by Pastor Rick | Jul 23, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Monday Morning,
In yesterday’s message I shared with you that our hope should not be placed in man. Man, who is fallible will never be able to fulfill all of your needs. As a husband, I will never be able to meet all of my wife’s needs and I will at times let her down. If you don’t believe me, just ask her! In the same way she will never meet all of my needs. Again, just ask her! When we married, we agreed to put our hope and trust in Jesus knowing that we are imperfect people and will occasionally hurt each other. Every human relationship has that issue.
I was working at church after worship yesterday because I was doing the 3:00 pm chapel service at Prairie Homestead. I didn’t want to drive home to Augusta and then make another round trip. After chapel service I checked my phone and saw that President Biden had ended his reelection campaign. At that moment, about half of America felt betrayed and hurt while the other half cheered. That is the division of politics. Those who put their hope in Biden have had their hope dashed.
As followers of Christ, we should be anchored in the hope that is Jesus. Hebrews 6:19-20 assure us of this hope:
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Jesus is working on our behalf always and forever…that’s what eternal means. He is interceding on our behalf daily, even minute by minute. He has our best interests in mind at all times. We may not always understand his work but the author of Hebrews declares it to be strong and trustworthy.
If you have put your hope in men and politics, you are not alone. Even after spending a few years with Jesus and listening to his teachings, the disciples struggled with this very issue. He tried to teach them Kingdom things before his crucifixion and even afterwards. Luke says he spent his last 40 days trying to get through to them. Yet, in verse 6 of Acts 1, they still wonder if he is going to make Israel the national power it once was.
There are people in our neighborhood, in our city, our state and beyond…to the uttermost ends of the world who need the hope we have in Jesus. If you declare yourself to be a follower of Christ, you are to “be His witness.” Not should be, may be or could be. “You WILL be my witnesses” Jesus declares in Acts 1:8.
Remember, we serve an eternal King who wants us to join him in eternity where the world will once again be perfect. That’s the King…and hope…that I put my trust in. I pray that you do too.
Have a blessed week.
P.R.
by Pastor Rick | Jul 16, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Monday Morning MABC family and friends!
What a great weekend other than the heat! Sherry and I thoroughly enjoyed our first “Market Place” event at church. While raising a little over $1600 for youth camping is good, for us connecting with our neighborhood was very exciting! We saw a lot of people go through the facility, there were over 183 sales tickets and most likely – counting families – contact in some form with around 500 people. Awesome!
Sunday was really our stepping off point into the Book of ACTSion and it was fun. As I studied I tried to put myself in the mindset of one of the disciples. How would I have felt at that time? When Jesus said to wait? When he vanished into the heavens after giving us the Great Commission and saying he would be with us? Until the end of the ages? And be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria? I imagine they thought they wouldn’t make very good witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea because of all the political pressure following Jesus’ crucifixion. They probably wondered how in the world they could be good witnesses in Samaria. It isn’t like Jews and Samaritans are in a great relationship after all. Why would they listen to us?
Setting aside that you have the Bible and know how things go, what would your thoughts have been? Would you have gladly gone back to Jerusalem and just hang out waiting for the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised? He didn’t give them much of a timeline other than in a “few days.” Hang out in Jerusalem where Jesus was just crucified…hmmmm…let’s see. That’s my idea of a vacation! I can imagine them thinking that they might be next! And on top of that, as I said Sunday, I am not waiting 30-45 minutes at any restaurant and I really don’t think I could have waited for a few days to get my “special powers.” If Jesus isn’t with us and we don’t have his mentoring, why wouldn’t I want to go back to something I know and am comfortable with? Like fishing?
Things change when they get the Holy Spirit though. Jesus told them in John 14 that he was going to leave them but he wouldn’t leave them as orphans. The Holy Spirit will come and the Spirit will teach you and remind you of all that I have said. In John 16 Jesus tells the disciples the Spirit will teach them all truth. It’s coming! Wait for it…wait. And when they wait and then the spirit comes, the world begins to turn upside down (Acts 17:6) From the moment they returned to Jerusalem after the angels said “snap to it,” we are told they met together constantly in prayer.
Are you doing that? Are you constantly in prayer? Are you a member of a small group that you can pray with? We aren’t going anywhere without two things. The first is prayer. The second is the Holy Spirit. Once we get that down, you will feel more emboldened to hand out the witness cards I gave you! No “ifs, ands, or…buts!” (That last line will make more sense on Sunday!)
I handed out one card yesterday at lunch? How about you?
P.R. (Be sure to check out Les’ email for all the activities!)
by Pastor Rick | Jul 10, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Monday Morning MABC family,
It is nice to greet you without having to warn you to be safe due to extreme heat and humidity! Enjoy the cooler temps today!
Now to see if you paid attention this past Sunday as we started our deep dive into Luke and the Book of Acts! Who were the two books addressed to? Why did Luke write his gospel and then the Book of Acts (if he indeed wrote Acts)? Same purpose? Different purposes?
As we go through this Book of Acts, I want to remind you once again to spend some time in the Gospel of Luke. These two books are best read one after the other. This coming Sunday I will give you some examples of how they fit together. We will look at Acts 1:4-11 for sure and maybe a little more as I flesh out the sermon this week. If you want to read ahead, here are some questions I am going to be looking at:
Why is the “gift” that the Father is sending them so important that they must wait for it? What do you think the disciples were asking when they asked Jesus about restoring the kingdom of God? What words of wisdom (or admonishment) do the angels give to the disciples? What do these questions have to do with us today?
I want to remind you of a couple of important outreach opportunities. Marketplace this Saturday. It is my understanding that first contact with some of the new families attending took place last year at Marketplace. It took about a year but they are here! We never know who we will engage this Saturday that may join us in worship and community at a later time. It is also a good fundraiser for our youth and children for camps. This year we don’t have anyone going to camp. Next year I hope to have some “campers” from MABC. Sherry has told me that we now have had about 15 different kids who have attended Kids’ Konnect during worship on Sundays.
Please take a moment to read Les’ MABC update this morning and pay particular attention to the school supply announcement. This could be a great outreach opportunity as well. We will share info about the supplies to those who come this Saturday. Parents will be told that any child that comes to our one-day Vacation Bible School (Aug. 3) will get school supplies. Our kids will get their supplies as usual. Any additional supplies will be shared as part of our new partnership with Lawrence Elementary school.
One more thing to update you on as well. You can now catch our Sunday worship service on YouTube. Search MABC Video and you should be able to find it. It will look better than our previous Facebook live attempts in that we have two cameras and the sound will be greatly improved. The sound is still a work in progress as we try to get the livestream mix just right. It is completely different feed than what you and I hear in the Sanctuary on Sundays so any suggestions are welcome.
Have a blessed week! Pray for our church family, use your bulletin notes! Pray for Saturday that God would move in our community through us!
Pastor Rick
by Pastor Rick | Jul 1, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Monday Morning!
Well, looks like I will begin this edition of the MMR by encouraging you to be safe again! Heat index for today and tomorrow look to be in the 105 degree range. Stay hydrated and choose your time wisely for outdoor activities.
I am so excited to dig in to the Book of Acts. It has everything in it you could think of…history, drama, intrigue, political machinations and on and on. Although those things make for great story telling, the most important focus is the theme. Luke isn’t looking to give us any kind of model to follow. Acts isn’t a leadership organizational model for us to copy nor is it an evangelism program that we can cut and paste for MABC. Luke intends to show us how God worked in and through the early church to bring about his plan of redemption for all of mankind. Along the way we will see that the early church was pretty much powerless according to worldly standards but because of the Holy Spirit, they had revolutionary power. That same revolutionary power is available to us if we are willing to commit ourselves to the “cause” and make ourselves available.
The Book of Acts appears to be a standalone account if we just go by its location in the Bible. However, if we dig in a little deeper, we can see that it is really a continuation of Luke’s gospel. In the opening chapter of the gospel we are told that Luke is writing to Theophilus so that he may know that the things he – Theophilus – has been taught about Jesus’ life and ministry were true. In Acts, Luke addresses Theophilus once again but this time to show how Jesus’ life and ministry affected the Christian church. We will look at the revolutionary message of Jesus and how the early church carried out Jesus’ command to take it to all nations. Along the way, there will be opposition from religious factions, especially the Jews, and local governments as well as the Roman government.
We live in a world that is very divisive in just about everything you can think of…politics, religion, ethnicity, immigration, and economics. You name it and there seems to be very little that people can agree on. As a result, people are feeling hopeless. Good news is that we have the message of hope. One of the things important to note in Luke’s gospel is that he identifies many of the people Jesus connected with. Luke gives more attention to children than the other gospel writers and he addresses Jesus’ relationships with the poor and oppressed. Luke portrays Jesus as an actual person concerned with “seeking and saving” those who had no hope. He wants to tell the story of Jesus and the Church because of the joy, hope and salvation found in him. We have a sure hope and his name is Jesus (Heb. 6:19-20). Let’s share that hope.
Prepare yourself! Let’s reclaim our part in the revolution.
Pastor Rick
by Pastor Rick | Jun 26, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Welcome to Summer!
First and foremost this morning, “walk as the wise, not as the unwise” for the next couple of days. We are in extreme heat warnings for the next two days with heat indices in the 108 degree range. Thankfully a cold front comes through Wednesday with temps in the low 90’s!
We just finished up our series on spiritual disciplines. They are the tools we use to be “built up in Him, strengthened in the faith” Colossians 2:6-7 says. Spiritual disciplines are like the exercise equipment at the gym or at home. How many of you have an exercise bike or treadmill at home that really only functions as a clothes hanger? You know, you have to chase the “dust bunnies” away when you get ready to use it once every six months? You are hoping that just having it in the bedroom will improve your health! I saw the sign at our local senior center in Augusta that said “I wish I could drop my body off at the health club and they would call me when it is ready.” Wouldn’t that be nice!
A treadmill or an exercise bike are great for building aerobic capacity. You can also walk outside or ride your bike. The key to improving your fitness though is pushing your body to the uncomfortable zone. The body adapts to a little stress and improves. Your heart thinks “Wow, he or she is going a little faster than normal, I have to get a little stronger.” And it does. Then the next time, you go a little faster – or farther – than the time before. Your heart says “Uh oh, here we go again, need to get a little stronger.” The same way with strength training. You do a set of pushups and your chest, shoulders and arms go “What in the world are they doing? We aren’t used to that, we have to grow a little stronger in case they do this again.” And the little muscle fibers that you broke down doing your three pushups grow a little thicker and stronger in response so they are prepared for the next time you do some pushups…hopefully a couple of days later! That is how you get “built up and strengthened.” It is an ongoing process because once you stop your aerobic system and muscular system will just return to their pre-exercise state if you don’t keep it up. All that exercise is good but if you don’t pay attention to your diet than all that exercise may not add up. You have to put it all together if you want to be healthy.
Spiritual disciplines are the same. They need to be used and so interconnected. Corporate worship includes prayer, stewardship and fellowship. Bible study can be part of your worship and your fellowship as well as part of evangelism. Evangelism can be a means of service and worship. And just like exercise, you might have to get a little uncomfortable to grow in your faith. Let’s get spiritually fit because we have a mission to accomplish for the kingdom. Next week we begin our look at the Book of Acts. Some call it the Acts of the Apostles. We are going to call it the Book of ACTSion. Jesus was returning to Heaven and told the disciples to wait a little while and then…bam, when the Holy Spirit comes – get busy! The Book of ACTSion is just that…a call to action. Get ready. Practice your disciplines as if you were in basic training. We are ready to go out and start “turning our world upside down.” See Acts 13:49 for more clarity!
Pastor Rick
by Pastor Rick | Jun 17, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Monday morning,
I struggled last night in what my direction should be today. I have had these two thoughts bouncing around in my head and trying to prioritize them for which one should come today and the other maybe next week. I am writing now from the office and as a sit and read and pray, I now have a direction.
As a college instructor my responsibilities were two fold. I taught classes in the Strength & Conditioning program designed to help people become personal trainers and taught a general education requirement class called Lifetime Fitness. This class was designed for the non-Physical Education student to get a better understanding of the realm of individual wellness so that they might live a healthier, more productive life. So many studies show that the concept of wellness is more than just being physically fit but that physical fitness plays a big part in how our bodies respond to stress. And it is biblical! God made man to be physically active. Genesis 2:15 says that “God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” The Hebrew word for work means just that – to labor, work, do work. Our culture today is not one of physical labor but one of comfort and ease. Interestingly enough, the word for “take care of” means to “have charge of” or “manage.” The meaning is very similar to our topic yesterday of “stewardship.” Adam was to manage God’s creation.
Now, back to the idea of wellness. Wellness encompasses many aspects. The components I taught about were social, physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and occupational. All of these interact with one another. If I am not feeling well physically I am less likely to be very social, I may not want to go to work (occupational) and I might be very grumpy (emotional). A choice made in one area of wellness will have consequences in another. The idea behind the class was to find the proper balance in all the areas so as to optimize one’s life. Those of you who may be on some kind of medication might understand this better. If you take certain medications, other biological functions have to be monitored. While a med might be good for one thing, it forces another function to alter. Tylenol might be good for pain but long term use may affect kidney function. I tried to teach students to make good choices that would help them live the best possible life they could by making wise choices.
Our spiritual life is kind of like the wellness concept. The components of our spiritual life are worship, prayer, fellowship, service, evangelism, and stewardship. We can use the same thought process in our spiritual life as we do physical wellness. If I neglect one area such as service it may affect another area. Am I truly being a good steward of all that God has given me if I am not serving? If I am not studying His word? If I am not witnessing to others? Or if all I do is worship on Sunday morning am I really being rooted and built up in Him? Am I experiencing all that God has for me if I am not engaging in the tools He has given me to do just that?
Where are you out of balance right now? Are you being “all that you can be” if you aren’t engaging in all the spiritual disciplines? And the big question is this…if God created you to make an impact in this world for the Kingdom, why wouldn’t you want to do just that?
One last message this Sunday on this idea of being rooted and built up in the Lord and what that will look like if we embrace the idea of continued growth in all areas of our spiritual life.
Pastor Rick
