“What Next?”

Luke 12:48

1. I want to let you in what has been going on inside me. Maybe you’ll be able to relate – maybe not.

1st this week I have felt empty inside.
2. last Sunday’s dedication service was the culmination of a 29 month process that began with the fire & ended with Brendan Beck, Kylie Myers & Joanna Crumley leading us in a prayer of dedication.

3. something inside of me let down last Sunday afternoon. And I’ve felt empty. Mission accomplished. Cross that off my ‘to do’ list.

2nd this week I’ve also felt joy inside.
1. joy for all that God accomplished over the past 29 months – guidance, protection, provision, unity, hope & a new future.

2. and this beautiful, wonderful, amazing facility that we now call home. Lots of joy.

3rd I’ve been asking myself the question, “what next?”
1. I’ve been asking myself this question for several months. What will the future look like? What is God calling us to? What does it mean to be a steward of this fabulous facility?

4th I believe God has given me 3 pointers into our future
1. the 1st came in the form of a quote from Stu Weber of Good Shepherd Community Church out in Boring. He wrote it after returning to Good Shepherd following a sabbatical. I want to help Good Shepherd become more assertive in the community…I want to help the church blossom to a new level of responsibility and impact as a truly mature church.
2. when I read that something erupted inside of me. My heart said Yes Yes Yes. I believe the same thing about CAC – its time to blossom, reach a new level of responsibility & impact, become a truly mature church.

3. next I came across more words from another pastor. This time Tim Keel, pastor of Jacob’s Well in Kansas City, in his new book, Intuitive Leadership.

4. after seminary, in the midst of receiving a call to plant a church in Kansas City, he experienced what he called a life-changing moment while reflecting upon a time in his life when he was in college & involved in student ministries at the University of Kansas – a time of growth, excitement, spiritual formation, kingdom fruitfulness. I cannot believe that you intend the best years of my life as a disciple of Jesus Christ to be experienced between the ages of 19 & 21. I cannot accept that I have peaked in my experience of you & the church & that I am to spend the rest of my life going through the motions. I cannot accept this!

5. again, as I read these words something rose up inside of me. I said Yes Yes Yes!

6. I cannot believe that the best years of CAC are behind us. I cannot accept that we have peaked in our experience of Christ & his church. I believe that our best years as a church are still ahead of us.

7. personally, I want the next 20 years of my life to be my best years for the kingdom of God. I want them to be my most fruitful, impactful & influential years. I want to lead & love & preach & pastor & exhort & vision cast better than I ever have before!

8. next, 3rdly something happened to me last week while writing the dedication prayer we used in our dedication service. As I was wrapping it up the phrase – to whom much is given, much is expected – was given to me. It comes from Luke 12.

Luke 12:48
1. 12:35-48 has a dual theme – the return of Christ & a call to faithful service. We honor Christ by being ready for his return – you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him (40).

2. 12:41-48 – unfaithful & faithful servants (read)
Þ master is looking for faithful & wise manager – 42
Þ active faithfulness is rewarded – 43
Þ unfaithfulness receives judgment – 46-48

3. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. The gifts of God are to be used in a faithful, wise & responsible manner…until Christ returns. And we have been given so much!

4. we’ve been given much in the way of people – we have a children’s wing full of children, healthy active strong impressionable. They are the future. We have junior & senior high students settling into their new youth center. We won’t have them for much longer. They are the future.

5. we’ve been given much in the way of resources – take our adult population. Education, backgrounds, experiences, abilities, passions, financial resources. There’s a ton of resources at our fingertips. We will be held accountable for how we employ them in kingdom work.

6. we’ve been given much in the way of facilities – what a gift we’ve been given! I still walk in here everyday & wonder if I’m dreaming. We are called to be a faithful & wise manager of this wonderful facility.

7. what next? I don’t have all the answers right now. I do know 3 parts of the answer that I want to conclude with.

God is calling us…
1. 1st God is calling us to a new level of responsibility maturity fruitfulness. It’s time to step it up. Its time to grow. Its time to get serious.

2. Fridays Sports Tribune carried an article on Jacoby Ellsbury – he grew up in Madras, played college baseball at Oregon State & played in the World Series this fall with the Boston Red Sox who won it all. He attributes part of his success to Pat Casey at Oregon State & what he was taught about the work behind becoming a champion. Before the 2005 when the Beavers were picked to finish next-to-last in the Pac-10 Casey told them – You want to be Pac-10 champions? You have to practice like ones. He learned to practice harder, do the little things that add up.

3. if we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always be what we’ve always been. It’s time to do some new things in order to become a new, mature, fruitful people.

4. 2nd God is calling us to a time of reflection & self-examination. I’m talking individually & corporately. What does God want to see happen in & through us? What do we long to see God do? Where does he want us to take risks? Step out in faith? Move out of our comfort zones?

5. greater gifts mean greater responsibilities!

6. God is calling us to a time of confession repentance & consecration.

7. confession of our sin selfishness disobedience secrets. Confession of all those things holding us back from pleasing God. Stopping us from new growth.

8. repentance from those same things. In confession we tell them to God & ask for his forgiveness. In repentance we stop doing or being them.

9. I talked to one of you several months ago about all the weight you had lost. I asked you how you did it. You simply said I made up my mind to eat less. I haven’t changed my diet. I’ve just changed the size of the portions I eat.

That is repentance. And what can be done in our diet, God longs for us to do in our relationship to him & others. What behaviors attitudes practices values are in need of change?

10. consecration of our total selves to God both individually & corporately. This is to make a new start, a fresh beginning. Here I am God, I’m all yours, all that I am, all that I have, all that I aspire to be. Take me use me fill me bless me send me into your kingdom service.

11. God is calling us to new levels of responsibility maturity fruitfulness. God is calling us to reflection & self-examination. God is calling us to confession repentance consecration.

………

Music I listened to while sermonizing…Prayer of the Children by the American Boys Choir; Christ, We Do All Adore Thee & Steal Away by the Gingerich Family Singers; O Magnum Mysterium by Grex Vocals; Brother Sun, Sister Moon by John Rutter & The Cambridge Singers; Bob Dylan; Delirious?

Books I read while sermonizing…Luke by Darrell Bock; The Gospel of Luke by William Hendriksen; Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament by Fritz Rienecker & Cleon Rogers; Intuitive Leadership by Tim Keel; For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn; The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

John & Marie Champ shared what has been going on in their lives of late.
We miss seeing our missionary friends and it was good listening in on their adventures.
The Champs work for Wycliffe Bible Translators.


Tim at it again. Nice message, though he was thrown for a loop a couple of times. A cell phone distracted him (but gave the rest of us a chuckle), and for some reason he had trouble saying: "If we always do what we have always done, we will always be what we have always been." Poor fellow... And he practiced the line before hand!

PrayerSeries: Prayer “Praying With the Early Church”

Acts 1,2,3,4,6,7

1. last week I spoke on prayer. We pray & God answers with a Yes, No, or Wait.

2. today I want us to pray with the early church. We are gong to look at 5-6 vignettes, pictures, of prayer from the book of Acts.

3. 1st Mike Higgs on prayer @ CAC…

Prayer story: Rogelio Dubrico
1. Rogelio Dubrico is a Filipino pastor. I met him in 1976-77 when I was a college student on a short-term mission in the Philippines. We’ve maintained a friendship since then. I saw him again 3 years ago when John Abraham & I went to the Philippines.

2. when Rogelio was 16-17 years old he had a string of boils around his stomach, sides & back. He was sick & getting sicker. Losing weight. Told by doctors that there was nothing they could do for him. His mother began to fast & pray for his healing. He was near death & made a bargain with God – if you heal me. I will serve you with my life!

3. God healed him. I’ve seen the scars that circle his stomach & back. Rogelio has been a pastor, church planter, bible college founder, D.S. & now is the National Director for Church Planting in the Philippines. He’s one of the most amazing Christ-followers I’ve known.

4. his whole ministry has been birthed, guided, driven & empowered by prayer. When I saw him 3 years ago, after some probing, he told me that he often spends 2 hours praying in the middle of the night.

Acts 1:14 + 2:42 + 6:4 – persistence in prayer
1. there is one word that Luke uses to describe the prayer practice of the beginning church – proskartereo:
Þ 1:14: constantly – they all joined together constantly in prayer
Þ 2:42: devoted – they devoted themselves to…prayer
Þ 6:4: give our attention: we will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word

2. the root of proskartereo is to be strong, steadfast. This is a word of action & discipline. Action fueled by commitment & discipline. Persistence. Staying with something. Holding on.

3. this word is not about feelings – do I feel like praying? No, this word is about the will. Willing oneself to pray in spite of feelings or circumstances.

1:14
1. the 11 disciples, the women, Jesus’ mother, his brothers are waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit (1:5). This is after Christ’s death, resurrection, return to heaven.

2. they joined together to pray. Another important word – with one mind or passion. They agreed together. They were unified. Physically, they met together. Spiritually, they were one in what they prayed for.
3. in the 1st days after Christ’s ascension, what do we find his followers doing? NOT preaching or teaching or healing or giving witness of Christ BUT praying.

Acts 2:42
1. devoted – those 1st followers of Christ gave themselves to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread & prayer.

2. prayer was part of what defined them. This is the rank of file. The Petes Marys Bills Daves Rachels of the church. Ordinary people. Devoted to prayer. Think daily discipline.

Acts 6:4
1. there was a problem in the food panty of the early church. Grecian Jewish widows were being overlooked by the Hebraic Jews in the daily distribution of food. Conflict.

2. don’t miss this – what do we find those 1st followers of Christ up to? Running a food panty, feeding widows, taking care of the poor.

3. 7 men were chosen to oversee the food panty. The 12 were freed up to give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. Give our attention is our word – constantly & devoted.

4. the people in 2:42 & the leaders in 6:4 were defined by their prayer lives.

Acts 3:1 – fixed hour prayer
1. Peter & John – 2 of the 12 disciples, 2 of the leaders of the beginning church.

2. were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at 3 in the afternoon. Going clear back to the time of David, 1000 years before this, the Jewish people prayed 3xs a day – morning, afternoon, evening. This prayer was usually offered in the temple.
Þ Psalm 55:16-17
Þ Daniel 6:10 – prayed 3xs day

3. Peter & John, as followers of Christ, continued this Jewish custom of prayer.

4. eventually this became the church’s practice of prayer – the daily offices of prayer. These offices were kept alive in the monastic movement. Are being rediscovered today across the church: Praying With The Church by Scot McKnight.

5. prayer was woven into the very structure of the day.

4:23-31 – prayer meeting
1. Peter & John were thrown in jail for preaching that Jesus was resurrected from the dead (2-3). They were questioned by the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Then released.

2. they went back to “the church” and gave them a report. A prayer meeting broke out:
Þ Sovereign Lord – in control of all
Þ you made the heaven earth sea everything – God of creation
Þ you spoke by the Holy Spirit... – God of revelation
Þ Herod and Pontius Pilate… - God of history
Þ speak with boldness – prayer request
Þ heal signs wonders – prayer request

3. what happened? God showed up. Place shook. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They spoke the word of God boldly!

Acts 7:59-60 – prayer at death’s door
1. the 1st martyr of the church was Stephen – stoned to death.

2. Stephen prayed while he was being stoned. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit – a prayer of surrender & relinquishment. Stephen’s faith remained strong till the end.

3. Lord, do not hold this sin against them – a prayer of forgiveness. Stephen forgave those who were killing him.

4. who has killed something in you by stoning you with their words, actions, behavior, indifference? I think the order here is important. We 1st surrender our lives to Jesus – we are his. And then we can forgive those who sin against us.

5. who do you need to forgive this morning?

What lessons can we learn from these vignettes?
1. prayer deserves our best efforts & strictest discipline. These are bound up in the word proskartereo. Constantly, devoted, give attention. These are the bench marks we should aim for in our church.

2. corporate prayer should be a high value. The first 4 vignettes are pictures of the beginning church at prayer together. Part of what we should do when we gather together is pray – in worship, in our bible studies, small groups, classes, ministry teams, leadership meetings. NOT prayer as an agenda item BUT prayer as the very essence of who we are as the church.

3. leaders are called to live lives of prayer. A word to those of us in leadership. The 12 said we are called to give ourselves to pray & Scripture. One thing I’ve learned about leadership from Bobby Clinton at Fuller Seminary is this – if God calls you to lead a ministry then you are called to pray for that ministry.

4. all of us who lead various parts of the ministry here at CAC – how are we doing? Do we pray? Are we committed to pray? Do we set aside time to pray?

5. leaders are called to live lives of prayer. Corporate prayer should be a high value. Prayer deserves our best effort & strictest discipline.

Prayer story: Sam Sesay
1. Sam & Josephine moved to Lungi several years ago (Muslim village of 20,000, no infrastructure – power, lights, sewer). Rented a house near the ocean. Were told it was a ‘bad’ house – tree in the backyard had been used for witchcraft, offerings, sacrifices for years.

2. began to have nightmares, couldn’t sleep. Hear noises in the house at night, in the dark. Felt oppression. Affecting them physically, spiritually, emotionally.

3. fasted & prayed for 3 days for the power of God to come down upon that house & free them.

4. at the end of 3 days a huge wind came up & blew the tree over into the ocean. 10-15 minutes later people started arriving at the house from the surrounding area – where’s the fire? They told Sam & Josephine they saw fire fall down from the sky in the area of their house!

5. power encounter between God & the powers of darkness. God established his presence in the village & in Sam & Josephine’s ministry. God answered prayer!

………

Music I listened to while sermonizing –Coldplay

Books I was reading & studied while sermonizing – The Spirit, The Church & The World by John Stott; Acts by Simon Kistenmaker; Acts by Ajith Fernando; Consuming Jesus by Paul Louis Metzger; A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight

Prayer “How God Answers our Prayers”

Series: Prayer
Today: “How God Answers our Prayers”
Text: Old & New Testament


we are going to spend the next 2 weeks on prayer.

then November 18 is our Dedication Sunday, 1 service @ 9am, no children, youth or adult classes. Reps from Arbuckle Costic & Triplet Wellman will join us. Special morning of celebrating what God has done & dedicating this facility to his kingdom work

worker open house, Saturday, November 17, @ 7pm.
General public open house Sunday from 2-4pm.

then November 25, 13th annual Miracle Sunday Offering.

then December 2, 9, 16, 23 Advent & Christmas preaching. 2 services on 12/23 @ 9 & 10:30am, no classes.

then December 30 year-ending communion celebration in 1 service @ 10:30am

then starting new series in 2008 on the New Testament – will preach through the New Testament in 27 weeks, covering 1 book per Sunday. Overview of the New Testament flying at 35,000 feet.

Why 2 messages on prayer right now?
1st God is big on prayer. We can’t go wrong talking about prayer. We can’t go wrong praying. Other than Christ, prayer is the foundation of our relationship with God.

2nd I believe that God wants to build a stronger culture of prayer at CAC. So do our elders. So do others. We have to be intentional about this. These 2 messages are designed to increase our intentionality.

3rd I have a growing passion to see prayer permeate all that we are & all that we do as a church. So do our elders. So do others. The elders have asked Mike Higgs to be our Prayer Champion. Next week we will hear from Mike.

today – the 3 ways God answers our prayers. (This is ‘hot off the printer.’ I just finished it. I had a different sermon ready to go. But all that changed yesterday while I was in the Canby pool swimming a quick ½ mile)

God answers all of our prayers in 3 ways. ALL OF THEM! He says Yes, No or Wait.

Yes
Moses and God’s presence (Exodus 33:1-23)
Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai to find the Israelites worshipping & sacrificing to an idol they made – the golden calf.

33:3, 14 – God says enough is enough. Moses take these people with in into the promised land but I am not going with you

33:15-16 – Moses asks God to go with them

33:17 – God says ‘yes,’ I will go with you

God answered Moses’ prayer with a YES!


Nehemiah sent to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-9)
in 586 BC the people of Israel were carried into exile in Babylon for 70 years. God released them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, the city wall & their way of life.

1:3 – Nehemiah discovers the plight of his country men & women

1:4-11 – Nehemiah prays. We can learn from this prayer:
Þ Appeals to God’s greatness & character (5)
Þ Confesses the sins of his people (6-7)
Þ Holds God to his promises (8-9)
Þ Asks for God’s favor, success (11)

2:8 – God answered Nehemiah’s prayer with a YES!

No
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-44)
the end for which the Word became flesh is near. Jesus was born to die. His sacrificial death for the sins of the world was imminent.
Jesus prepared for his death by praying – Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done (22:42).

Jesus asks his Father for a way out. Isn’t there another way to redeem humanity from their sin? Take the cross away from me.

Jesus sweats drops of blood. He’s full of anguish.

and his Father says NO. There is no other way.

Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
12:1-6 – Paul experienced paradise (12:4) – heaven. He heard inexpressible things, things that a man is not permitted to tell.

12:7 – to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

12:8 – Paul prayed 3xs & asked God to take it away.

12:9 – God said NO. The thorn stays. I want you to learn to depend upon my grace & power.

Wait
Return of the Babylonian captives (Lamentations 3:19-26)
586 BC the Babylonians routed Jerusalem, destroyed it, carried away people into exile. Lamentations records the overwhelming sense of loss that accompanied the destruction of the city, temple & ritual.

in the middle of the book is a section that focuses on the goodness of God. He is a God of hope, love, faithfulness & salvation. As if to say, this is not the end.

3:19-22
Þ 21 I have hope
Þ 22 because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed – his compassions never fail
Þ 23 great is your faithfulness
Þ 24 the Lord is my portion – I will wait for him
Þ 25 – the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him
Þ 26 – it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord

SALVATION – this is a prayer for deliverance, restoration. The people had to wait 70 years for God’s YES. 70 years!

we pray & sometimes God says wait. And in the waiting ours is to grow stronger in the Lord. Stronger in patience, faith & trust. God does some of his best work in ‘the waiting.’

Yes No Wait
every time we pray God answers. There’s no such thing as an unanswered prayer. Yes No Wait. All 3 reveal God’s perfect will for us.

my experience has been that some of God’s best & deepest work in our lives, our church, come in the midst of his No & Wait. If he gave us everything we asked for we would be spoiled superficial Christ-followers.

the Paris train story
I have a friend who put me onto this story. Comes from Brian Zahnd, pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Josephs, Missouri.

Oct 2004 Brian & his wife were in Paris. 1 evening he went alone to Notre Dame Cathedral for a historical presentation. He arrived early. Went to famous English bookstore across the Seine from NDC, Shakespeare and Company – haunt of Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Elliot, Ezra Pound, James Joyce & other writers in the 1930s.

he brought a copy of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot. Attended the event at NDC. Before leaving he sat by himself in this massive cathedral & prayed that God would use him for his purposes while he was in Paris.

caught the train back to his hotel – it was after 10pm. Began reading The Idiot. At the 2nd stop a young Asian man got on & sat down opposite Brian even thought the train was empty.

the Asian man began a conversation with Brian. He, too, was reading The Idiot. They began talking books, philosophy, world views. Yu asked Brian if it was true that Dostoevsky was a Christian. Yes he was – Brian shared Dostoevsky’s story. 5 years hard labor in Siberia. Peasant woman gave him copy of Gospels as he entered the camp. Only reading material D had for 5 years. Became a Christ-follower.

Yu asked Brian what he did – I am a pastor. Yu – I am an atheist. Yesterday I went to NDC to see Gothic architecture. Felt myself wanting to pray while I was there. I tried. Told God I wanted to know him. I don’t think he heard my prayer.

Brian – God did hear your prayer. Less than 1 hour ago I was in NDC & prayed that God would use me in Paris. I got on board this train & you sat opposite me. God heard both our prayers & arranged for our paths to cross 2nite.

Yu had a Bible. Brian told him to read John’s gospel. Brian had to get off the train.

when I got off the train I felt like an angel. I have an assurance deep in my heart that my friend Yu has read the Gospel of John & made the Great Discovery that I & Dostoevsky & so many millions of others have made – Jesus is the Answer.

Music I listened to while sermonizing – Sting, Delirious, David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, Johnny Cash, Coldplay

Books I was reading & studied while sermonizing – The Living Psalms by Claus Westermann; Christ in the Psalms by Patrick Henry Reardon; Consuming Jesus by Paul Louis Metzger; Conversations with Wendell Berry edi by M.A. Grubbs; A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight; Psalms 1-50 by Peter Craige; Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer;