Mar 3, 2016 | Uncategorized
“This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God (1 Corinthians 8: 2-3).”
We’ve all met them. They are annoying…know-it-alls. Let your mind go back to a time when one of these people made you feel small because they were rubbing something they knew that you didn’t in your face. In life, we need people around us who know more than we do and who use that knowledge for our good. You want a doctor who knows quite a bit about your condition. You want a mechanic that knows more about cars than you do. But no matter how much a person knows, if they do not love, their lives are diminished and so are those they live and work with.
Paul is writing to warn mature Christians who have decided that they can eat food that once was part of an offering to an idol that made its way to the market place. Since they are smart, they realize that there really are no other gods than the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, therefore they feel no guilt or worry about eating that meat. The problem is that some newer Christians who have joined their church have just turned away from idol worship to life in Jesus, and, at the sight of the meat that they know was once offered to idols, memories flooded in of the gods they previously worshiped. Maybe doubt crept in…maybe fear…maybe worry. Regardless of the emotions, these new Christians were being distracted from their focus on Jesus by the behavior of other Christians.
Paul argued that mature Christians, even though they were morally right, should be more concerned about the spiritual well being of their new brothers and sisters than about being right. In this way, they would be acting like God, showing the world the love of Jesus. When have we been right about something but expressed it without love for someone else? In the Christian community, love is even more important than being technically correct. Let us love one another as Jesus Christ has loved us.
Feb 25, 2016 | Uncategorized
John 20:21New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
I attended a continuing education seminar last week with Wendy Votino (Children’s and Youth Director) and Nancy Koscoe (Leadership Team Chairperson) called “Missio Ecclesia.” I know, the name is in a foreign language, but it essentially means “the mission of the gathered ones.” God gathers us together as his people and then sends us out on mission with Jesus. Here are some key points from the seminar that every Christian needs to understand.
- We now live in a “post-Christian society”…Most people no longer look for a church to attend to grow in their faith. They may be looking for a spiritual experience or for God, but they less frequently expect to find God in a formal Church.
- Christians need to remember that we are sent. When we start following Jesus, we go out with Jesus into the world to serve the world with him and to point the world to him! Like the Father sent Jesus the son to come to earth to save, so we are sent by Jesus out into the world to share his love in tangible, life giving ways as he did.
- Our main area of ministry is where we live, work, and play, not in the walls of the church building. Church buildings where we worship, pray, and gather are not the main place we live out our faith, they are launching pads where we refocus, refuel, and launch into our daily lives with God’s love and power for doing good in the world. God is out in the world where all the people are, drawing them to himself so they may find new life through Christ. So that is where God sends us!
As you pray and imagine your life this week, remember that God sends you to your job, your neighborhood, your family, your church, your grocery store, your recreation field to be his representative, to point people to him by the way you love so that others may find life by following Jesus. We are the “sent ones!”
Feb 18, 2016 | Uncategorized
“The sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God (Psalm 84: 2-3).”
Ever feel like you need a safe, quiet place to go and be still; a place of safety; a place where you can hit the pause button on all the activity of the busy world? The Psalmist describes a scene on the outside of the sanctuary in the Temple. The birds have literally found a safe place to make a home and raise their young. The Psalmist goes on to say, “Happy are they who dwell in your house…Happy are the people whose strength is in you!” People, it seems, find safety and strength in God’s presence in God’s sanctuary.
I know at Lakeside that we worship in a multi-purpose room that we have made our place of worship. We still hope that you and anyone in Sanford or Lake Mary will find it to be a place that feels like home and a place where people find their strength in God. The designs for Lakeside’s new facilities include a sanctuary that is set apart as a place of worship where people experience the presence, healing and strength of God.
Next time you find yourself overwhelmed by the juggling act of life or in need of direction and strength to make difficult decisions, I invite you to drop by our sanctuary. Certainly God is everywhere, but I also believe that God sets aside special places like sanctuaries in which to meet us time and time again.
Peace of Jesus,
Pastor Cameron
Feb 14, 2016 | Uncategorized
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Feb 5, 2016 | Uncategorized
Psalm 139:7
WHEN I LOOK at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
I love the word “question!” It contains its own meaning. To go on a great journey to discover or do something extraordinary is to go on a quest! It’s a big word, full of possibility and wonder. It’s also a great word for our faith. We are full of questions about God, humanity, and about the purpose of life. Our faith is a quest to discover who God is, who we are, and what our lives are about.
Psalm 139:7 captures a great question about the depth of God’s love for us. Consider Jesus’ question to his disciples as they joined him on his quest to bring salvation to humankind, “But who do you say that I am?” Or consider the rich young leader who asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Each of these questions reveals an intense search to understand God, people, and life. So go ahead, ask your questions of God in prayer, search the Scriptures for God’s answers to your questions, and live your life fully on this quest to know God and the depth of God’s love.
