Miscalculations of the Reconciliation Equation

Grace + Truth over Time = Reconciliation
This equation is not easy to live in the real world. Even at our best we sometimes make some miscalculations and reach a different outcome than we had hoped for. Here's a few of the most common miscalculations:

Truth - Grace over Time = Judgment
This is truth with no grace. This is trying to reconcile our relationship with God and with each other by the letter of the law. This equation judges a relationship by how well we have kept the rules. Truth without Grace eventually destroys relationship. The entire Old Testament is full of laws that the people tried and tried to keep perfectly...but to no avail. It did not save their relationship with God or with each other. It wasn't until Jesus came full of grace and truth that reconciliation became possible for all people. Galatians 5:4 says, "You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace."

Grace - Truth over Time = License (or enabling)
This is grace with no truth. This is trying to reconcile our relationships by always overlooking the wrong. It's like handing someone a license to sin. This is the attitude, "Hey, I can sin all I want against God and against other people because their going to forgive me anyway!" It's like a battered wife always allowing her abusive husband to come home, even though nothing in him has changed. It's like the parent of a rebellious teenager always bailing them out of trouble and never letting them experience the natural consequences of their actions. Grace without truth is directionless and chaotic, it can can bring insecurity in our relationships because it has no structure (truth). Romans 6:15 says, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!" We do need guardrails, guidelines, truth to go along with a healthy dose of grace to bring about reconciliation between us and God and in our human relationships!

There are many other miscalculations we can make that produce things like insecurity, mistrust, irrelevance and isolation. Our goal is to commit to a lifelong pursuit of reconciliation: First with God and then with other people in our lives. As we do that God begins to use us as His "Reconciliation Agents" in the world!

The Elements: Grace, Truth, Time

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, `He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " ¹⁶ From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:14-17

Grace is the relational aspect of God. It is the unmerited favor of God toward us.

Theologian Fredrick Buechner said, “Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There’s no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries & cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth”

Grace turns the other cheek when someone has hurt us. Grace forgives when the other person hasn't asked for it and when they don't deserve it. Grace endures through relational pain. However, grace leaves us wanting structure, guardrails and guidelines for our lives. This is where truth comes in.

Truth is the structural aspect of God. It is black and white. It describes how things really are. Truth does not concern itself with compassion, mercy, favor or forgiveness. It is what it is whether we like it or not. Truth separates the sheep from the goats. It brings order, structure and boundaries to our life.

However, truth alone leaves us wanting one of life's necessities: Love. Truth without grace can be mean.

Grace and Truth together (Grace + Truth) reverse the effects of Adam & Eve's fall into sin. Our verse above says, "Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth". Jesus IS grace and truth. Jesus is the only force that can reverse the effects of sin in our life! Grace and truth together invite us out of isolation and separation and back into loving relationship with God and with other people. In short...Grace + Truth over Time = RECONCILIATION!

The final element is "Time". Adam and Even were in paradise, able to eat from the tree of life and live eternally in communion with God and each other until they allowed sin to enter their lives through disobedience. God could not let them be "in sin" and still eat from the tree of life and live forever in that condition. So God put them out of the garden and into what we call "Time" or "Life", a place with a beginning and an end. God essentially said, "I love you too much to leave you in sin so you have this amount of time...your life...to come back to Me!" At the end of that appointed "time" you will have chosen to either be reconciled to God or to remain separated from Him forever. God gave us the gift of free will to make that choice.

Truth was letting us experience the natural consequences of our disobedience.
Grace was not destroying us for it and giving us an open door to return to Him!
Truth was having to endure the difficulties and pain of real life.
Grace was putting us in a place where we could, over time, experience reconciliation with Him!

The Elements: Grace, Truth, Time. Together they offer all of us the chance to be reconciled to each other...but more importantly...to be reconciled to our God, our Creator, our Savior, our Lord!

Reconciliation Equation Continues this Sunday

We will continue our series on the "Reconciliation Equation" this Sunday with a look at the elements of the equation: Grace, Truth and Time.

Hey, do something bold this week! Don't INVITE a friend to church, BRING a friend to church with you this Sunday! Ask them to come, offer to pick them up and bring them with you! It would be exciting to see the place filled to the brim this week!

Hope to see everyone (and the friends you BROUGHT) this Sunday! Have a great weekend!

In His Grip,

Pastor John

Sunday Schedule Change!

Ken Byrum, missionary from Peru, will be speaking THIS SUNDAY, February 8th, at Mooresville Church of God! Ken was originally going to speak on March 1st but is here in the states this week and so we are adjusting our schedule to have him share with us this week.

We will continue with our Reconciliation Equation series the following Sunday, Feb. 15th.

Hope to see everyone this week as Ken shares with us!

In His Grip,

Pastor John

GCF Retreat Report & Thanks!

I want to report that God did some amazing things during the good clean fun retreat this past weekend. The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident as teenagers studied 2 Timothy 2:22. Friday night Jason Webb from Life Pointe Community encouraged students to flee their evil desires and pursue God. Saturday morning Kim Schuessler of Meridian COG and Martin Burns of Avon Parkside Church of the Nazarene divided students into different gender groups and talked specifically about how to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace in practical ways. Martin Burns spoke Saturday night about making wise choices and Angela Sagesse of Avon Community COG sent us out on Sunday challenging students to pursue God along with others who are doing so out of a pure heart through accountability partners. I was given the awesome privilege of leading an amazing student worship band. God spoke to our hearts and there was no denying the call to live life for Jesus. Reports are still coming in on how students responded to the messages.

I want to thank all the youth pastors who took a chance with this event and agreed to partner with us. Thank you to Debbie Brydges, Terry Carr, Jenny Carr, Coy Schrougham & Vanessa True for their excellent leadership and for a superb job at investing in the lives of our teenagers. I want to thank our college-age students who also gave their time and money to this event: Karen Brydges, Nick Perry, Andrea True & Ashley True. Your outstanding work with the worship blessed the worship services and ultimately the entire weekend. Pastor John did a terrific job with helping pull things together at the last minute. I'm truly grateful for his tremendous support for this event. Thanks to my brother, Tim Towne who made the Good Clean Fun character. Thank you to Central Indiana Campground for allowing us the use of their sound equipment. Last but not least, I want to thank Justin McKinley for his quality multimedia videos & presentations that truly enhanced the weekend.

My prayer is that students will never forget Paul's charge to Timothy and to us, and in so doing, choosing to flee the evil desires of youth choosing to pursue the attributes of God.

Very Moved,

Pastor Jeremy

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Grace, truth and time all work together to bring about reconciliation in human relationships and in our relationship to God.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 speaks powerfully of the ministry of reconciliation that we are all called to be ambassadors of. Here is the call to us, God's church, as we read these verses:

1) We must SEE people with God's eyes (not our own!)
2) We must BELIEVE that God really can make anyone new (Anyone!)
3) We must EMBRACE our part in reconciling all of creation to God (It's hard work!)
4) We must ACT as an Ambassador of Reconciliation (Don't just say it...do it!)
5) We must LIVE like the righteousness of God (As we are IN CHRIST we can live rightly)

Understanding and embracing the ministry of reconciliation is key to "doing the math" and living out the reconciliation equation! Join us this Sunday as we examine the elements of the equation: Grace, Truth and Time. Hope to see you!

In His Grip,

Pastor John

THANK YOU!!

Michelle, Molly, Aaron, Abby and I simply cannot thank the people of Mooresville Church of God enough for a great day of celebration as we formally affirmed our relationship as pastor and church! You have already blessed our family in so many ways during our early weeks together! God is at work at Mooresville Church of God and we are excited for the days ahead!

We also want to thank our friends and colleagues in ministry from Columbia City, Noblesville, Indiana Ministries and around the state! It has been an honor to work and partner with you to expand the eternal Kingdom of God!

Thank you to our families! To our parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews! It's accurate to say that without all of you we simply would not have made it to this significant day in our ministry! We love you!

And finally, thank you to the One who called us! The One who saved us! The One whom we love and serve! Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God! Our prayer is that the days, months and years of ministry ahead will bring You honor, glory and praise!

In His Grip,

Pastor John