How do we talk to a holy God?
Preached on January 28 & 29, 2012
by Matthew Ross
In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gave us a template of how to pray. It started out by saying, “Our father in heaven …” In an age where the more important you were, the longer title you had, Jesus told his disciples that, when you pray, pray with the attitude as a child praying to their father. The theme of God as our heavenly father is repeated in many places throughout Scripture and is key to understanding who God is, his relationship with us and how he sees us as his children.
I have to say that no relationship has impacted me more or been of greater importance to me than my relationship with my father. I do not know if he ever realized it or not, but being able to hear him preach and watch him walk out his sermons in the good and bad times in his life has taught me things that I do not think he could have expressed in simple conversation. An author named Clarence Budington Kelland was talking about his father and said, “He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived and let me watch him do it.” As I look back to when I was a kid and even as an adult, I can remember many great conversations with my father. But what I remember most are the things that he lived in front of me every day, regardless of the cost physically or financially. It might have taken me a long time to understand, but I can see my father’s heart best when I view it through the lens of his devotion to his family and to God.
Unfortunately, not everyone has good memories of their father. Some people did not even have a father in their life at all. What Jesus is telling you is that, regardless of how good, horrible or absent your father was, God is a better father. Maybe God is asking you to let him show you what it means to have a good and loving father. Make a choice this week to let God be that ultimate heavenly father in your life, then step out in faith. No matter how good or horrible your father was, God is a better one, and he is asking for a chance to show you what that means.
What could God do through a healthy spiritual community? [Watch Video]
From the "Imagine the Possibilities" series
Preached on January 21 & 22, 2012
by Matthew Ross
I spent most of my childhood in Lubbock, Texas. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lubbock, there are two important things to remember. The first thing to remember is that Lubbock is a few thousand feet in the air, but it’s on a plateau, so it is incredibly flat. The second thing to remember is that Lubbock is in the middle of nowhere. The closest big city is Dallas, and that is six hours away by car. Lubbock was a boring town, so when there was no school or church to occupy my time, I rode my bike a lot. One day, while I was riding my bike, I found some dirt piles about five feet high. Without any hesitation, I decided that a chance like this would not present itself again. I got as much distance from the dirt piles as I could, then I put my bike in high gear and peddled as fast as I could.
The good news is that it worked and I made the jump from one dirt pile to the next. But there is a catch. Rather than land on it like a ramp, I landed in the dirt pile headfirst. Over the years, I have reflected on that story and asked myself why I would have done something like that. Maybe it was because I was young or did not understand gravity. It really comes down to something simple: I saw a chance to do something awesome, but, rather than take it seriously and commit to doing it right, I put it on the same level as buying a pack of gum and just hoped for the best. In many ways, it is easy to be a Christian in America. For most people, it is simply a choice that they make, and, if you do nothing with it, then Christianity will never have any impact on your life. But God does not want us to be casual Christians; he wants us to commit not only to him but also to one another as the body of Christ.
This week, during your commute to work or your quiet time, ask God to show you a few ways in which you can minister to those around you. Maybe you can buy lunch for someone; maybe you can pray with someone. You could do something as simple as hold a door open for others or help them pick up something that they dropped. These are all small things that can have a big, positive impact. When we take what God has called us to do seriously, we begin to change society one person at a time and demonstrate what it means to be Christ followers in practice and in name alone.
I took my fears and concerns to the Lord
by Cindy Shedosky
In 2003, I was severely injured at work while caring for a mentally challenged patient. Because I must avoid narcotics of any kind, for eight years, I found it very difficult to cope with the pain. I was very fearful to commit to the needed surgery (cervical fusion) because I am a single mother of five and have no one to take my place.
This past year, the pain got so bad that I had no choice but to move forward with the fusion. Over several months, I chose to take my fears and concerns to our Lord with the help of Calvary's prayer partners during altar call. Our wonderful prayer leaders simply asked that I let the church know when my miracle happened.
On the morning of August 22, while I lay on a cart waiting to be wheeled into the operating room, my surgeon approached me and stated that he had just reviewed my x-ray reports one final time, only to discover that there appeared to be no need to proceed with the radical surgery as planned. A much simpler procedure was done that day, and I returned home within two days pain free! Praise God!
What would it take to make Jesus the Lord of your life?
From the "Imagine the Possibilities" series
Preached on January 14 & 15, 2012
by Matthew Ross
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done’” (“The Great Divorce,” C. S. Lewis). It can seem like such a simple choice. Either it is our will or God’s will in our lives. Either we have lordship, or God does. However, for many, there is no word more offensive than lordship or authority. In many respects, the goal of growing up is to be in control of our own lives, live our own lives and be responsible for our choices.
When it comes to our spiritual lives, often the more we grow as Christians, the more God asks us to live under his lordship, which sometimes means giving up things that we care deeply about. But it is so much more than a matter of control; it is a matter of the heart. When we want control, it comes from selfishness and pride that we are better or can do a better job at guiding our lives than God. When God asks us to let him be lord of our lives, it comes from a deep love for us as his children and the desire to keep us on the right path and help us to grow so that he can bless us.
We all have those things in our lives that bring us great joy. For me, one of those things is photography. The idea of seeing what is beautiful in the world and then sharing it with others is just amazing to me. However, about nine months ago, I felt God asking me to change my priorities and give up photography for a while. At first, I was certain that I had just heard God wrong. I mean, why would God ask me to give up one of the things that he knew I was passionate about? But, as time went on, I knew that I had heard God correctly, and it was up to me to decide whether or not to obey. A strange thing started to happen. The more certain I was that God was asking me to change my priorities, the more angry I got and the more hurt I felt. However, once I decided to obey him, some incredible things started to happen in my life that would have never been possible if I had not given God lordship over that part of my life.
Take some time this week to ask yourself one very hard question. When it comes to who has the ultimate say in what you do with your life, do you say to God, “Thy will be done,” or does God say to you, “Thy will be done”? God will not ask you to give something up for him out of condemnation, fear or hurt. There will always be a promise of something greater than the cost of what he is asking you to give up. God is asking you to take your eyes off the cost of what he wants you to do and to keep your eyes on his blessings that will come after the cost.
The Christmas Gift
by Melissa A. Mayer
In August, my car broke down (again!). In order to get my kids to school and myself to work, I had been taking three buses and a train every morning (we live in Chicago, and I work in Oak Brook). I had to start working part-time because of the transportation schedule. As winter and the snow approached, I wondered how I'd make it to work on time and pick up my kids from school before being penalized for being late.
This Christmas, our family was adopted by another family at my children's school to help us with presents. When I went to the school to receive the gifts that they had gotten us, the dad told me that he was getting his wife a new car for Christmas and that he was giving me her old one! Several of the teachers and staff had even collected money to pay for the title and transfer.
God is so good; I can't even believe it! The car is just what I would have picked out if I had ever fathomed being able to buy one! I was even able to junk my old car for $300 to help catch up on my bills. Hallelujah!