Are you "bent" towards "lent"?

Every year there seems to be a growing trend of evangelical Christian believers celebrating "lent" in some form.  I have found it very interesting and I am sure that a few of you have as well.  As a child I can remember being told that only the "Catholics" practiced "lent" and that it was not for us.  Ever since that time I have been aware and listening as people who are not "catholic" celebrate "lent".  If you want to know about "lent" then feel free to use this link to wikipedia about it.

The concept of denying yourself as a part of your Christian Faith is found in many places in the Bible.  We could take the time today to go through them all but we wont.  Please feel free to do your own study on that.  Instead I want to talk about why as a Christian I would fast or deny myself for a period of time.

We are to understand that the Bible clearly teaches that our works will never save us, they will never clean us up enough for God to be pleased with us.  My works, whether they be of activity or sacrifice will not erase my sin.  Only Jesus and His completed work can provide salvation, freedom, cleansing from sin, placing us into God's family being reconciled to Him forever.  So "lent" or any other fasting and denial will not save us, in full or in part.

So what then?  Why should we fast?  We should fast and pray and deny ourselves at times because we need to put aside our humanity.  We need to keep our selfish, sinful, flesh in check.  By doing this we also use such time to with greater intent and clarity focus on God.  This type of fasting and prayer is for the Christian, we are to draw near to God in part by challenging our flesh.  Fasting and self denial is part of how we train our physical self to greater appreciate our Lord.  But then we must also set a strong focus on the Word of God, the Bible is our main tool for the Christian's mind to be renewed in the process.  And the third thing is prayer, we must "commune" with the Father, spend time in communication with Him, this is good for our Soul.  None of this is to improve our standing with God, but should be driven by our desire to have a healthy relationship with God.

So...  "lent" ... are you "bent" towards "lent".  I hope you are not.  Mostly because of the root of the practice is found in trying to please God and prepare ourselves by purification, to celebrate Easter.  Christians are not to fast to please God and we cannot physically prepare ourselves for Easter.  However to take time to fast and pray and camp in the Bible, is good practice as we seek obedience to our Lord and Master.  So my stance is that if you do "lent" then please keep evaluating why you are doing so and do not let yourself be deceived and drawn into a works based salvation.

May we live in a greater understanding every day of the sufficiency of the work of Jesus on our behalf.

Pastor Bruce

I will Love God

I will love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind.

This was what we ended the sermon with today, a statement of commitment to really and truly LOVE God.  Not some emotional roller coaster but a true commitment to living my life with my primary, first love, being God.  This needs to be far more than a simple statement or understanding.  This is more than a desire to go to Church or to give more of my money or time.  It is a shift in thinking, in attitude that should affect my whole life.

If I am to live this commitment to Love God more, then my life will change.  My decisions and priorities will reflect what is real to me.  If my time and energy is all eaten up by work and playing hockey, then I am probably not living this commitment.  However if out of living this commitment, I also work hard as a testimony of what God has done and is doing in my life and play some hockey keeping in mind the testimony i have on and off the ice and how I can honor my Lord in this endeavor, then maybe I am following this concept of loving God truer and deeper than I have before.

Maybe it is not based on what I do so much as what I will not do.  So I have decided to make myself a list to remind me of my commitment.

1. I will not put my work, family or friends in the spot of first priority in my life, God and only God should ever be in that position.
2. I will not live my life according to my own selfishness or the thinking of the world, God and His Word (the Bible) will be my guide and standard for living.
3. I will not abuse the time, talents and treasures that God has given to me, I will use all of who I am in service to Him and Him alone.
4. I will not worship other gods, people, things or ideas, including myself, the true God, Creator and Redeemer, deserves my worship and only Him.
5. I will not live in a pride filled state, I will seek to live in humility, repenting of my sins especially as I find myself not living up to this list.

Maybe your list would look different?  But I hope that you will join me in a fresh commitment to truly, from the core of you, love God.  Hold nothing back from Him, He will not turn you away if you submit yourself to His Lordship.

Let us walk together, setting our focus on our one true love,  Jesus - the Creator God of all things, our Savior & Lord.

Pastor Bruce

Community Service

Today as I prepare for preaching tomorrow and as I rest from the busy day yesterday, my mind is full of gratitude and joy because of "Community Service".  No not the kind specified as punishment by the court system, that is not a good definition of Community Service.  Rather I am thinking about how God's people come together in community and serve together.  Sometimes it is very official and organized, which is a good thing.  But even more exciting to me is the unofficial, natural getting together to help, to serve and encourage. 

I got to experience this yesterday and I hope to continue to experience it.  People came together to help my son and his wife move into their new apartment.  Some were family, some were friends and even one person was newly introduced there at the move to everyone.  It was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun, people talked and laughed while they helped out.  People came and went as they could give of their time and energy.  The encouragement felt amazing, God used His people in a practical and yet wonderful way.  

It can mean a lot to people when we do this, but there are a couple other things that I was reminded of as well.  The first was that as others experience us coming together like this to serve each other and care for needs we are a living testimony of Jesus.  We can show the community around us that Jesus makes such an incredible difference in us that people from different homes, work places, backgrounds, cultures, etc... can come together in a healthy positive way to make a difference in someone's life.  The second is that everything is an opportunity.  As we serve together and encounter others that we may not know or who may need to know that Lord, we can then make and intentional effort to connect with them more.  As we bring people into this concept of healthy Christian community then we have a greater opportunity to share with them about God and what He has done for us.

So gather together in community and serve the Lord together as you serve one another.  It is an encouragement, a testimony and an opportunity.

Let's walk together!

Pastor Bruce

Family Time

Family, often such a misunderstood concept in our culture today.  I could go into a long discussion about my thoughts on the current culture but instead I want to take a moment to share my current pondering.  

I love family, I love the idea of family, I love experiencing family.  Family is a beautiful God given gift for us.  A set of relationships wherein we can find love, compassion, care, encouragement, laughter, tears, comfort, strength, life, mourning, sadness, and a true sense of community among other things.  I know no family is perfect, in fact I think all of them are a bit messy in one way or another.  

I got to spend time with a very special part of my family tonight.  Time with my wonderful wife, two sons, daughter (in-law) and yet-born grand child.  Such a great and close family.  Warms my heart.  Are we perfect ... NOPE!  But even when things get tough we will always love each other and be there for one another.  

As I pondered family, my mind regularly flashes to different people.  Many of them as close a part of our family as anyone and yet we are not blood related, at least not close "blood-relatives".  We all have the same common ancestors in Adam and Eve but we do not necessarily share last names or grand parents.  I have so many family members that I often long to spend time with.  They are all over the world.  Some are my parents, grand parents, brothers, sisters, etc... but so many are close to me because we are part of the family of God.  god brought us together and connected us.

Some people who are family to me I have spent very little time with, and yet I feel a close bond to them.  Others I have had the honor of spending a lot of time with.  All are so very special to me.  I am glad we have such modern technology so that I can try and stay connected with them.   

Here in Brandon where I have been only a short time, I have already been finding more family.  I love discovering all of the family members God has for me to meet up with.  This family idea is amazing, a great opportunity to make sure others know they are valued and cared for.  We are so blessed that God gave us this model.  I pray that we learn to embrace it better.

Find someone to encourage every day, if the day is not yet over find another one and then repeat.

Blessings,

Pastor Bruce