Why should we place our hope in Jesus?

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Some ideas from Sundays message:

Why should we place our hope in Jesus?

  1. Because Jesus always gets the last word.
  2. Because God did.
  3. Because we live to die. Christ died to live.
  4. Because you are going to die soon.
  5. Because over 2 Billion other people have.
  6. Because the Bible tells us to...over and over.
  7. You got a better option?
  8. Because Jesus is always undefeated!

Some supporting texts:

  • I Peter 1:3-5
  • Matthew 4:10
  • Romans 6:4
  • John 10:10
  • Job 6:11-13
  • Romans 15:4
  • Psalm 119
  • Romans 15:13

A few other key statements:

  • What you see as dead, he sees as alive. What you see as impossible, he sees as possible. What you have given up on, he still believes in. What you see as grim, God looks at with hope.
  • Jesus won at the temple, the town, the cross, the grave, my life, your life and he will win for all of eternity!
  • With him, there are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have become hopeless.
  • Buddha is not coming back for his disciples… he’s in a grave. Mohammad is not coming back for his disciples… he’s in a tomb. BUT my God is coming back for me and you and He is ALIVE!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 15:13

Easter Night

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Well, it's Easter night. We had an amazing day. Church, lunch with friends and then all the family gathered at Mom's for a great time together. I am blessed with quite a family (I said quite, not quiet). How blessed we are! A Mom, Dad and 4 siblings who all love the Lord and live within 10 miles.

This is the first quiet time I have had since church let out. Glad to be resting for a little while before bed. I am actually sitting here listening to worship music and rejoicing in God's grace! My heart is full of joy tonight. I want to share a few of the reasons why.

  • The service this morning was fantastic. Best Easter I can ever remember. Lives were given fresh HOPE!!
  • EntryPoint was off the chain again. That is an every week thing, though, honestly.
  • The worship team led great and looked great, but more important than that, they worshiped! So we worshiped!
  • Somehow the Ushers got (almost) everyone a seat! We were packed in tight this morning.
  • We had 457 people in Worship this morning. Numbers are not the vision, but we believe that they are a product of the vision.
  • With that many people, it is as if i can't tell you 10 people that I actually "saw". That is the challenge of a crowd like that. It looked like a sea of people.
  • Finally, the greatest highlight for me was this: I prayed all week that people would turn to Jesus for the first time or for the first time in a long time in the service today. That prayer was answered!! The altars were full of people putting new and renewed hope in Jesus!! The stories are still flowing in. Thanks Jesus. You said that is you be lifted up, you will draw all men unto you. Thanks for keeping that promise.
  • (I will post a skeleton of my message notes soon.)

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." Psalm 115:1

The Golden Boys

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Let me explain...

We played the Golden Girls theme song this morning while we filled out our connection cards. This song rocks, huh?!?! Well, when we were done, I showed the picture of the Golden Girls on the screen and said that Nelson, Caleb, TC and I were the Golden Boys!

Then...I got this image emailed to me from Matt Straughn a few minutes ago (Matt was one the vocalists on the stage this morning. Good guy!) Thanks, Matt. We'll just let Caleb, Nelson and TC find this on here soon.

Jesus is UNDEFEATED!

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This is been burning in me since the Lord gave it to me yesterday in sermon prep. It is one of the points that I will make in my message in the morning, so here is a quick preview:

In sports, undefeated seasons are VERY RARE! We've got the 72 Dolphins and of course the UConn Women this year. But, in most sports it is not really even possible because the length of the season.

People go ballistic over undefeated teams or teams that have undefeated seasons! They get whack! They brag and carry on for years! They make history.

When Jesus was on the earth, he was undefeated..and he STILL IS!!!

  • Jesus was undefeated in the temple.
  • He was undefeated by his enemies.
  • He was undefeated by the cross (even though it seemed as though he was defeated).
  • Heck, he was even undefeated by the grave!! He rose! And tomorrow we celebrate that!

And guess what? He is STILL undefeated!

  • He has not lost a game yet!
  • There has never been a season for him that was not a perfect season.
  • He will not be defeated by your issues, challenges or circumstances.
  • You will not stump him.
  • He will outplay us on either side of the ball!

And beware...

  • If you think that he is losing, he is probably bluffing.
  • If you think that he is aloof or falling asleep, he is probably waiting on you to wake up and get in the game!

My Jesus is UNDEFEATED!!! I look forward to celebrating that tomorrow with all that I have and all that I am. I do not want to hold back! Will you join me?

--Pastor Noah

Not a Weak Holy Week

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  • Last Sunday was Palm Sunday marking Jesus's triumphal entry.
  • Then, some traditions celebrate Holy Monday (Fig Monday), Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday (Spy Wednesday).
  • Today was Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) marking the last meal that Jesus shared with the Apostles and the institution of communion as we know it.
  • Tomorrow is Good Friday...the day that we recognize, mourn and experience the death of Jesus and it's meaning in our life and eternity.
  • This Sunday is Easter...the day that we celebrate a Risen Jesus and the power and plan of God that raised him from the dead!

Plenty of people you rub shoulders with this week will not give any of this much thought at all. This week means little to many. The fact that it is Spring Break week is the main thought of the week. Let me encourage you to:

  1. Stop...and reflect on what this week represents.
  2. Think...about how much God incorporated you into His master plan.
  3. Read...the events of this week in the gospels and ask the Lord to show you new things.
  4. Listen...to what God wants to communicate to you this week. He is speaking.

Let's not make this a weak holy week.

Africans know how to name their kids!

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Meant to post this after hanging out with the Ike and Uche and Family the other day.

One of the greatest joys of my service at CCF has been learning to know the strengths and gifts of the different cultures in our church. Here is one thing that I have learned: Typically, Africans know how to name their kids!!! The names have meaning! They connect to stories of life. They connect to faith. They proclaim the hand of God in a family. Sure, they are often hard to pronounce and promise to be misspelled, but they have intention and meaning.

Here are the names of Ike and Uche's 2 kids:

Chiemerie Somglie
Chiemerie- God has won the battle.
Somglie- Come and rejoice with us.

Dubem Zimchikachim
Dubem- Lead me, oh Lord.
Zimchikachim- Show me the God that is greater than my God! (Then, they said: “And we have been waiting....and are still waiting. No one has shown us yet!”)

Well John, Mary, Mike, Sue, Bill, and all of my other American friends...do you think this is as cool as I do?!?!

--Noah

Some Parenting Thoughts

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I only have 27 months of experience on my parenting "resume", but can I make a few observations this morning? These are some of the things that Tricia and I have been discussing and learning together as we learn to lead Davis.

  1. We all know that people say "kids need you to be consistent." Let me just say this...PEOPLE are right. Consistency works. The less we waiver, the less he waivers.
  2. Hollow threats are ineffective, but oh so popular!!! "If you don't stop, I will _____!" "If you do that one more time, I am going to _______." If what you said is true....and you will do what you said, then use that approach. If you are not going to get up off your butt and do it, then it is better to keep quiet. Hollow threats are broken promises. No one respects promise breakers. Not even a 2 year old.
  3. Eyes, voice and tone (out of relationship) are almost always a far better discipline tool than belts, spoons and hands (out of reaction). Nothing would please me more than for Davis to respond to my look or my words so that I never have to escalate my discipline response beyond that. (Keep dreaming, huh?)
  4. Praise the good things way more than you correct the bad ones! If you have that flip flopped, you are not looking for the good stuff, but watching for the bad. It is your bad programming, not your kids bad behavior.

A few less deep things that we are doing that seem to be working so far:

  • Sing together as a family. May feel cheesy, but it is worth it! They are kids! (We sing "Jesus Loves Me" on the reg.)
  • Explain things that they probably don't get. They may get some of it now and some of it later. But they gotta get it somehow. Don't wait til they are ready...whatever that means.
  • Make big deals out of small things. We went crazy over all the different shells yesterday. As if we had never seen one. Remember, they haven't.
  • Free toys are the best toys. Davis will find 2 small rocks (too big to swallow) that he likes and play with them for 3 days. Then a stick. Then a leaf. Then repeat. That is stewardship at work in a 2 year old!! LOL!

Could say more, but will sign off.

What do you think of these ideas? You seen any of them at work? Do you have other things to throw into the conversation? Leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Enjoying Miami

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  • Having a great time here in Miami!
  • Melyssa, Adam and Graciella have a beautiful life here. So very happy for them.
  • They are really rolling out the red carpet for us.
  • Walked South Beach, Lincoln Mall, and Ocean Drive today. If you know much about it, you know we saw some sites. But, it was not as bad as people make it out to be.
  • Went to Little Havana, (Calle Ocho) for some Cuban dinner and Cuban coffee.

Tricia blogged about it and posted pics on her blog. CLICK HERE to check it out!

I am very excited to go to Fellowship Church, Miami tomorrow morning (Ed Young's Miami campus). Will have my heart and my legal pad open. Will share about it tomorrow.

Noah

Off to Florida

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Tricia, Davis and I are excited to catch a flight down to Miami this afternoon to visit Adam and Melyssa (Tricia's Sister and her Hubby) for the first time since they moved to Miami. It will be our first time in their home and we will be meeting our Niece, Graciella Mia Lopez! If she is half as precious as her name is, we are in for a treat!

We will be at their home. This is it. Not too shabby, huh?

And this is Graciella Mia:

Tricia informs me that I have never been to Miami. So, here goes. Will hit you up from the Sunshine State.

Prayer Controversy with Bowie Pastor

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(I usually do not cut and paste an article, but I just came across this on Ben Rainey's Blog. This article in washingtonpost.com is about Pastor Mark Lehmann of Cornerstone AG right here in Bowie. I used to attend Cornerstone and even interned there in 2000. CLICK HERE to read the article or read it below.)

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Some prayer controversy occurred today in the Maryland Senate.

Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) chastised the pastor of a Bowie church this morning for including too much Jesus in a prayer that opened the day's proceedings. That pastor is now speaking out, saying he was confused and disappointed by the criticism.

Both the House and Senate open each day with a prayer. In the House, delegates take turns doing the honors. Senators invite clergy from their districts to offer words. The prayers are generally ecumenical, occasionally mentioning God, rarely mentioning Jesus. Guidelines advise those who offer the prayer to try to be sensitive to the many faiths of the elected leaders who take part.

Today, Pastor Mark Lehmann, a guest of Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Prince George's), led senators in a lengthy prayer. He quoted King David, he referenced the apostle James, he expressed thanks that senators could put "trust in the hands of a changeless God" in changing times.

He concluded, "We humbly ask these things in the name of the name that is above all names, the matchless name of Jesus our Savior. It is in His name that we pray."

As he descended from the rostrum, Miller piped up. He asked that Lehman's remarks not be journalized--that is, saved for posterity. Then, with annoyance, he asked the secretary of the senate, "Do we see these things ahead of time? Do we?"

Lehmann says, yes, in fact. This is the third time he has prayed in the Maryland senate and, knowing this very issue might come up, he submitted his remarks at 9:30 a.m. and was sure to stick to his prepared text.

"I told them up front that I have to do that--that's how I pray," he said. "To me, to deny Jesus is to deny my faith."

Lehmann said waiting in the Senate lounge before coming to the floor to offer the prayer, he noted a painting featuring a large cross and the words, "the founding of the Maryland."

"To me, if there were ever a time in our state history when we needed help from above, it's now," he said.

Lehmann said he is unlikely to pray with the Maryland General Assembly again.

UPDATE: Lehmann wrote us this morning with a clarification. He'd be happy to lead the Maryland senate in prayer again, if he's allowed to do so in Jesus' name.

(In addition to this, you can read Mark's actual prayer word for word and see other reaction at his blog by clicking here.)

And just like that....

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...we have two precious babies that we have known for 8 hours, asleep in our home.

My Sister, Selah and my Brother in Law, Randy have been approved to foster or adopt. They were willing to take kids on a whim if needed. That happened. Today! 3 hours after the first phone call, Naylin and Anthony showed up here. Here they are:

I am so happy for, proud of and excited for Selah and Randy! They have their hearts in the right place. They want to Love these kids while knowing that the length of their impact is in God's hands. They could be here a day, week, month, year or lifetime! Very excited to know that there are 2 sweet babies upstairs asleep and the the Hunt's can start sharing that love they've got! Uncle Nonie and Aunt Tricia are here to help too!

A thought about "Courage" that I got in the shower

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If my memory serves me correctly (it's been a few years), John Maxwell suggests in his book "Developing the Leader Within You" that all of us have leadership ability that needs to be found and used. Maybe. Have not totally bought that, BUT....

I do think that most of us experience moments that God asks us to lead out in courage. For some, they may be rare. They may be isolated. For others, they may be more often Sigh.

Can I be honest? My life has been chock full of doing difficult things, saying difficult things and making hard decisions in leadership. I could just list them! Because they are hard to forget. To be honest, it is often one of my biggest frustrations with God! Lord, why do you keep electing me to be the person to do the hard thing or say that hard thing. Can you share the wealth with others, God? ;-)

Over and over again, I find myself in a place where I am faced with a decision or meeting or action that requires a lot of courage. In fact, I am facing one today! Let me tell you how I know that I am facing a big "Courage Move" in leadership:

  • I avoid it.
  • I delay it.
  • I try to talk myself into other approaches to take that are less scary (knowing full well that it aint right).
  • I make sure that this thing really shouldn't be done by someone else (so I don't have to).
  • I devise plans to "soften" what I know I need to say or "fluff up" what I need to do.

Then, it only gets harder! The anxiety raises. The fear of man increases. And I end up messing up or giving up.

So...here is my advice to you:

  1. If you have not done something in a while that requires some extra courage on your part, you are probably avoiding something that you should be doing. Check that!
  2. Pay attention to the cautions above and start doing the right thing when you know it is the right thing....not just when you feel like it. If you wait until you feel like it, you may never do it.
  3. God is going to get his thing done with or without you. Show him that he can count on you so he doesn't pass you up for the next assignment!

Move ahead, man or woman of courage!!

Write Everything Down!!

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I really liked Steven Furtick's post today. So me. So up my alley. I so agree! I see it this way, if you are leading the second fastest growing church in the USA, you probably have something valuable to say. It's why I read his blog. Today, this was simple, practical and fresh.

Excerpts:

Write everything down! It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to get done.

Some of your best sermons never get preached because they weren't written down. You thought you'd remember. You didn't. It's gone.

Millions of lucrative business ideas and helpful inventions never saw the light of day because somebody did not write them down!

There is more....READ THE ENTIRE POST BY CLICKING HERE!

An Inside Out Work

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For far too long, the story of Christian faith has been wrapped up in what we do not do, instead of what we do. Do not cuss, drink, have sex outside of marriage, smoke, shew, dance with women that do, lie, steal, cheat, etc.

Look, I know that the 10 commandment stand and that there are plenty of "thou shalt nots" throughout scripture, but God has been showing me something about Jesus's approach to discipleship in the New Testament. It looks something like this:

Give me your heart! First! Let me start at the core of you. Your center. From there, I will do an inside out work. I do not want your feet, hands, eyes and mouth first...I want your heart first!

Once I have your heart, and you meet me, and I meet you, and I come inside and make my home, then the outside will begin to change. We've got time for that.

If I can have your heart:

  • You hands will gradually stop touching the same things.
  • Your feet will stop going the same places.
  • Your eyes will stop wanting to see the old things.
  • You mouth will slowly stop saying the old stuff.
  • You bedroom will start becoming a place where sexuality will take on a new purpose.
  • You will see your relationships through a whole new set of glasses.
  • People will start to look at you and do double takes.

I really don't want to be a Pastor or Leader that gets it twisted and backwards. Our job is to give our hearts, the center of who we are over to Jesus. Jesus is the master of cleaning us up.

God has been showing me this very strongly recently as I have been interacting with more seekers at CCF...many who are waiting to "get there act together" before accepting Christ. Why do they feel the need to do this? Because they have been told for far too long that Jesus wants only the perfect and clean. My, how we have missed the message. Jesus came for and died for the sinner. And we can come just as we are and THEN the Lord will begin an inside out work!