing on because he hasn’t achieved it yet.  Sanctification – the process of growing in Christ – is a life long journey which will find its completion on the day we breathe our last earthly breath and find ourselves in heaven with the Lord.

The key is, once again, you have to be all in!  No more hokey-pokey.  We will still sin but we don’t want to stay there!  Some of us are trapped in sin that so easily ensnares us (Heb. 12:1).  Let’s not make it so easy.  Prov. 4:15 says to not walk in the way of evil, avoid it, do not travel on it.  Peter says be sober or alert for Satan (1 Peter 5:8). Paul says in Colossians to set your mind on things that are above.

Give yourselves wholeheartedly! Be all in! Be intentional!  Satan is all in and is very intentional.  Remember, he has nothing to lose.

P.R.
Rick Neubauer

But you man of God, flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness,  faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  I Timothy 6:11

Good Monday Morning MABC,

He is risen! If we are honest, this shouldn’t be just something we shout around Easter time.  I can be guilty of that. But this should be a spirit that propels us all year ‘round!  People need to know about this important event and the impact on their lives if they choose to join us in following Jesus.  I think back to one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time.  It is the 1947 black and white version of Miracle on 34th Street.  Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) is visiting with Doris (Maureen O’Hara) about Christmas.  Kris tells Doris that he is worried Christmas is losing its meaning. She remarks that “Christmas is still Christmas.”  And Kris responds with one of the best lines in the movie:

“Oh, Christmas isn’t just a day,it’s a frame of mind…and that’s what’s been changing.  That’s why I’m glad I’m here, maybe I can do something about it.”

Christmas has continued to lose importance as a faith-based event and slowly becomes more and more secular as fewer people identify as followers of Christ.  I am afraid Easter is falling prey to the same.  As followers of Christ, we make a big deal of it because Jesus defeated sin and death so that we may have eternal life.  But it’s much more than that!  Easter is also a frame of mind.  It is not just a singular day or event. The Apostle Paul tells us that it is much more than just making sure we get to spend eternity in Heaven.  It’s about changed lives…new lives:

So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.  1 Cor. 15:21-22 NLT<

And it isn’t just about a life to come after death on earth but it’s also about the life we live on earth.  The resurrection should change the way we live NOW:

For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Rom. 6:4 NLT

Easter is about changed lives.  Baptism is the key Paul says because it represents our death and resurrection into new life just like Jesus!   And our lives shouldn’t just be changed because change is fluid.   The recent presidential election is evidence of that.  Things are changing from the previous administration and in four years things will change again as someone new leads our country.   The word “transformed” is much better than “changed.”  I like Paul’s pleading that we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2).

Next Sunday, we will look at Paul’s life “transformation” beginning in Acts 9.  Paul was one way…and then he was another.  The thing that changed? His relationship with Jesus.  We will begin and end our message with Acts 9:20…

And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”

Pastor Rick

But you man of God, flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness,  faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  I Timothy 6:11

Sherry and I were in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, for a niece’s wedding celebration this past weekend.  My niece had gotten married the weekend before in a small ceremony with parents, siblings and a few close friends.  This week we celebrated like it was ancient Jewish wedding…feasts Thursday night, Friday night and then Saturday night.  Thursday night was at a local eatery. Friday night was at a really nice VRBO that belonged to one of the kids’ friends.  And then Saturday night was at a venue for the “reception.”  Cocktail hour, dinner and then the prerequisite dancing.  It was a great time to be with family and friends.

However, getting to the wedding feast itself was not quite so great.  Oh, the plane travel was good. It was the rental car portion of the trip that is where things went awry.  Sherry and I had to update our driver’s license with our new address about 10 days before.  They clip the corner of your driver’s license and then give you a temporary paper slip to use as your current driver’s license. The rental car company that Expedia included in my package didn’t like my current temporary paper driver’s license even though I had my clipped DL with me.  They didn’t recognize it as a valid license and refused to rent us a car.  Despite my best pleas that it was indeed a valid license in KS they didn’t relent.  Luckily, I was able to get in touch with my brother who had arrived a day earlier and did have “valid” license.  We were able to get around to all the venues and events with the help of family and a couple of Uber drivers.  We even made it out to Red Rock Canyon to do some hiking even though it didn’t start so well. 

Life is a lot like this past weekend.  All of us have been invited to a wedding feast.  In Revelation 19 we are told that theprophetic  time of the marriage feast has arrived and that “blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the lamb.”  We have been invited but just like this past weekend, there will be bumps in the road on the journey to the feast.  We shouldn’t be surprised because Jesus told us we would have trouble…trials (Matt 6:34, John 16:33. 1 Cor 7:28).  If you are a follower of Jesus, with the help of family – including your church family – you will make it to the feast one day and it will be great!  We will celebrate and the trials will no longer be an issue.  But before then, Sherry and I will have another wedding feast to attend to as my other niece in Henderson will get married in October ’26.  We know there will be bumps along the way between now and then but it too will be a great celebration.

I want to remind you that this Saturday morning from 9 to Noon we will be readying the church for a great celebration of our own.  You see there was a price to be paid for the wedding feast we attended this weekend.  Someone had to pay for all the food and fun!  The best part of that feast was it wasn’t me! The price paid for the wedding feast in heaven was paid for by Jesus on Good Friday.  On Sunday we will celebrate that the cost of our sin – which would have kept us from being invited – was paid in full.  Let’s invite those who need to hear of the hope we have in Jesus and then bring them to our “venue” for a celebration.  We will also need help cleaning up after breakfast which will take place during our Life Studies hour at 9:10 am on Sunday.

See you this weekend!  He has risen!

Pastor Rick 

But you man of God, flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness,  faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  I Timothy 6:11