Family Bonds: Marriage

"What if God created marriage to make us more holy than happy?"

This is the question author Gary Thomas asks in his book "Sacred Marriage". If we ponder this question we may find that it can bring a dynamic change in how we view our marriages! If happiness is way down God's list of reasons for creating marriage, then why do we see so many marriages end because "I'm just not happy with this person anymore". What if we began seeing marriage as one of the tools God uses to conform us to the image of His Son. What if we began to view our marriages as a spiritual discipline instead of means to simply meet our needs. What if we began to view our marriages as a sacred possession...a sacred creation of God...a sacred gift? If we could adopt these views our marriages would cry out to the world that our God is good, He is loving, He would die for us (and did!), He wants intimacy and oneness with us!

So in order to investigate this "sacred" view of marriage we must do three things:

1) Search for God in our marriages: We'll call this Sacred Searching

Throughout the Bible you will find God using marriage as the illustration or symbol for what He is trying to do in us and through us to the world! For example: "...as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." (ISA 62:5) Here God uses marriage to illustrate how He feels about His people! He feels like a bridegroom on his wedding day (or even His wedding night!). It describes commitment, passion, intimacy, excitement, joy, love...and on and on!

2) Learn what our marriages can teach us: We'll call this Sacred Learning

Through the illustration of marriage and matrimony God can teach us things like love, perseverance, forgiveness, and servant hood, along with many other necessary life lessons and disciplines! Marriage can be a training ground for so many areas of our life! By learning to love our spouse unconditionally we learn how to love God unconditionally...By persevering in marriage we learn to persevere in many other areas of life...When we can forgive the person who knows us better than anyone, our spouse, we can learn to forgive others for much lesser things...And when we can learn to serve our spouse, even when we don't feel like it, or when we feel they don't deserve it, then we can learn to serve God and learn to serve most anyone!

3) Allow God to reveal His glory through our marriage: We'll call this Sacred Presence

In the Old Testament God gave Moses very detailed instructions for how to build the Ark of the Covenant. One of the instructions was that he was to put two angels kneeling with their wings outstretched toward one another. This gives us a portrait of what marriage can be when we follow God's instructions. How, you might ask? Well, angels are created beings, just like humans, and so God wanted two created beings with their arms reaching toward one another placed on the ark and then he said this in Exodus 25:22, "There, above the cover between the Cherubim that are over the Ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you...". God has promised that when we reach for each other as husbands and wives...He will be in between us...meeting with us...and the closer we get to each other...the closer we both get to God! That's God's promise to us in our marriages!

We can choose to have a sacred view of marriage. We MUST have a sacred view of marriage if we are to see it and live it like God wants. Does God want us to be happy in our marriages? Yes, of course, but is happiness the point? No. God has much higher purposes for our marriages than we often understand or imagine. But if we search, learn and pursue His presence, we'll find that He has beautiful days ahead for all of our marriages!

In His Grip,

Pastor John

Family Bonds: Mothers

2 Timothy 1:5-7 & 3:14-17 reveals a process through which our mothers (certainly Timothy's mother!) can deeply impact our lives! Paul writes to Timothy, "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline...¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The process we hear Paul describing goes like this:

1. Our mothers pass on a "sincere faith" to us.

It's important to note that whether you were parented well by your mother or not, this process is her dream for you. She was made in the image of God and, like God, she longs for this process to be lived out in your life! Timothy's grandmother and mother were so influential in his sincere faith that God chose to single them out through the writings of the Apostle Paul!

2. That sincere faith leads to salvation and receiving the Holy Spirit.

Paul refers to "the gift of God which is in you". This refers both to the spiritual gifts and calling that Timothy received, but also to the ultimate gift of God...Himself! His Holy Spirit is the gift in us that will bloom and produce all the good we will every know or do in our lives!

3. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand and apply God's Word.

Paul goes on to tell Timothy that through his mother "from infancy" he was taught the Holy Scriptures. He then details how that knowledge will bless Timothy and those he is called to teach, lead and reach!

4. The we are equipped through the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of God's Word to serve the world and accomplish the mission God created us for.

The point of this entire process is not just to bless us, or honor our mothers, or make much of us in any way! The point of this process is to lead all of God's children to acts of service that will lead others to know and follow Him! Paul said, "so that the man of God may be equipped for every good work"! This is the product...the payoff...the sum total of all the time, energy and effort that our mothers poured into us! God uses our mothers to prepare us to SERVE THE WORLD!

What a blessing mothers are! I know my mom was a key factor in the development of my own "sincere faith". And now I'm blessed with a wife who is blessing her own children in the same ways! Take the time to thank God not only for your mom, but for the ways in which He has used her to prepare you to serve Him well! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

In His Grip,

Pastor John

Battleground: The Flesh

What a powerful Sunday yesterday! Isn't it awesome to see God at work in our church? I was overwhelmed with the cardboard testimonies and the power of God at work within people. Thank you to everyone who willingly chose to share their thorns yesterday and to all those who were actively involved in the service.

In James chapter 1 we read that we are tempted when by our own sinful desires, we are led away and enticed to sin. Sometimes we blame God or the devil but the real enemy is our own self. The battle against the flesh is often unseen but one of the most intense battlegrounds we struggle to win on. Yesterday I shared that we can experience victory in the battle against the flesh through...

1. Salvation in Christ Jesus
• John 12:23-26
2. Dying to Self
• John 3:22-30
3. The Power of Holy Spirit Living
• Romans 6:8-14
• Titus 2:11-12
4. Relying on God in Adversity (hardship, problems, difficulty, misfortune)
• 2 Corinthians 12:7-12

Let us have hope during this battle that Christ has already won the battle over sin. Remember that, "the Spirit helps us in our weakness" (Romans 8:26) and that "He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion." (Philippians 1:6) You CAN be the victor and not a victim. I wonder how many others have a cardboard testimony. If you would like to share what battle God is bringing you through feel free to do so at the welcome center or post something right here on the blog.

I'm starting 5 days of spiritual renewal today. I'll be spending much time in prayer, reading and getting some rest from ministry. I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.

Blessings,

Pastor Jeremy