September 27 Church

We're wrapping up our love series this Sunday. We've talked about when love goes bad and how to love God, so loving people is next. And this is where we cut through all the bull. The rubber's meeting the road and other overused metaphors for tests of authenticity. If we don't love the people around us, 1 John tells us we don't really love God. Now we're preachin'! Though it might be challenging, our call to love our neighbors is one of the most inspiring and beautiful opportunities of our existence. Few things can make your life instantly better from an inner peace perspective than deciding to make someone else's life better. This Sunday we'll reflect and discuss this awesome responsibility and what it means for us in SW MI.

Sunday morning church is at 10:15am at Lawton EMC. They are a sister church and have invited us to share how things are going. We'll also plan to share ways they can help us and pray for us. Directions to 425 S Nursery St., Lawton, MI 49065:

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Sunday evening, House Church will be at 6:00pm at Roger and Linda's (5622 Downing St., Portage, MI 49024). Bring some food. Bringing a friend earns bonus points.

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Moving Beyond Warm Fuzzies

I'm happy to say my promise of blow your mind worship via fancy projector words was delivered. The new fangled contraption also gave us the chance to look up instructional christian rap dance videos on YouTube for all to enjoy. Emily, thanks for the nod on "Snap, Crackle, Pop." Just take it to church, everybody!

We read through some 1 John verses in the morning, interspersed with moments of prayer about learning how to love God better. I'm always amazed at how cool it is to just read and pray with a group of friends. Simple, but powerful.

We also talked about the love spectrum, where Care Bear warm fuzzy love is on the left and St. Paul-I'll-die-for-you-Jesus love on the right. If your concept of loving God is working up good feelings towards God all the time, or your Christian behavior is limited to sitting in a church service once a week, then you're a warm fuzzy lover. On the other hand, if you believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son, who gives you forgiveness of sin and eternal life, and you fully surrender yourself to him out of thankfulness, living a life just like he lived, that's true love.

John's main idea is that true knowledge and love for God isn't some special knowledge or an emotional experience. It's a lifestyle. It makes me think of James who said (I'm paraphrasing, here) "You can tell me you believe in God all you want; I'll show you I believe by how I live."

By the end of the day, yesterday, there were quite of few of us committed to upgrading our love of God somehow this week.

Download the note sheet here.

September 20 Church

This Sunday we're talking about "Getting Beyond Warm Fuzzies" when it comes to loving God. God is alive. He's not a mythological creature or some far off acquaintance we shoot an emotional postcard to every now and then. He's a living being, spirit, but alive and in relationship with us. So what does it look like to love Him, truly, deeply, passionately? Read 1 John and get ready to have your warm fuzzies upgraded.

We're meeting at Kyle and Nikki's in the morning at 10 a.m. We'll have words to songs this time. It will be so fantastic you won't know what to think. Then we'll be back at night, same place, at 6:00pm. Bring food. Bring a person.

Directions to Kyle and Nikki's (25281 80th Ave., Lawton, MI 49065):

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The Love Sin, from Sept 13

Read 1 John in the New Testament and you get the feeling that you just entered into the middle of passionate conversation. Emotional, high-pitched language laying down absolutes about the nature of God and the consequential behaviors reveal that someone or something is being responded to. That something, bible scholars believe, is the Gnostic movement of the late first century.

The Gnostics believed they had received extra special revelation, which was necessary to truly "know" God (gnosis). They also felt the physical world was a product of the evil one and creatively found ways to deny the full humanity/deity of Jesus. God, being holy, could not dwell in sinful flesh. This also led to the belief that they no longer sinned, but had achieved a superior spiritual state.

John, now an old man and possibly the last remaining apostle, writes to his spiritual children to guard them against these heresies. First, we must understand that God is love, he is light, he is life. God is good and above all is passionately in love with his creation. He made us to be in a caring, affectionate relationship with Himself. Man has fallen out of this by loving other things in place of God. Almost all of our junk can be reduced to this - the misplacement of our love. John calls us to love the Father first and foremost, then all of our other loves and affections find their proper place.

So, in opposition to the Gnostic idea of special knowledge, John reveals how we truly know God and love Him: we obey Him. In obedience, we get to know God not just intellectually, but by experience. We understand what it's like to forgive or show mercy or sacrifice. We can say we know God all we want, but the real test is what our lives look like.

If we're not being obedient to God's commands to love Him and our neighbor's, then we love the world. John describes love for the world as "the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life." Loving the world means we're putting ourselves first, wanting things that make us happy while disregarding the needs of others. When we love stuff, or even people, more than our great God in Heaven, we commit the love sin.

What do you love more than God? Are you good at love? Can you be loved as God wants to love you: completely, extravagently, righteously? Can you love Him back?

Next week we'll flesh out how we actually love God.

The Super-Mandatory-Attend-Or-Die-Meeting

I just realized after returning from vacation, that I have been commissioned with finding a time for our mandatory "all about lifepoint church" meeting. Anyway...we'll discuss a time for this meeting at our next meeting which is this coming Sunday. I'm not really sure where it's at though...so I'll let Kyle or someone else post that information...

Once we have a time...attend or let this guy deal with you...

September 13 Church and Love Series

Oh, man! We had some good times this past Sunday morning. Four of us, plus my kids, got together in our living room at about 10 A.M., read some Psalms, prayed, then rocked the iPod worship for like an hour. Okay, we worshiped for like half an hour and Kyle just kept singing. Before long, it was a good old fashioned dance party...all for Jesus. Seriously, it was. Had to be there.

Anyway, we're looking to repeat this Sunday morning, 10:00 A.M. at Kyle and Nikki's (see map below). We're starting a September series on 1 John called "Love" (I know, I need to tone down the creativity).

Sunday, September 13: The Love Sin

(when a good thing goes bad and we love the wrong stuff)

Sunday, September 20: Beyond Warm Fuzzies

(everybody says we're supposed to love God, but how?)

Sunday, September 27: I Love You, Man

(don't be a wuss; love somebody)

These will also be the discussion topics for House Church (formerly "Core Group"), which will continue to meet Sunday nights at 6 P.M. This Sunday, we will also be at Kyle and Nikki's at night (for those of you following along at home, yes, you could potentially hang out at our place twice this weekend). As usual, bring food. Newbies eat free.

Directions to Kyle and Nikki's (25281 80th Ave., Lawton, MI 49065):

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