The Church Being The Church

Did you know that YOU are the church? Whether you are helping a church plant in North Philly, serving alongside a valuable local ministry like Hope All Day, or being good news with family and friends, this is what BEING the church is all about! It is being a family of missionary servants sent by God wherever He opens doors to go! This has to be our mindset every day because that is the GOSPEL.

One thing is vital for us to always remember as a church plant. Our calling is to help lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. This calling is paramount for us but we must remember a few things as we go and fulfill this calling.

We, the church, can’t assume everyone knows everything about faith and church. We see that everyday here in New Jersey as we talk with our friends, colleagues and neighbors. We, the church, also need to realize that many who don’t have a relationship with God, or had difficulties maintaining one, assume they need to know everything about faith and church in order to participate.

Did you catch that tension…our assumption and others assumption? This is why so many hesitate to walk in the doors of a church building. They let fear…fear of the unknown, fear of not having an answer, fear of being hurt again paralyze them from coming.

We, as Grace Falls, have to work hard to create a safe place for anyone to come and begin to ask questions that they have about God, life, and matters of faith. This safe place is huge to who we are and what God has called us to do.

This happens when we are willing to meet people right where they are and work on listening, and building trust by building a relationship and not a defense case. Not trying to have all the answers or fix every problem life presents us. You can’t do that, I can’t do that, and we can’t do that. This is why we say we are a GOSPEL CENTERED CHURCH. The GOSPEL is the solution to every situation or issue in life. This is why the GOSPEL = GOOD NEWS. So, our goal is simple. We want our Sunday Gathering to be a conversational environment where people can explore faith and experience community.

For this to happen, we must prioritize building relationships over simply handing off answers. Rather than the traditional teacher (preacher) to student (member) format of learning, group members journey alongside one another through a facilitated discussion. Exploring faith and inviting past experiences, current beliefs, and future ideals to be shared and heard.

As we begin to know and be known, we will begin to see we aren’t alone and get a taste of what a real authentic community is. This is when many will come to realize what we mean when we say Grace Falls is a FAMILY. A family that loves, forgives, accepts, encourages, believes, helps, and is there for one another no matter what. A GOSPEL FAMILY changed because of who God is and what He has done. This is my vision, my prayer, and my hope. This is LIFE CHANGING.

I shared all this as a reminder of who we are, why we do what we do, and what we hope to see. I hope this helps you see what you are apart of. I pray it gets you excited to be apart of something bigger than yourself. I pray you see how vital you are and why God did what He did through every story we have read, discussed, and learned from. He did all of it so that He could use you, me, us to help others know Him. Not just know of Him but truly KNOW HIM.

Well you did it…you read through all my words, but I hope you hear my heart. I believe God has great things in store for us. Will you believe with me?

Love you and thank God for you!

Branches On The Vine

Our God loves to create, out of nothing He likes to make the most elaborate and complex, out of the dirt He likes to make something that is clean, and out of the old He likes to make things new. Maybe that is why I like yard work, I get to do my part to create something beautiful, it is a partnership with God to get things to grow.

In the Bible our Creator is portrayed as someone who has planted and cultivated a vineyard. In the Old Testament God prepared the soil for His vineyard, He built up walls to keep out the wild animals and to keep people from stealing the fruit, He took great care of it so that it had every advantage and it should have been the most productive and prosperous vine.

But instead of being a beautiful vine that attracted the neighboring nations to God they had become ugly and God was not being glorified by the mess that they had become. After a lot of patient gardening Israel forfeited its right to be the vine, the New Testament message is of God planting a new vine, Jesus comes along and says that He is the True Vine.

John 15:1-8 "I am the true grapevine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of Mine that doesn't produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.

"Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are My true disciples. This brings great glory to My Father.

God is the Master Gardner that tends to the vine, He is looking for two different types of branches, the ones that bear fruit and those that don't, both types of branches are going to get the knife:

He cuts off every branch of Mine that doesn't produce fruit

Bible theologian John MacArthur says that the first branch that didn't bear fruit was Judas. He was close to Jesus and he played along like he was a fruitful branch but he proved to be a phony. The branches that are being cut and thrown into the fire were never Christ followers.

John 13:10-11 “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

Anybody can put some effort into changing the outside and fool their friends just like Judas' eleven friends that were clueless about his true character. I can follow the rules and do what is expected of a Christ follower for long enough to fool anybody, but real transformation comes from the heart where your friends have a hard time seeing.

Eventually the fruitless branches are identified, they cannot hide forever before they are found out and they are removed. God doesn't allow these branches to keep hanging around because they destroy the reputation of the church and they take away from His glory.

He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more

The last words you want to hear from the doctor is "we need to operate." That is the news that the Great Physician has for you, He wants to improve your fruit production. In order for us to operate at maximum fruit-bearing capacity God needs to cut off our sins, our habits and attitudes that slow down the production of fruit.

Hebrews 12:10-11 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

God's discipline is to bring us along a little at a time toward being holy. Sanctification is the church word for the process of being made holy and set apart for God. To live attached to the vine is a life of dependence, exercising faith and becoming more like Jesus, His nature will grow in us and take over the controls.

Jesus is our only connection with God, the only means that we are saved and the only hope we have of living eternally with God. When we are joined to the vine, we are united with Jesus in all our interests, we have common desires, we are delighted in the things that He loves and we hate the things that He hates, we are willing to endure the same trials, contempt and persecution that He bore.

When you produce much fruit you are My true disciples

Every believer bears fruit but not all of them bear "much fruit." Some branches have a relationship with Jesus and they are a part of the true vine but they are not know by their abundance of fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is in short supply and production needs to be increased.

GOD'S PRUNING TOOL

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

God never changes, He is still using the same tool that He has always used to prune His vine, He uses the knife of His Word to get rid of the impurities that will hold up fruit production. He takes off the old blooms, the shoots that are going the wrong way and the parasites.

The Gardner's knife causes us much pain, sometimes we wonder why some things have to be cut away and we resist, we don't like it or understand everything that the Gardner cuts off. Sometimes I have to wonder if I really need so much attention from the Gardener and if He really knows what He is doing.

I must trust that He has great things in store and He wants me to be the most productive and beautiful branch that I can be so that He will be glorified. The beauty of His Vine will attract the neighbors and bring much glory to Him.

The world has some interesting vines that can get me tangled up. Their vine may be their bank account, their education, fame, talents or relationships. Many people plant a vine of religion and rules, but none of these can bear fruit, the True Vine is Jesus and you need to be attached.

Everybody Is So Busy

Are we doing anything that really matters?

Have you ever thought about how the gospel message got out of the small geographic area that Jesus worked in to become know all across the globe? After His three years of ministry, Jesus hadn't traveled very far from home, if they had television back then the events of His life would have been on the local nightly news but the major networks would have never covered Him.

The only reason that the gospel got away from Jerusalem and spread around the world is the result of men that loved their job, they were passionate about what they experienced with Jesus, they were glad to work for Jesus and his church.

Colossians 1:24-29 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.

This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

Despite a lot of hardship and physical abuse the Apostle Paul was willing to be busy spreading the gospel, he could have stayed home in Jerusalem after his conversion, he could have had a lot more comfortable life if he told his friends and neighbors that he changed his mind about Jesus and then settled down. He could of got busy with a career, focus on losing weight, buying a home and finding a wife.

Instead Paul had to be a radical about this Jesus stuff, his life would be much more difficult and all of the normal cares of this world would have to be set aside. Instead of being busy pursuing the cares of this world he would be busy following the call that God has placed on his life.

John 12:26 Anyone who wants to be My disciple must follow Me, because My servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves Me.

Paul believed Jesus words about following and serving. We are busy people and we are probably seldom as thrilled to serve others as we should be. This idea of serving is so important that Jesus gave us the greatest example of it just hours before he was crucified.

Right after the crowds cheered Him on His way into Jerusalem, what we call the Triumphant Entry, he told them about serving and then again he told his disciples during the Lord's Supper when he washed their feet.

Jesus stepped down from the highest position and humbled himself, he made the greatest leap in condescension, we will probably never understand why he loves us so much that he would make this giant step from greatness to the lowliest servant.

John 13:14-15 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.

It is difficult to imagine that Jesus had authority over absolutely everything, we can't even comprehend what that means, and yet he sat that aside and became our servant. And then he challenged us to serve the people around them as a symbol of our love.

I am a busy guy and I have to be careful that I am not too busy to serve. All of our work and our pursuits are usually focused on ourselves. It takes a deliberate effort to move our focus away from ourselves and think about serving God and other people. I need to have a passion to serve my Savior and my neighbor so that the gospel will be contagious to the world around me.

The Great Shepherd

A  lot of people can quote the twenty-third Psalm or at least get a good start on it but have you really thought about the words? David's words reveal that he is extremely close with God, I don't think that anybody else has ever spoken of their relationship with almighty God in such a warm affectionate manner.

Psalms 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

God cares for and protects His sheep

I found a Bible study that points out that many of the compound names for Jehovah in the Old Testament focus on the type of relationship that David talks about in Psalm 23:

"I shall not want” Jehovah-jireh, “the Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14)

"He leads me beside still waters” Jehovah-shalom, “the Lord our peace” (Judges 6:24)

"He restoreth my soul” Jehovah-Rophe, “the Lord who heals” (Exodus 15:26)

"He leads me in the paths of righteousness” Jehovah-Tsidkenu, “the Lord our righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16)

"thou art with me” Jehovah-shammah, “the Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35)

"presence of mine enemies” Jehovah-nissi, “the Lord our banner” (Exodus 17:15)

"anointest my head” Jehovah-M’Kaddesh, “the Lord who sanctifies” (Leviticus 20:8)

Jesus is the Shepherd that gave His life.

The Good Shepherd loves his sheep and He makes His love known by the great lengths that He will go to in order to take care of them. Under the old covenant in the Old Testament, the sheep died for the shepherd, but under the new covenant, the Shepherd died for the sheep!

John 10:27-28 Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

Jesus left the riches of heaven to join us in our world and experience our heartache but He went way beyond our experience and suffered much more than most of us will ever endure. Jesus is the Shepherd that we need, the only source of salvation, safety, and sustenance for the sheep, His personal care for the sheep makes it possible to have a full and rewarding life if we follow the Shepherd.

Light Of The World

There has been nothing but darkness in the land, the Bible and world history tell us that when Jesus came to our world it was a very dark time. The world was in turmoil as various conquering empires came and then they fell as they became the conquered.

After the Babylonian captivity the Jews had to deal with the Persians and the Greeks and finally the Romans came along. Each of these groups brought wars to Israel, changes in their government and attempts to change their religious beliefs.

The Bible tells us that at just the right time Jesus came into our world, I have to wonder if maybe part of it being the right time meant that the world was so dark that surely the people would take notice of the Light and come running to it.

John 12:46  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer remain in the dark.

But man has an appetite for darkness and his passions will push him further and further into the dark as he continues to look for what he is missing. We keep looking for the good life where it cannot be found. Even if we say that we hate the dark we still have a carnal desire to plunge deeper and deeper into the blackness to find our own answers.

Light is a characteristic of God that the Messiah was predicted to have. (Isaiah 9:2, 49:6, 60:1) Everybody in the temple knew that Jesus was telling them that he is the Messiah, they know that the light of the Messiah is what their hopes have been longing for, but this guy doesn't look like a Messiah to them.

Suddenly, in this dark world where immorality, injustice, and sin is glorified, the Great Light appears and it cannot be hidden, Jesus gave light to everyone, too bad that everyone didn't welcome the light.

John 3:19-21 And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.

God sent light into our world because we needed the light. He gave us the sun for physical life on this planet and he gave us the Son so that we could have spiritual life.There wasn't any way that we could get out of the dark on our own, out of God's love and mercy he gave us light so that we wouldn't have to live without hope in darkness, misery and death.

I need to love the Light and allow it to expose the things that God wants to change in me. I need to allow the Light to shine through me so that the world can see the truth of the gospel and have the opportunity to see their sin, choose to repent and live in the light.

Also Know As God

John 1:1-5 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

This is a different genealogy from what you see at the beginning of Matthew and Luke's gospels, they both show us the human genealogy of Jesus, but John goes way back beyond the humanness of Jesus and he points out the fact that Jesus is God and since He is then He always existed with God.

The four books of the Bible that tell us about Jesus time on earth are written to different audiences and therefore they give us a different perspective on who Jesus is. Matthew shows us Jesus as the Messiah and King of Israel, in Mark there isn't a genealogy because Christ is presented as a Lowly Servant which wouldn't have His lineage tracked, in Luke He is the Son of Man rejected by Israel. John the apostle and author of this book wants us to know that Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus Christ is nothing less that God in a body, He isn't some mystic, divine being up in heaven somewhere and He isn't an angel that got a promotion. Jesus was there with God in the beginning when God decided to create, Jesus was there when God gave physical life to this world and now he has come to earth to give us spiritual life.

It is amazing that the world is still talking about this man. Every other great man in history combined doesn't get the amount of attention that Jesus gets. In his book "Jesus: Why The World Is Still fascinated With Him" Tim LaHaye states:

"The philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who together are said to have formed the philosophical foundation of Western culture. And yet, despite being in the public eye for only three and a half years, Jesus and His teachings have arguably impacted the world far more than the collective erudition of these three great philosophers whose combined careers totaled more than 150 years."

There are people who love Him and swear that He is who He claimed to be and there are others that will bend over backwards to distort the truth. There are plenty of religions in the world today that blaspheme against Jesus saying He was not God, some religions even go as far as to claim that Jesus didn't even claim to be God.

1 John 1:1-2 We proclaim to you the One who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This One who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the One who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us.

John, who was probably Jesus closest friend, gave us his testimony about Jesus, John wants you to know what he saw and heard and why his life was so radically changed. His experiences with Jesus are very important to him and he wants us to know Jesus the way that he did after spending three years with him. John heard the claims by Jesus, he saw the proof in how He lived, and the things that He did, it all made sense to him that Jesus really was God and our Savior.

Jesus referred to himself as:

✔  the Bread of Life, (John 6:35-51) ✔  the Light of the World, (John 8:12) ✔  the Door, (John 10:7-9) ✔  the Good Shepherd, (John 10:11-14) ✔  the Resurrection and the Life, (John 11:25) ✔  the Way the Truth and the Life, (John 14:6) ✔  the True Vine (John 15:1-5)

JESUS QUESTION IS FOR ALL OF US

Luke 9:20 Then He asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Messiah sent from God!"

Is He a radical thirty year old carpenter that left the family business and got Himself killed for no reason? Did He fake the fulfillment of prophecy? Could a man possibly be born in the right circumstances in order to fulfill hundreds of prophecies in order to trick us? How could His miracles have tricked so many? If He is just a liar then why is the world still so obsessed over one liar?

If Jesus is really the only son of God, fully God revealed to us in a body, then the question that Jesus asked Peter is the most important one that we need to answer as well. "But who do you say I am?"

What if He really is who he claimed to be? If He told us the truth about being God then everything else that He said should be extremely important to us as well. We should be digging into God's to find out what He wants us to know and what He wants us to do.