daddy4ms

Today, my message at Hesston MB was based on Ephesians 1:7-10. Here are my notes: Introduction:   A question that often starts a conversation when people first meet is, where are you from? Talk with the person beside you and discuss why we ask this. We think this helps us know better who the person is. I have placed a map of where I am from. You will notice that I include multiple locations.   Why?   Because each of these places I am from, has shaped who I am. So, I have titled the message this morning “Live From, Not For” and that is based on a quote I share often with my kids and others, “Live from your identity in Christ, not for it today.” Background: Paul writes this to the church in Ephesus. Before Paul tells us what we should do as followers, he reminds us who we are. Ephesians 1-3 focus on our position in Christ while Ephesians 4-6 focus on our practice as those in Christ. We are told who we are in Christ no matter what we think, what others think, or wha...

Don Morris, National Director of U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches spoke briefly to start our morning. We are people of the Word and we take God's Word seriously. Pray for a great movement of God locally, nationally, and globally.  God is up to something among us. Jesus is saying, "let's go deeper!" I want to see more broken people come to Jesus.  Let's not get upset about things that don't matter.  Stop fussing. Let's work together. Revelation 5-Jesus is worthy! Let's be about proclaiming the substitutionary atonement of Jesus.  Is there any other message more important? Speaker later in the morning was a missionary to restricted access countries. How are we to multiply? I am not happy when people just follow me.  I like to help and create leaders. I have to be ready for Holy Spirit to lead me the way He wants, not the way I want. Look what God can do! I don't like a one man show.  You need others. You don...

"We're singing for the glory of the risen King." Winnie Bartel, Speaker and Family Counselor from Shafter MB Church, California was our speaker. 1 Corinthians 12:27-Everybody has a job in the body of Christ. "Celebrating How Our Past Must Impact our Future" Celebrate-to seize an occasion for being festive! Why I am grateful for the Mennonite  Brethren heritage-3 stories Billy Graham-NAE (National Association of Evangelicals) Banquet-"Our rich heritage" 4th United Nations Conference on Women Beijing, China-8 member US team from USA and 2 Anglican Priest from New Zealand "Your People of the Bible" World Evangelical Alliance and European Alliance "I can take you anywhere in European Alliance, and You will be respected and welcomed to speak!" What was it in our past that caused the world to sit up and take notice? Our past must impact our future! It's time to seize this occasion to recommit ourselves to Carry...

"Great are you Lord" Aaron Hernandez, Lead Pastor at Grace Point Church, Texas was our speaker on Thursday evening. "Somas familia"-We are family. John 17:21 We don't just want to read books about God, but we want to experience God. 1 Corinthians 12:27-Theme Verse for the Conference All of you together are the body of Christ. Paul wanted to remind his brothers and sisters of this truth in 1 Corinthians. What we believe about ourselves determines how we behave. Remember in your churches that "you are the body." The body has many parts and God has put each part just where He wants it.  Everyone is part of something much bigger. Gary Inrig quote on unity and diversity. Three Very Important Aspects About the Body Unity Diversity Interdependence What We Need To Do: Pray for Unity-John 17:21 Stay humble in diversity-Philippians 2:3-4; 1 Peter 5:5 Embrace Interdependence-Ephesians 4:16

I have been sharing "Prayer Power" on this blog for several months.  I am transitioning to a new resource called Everyday Prayers by Scotty Smith.  This book on prayer has been a blessing to me as I live my daily life. I would encourage you to pick it up at your local Christian bookstore. As I think of our own church family, I pray for new church plants meeting resistance and older church families needing renewal; for missionary teams under fire and in duress; and gospel ministries of various and sundry sorts. Jesus, bring the grace and truth of the gospel to bear in observable and transforming ways.  No one has done more to secure our unity than you, Jesus (Eph. 2:14–22). No one is praying more for our unity than you (John 17:20–21). No one is more glorified by our unity than you (John 17:22–26).  Continue to heal us, reconcile us, and deploy us into your ripened harvest and broken creation together. We pray in your glorious and gracious name. Amen. ...

Have you hurt someone?  Has someone taken advantage of you recently? The final chapters of Recovering Redemption by Matt Chandler look at how we seek reconciliation in relationships whether we are the cause or recipient. The one who pursed us in making peace also desires that we respond to others in kind...by pursuing peace. Whenever believers are involved in conflict with other people, God remains the authority--not us. What am I supposed to do, God, when somebody like this is working against me all the time? Well, looks like He's already shown us what He would do: initiate and forgive, engage and reconcile, pursue peace at all costs. Why should it be any different in our case? One of the marks of Christian maturity is a willingness to absorb and forgive any ugliness or injustice that's tossed in our direction, and to let our desire for retaliation or rebuttal fall peaceably to the ground. Bitterness is a powder keg. Pay attention to it. It's not ...

Today was a monumental, historic day at Coral Ridge. For many years Coral Ridge had two very distinct worship services–one contemporary and one traditional. The result was the unintentional development of two different churches under one roof. It wasn’t healthy. So back at the end of Spring we started talking about what we could do to unify our one large church. Given our desire to re-plant Coral Ridge around a holistic and comprehensive understanding of the gospel we concluded that we needed to make a change. After all, since the gospel is the good news that God reconciles us not only to himself but also to one another, the church should be breaking down walls, not erecting them. God intends the church to be demonstrating what community looks like when God’s reconciling power is at work. Most churches would agree that any segregation arising from racial or economic bigotry runs contrary to the nature of the gospel and should not be tolerated. But there’s another ...

This week, in our pastoral staff meeting, we were discussing the topic of unity introduced by the book, Unfashionable. As I read chapter 9, I was reminded of Jesus' prayer for us as the body of Christ to be unified. What does this exactly look like? Let me share a few quotes from the book that I think explain it well. "In contrast, the highest aim of mission-minded people is not self-protection but self-sacrifice. Mission-minded people exist primarily not for themselves but for others. They're willing to set aside personal preferences in service to those with different preferences. They're willing to be inconvenienced, discomforted, and spent for the well-being of others." "Lacking love for the body (and for any individuals in the body) shows a lack of love for the Head of the body. If we love Christ, we will love one another." "But when reconciliation, peacemaking, and unity are on display inside the church, that becomes a powerful witness to ...