Wednesday, October 21, 2015

we're missionaries whether we like it or not



Caz’s message on Sunday talked about how the famous verse Jeremiah 29:11 was given to a people who were completely displaced and kicked out of their Promised Land.  God’s people were called to integrate into a new society, and God even shares that He carried the people there.  I might have argued that Jeremiah heard God wrong after hearing those words.
            We all have times when we feel out of place, and possibly that God has forgotten us. I clung to Jeremiah 29:11 when I was a scared college freshman living away from home for the first time. And I related to Caz’s experience of moving to Austin as being quite different, as I moved from California. It was lonely. And yet God had very clearly called me to this strange place.  After a while I began the immersion process Caz described. It was not the church where I first made close friends, but the poetry community. Not a fortress for Christians by any means. And yet this community is as vital as church to me, and my poet friends know me better than anyone I’ve gone to church with.
             We all live in an un-Christian world. We are all missionaries whether we like it or not. When our building is done, we will have greater opportunity to be a beacon in the community. Until then, our mission field is our neighborhoods, workplaces and community. We don’t need to hand out tracts. (What a relief, right?) Our calling is much greater: to build relationships, to listen and to point others to God through our own lives.
Beth Kropf

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Sunday, October 4, 2015

Forgetting What is Behind

"Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ... that I may gain Christ and be found in Him."  (Philippians 3:7,9)

Those are the words of someone who knew exactly what he wanted out of life.  And he was focused- he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of attaining "the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"-- including his past.  And Paul had a pretty difficult past to overcome: he was guilty of overseeing the deaths of the very people he was now trying to minister to.  Talk about baggage!  But he was determined that his past would not disqualify him, either from the GRACE and love that Jesus offers. 

Last Sunday Caz went over three areas that keep us tied to our past:
       GUILT  (over past sins)
       RESENTMENT  (towards others who have hurt us)
       REGRET  (over circumstances or mistakes we've made)

I have to admit that in my life, I have wasted much time and energy on all three of these-- mostly, regretting mistakes that I've made-- because the way I'm wired, mistakes are terrible and most mistakes were my fault and could have been avoided, if only....  Can anyone relate?

The wonderful thing about Christianity is that in our faith, REDEMPTION  is a very big word.  There is nothing in your history, in your life, that cannot be redeemed... as long as we're willing to give it to Him to work with.   All three of the problems that Caz mentioned have "antidotes" to them.   (I think of them as antidotes because these three- guilt, resentment, anger-- are poisons.  They poison our spirits, our minds, and everyone around us.)  The antidote to guilt is repentance-- available to all of us, regardless of what we've done.  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins."  (1 John 1:9)   The antidote to resentment is forgiveness-- letting go and freeing yourself of bitterness that will poison everything in your life.   And regret has an antidote too- I love this one:  hope.  Hope!   In the life of a Christian, there is always hope-- because anything can be redeemed that we give to God.   HOPE tells me that going over my regrets, my mistakes, is a waste of time and actually dishonors God (as if my mistakes are too much for Him to handle?)

If you are one of those people, like me, who has spent too much time focusing on your past, your mistakes, regrets, whatever, I have a suggestion.  Every time as regret comes into your mind, and you hear the words, "If only..."  stop listening!  And instead replace those sorry, disabling words with two other words:   "BUT NOW!"   Now you are a "new creature in Christ."  Now your past does not have to define you.   Now you have unlimited possibilities... to experience GRACE and LIFE lived to the fullest- which is what Jesus promised us.

~Pastor Rick

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Fwd: "FORGETTING WHAT IS BEHIND"


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rick Koepcke <rkkrdad@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 2, 2015 at 12:28 PM
Subject: "FORGETTING WHAT IS BEHIND"
To: LiveOak-Church Blog <info@liveoak-church.org>


"Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ... that I may gain Christ and be found in Him."  (Philippians 3:7,9)

Those are the words of someone who knew exactly what he wanted out of life.  And he was focused- he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of attaining "the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"-- including his past.  And Paul had a pretty difficult past to overcome: he was guilty of overseeing the deaths of the very people he was now trying to minister to.  Talk about baggage!  But he was determined that his past would not disqualify him, either from the GRACE and love that Jesus offers. 

Last Sunday Caz went over three areas that keep us tied to our past:
       GUILT  (over past sins)
       RESENTMENT  (towards others who have hurt us)
       REGRET  (over circumstances or mistakes we've made)

I have to admit that in my life, I have wasted much time and energy on all three of these-- mostly, regretting mistakes that I've made-- because the way I'm wired, mistakes are terrible and most mistakes were my fault and could have been avoided, if only....  Can anyone relate?

The wonderful thing about Christianity is that in our faith, REDEMPTION  is a very big word.  There is nothing in your history, in your life, that cannot be redeemed... as long as we're willing to give it to Him to work with.   All three of the problems that Caz mentioned have "antidotes" to them.   (I think of them as antidotes because these three- guilt, resentment, anger-- are poisons.  They poison our spirits, our minds, and everyone around us.)  The antidote to guilt is repentance-- available to all of us, regardless of what we've done.  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins."  (1 John 1:9)   The antidote to resentment is forgiveness-- letting go and freeing yourself of bitterness that will poison everything in your life.   And regret has an antidote too- I love this one:  hope.  Hope!   In the life of a Christian, there is always hope-- because anything can be redeemed that we give to God.   HOPE tells me that going over my regrets, my mistakes, is a waste of time and actually dishonors God (as if my mistakes are too much for Him to handle?)

If you are one of those people, like me, who has spent too much time focusing on your past, your mistakes, regrets, whatever, I have a suggestion.  Every time as regret comes into your mind, and you hear the words, "If only..."  stop listening!  And instead replace those sorry, disabling words with two other words:   "BUT NOW!"   Now you are a "new creature in Christ."  Now your past does not have to define you.   Now you have unlimited possibilities... to experience GRACE and LIFE lived to the fullest- which is what Jesus promised us.

~Pastor Rick

Read more...

Friday, October 2, 2015

"FORGETTING WHAT IS BEHIND..."

Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ... that I may gain Christ and be found in Him."  -Philippians 3:7,9

Those are the words of someone who knew exactly what he wanted out of life.  And he was focused-  he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of attaining "the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" -- including his past.  And Paul had a pretty difficult past to overcome:  he was guilty of overseeing the death of the very people he was now trying to minister to.  Talk about baggage!  But he was determined that his past would not qualify him, either from the GRACE and love that Jesus offers, or from the joy and privilege of ministering effectively.

Last Sunday Caz went over three areas that keep us tied to our past:
      GUILT (over past sins)
      RESENTMENT (towards others who have hurt us)

Read more...