Lent 4 message notes on Pastor's blog

Pastor John's notes from his message are posted at his new blog which went live just this past week! http://www.aacrc.org/groenblog/

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March 15 Lent 3 message notes

“Is This My Son, My Brother, My Teacher?” Mark 3:13-35

Jesus’ family comes to rescue him.
The religious leaders accuse him of being possessed by Beelzebub.
Jesus’ response.
The stunning point comes when Jesus charges them with blasphemy.

Watching for God at work.
I’m convinced that there are no absolutely evil people here this morning. I’m convinced most of us want to live in harmony with our neighbors. How hard is it to notice where God is at work in the lives of people around us and in the congregation of which we are members? Imagine if we were to prayerfully and intentionally watch for and then encourage those through whom God is working!

Jesus’ new family is made up of those who do the will of God.
The Gospels all testify that Jesus’ life from beginning to end embodied God’s will for human life. We have at the very basis of Jesus’ teaching the command to love God and to love our neighbor.

Dangers:

• Of allowing dysfunctional patterns of relationships to develop and continue among leaders and the congregation and between members in the congregation.
• Of carelessly saying who is or is not being used by God.
• Of taking each other for granted and forgetting then to celebrate life’s joys together and to honor life’s losses together.
• Of thinking it is all about us and not about Jesus who was completely and fully obedient to the will of God.

Opportunities:

• To encourage each other
• To gently correct each others’ failings, always asking first to be
• corrected rather than to correct others first (here’s a challenge!!!)
• To patiently accompany each other through times of distress, sorrow.
• To joyfully accompany each other in times of joy and celebration.
• To serve side by side in local communities
• To dream and imagine together the great possibilities of ministry locally and globally
• To develop a common goal with a budget that provides for the needs of members and the local community and the world at large
• To welcome strangers into the community by actively going out in service to others in word and deed.

Mar 8, 2009 on Lent 2 message

“Amazed and Transformed by the Holy One of God”
Mark 1:21-28

Who is Jesus? Who is Christ?

Who am I? Who are we?

From Annie Dillard and James Magaw: (Thanks to Jen for the reference)

If you ask me why I go to church, I could start with these reasons:

• To feel better;
• To be with people whose company I enjoy;
• To learn about Jesus;
• To show which side I'm on;
• To keep people from asking why I missed;
• To sing my favorite old hymns or my favorite contemporary songs
• To be inspired, taught, and challenged by the sermon.
• To be kept comfortable and safe by hearing what I want to hear

But if you ask me why I worship, you raise the discussion to another plane.

God may draw us out to where we can never return. (Do you want to go to a place from which you can never return? Do you want to leave resentment, bad habits, anger, etc. behind?)

Did you come to church today?

Or did you come to worship today?

It is how Jesus teaches that grabs attention.

Jesus brings freedom.

Jesus wants our transformation much more than he wants our amazement.

What authority does Jesus have over us?

Who is Jesus? Who is Christ?

He is the Holy One of God – sent to set us free.

Who am I? Who are we?

Mar. 1, 2009 notes on Lent 1 message

My Son, Whom I Love
Mark 1:9-15

Who is Jesus?” “Who is Christ?”
And then two questions about our identity “Who am I?”
The last question has to do with us as a family, or fellowship group, and of course as a congregation, “Who are we?”

The story consists of three episodes:
• baptism,
• wilderness temptation
• Jesus announcing the presence of God’s kingdom.

N. T. Wright reminds us that “heaven” in the Bible often means God’s dimension behind ordinary reality.

Jesus is given insight that only Spirit empowered, God-devoted person can see.

Mark tells us that the Holy Spirit came down and into Jesus.

Mark tells us that “Jesus was thrown into the desert by the Holy Spirit.”

Who do you want to be when Lent is over?

Maybe we need to give up something significant. Maybe in order to be transformed or changed we need to spend significant time in prayer.

“Who is Jesus? Who is Christ?” If he is the Son of God, who are you? Who are we?

Feb 15 thoughts from Pastor John

“Committed to the King, Faithful to His Purposes”
Luke 19:11-27

We invest.
The parable.
A piece of cultural background.
The point of the story:

• To hear the message of the kingdom and to become part of the kingdom of God is a privilege and a responsibility. We will be held accountable for what we have received. What have we received and what are we doing with it?

Actions count.

• The parable is calling us to commitment to the one who has been appointed King. It is calling us to be faithful to his purposes.

What answer do Spirit-filled people give to their neighbors, their city, their state, their country, their world today?

Concluding questions - Feb 8, 2009

Pastor John challenged us to each consider our answers to a set of questions at the conclusion of his message on the parable from Luke 16:1-13. Here are the questions:

• Have we separated our wealth from our discipleship?
  
• People with wealth have more disposable income and greater potential for spending free time. How is our free time spent?
  
• Do you think you are selfish? If so, in what ways? What steps can you take to be less selfish?
  
• Do you agree that wealth is a double-edged sword? What good things, and what bad things, could it do for you?
  
• Can you write down five ways in which you could change your attitude toward wealth, offering opportunities to use your wealth more wisely than you do now?
  
• How can you change your consumer behavior in general, and your spending in particular, for the better?