Where Would Jesus Go to Church?

I've heard people say many times - "I like Jesus, I just don't like the Church."  People have good reason to not like churches.  After all, they're full of broken, sinful people like us.  Yet if the Spirit of Christ is IN a church, then He can change, heal, and unite the most broken of souls.

So this begs a question - where would Jesus go to church?  What type of church could you find Jesus today?  Would it be traditional, contemporary, big, small, cool, affluent, poor?  Where would Jesus choose to be?  What type of church could we find Him?

The simple answer can be - His Spirit can be found in any "type" of church.  Yet, there are certain things a church MUST have for Jesus to be dwelling there permanently.  And if they're NOT there, I'm not sure the Spirit of Christ is there either.

Sunday we continue our Lenten series, "Last Days."  We're looking at the Last Days of Jesus' earthly life in the Gospel of Mark.  In them He has some very important things to say to us about how we should live and follow Him.  We've already talked about prayer and Christ as Lord of our lives.  This Sunday we'll see what Jesus has to say about Church.  The title of the message is "Jesus' Traditional Church."  

We hope you, your family, and friends can be there.  And please don't forget, Sunday April 17th, Palm Sunday, Bellwether will be chartered as church.  All who have joined and will join on that day will be charter members.  We're planning a celebration and church-wide lunch afterwards.  We hope you'll invite family and loved ones to be part of that special day.

Have a great weekend, and we hope to see you at our church Sunday....where you'll find Jesus too.   

Our World of Many gods

Jesus lived in a world with many false gods.  He lived in a world under Roman rule.  In it Caesar was considered the supreme god.  After Caesar, there seemed to be a god for everything - love, war, the sea, thunder, etc.  These gods had names - Diana, Apollo, Mercury, Neptune, Athena, Venus, etc. It was a world filled with false gods.

The reason early followers of Christ were persecuted and killed so often, is they refused to worship any other god, or even make a claim there was any god besides Christ.  They would simply be asked to say - "Caesar is lord."  they would reply "Christ is Lord."  And they'd be killed instantly.  

Today, more people would say there is one God than in Jesus' time.  You don't even have to be a Christian to state this.  Agnostics say there is one supreme being.  Other religions adhere to one God - Judaism, Islam.  Even in a religion like Hinduism, which says there are many gods, they still say there is one supreme being who is the "main god."  And of course, as Christians we profess One God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We profess Christ as Lord.  So you'd think that in the world we live in, whether you're Christian or not, most people believe in one God.

Or do they?  Maybe people, even followers of Christ who say they believe in one God, have many gods in their lives.  They choose to worship these gods more than Christ as Lord.  What are these gods?  Money, power, relationships, success, career, and thrill seeking experiences to name a few.  There are other too - a spouse, a child, a marriage, a way of life, a reputation.  If you get down to it, people here and now worship their fair share of gods.

As a Christian, do we put any of them before Christ?  Is He Lord of our life, or is another god?  Jesus said:  "The Lord our God is One Lord.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."  Mark 12: 30 

That is a lot of love.  Do we love Christ that much?  If we don't, what is getting in our way?  

Our Lenten sermon series is:  "Last Days."  We're looking at the Last Days of Jesus' life before the cross and resurrection.  What He said and commanded of us in those days is crucial to our present and future days.  This Sunday, we'll look at His command to have One God as Lord and to love Him with all we have.  

If you have other gods, I hope Sunday will be your last day to do so.  I hope it will be your first to make Christ your Lord and to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.  

Christ in a World of Tsunamis

Let's all join together and pray for the people of Japan suffering in the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami.  

If you are led to give to relief support, please go to our website - www.bellwetherchurch.org. On our home page, there is a link to World Vision & UMCOR: two Christian organizations actively engaged in relief.  You will be able to see what they are currently doing for the victims and opportunities to give.  Bellwether is working on more direct ways to give to those suffering in Japan. We will be communicating about these ways to you in the near future.  

It's difficult to watch scenes of the massive tsunami mowing down everything in its path.  It's tougher to hear the numbers of people who've died, and to imagine homes and lives literally washed away.  This is not the first time we've seen this.  Natural disasters - earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes - seem more and more frequent.    

One of the biggest questions I get as a pastor is:  why does God let these things happen?  How can an all loving, good God, stand by as thousands of people die needlessly.  The question can be boiled down to - why do bad things happen to good people?  You can ask this on a global level of earthquakes or on a personal level of loved ones battling diseases, suffering, and dying. When hit with such times, many people give up on God or lose their faith.

I believe our faith in Christ is relevant and powerful in the midst of bad things, suffering, disasters, and yes even evil itself.  I believe God wants us to live strong lives of faith, amidst tragedy and death.  I believe He has given us the tools to do so by His Spirit and in His Word.

Sunday, we continue our Lenten series "Last Days."  This is an important and vital series for you and our church.  Why?  Because we will look specifically at what Jesus said and did in the last days of His Life leading to the cross.  In those days, we find answers of how to live in Him here and now.  In His Last Days, He shows us how to keep our faith strong in the midst of any tsunami - physical or emotional.  

I hope you'll be with us for worship Sunday.  I hope His last days will lead to your first day of truly believing:  "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing can separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 8: 38

What is Lent?

Thanks to all who were able to be there last night for our services of "Ashes & Communion."  We hope those who attended were able to "turn something over to ashes" and awake to a new life in Christ.

That is what Lent is essentially about.  It is a time - 40 days - where you prepare to start a new life in Christ.  This is accomplished through:  looking inward at your own life, repenting to God of our sins, taking more time to pray, resting in God, and in some cases, giving things up which are unhealthy in our lives.  This can be anything which is holding you back:  addictions, habits, relationships, un-forgiveness, anger, bitterness, resentment.....the list can go on and on.  

So today, as Lent begins, I hope you'll wake up to what is holding you back.  I hope you'll turn to God more and rest in the FACT that He will provide your every need.  I hope these 40 days will be the "Last Days" of your old life, and you will RISE from the ashes to a new life in Christ. 

At Bellwether, our Lenten sermon series will focus on "Last Days."  For the next 6 weeks, we'll literally look at the last days Jesus spent on earth, the last week of His earthly life.  How did He live them?  What did He say?  What did He do?  What message did He want to leave us?  

As we look at His Last Days, we'll give the challenge to make Lent the "Last Days" of our old lives.  Each and every day, Jesus gives us the opportunity to start over.  Will we take Him up on it?  Will today be the last day of your old life?  A life of selfishness or resentment or pride or addiction or hurt or un-forgiveness?  If not today, when?  

In these days of Lent, our prayer is you will come to your Last Days.  And you'll awake to rise to a new days - through Jesus.  Days where you will never be the same again.  Days where you will live fully and abundantly.  

You can begin those days right now.  Will you turn to Christ and start?

Aftermath of Africa

First, thank you all for the prayers & well wishes for Linda and I on our trip to Malawi last week.  It was an exhausting, Spirit filled adventure.  We look forward to sharing about our trip - through our testimonies and video - with you this Sunday at Bellwether.  

The message Sunday will be about much more than our one mission trip to Africa.  A question I've gotten several times over the last few years is:  why go anywhere at all?  Honduras, Uganda, Malawi, India....why go to these far off places?  Isn't there enough needs right here?  The answer is - YES!  There are plenty of needs across Metro Jackson.  In fact, there are more than enough needs in our church family.  We could spend all of our lives simply trying to minister to those we have right now.  

However, that is not what Christ calls us to.  He clearly asks us to go.  Matthew 28: 18 says to - "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."  In Acts 1: 8, Jesus says - "you will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."  

Jesus is in the business of evangelizing the entire world.  We must do the same.  Jesus is in the business of meeting the needs of the poorest of the poor.  We must do the same.  When you go to these far off places, you witness poverty on a scale much larger than anything we see here.  It can be overwhelming.  It even makes you think - why even try?  There's so many poor people, so many are sick, so many don't have water - why try?  Can't we make much more of an impact where we are? 

Jesus came to meet both the physical and the spiritual needs of people.  And we who have so much, and who claim to be His followers, need to go with the Faith and Power of Christ to do the same.  Whether He calls us to Mississippi or Malawi, we must follow His call.

Last (and perhaps most importantly), we all know people who are unsure about God, Christ, the Church, etc.  They say Christians are all hypocrits.  They hear what we say about believing in Christ, yet they want to see our actions.  They want to really if we will really act on what we say. They are constantly watching.  One of the greatest reasons to GO is to help these people truly SEE Christ in us.  To SEE we believe what we say and will act on it.  That we are willing to go to the ends of the earth for Him.  That we are willing to touch the sick, and love people who speak and talk very differently from us.  And yes, maybe those who are watching won't believe immediately, yet when they see us - going individually and as a church - I believe Christ begins to work to soften their hearts to Him.  

I hope you'll be at Bellwether Sunday.  I hope it will inspire you to be part of our church - a church fully committed to evangelizing the world and touching the poorest of the poor with the Light of Christ.  I hope it will inspire you to open your eyes to a Savior who came to heal spiritually and physically.  I hope it will inspire those of you who always want to stay to wake up and begin to take steps to follow Christ and go.  

We look forward to worshipping together Sunday.  We hope you all can be there.