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August 21, 2024

in Discipleship, DTOTD

by Brendon

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Under the Fig Tree…

” Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ” We have found him of who Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.: Nathanael said to him, ” Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, ” Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ” Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, ” How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, ” Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” – John 1: 45 -48

Doubt. Uncertainty. Confusion. Clouds of sorrow. Seasons of depression. Distractions.

These symptoms of life can be causes for concern and panic for most who experience them or even those who are around them. It is never easy to see a loved one, a friend or even yourself go through any of these moments in life. Our first inclination whenever someone experiences a season of “bad” is to help them fix it.

There have been times in my own life where all of these things have taken place, some of them all at once. The hard thing to grapple with as you are in them, is to ask God for help. Or better yet, to ask God to show himself during those times.

About 9 years ago, life was in all sorts of transitions. A new location to call home, new kid, new job, new situation, new financial questions to be asked and to be honest, I hit rock bottom. I was lost and confused after stepping away from a ministry that I had loved. I had, and still have, a wife that is way to gracious for me to even comprehend, especially during that season of our life. Two beautiful young children that I had the weight of taking care of and growing and teaching and nurturing. All the while, trying to plead with God to allow me to go back into ministry while I needed to heal and relearn who God was in my own life.

All of the symptoms that are listed above were symptoms that I masked the best I could. I laughed and played and experienced life as best as I could. However, deep down, I was curling in a ball wishing no one would ever find me, let alone see me in that way.

” When you were under the fig tree….I saw you.”

Not sure about you, but I can resonate with Nathanael in this calling. Here is how the rest played out:

” Nathanael answered him, ” Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, ” Because I said to you, ‘ I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, ” Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” – John 1: 49-51

Nathanael was in a doubting place in his life. We see it from his reaction to Jesus being from Nazareth. There was a sense of sarcastic doubt when Philip told him about Jesus the first time. But yet, the moment Jesus see’s Nathanael, Jesus reveals something to Nathanael that Nathanael couldn’t believe.

Not only does Jesus combat Nathanael’s sarcastic doubt, he encourages him, builds him up and then promises him he will see even more than Jesus seeing him under the fig tree.

When we are walking through these seasons of doubt, depression, sarcastic doubt, unbelief, confusion, sorrow, even uncertainty, know this:

Jesus see’s you there.

Right where you are.

He doesn’t go looking for you in the places that you won’t be. He doesn’t go looking for you in the places that you should be. Jesus doesn’t go looking…..

Jesus already see’s you.

As I trudged through the mud that I was stuck in for years, there was a moment in time when I realized….. That Jesus saw me and knew me and grabbed me by the hand and lead me to where He wanted me to go. Just like when Philip in Acts 8 was told to go to a specific road and to be ready…. Jesus saw me. He saw I needed him. He sees me now, knowing I need him more than back then. Whatever season in life you find yourself in…

Jesus see’s you.

As hard as it is sometimes to know and remember and lean into, take the time to meditate/contemplate that you are seen and known by the son of Man and that no matter where you find yourself in life…

Jesus, see’s you.

May 21, 2024

in Church, Discipleship, DTOTD, HCC

by Brendon

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Words on a page or words of truth?

This thought has been one burning in my mind for a little while now, because it is a thought that is going to become super important with a middle school daughter. And to be honest this next season of life for her, I am excited for! She is smart and dedicated and strong and powerful. My prayer and thought for her, is what will she do with all of that in her life?

So as we begin this thought, I want to say that I believe the Bible, whether you believe it or not, can be boiled down to this:

” In the beginning God created……..” Genesis 1:1a

Those five words can dictate the way that we read the Bible, interact with the Bible and even allow the Bible to interact with our hearts, minds and souls.

” All scripture is God breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God, may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17

The graphic above, you probably have seen floating around your social media feeds over the last few months. It is a graph that shows in detail the cross references of the Bible in its entirety. Not just a few of them but all the references that are used in the bible. As one pastor put it, ” if this was the work on one man, we would think that he is the greatest composer of all time. But in reality, the scriptures were written by over 40 people and over 1500 years of history…” The graph shows that there are 63,779 cross references in scripture.

To be honest with you, this thought is one that over my entire life span I have never asked, is the Bible real or is it just a group of made up stories? I have never once asked myself, why do I believe what is written in these pages? Why do I continue to study these scriptures throughout my life?

The answer……because I believe the first five words of the Bible are true.

I believe that God created the earth and sky and space and heaven and stars and trees and oceans and waters and animals and birds and humans. I believe that when in the garden of eden when humans were left to their own choices, we made the wrong one which brought separation from God who created us to be with him in His creation. I believe that God then set humans, his creation, apart from the rest of creation to be the key piece to reconciling his creation back to Himself. I believe that God used fallen humans to be spokesman for Himself by giving the words of the Bible to men and woman to write down and be taught and remembered and passed down. I believe that God used his creation to send his Son Jesus down to earth to live a life that is worth of emulating and following because that is the way Grace was given to anyone who will listen and believe. I also believe that without the Bible, Christianity would not have a guide that is living and breathing and interacting with minds, bodies, hearts and society….even when society doesn’t know it.

The Bible is the story of God and God’s people. God’s people in the Old Testament being the nation of Israel and in the New Testament we learn that the people of God are not just limited to one group but to any and all that will listen and believe and turn back to God. God working through his creation, even though fallen and separated from Him due to sin, to bring his creation back to himself.

Does the Bible have some crazy stories inside the covers, absolutely! A man being swallowed by a fish and then being spat out in the exact place that he needs to be, or how about the story of a king that is transformed into a donkey because he makes some dumb decisions, or what about the stories of kings going to war for the soul purpose of covering up the fact he slept with the wrong person. The Bible is full of stories that are crazy to the reader, especially when you read in the book of Judges that a man took his concubine and cut her up and sent pieces of her to all over the world at the time.

But here is the key – In the beginning God Created.

There are lots of holy texts in the world, whether it is the Qur’an, the Dhammapada of Buddhism, The Tanahk of Judaism, The Rig Veda of Hinduism, the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible and even the book of Mormon.

Holy texts can be found in all religions across the world. The genuine question that comes back to any written scripture or literature for a religion is…..

Do you believe it?

Whatever the holy text is….that is always the baseline question.

For me, the Bible in all of the craziness and all of the cross references and even the things that I do not fully understand points me this:

A love God, that created everything so that his creation can be perfect with Him. And throughout the 2 canons of the bible, we read God’s story of constantly loving, forgiving, rebuking, teaching, drawing closer, grace-giving and in the end, defeating the power of Sin to give his creation the ability to come and reconcile their relationship with Him. For me, the first five words of the Bible are true. Which means everything else in the Bible, whether I understand them or not, I will wrestle and interact and allow God’s Spirit to work in my life through the study of the Bible and allow me to extend that love and grace that I learn to those around me as I become more like Jesus reaching out to introduce others to Jesus.

Might be the least amount of Bible usage to have a thought on the Bible, but scriptures are something that you have to interact with and come to your own conclusion on whether or not to believe it or whether or not you pick and chose and only believe what you want to believe.

The Bible is full of hard lessons and ideas to comprehend and demonstrations to follow, but that is also why this journey of following Jesus to be reconciled with God in the work of the Spirit is not one that comes to an end or a finish line. It is a journey that will be forever long and however you run the race, the Bible will never change, just like its heavenly author will never change and just like its main hero will never change and just like the love, grace and mercy that is free to anyone who will listen will never change.

The Bible is the written word of God, and God breathed the words into over 40 different people to write the story of how God wants to reconcile his creation to himself. The Bible is the lifeblood of the Christ follower and the authority in which we should live and direct our lives.

May 21, 2024

in DTOTD

by Brendon

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Persuading…not coercing or manipulating

Posted on May 14, 2024 by Brendon

“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others……Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ was reconciling us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” – 2 Cor. 5: 11a, 17-18

Have you ever been persuaded to do something? Or maybe to buy something? Or maybe even to sign up for something??

I started my credit history this way. I was on a mission trip to Boston, which was one of my favorite cities in the country, but at a Red Sox game at Fenway park, I was for sure overwhelmed with where I was and all that I was experiencing. I remember walking through the concourse of Fenway and just marveling at the history and the structure of the ball field. I also remember how cold I was. I had just purchased a new hoodie thinking that might be warm enough for the night…I was wrong. So as I was walking around, I heard the question “Would you like a blanket?”

I stopped and looked at a table with a bunch of fleece Red Sox blankets. I wanted one. So I listened to this dude talk to me about getting this blanket and I found myself filling out a form to open my first ever credit card, to get a blanket for free! Great deal!! I know, I was young and vulnerable and cold and gullible. However, as I read the passage above that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, I realized how easily I was persuaded to sign up for something that I didn’t want or need at the time, just for a blanket.

What if it was that easy to persuade someone to know and believe and follow Jesus?

We see it all the time in our worlds, people are persuaded to buy that item that is on sale for the next three and half minutes. We are persuaded to go to the place that has a deal on all of its meats in the market so we can get the best price for our favorite cut of beef. We are persuaded to believe someone is wrong to vote for someone else. We are persuaded to follow the crowd of whatever the new thing to ‘cancel’ is. We are persuaded by others to doubt ourself about what we believe. We are persuaded in all sorts of ways.

What if we were able to be persuaded by God every day of our lives?

Persuasion in this case is not making mention to someone tricking you into something, but really the complete opposite in persuading someone by the words you speak and the life you live to show Jesus’ love to those around you, to the point that those around you want to know who Jesus is because of the way you live your life.

April 17, 2024

in Discipleship, DTOTD, Jesus

by Brendon

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what the old can teach the new

” Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” – Exodus 1:8

Over the past several months, the Old Testament has been speaking loudly. Not just in terms of learning or academic knowledge, but speaking life to an overworked mind and heart. There have been revelations about certain stories that have been read hundreds of times. There are have been new thoughts about how stories are connected within the context of scripture that were never thought about before. There is a fresh view of why some of these stories are even written down and told and read and taught throughout human history.

Something struck deep however when reading a commentary book on the last book of the bible. Revelation is one of the most hard and, probably, misunderstood books of the bible. It is a masterpiece of images, analogies, and hyperbole that makes anyone question what they are reading. When you dive into the text and you have some guidance, there begins to be a revelation of your own when reading the confusing stories of the great beast or the Scarlett beast or great whore who is torn apart and burned. What was fascinating about a portion of a book I was reading was this:

” This clear link with Egypt reinforces St. John’s emphasis on WORSHIP, for we recall that the ten plagues were not visited on the Egyptians because they were an extraordinary evil people, but for a single reason which had no apparent moral content to it at all: they were determined to prevent Israel from WORSHIPPING God.” – Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder pg. 143

Can you let that sink in for a second…….the ten plagues of Egypt happened solely because Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Israelite people worship God the Creator.

Peterson goes on to talk about the concept of worship and how it is central to the life of a Christian because without worship, there is no way we can stay attune to what God is doing and as Christians we should be praying and looking to where God is active to be able to move towards him.

There are a few things here to point out. Firstly, God is a jealous God. Not because other things that he created are bad, but because God created you to BE WITH Him. Think about a time when you felt dried up or burnt out or maybe you were so busy that you hadn’t been able to get to church to worship with others for a while. How did life feel? What were the the feelings and emotions like that ran through your body? What were your thoughts like? When we are not able to spend time in worship being with God, it becomes easier and easier to miss the point of worship, being connected to the God that is jealous for our attention.

Secondly, God will go to no boundary to bring his people to him. Reading through the ten plagues, some of them are crazy! Frogs, millions of frogs. Locusts…..turning water into blood, which would kill anything in the water…darkness…..death of the firstborn. These are some intense plagues that barely changed Pharaoh’s mind about letting the Israelites go. God shows in this situation, as well as in Revelation 17. & 18, that He will do what he must to bring his people to a place of worship. When there are things standing in the way, God will put something into motion that will change the course back to Him.

Lastly, God always provides a way through the darkness. In the case of people of Israel, they were enslaved for hundreds of years and Egypt became accustomed to having such a large force of slaves to build their buildings and take care of their lands. What Egypt didn’t do was realize that the God who brought forth creation, would bring about a way for His people to leave and worship him. Personally, this was something experienced when in a transition period of my life. Darkness overshadowed everything that happened. Whether good or bad, it was clearly a moment of darkness in life that could not be avoided. For some reason though, as God continued to pave a way, the hard part was putting one foot in front of the other each day to continue moving in the direction of God’s call on my life. There is a lot more to say about that season of my life, but to turn it back to scripture, the plague of Darkness was an interesting one, because as the Egyptians were cased in a darkness that they could not see –

” The the Lord said to Moses, ‘ stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven , and there was pitch darkness in ALL the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, BUT ALL the people of Israel HAD LIGHT where they lived.” Exodus 10:21-23

For those of you that might be going through a time of darkness where it paralyzes you with fear and makes you stay right where you are, know this, that the old can teach the new. Know this, that God is the light that you are looking for. When you come to Him in worship, the light begins to be brighter. It may be dim at first, but as time goes and worship happens and our actions and heart continue to grow closer to our creator and savior, the light begins to brighten.

April 15, 2024

in Discipleship, DTOTD, Jesus

by Brendon

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Press Pause –> RESET

” Jesus came and told his disciples, ” I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, GO, and make disciples of ALL the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20

Since the turn of the new year, it has seemed like someone launched a time pod into the future and instead of living life, it has felt like we are just riding this time pod to where we are today. There has been so much that happened since January and it is hard to really understand and imagine how fast the first 3 months of the year went…..

13 Sundays

4 Belong Experiences

New Space Beta Testing

Palm Sunday

Good Friday

Easter Sunday celebrations

A Guest Services and Local Outreach training

Spring Break

Baptism Sunday

The launch of a new space – Discover Harvester

But yet, as the busyness comes to a slow, I find myself yearning for the beginning. I find myself yearning to go back to where it is simple and understandable and life giving.

Not that any of the events or sundays or things that are listed above are not life giving or fun or anything along those lines. But I find myself drifting back to those things that seem simple or the things that we learned as kids. And I wonder, do we make our lives to complicated??

Life is hard. I know. I live it every day just like you do. It is a hard thing to remember every practice, find every document, be at every meeting on time, be in the office, get the to-do list done at the house, clean the carpet where the dog peed, create a healthy and balanced meal and then execute it, and don’t forget that is just for the 4 year old….

Every now and again, I think there are RESET moments in our lives that we all desperately need.

Peter experienced a reset moment in his life with Jesus when Jesus approached him in John 21. Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him and Peter shows he loves Jesus. And Jesus gives a foreshadowing to Peter’s life.

Paul was given a RESET moment on the road to Damascus when Jesus came and approached him in the light. Paul, at that moment Saul, met Jesus and spent 3 days in a house with a scale like blindness on his eyes. Once the RESET moment happened, Paul went on to be one of, if not, the most influential pastor, church planter and writer for all of the Christian faith.

The man healed of his blindness from birth in John 9. Jesus meets this man that is born blind and Jesus uses this RESET moment to show God’s power here on earth by healing this man’s blindness. The man is known and is questioned because he was the man that was blind, but because of Jesus he was not the same.

The woman caught in adultry in John 8 was given a reset moment also when Jesus stepped in front of her and got every single person to drop their stone. Jesus was the only one left when he bent down and talked to the woman and showed her compassion and mercy and love and forgiveness.

RESET’s are not just for video games when you are losing and want to start over. There is going to be a moment in time when we all need to find Jesus in a RESET moment just like the ones listed above.

Why a RESET?

Because when we begin to think and rely on ourselves more than we rely on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, thats when we fall short of everything we are asked to do.

Including, the great commission that Jesus gave us to GO into the world and make disciples of all nations.

When we get overrun with busyness and schedules and plans and all of the things that come at us in life, we begin to slip away from the foundation of our lives which should be Jesus. And as we see in the accounts above, when Jesus is the reason for the RESET,

then we can be reminded that Jesus promised he would be with us to the end of the age. ( see above )

Another one of these foundation scriptures to think about this week:

” Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” – John 14:1-3

Jesus wants to be a part of your RESET. Let him be.

February 20, 2024

in Church, Discipleship, DTOTD, Local

by Brendon

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DTOTD – Thought #4 – Grace

” Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God thought our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” – Romans 5:1-2

Grace. Grace is defined as unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification by the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Grace is central to the message of Jesus and the Bible. God the father from the very beginning of time has given Grace to all of mankind for all sorts of things.

I heard it once said like this, ” as we become more and more aware of Jesus in our lives, we become more and more aware that we need more grace than we ever imagined.” It was interesting the first time I wrestled with that statement, because I have never thought about it before. I never thought that once I become part of the kingdom of God, I would need more and more grace. Because of course, once we find Jesus, we are all good to go……I guess I was off a little bit.

In the definition of Grace, the word sanctification stands out. The act of sanctification is the idea that as we go through life, searching for God and following his son Jesus, He will sanctify or continually form us into his likeness. So in turn, the idea of Grace is something that is ongoing and essential for our becoming like Jesus.

It’s hard though isn’t? The thought that we need to be vulnerable and humble enough to say that we messed up and the only help or saving that we need is the grace of Jesus?

Let’s be honest, we live in a culture right now that crucifies anyone that does anything wrong. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of circumstances where someone getting caught or in trouble for something that they did is absolutely the right thing to happen. But what would happen if instead of cancel culture, there is grace culture. A place, a community, a group of people that will listen and forgive and give grace instead of a tongue thrashing and a turn your back away from those that aren’t perfect place. Perfection can never be attained, even though that is what is desired by so many.

We seek to be perfect in the way that we look. To be perfect in the way that we dress. To be perfect in the way that we cook. To be perfect in the way that we drive. To be perfect in the way that we parent. To be perfect in the way that people look at us. To be perfect in the way that others treat us. To be perfect in the way that we show ourselves to the world. To be perfect in the way that we play sports. We seek perfection or maybe a better way to think about it, we seek to be better than everyone else in whatever we do or maybe even what our kids do so that we can obtain some sort of status that is unwritten and not given.

Grace is the complete opposite of perfection. When we strive to live like Jesus and live unlike the normal, grace is the only thing we can seek out. Grace requires a level of humility that is against the society that we live in. Grace requires a level of a contrite heart that is willing to say, I am not good enough. Grace requires attention to the actions that we take on a daily basis, even the small ones. Grace requires the nurturing space for God to seep into every corner of our lives to take away the bondage that we all live in.

The question with grace…is how will grace shape your life?

One of the most common phrases or thoughts that I hear or even have myself, is that I have done so much wrong in my life, how could God ever forgive me and also gift me to do anything good for him?

Abram argued with God about what he was going to do to Sodom and Gomorra.

Sarah, laughed at God when he said she would have a baby.

Moses, doubted that God could use him to set the Israelites free.

Jonah, tried to run away from God when God called him to speak to the people of Ninevah.

Saul, the king, lost sight of God in his jealousness of David.

David, committed adultery and murder in the eyes of God.

Peter, denies knowing Jesus.

Paul was a murderer and a zealot to cancel the Christian faith.

Through God’s grace…..all of these people were God’s chosen.

” but God shows his love for us in this, while we are still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

Even when we feel our mistakes, baggage, and sin, holding us back from being called by God and being given grace, God doesn’t look away.

Grace is not something earned. Grace is given, freely, every time.

As a disciple of Jesus, as we draw closer and closer to our Lord and Savior, allow grace to be given to you in the mountaintop and in the valleys.

God gives grace freely.

January 24, 2024

in Church, Discipleship, DTOTD, GiveHope, Guest Services

by Brendon

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DTOTD – Thought 3

” If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you……These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” – John 14: 15-17, 25-26

Just follow your heart.

Have you heard that phrase before? It is a phrase that you can find in all of culture, movies, songs, art and even the news cycles. Just follow your heart.

That phrase has led to most likely, heartache, confusion, questions, counseling, divorce, anger, resentment, mistrust, bad financial moves, and maybe even worse but the hurt of your own body.

Just follow your heart is a dangerous phrase. It can lead us down so many different paths that we may not know where we end up at the end of it.

There is a story in the Gospel of Luke, where the author writes a parable that Jesus used in teaching about Grace and God the Father. The parable goes that the youngest of two brothers went up to his father while he was still living and asked him to give him his portion of the inheritance that he would receive when his father is dead. For some reason, the Father says ok and gives the youngest son a whole pile of money. The youngest son, follows his heart and the bible says:

” not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need….” - Luke 15:13-14

The youngest son followed his heart and it led him to nothing.

We might not all be able to resonate with the youngest son, that followed his heart and it lead him to literally having nothing to his name other than his clothes. But, we probably are able to look back at seasons or years of our lives where we followed our hearts and it led into a place of desolate isolation and regret.

What if there was something or maybe someone that would remind us of who we are, what we are, what we are made to be, the concrete truths that we can stand firm on in our lives…..

” But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” - Acts 1:8

Recently in a discussion about the Farewell Discourse of Jesus in John 14-18, the topic of the Holy Spirit came up and if we would rather have Jesus still on earth or if we understand the power of the Holy Spirit. Conversation ensued and the thoughts came to this:

There is a reason Jesus told us that it was better for us for him to go back to Heaven and the Helper come to Us. Because if The Holy Spirit did not come, then we would never be able to break free from anything that our hearts lead us towards.

Just follow your heart is not the phrase to lead us to Jesus or even help us become more like Jesus in our every day lives.

Allowing the Holy Spirit of Jesus/God to come into our hearts, so that when we have moments of time to make a decision, the Spirit Helps us through those times.

There are lots of thoughts and perceptions of the Holy Spirit. Some are right, some are off and some are just downright weird.

But for the simple-minded, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God that brings us knowledge and strength and power and healing and grace. The question is whether or not we allow the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts or whether we will continue to just follow our own hearts that are riddled with sin.

The Holy Spirit is a Helper.

The Holy Spirit is a Healer.

The Holy Spirit is a Guide.

The Holy Spirit is a Presence.

Take a breath and allow the Holy Spirit to come into your lives.

January 10, 2024

in Discipleship, DTOTD, Jesus

by Brendon

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DTOTD – Thought 1

” Behold, the dwelling place of God is with Man…..’ and Behold, I am coming soon……Behold, I am coming soon…….I, Jesus have snet my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches…..Surely, I am coming soon.” Rev. 21:3b, Rev. 22: 7a, 12a, 16a and 20b

Life.

What is it? Why is life the way it is? Where did life come from? How did we get here? What made the earth so beautiful? What made the earth so cruel? Is there a system for life? Is life random? Can we predetermine life? Can we determine our own outcome? Why does bad things happen to good people? These amongst others, are some of the most asked questions in history. These are questions that people have asked that have led to incredible discovery, adventure and knowledge.

I love a good question. One that makes you think and ponder and research and read and learn and underline until you come up with your own answer. Some of the questions listed above might be one of those questions for you. Maybe you have other questions that keep you up at night.

As my kids get older, the more inquisitive they become. They also are beginning to ask a lot more questions. Some good, some bad and some that just don’t make any sense. However, I am trying to foster a place in our home where questions are welcomed, which means I have to keep myself in check when one of those ridiculous questions comes out. One of those questions or maybe we can consider it a thought, was this….

” dad, can I really believe that God created the world when everything else tells me that it was something else other than God? “

I got to baptize my son a few years ago and part of me wonders if I should have waited, but part of me also knows that Jesus has his life in his hands and he is now learning and growing into his own belief. My role in his life now is to guide him always back to Jesus. We were lying in his bed before bedtime talking about this and we read out of his big encyclopedia on how the people that put the book together thought the earth was made.

And we began to talk about it more and more until we got to a point in the conversation where he understood that in order for him to really dive into his faith he had to wrestle with 5 words….

” In the beginning, God Created……”

The first five words of the bible. That is what my son was wrestling with. I have a feeling that most of us in our present context, feel the same way. We are all wrestling with whether or not there is a creator or whether this is a bang.

There are seasons of life where we will lean on our faith in an understanding of that God created life. But then there are seasons of life when we question the very reason for life. Some of us battle that question so hard that it leads us to unimaginable pain and confusion.

But if there is a first thought that we can have each and every day…..it might be a good way to start with this:

Thought 1 – God, desires to be with you.

Whatever the season of life that you are in, God desires to be with you.

Whether you are in a good season or a bad season, God desires to be with you.

Whether you are happy with what you see in the mirror or hate what you see in the mirror, God desires to be with you.

Whether you are in the job you love or a job you hate, God desires to be with you.

Each and every morning when you wake up and shake off the sleep grog, God desires to be with you.

Even when things are hard and you don’t know what is next, God desires to be with you.

If you are going to start your journey off with a thought, start with this one.

God, desires to be with you.

Let that be your rock.

Let that be your anchor.

Let than be your life line.

Let that be your compass.

Let that be your prayer.

December 18, 2023

in Discipleship, DTOTD, Guest Services

by Brendon

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DTOTD – The Coming King

” ….But you, O Bethlehem Ephraith, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, FROM YOU SHALL FORTH FOR ME ONE WHO IS TO BE RULER IN ISRAEL, whose coming forth is from of old and ancient days…..and HE SHALL BE THEIR PEACE…..” Micah 5:2, 5a

In a season of busyness and checklists and grocery lists, baking time, cooking time, family time, work time, rest time, present time, worship time, church time, and all the other times that are pulling for our attention, there is little to no time for peace.

Maybe not peace and quiet, but memories, feelings, and emotions of peace. Where we allow time to slowly slip by as we sit with our family and remember the things that were, things that are and things that will be. Peace that rests our hearts, minds and souls.

In the midst of the chaotic busyness there is a chance for us to use this time to find peace that we have not found and not felt at any other point of the year.

The above text is from the prophet Micah in the OId Testament, as he was prophesying to the nation of Israel about coming turmoil and tribulation that they will endure of being taken over….in verse 5, he states what this coming ruler will bring that will come from Bethlehem…

Peace.

In a state of confusion and chaos that the Israelites were in, there was a message of peace. When all else seemed to be fading into darkness and into a pit that will be incredibly difficult to get out of. Peace was the coming message.

Fast forward a couple hundred years to Matthew 1 / Luke 2, the coming of this prophesy takes place. The birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God is born in a time that was full of chaos and confusion and misunderstanding. The Roman empire had swallowed up so much land that rules and regulations and censuses were being taken for the first time or coming from a land that most Hebrews would never see. But it was in this moment, in the moment of busyness and travel and confusion and bad travel plans and cancelled reservations that Jesus made his way onto the scene.

Immanuel has come. As Richard Foster so eloquently states in his book Life With God, that the desire and outcome of the grand story of God is that Jesus comes to earth as a baby to show and prove that the place that God desires to be is WITH his people. Not separated or far away from or not in touch with, but one that is intimately with his people every day.

In a season where people were lost and looking for answers. In a season where people were hurting and looking for someone to heal them, maybe not physically but spiritually. And even some that were seeking healing physically. Jesus came to the world to give them peace.

In John 16, Jesus, in his Farewell Message to his disciples with him and to us, tells us:

” I have said these things to you, that in me you may have PEACE. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world. ” John 16:33

Jesus came to Bethlehem to bring Peace.

Jesus spoke a message of Peace.

Jesus died so that you can have Peace.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so you can have Peace.

Jesus calls you to Himself to offer you peace.

Will you find and reach out and accept his Peace?

Take a moment today, tomorrow or sometime before the calendar switches and as Jesus to bring you Peace that he can only give.

December 4, 2023

in Church, Discipleship, DTOTD, Guest Services, HCC Basketball-Cheer, Local, Outreach

by Brendon

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DTOTD – Farewell Message

” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-5, 14

In a season that is full of lights…lights on houses, lights on cars since it is darker sooner and longer, lights on shoes, lights on shows, lights on trees, lights in motion….there can be a whole lot of darkness. The Christmas season can bring so many memories, both good and bad and some just indifferent. Whether you love the holiday or despise the holiday or maybe you are just a grinch until you realize that you can’t steal Christmas away and just embrace it.

And even those who gather together to celebrate the birth of Jesus for Christmas, feel this weight that the season brings. So it seems kind of weird that this season, reading the end of Jesus’ life brings a whole lot of peace and life by breathing slowly.

Jesus came into the world in a time of dysfunction and confusion. The people of God, the Hebrews or Israelites haven’t heard from God in over 400 years at this point. Then all of a sudden a star shows up in the sky, a young couple travels back to a hometown that they didn’t know well and find themselves in a manger where the pigs and horses and cows and chickens and any other number of barn animals slept and got out of the cold. But it was in this moment in time when God decided to make a grand entrance and send his son Jesus to the earth.

Over the next 33ish years Jesus would live amongst the creation that he was a part of as we read in John 1. But in Jesus’ 33rd year of life, came the moment where it was time for him to go back to the Father in Heaven. He spends 3 years with a group of disciples that walked with him, breathed with him, learned from him, ate with him, watched him preform miracles and healings and listened to every teaching and got to ask questions to him directly. At the last moments of Jesus’ life, we see Jesus with his disciples but away to pray and he prays these words:

” I do not ask for these only, but also for those WHO WILL BELIEVE in me through their word….” John 17:20

Jesus prayed for you.

Jesus prayed for you in the darkest moments of his own life.

Jesus prayed for you before you were born, or your parents were born or your grandparents were born or even your great grandparents were born.

Jesus prayed for you before you knew him.

Jesus prayed for you knowing you would find dark times.

Jesus prayed for you knowing you would find light times.

Jesus prayed for you.

As we enter into another Christmas season, whether the season is filled with lights and traditions and places to go and people to celebrate and hug or whether the season brings pain and hurt and memories that are hard…..know this……

That Jesus, the light of life, prayed for you.

That Jesus, the wonderful counselor is here for you.

That Jesus, the prince of peace will give you peace in the chaos.

That Jesus, the Mighty King died on the cross for you even while we still sin.

That Jesus, the Son of God, prayed for you.

Let those words sink in as you walk or run or crawl through this season.

November 7, 2023

in Church, Discipleship, DTOTD

by Brendon

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BUILDING

” He said to them, ” But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, ‘ You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ” Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” – Matt. 16:15-18

Each of us have a natural instinct to build.

Whether it be a child wanting to build a lego tower, fire house scene, kitchen scene, fantasy dream land, or even a fort on the couch. Maybe as a teenager it is building an identity or building friendships or building grades or building a foundation to drive or building knowledge for college. As an adult, we continue to want to build, whether it is a home, a family, a career, wealth, influence or maybe it is just building a tree house for your kids.

Building seems to be a natural process all throughout life. Building could be equated to work or learning or just getting older. There is something in the passage above that struck hard at a conference last week.

As Christians, we tend to fall into the same category of wanting to build things. We want to build our understanding of the Bible. We want to build our standing in the church. We want to build a place for us to call home.

The interesting part of building when it comes to church, is that it is not about you or me.

Building a church, is what Jesus said He would do.

The disciples are this point in their walk with Jesus, are maybe starting to grasp who it is they are walking with. We see in this passage in Matthew 16 that Simon Peter states it blankly and bluntly. Peter states, while they were standing in a place that was known as the gates of hell, it was a large rock opening that burned red due to sulfur under ground. But with boldness and clarity Peter claims that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God.

Jesus greets that answer with exclamation! Isn’t it interesting

There is another place where Jesus references building a space. In John 14, the beginning of the farewell Discourse that he is having with his disciples in the Upper Room, Jesus says this:

” Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare(build) a place for you?” – John 14:1-2

Not only is Jesus stating that here on Earth He is going to build HIS CHURCH, Jesus also states that He is building a room for anyone who believes.

As much as we try to control the areas that we can build in our every day lives, Jesus is working diligently behind the scenes building both the church and rooms in heaven.

Jesus will build HIS church. Not me.

Jesus will build HIS church. Not you.

Jesus will build HIS church. And the Gates of Hell shall never prevail.

Jesus will build a room…for you.

Jesus will build a room…for me.

Jesus will build a room…..for all to hear and accept the message of love and grace.

Jesus will….

Breath a deep breath knowing that not everything depends on you.

October 5, 2023

in Church, Discipleship, DTOTD, Guest Services, HCC

by Brendon

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DTOTD – Abram

” Now the Lord said to Abram, ” Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”

Genesis 12:1-2

The Old Testament is a fascinating read.

Have you ever thought about that?

When you pick up your bible and turn to the Old Testament, have you ever thought…this is awesome?

Now, I might be weird, but I truly think the Old Testament of the Bible is one of the most fascinating reads you can read in your life. Not just because it is the Bible but because it has everything you could ever want in a book to read. It has love stories, sex stories, war, blood, confusion, anger, betrayal, praise, unheard of rawness, hope, heaviness, light, creation and so much more. That might be just in the first 5 books!

As we walk through the story of Abraham on Sunday morning @ Harvester CC, it was fitting to continue those conversations here. Because Abraham is a man full of interesting stories that we can all learn from. The timeline of Abrams story starts in an interesting way. We are only 12 chapters into the bible, in which we have already encountered creation, the fall, death, murder, chaos, a flood that wipes everyone out except for a few, humans create more people, then a big tower is built and God separates people and then we see Abram’s father Terah get to a certain point in the journey and just stop.

Abram then comes on the scene mainly as a nomad for the first little while. He is called by God to go to a land that God will show him. So Abram, packs his things and goes, along with his wife Sarai. They travel hundreds of miles and to multiple locations before we find them having to travel south to Egypt because of a famine.

As they approach Egypt, Abram makes a decision that leads to an interesting lesson. So Abram looks over to his wife, Sarai and says……your really good looking…..(brendon’s translation) and instead of telling people that you are my wife….because apparently Abram was not good looking???…..we are going to tell people that you are my sister so that they don’t kill me so that they can take you as their wife. And for some reason, Sarai agrees!

We can leave the obvious marriage counseling that is needed in this relationship aside, but in the grand scheme of things, Abram makes a decision to hide a truth about himself to other people to make sure he is ok. Even at the risk of losing his wife, losing his life anyway and possibly never being able to leave Egypt.

As the story continues, we see that Abram loses Sarai and she is taken into Pharaoh’s house and Abram is set somewhere else. But as time goes on, God takes matters into his own hands. While Sarai is in Pharaoh’s house, God sends great plagues towards Pharaoh(Gen. 12: 17). Pharaoh then goes and finds Abram, maybe Abram was not that far away. Pharaoh then brings Abram and questions him:

” What is this you have done to me? Why you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say ‘She is my sister’, so that I took her for my wife?” Gen. 12:18-19a

Abram has to feel rather embarrassed or maybe just idiotic at this point. Abram in an attempt to save his own life, gives up his wife and now is caught in an elaborate scheme to keep himself alive over the life of his wife.

Haven’t we all been there though?

Abram is in a place we have all found ourselves in at some point.

Abram is in a place where we either tell the truth or run and hide from it.

Abram is human.

He is flawed and weak just like anyone else.

Abram was afraid that he would not be welcomed because of the beauty of his wife.

You have been afraid that you would not be welcomed because of your clothes.

You have been afraid that you would not be welcomed because of your past.

We have all been afraid of not fitting in so we do things that everyone else is doing to fit in even if….we don’t want to.

We have all gone places that we don’t really want to go because that is where everyone else is going.

We have all made up stories to either keep ourselves in good graces with others or to feel accepted.

We have all had those facades come down in a very heavy way.

We have all felt the after effects of the stories that we have created.

We have all seen the effect that our decisions have on other people in the wake of our elaborate schemes.

Why do we do that?

There could be lots of reasons and some could be better than others.

What Abram in this scenario learns is that God sees him.

God sees Abram in his fear.

God sees Abram in his weakness.

God sees Abram in a place where he cannot get out.

God sees Abram in a way, that Abram cannot see himself.

There are times in our lives, when we need to be seen in this way.

We need to allow God to see us in our weakness, instead of bulding a facade that we are ok.

We need to allow God to see us in the place that we cannot get out of on our own but allow God to come and rescue us.

We need to be vulnerable enough with God to know He Loves You despite of our elaborate schemes.

Abram demonstrates to us a posture of…well just like you and me….a posture of performing when we need to have a posture of humility.

As you go today, think about the posture you have with God.

Is it one that demonstrates humility in needing God? Or could we be posturing in a way to make it look like we are something we are not?

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From the HCC Outreach Team: