Life sometimes can get you down … even chain you down! Just ask the Apostle Paul. And ironically it can happen when you're doing what's right for all the right reasons and in the right way. Anyone who examines the life of Paul will conclude quickly that Christians are not exempt from life's stresses. But unlike many Christ-followers, Paul chose not to let life's stresses become his focus or cause him to lose his focus.

So, what was his secret? When life seems to chain you down, how do you keep your wits about you and keep life simple? For Paul, it seems extremely evident as you read his prison epistle to the little church at Philippi that he helped to start — just two words — simply Christ! This short, but power-packed epistle is heart-felt, principle-guided, and practical as well as inspiring! Paul knew what the 21st century church and Christians often forget in the fast lane of life … that the Christian life is all about Christ! There is no aspect of my daily journey that cannot be managed by … simply Christ! In his epistle to the Philippians, it is now ten years later, and, just as it was from day one, Paul's life message is … simply Christ!

Something Happened … But What?

While most agree that something happened on the Sunday after the crucifixion, few really agree on what happened. What took place that day and what does that mean to us? What happens when we go, when we die?

The Measuring Sticks of "Grace!"

Mike and the Missional Leadership team (MLT) will present. This presentation will not be available here.

Honoring Moms

tbd

Father's Day 2012

tbd

No question about it, the verdict about Christianity rises or falls on the events of Good Friday and Easter. All of us would like to have convincing proofs, as Luke calls them, that might sway the verdict of our minds and hearts towards Christ beyond reasonable doubt!

The New Testament trio of faith, hope, and love will serve as the outline for this brief, but all-important, series.

We also have a suggested reading list here.

Palm Sunday: FAITH Beyond Reasonable Doubt

If the basis for my faith is based on the words and work of Jesus Christ, especially his ultimate work on the cross and empty tomb, then how reliable is His track record and is this track record beyond reasonable doubt? What are the reasonable doubts that are raised by my peers about the Jesus I have faith in? What are the "convincing proofs" which I can come back to again and again when my faith begins to waiver?! Since faith is required on my part, just what does that involve? Luke says in 1:4 that he wants us to "know the certainty of the things you have been taught." What is the case for Christ?!

Good Friday LOVE Beyond Reasonable Doubt

We all want to know that the basis of our relationship with God is based on His love for us, not just duty or pity, just like we desire for other relationships! Being known as one of His enemies, how can I be sure that my relationship with Him is now seen as a friend? John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 — along with 1 John 4 and more — all speak of His love for me, the laying down of His life on the cross, and His substitutionary death for me. What evidence do I find at the foot of the cross that God truly loves me beyond reasonable doubt? What doubts often arise in my mind and heart about God’s love? What is the case for Christ’s love for me?!

Easter HOPE Beyond Reasonable Doubt

All of us want more than a "hope so" faith in our relationship to God! I want more than optimism with no guarantees to undergird my future in Him! So, what is the case for Easter? What about the doubts people often have about whether or not He really did rise again? Give me a basis for my hope this Easter that is more than a "feel good" optimism and is beyond reasonable doubt! (1 Cor. 15:3-4, 12-19; Acts 1:3)

We Americans are famous for our bottom-line approach to life issues and problem-solving — just give us the bottom-line! And if there is time left over and we're still interested, we might stick around for the process of how someone arrived at the bottom-line. We live in a world of sound-bites from journalists, from politicians, and even from our cell-phone messages that get right to the point. And there are times when we simply need to know the bottom-line as we go about our daily chores or decision-making.

But stepping back from the details of life's journey and the daily grind, we are often caught up with a sense of "chasing the wind" once we slow down enough to realize what is driving our calendar and our credit cards! That sinking feeling of wasted time, life's dead-end streets, or missed opportunities can fill us with regret or even a cynicism toward life that tempts us to conclude that everything is meaningless and that we are just victims driven along by some anonymous fate!

Solomon was known for his many wise axioms that can sum up in a sentence a principle for living. In his book called Ecclesiastes — often translated Preacher — Solomon waits to the very end to share his bottom-line of life's journey, but painstakingly walks us through the process of rethinking our world and the meaning behind our life's journey. Whether it's about the relationship of knowledge to wisdom in our information age, whether it's about life's little pleasures, or time itself, or money, or youth and old age; Solomon helps us re-think our world: how the world often views these topics and how God's people ought to examine these topics. It's a healthy exercise and a great way to start the new year after our New Year's Day prayer from Psalm 90, asking the Lord to teach us to number our days so that we might apply our hearts to wisdom! More than a book filled with resolutions, it is a book filled with meaningful reflections — all designed to help us rethink our world … and our journey with Him!

Many folks bemoan each passing birthday and focus on their years. In Psalm 90, there is a constant alternating between references to years and years. God doesn't guarantee us days — He only gives us days. Moses' prayer is that he would make his days count by counting his days! This is not just good time management, but heart management…making sure that we see God in the details of every day and inviting Him into the adventure so that we may have a heart of wisdom — not just a well-managed calendar but a well-managed heart — and a life well-lived!

One of the biggest draws of big days throughout the year, especially for children, is the anticipation of getting gifts. Whether it's a birthday present or a Christmas present, the focus is often on the gift! What am I going to get? What's under the tree for me?! Children understandably look forward to un-wrapping their gifts. And most gifts given are very thoughtful gifts, ones often desired by the recipient. Sometimes those gifts are very generous and costly in nature and may become keepsakes over time — gifts that have meaning and are deeply valued by the recipient.

Over the years, however, gifts for grown-ups can be just as thoughtful and valued but are often not as much the focus as the gift-giver — not so much what I received, but who it was who was so kind to give it — the one who remembered me and thought of me. And the name of the gift-giver is often one who is valued in my life and has a history of thoughtfulness and kindness and who has a relationship with me over time. At later seasons of my life, I come to appreciate the gift-giver even more than the gift! He or she becomes my main focus as I un-wrap the gift. Un-wrapping his/her gift causes me to un-wrap his/her name and relationship to me. Sometimes it is a gift that keeps on giving!

When a gift is unanticipated, often the gift-giver is more excited than the gift's recipient, for he/she has wrapped a lot of himself/herself in that gift from the heart! Isaiah helps us rethink Christmas as he portrays God the Father being so excited about the gift of His Son, whom He is planning to send to planet Earth. God is so excited that nearly 700 years before His Son's arrival, He can't wait to give us clues as to what we will find when we un-wrap this unspeakable gift! He drops four clues in Isaiah 9 about His Son's name, whose name will be tied to the gift we will receive … a gift wrapped in a person!

God sends His promised son, who comes as a baby, becomes a child, and grows up to human adulthood to be our long-awaited deliverer. This son arrives just at the right time to address the universal and heart-felt needs of every person on the planet. For all who have ever experienced anguish of heart, we long for the day when gloom and doom will be taken away and replaced by hope. In a world of constant war, we long for peace, especially the kind of peace on the inside that allows us to sit down on the inside and know that all is and will be well. In a world where we feel powerless, we long for someone who can deliver on promises and bring us what we truly need; and in a world where relationships often translate to faceless friends on Facebook, a world of words, texts, emails, and tweets, we long for an everlasting Father who will never un-friend us and in whose everlasting arms we can rest and feel valued for who we are, not just what we can do.

Thus, 2,700 years later in Advent 2011, un-wrapping the names of the Gift-giver can be the greatest gift of all — especially for all those who have ever walked in darkness and long to see a great light!

Definitions:

understand /ən-dər-stand'/ Verb (English)

1. Perceive the intended meaning of (words, a language, or speaker)
2. Perceive the significance, explanation, or cause of (something)

Suniemi /soon-ee'-ay-mee/ (Greek)

1. to set or bring together in a hostile sense, of combatants
2. to put (as it were) the perception together with the thing perceived
3. to set or join together in the mind (i.e. to understand, the man of understanding)
4. idiom for: a good and upright man (having the knowledge of those things which pertain to salvation)

Key passage:

Matthew 13:18-23 Note that Jesus' explanation of the parable about the soils is book-ended with the word understand.

¹⁸ "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

Synopsis:

People often respond to the Bible's message in one of several ways:

1. From the onset, they outrightly reject the Bible's message, wanting nothing to do with the God of the Bible.
2. After giving Christianity a try, they walk away from God, fall away, or otherwise separate themselves from the faith.
3. They gut out their lives as Christians, but they do not share their faith with others neither do they live much differently than everyone else in their culture.

But why do people choose to disregard the Bible's message in their lives? If asked, they might give any number of reasons, but Jesus says in Matthew 13 that, in actuality, the root cause is: Their understanding of the Bible's message is somehow lacking. There is a huge disparity between knowing Bible stories and understanding the Bible's message. So how do we approach this somewhat overwhelming, seemingly irrelevant, and sometimes confusing Book? In this series we will discover, practical and SIMPLE steps that will enable us to know and understand the Bible's message for ourselves.

It's almost pandemic … the stress and anxiety level of our culture, our planet, and in our own personal lives. Our lives have gotten more complex and complicated over the years, and modern technology offers us little relief … and sometimes adds to the stress we feel. Our calendars reflect it as parents, as children, as young and old, as employees or those unemployed. The expectations of others or ourselves keep us honking at our own tail lights as we hurry through life.

Lack of purpose or meaning to guide our lives leads to listening to all the competing voices and trying to respond without any clarity of what good, better or best! The relational deficit we feel inside has us forever looking down at our cells phones, scrolling, texting, talking, interpreting our activity as our significance, or forever checking our emails, checking our social networks, etc.

Inside at the end of the day, if the truth be known, we all have a deep longing for a simpler life or lifestyle. Even church and all its programming may not offer us much relief, and down deep, we cry out for simple church. "Just give me a simple journey of faith, a simple game plan for following Christ that makes sense biblically, has meaning for me personally, and makes a difference radically in my world!"

It doesn't take much to live a life that's fuzzy around the edges and even at the core, but what does it take to have a life that's focused?

• Focused on the One who made me.
• Focused on the plans of the One who died and rose again for me.
• Focused on the things that really matter to Him.

This series is all about re-gaining that focus — for us as a church, for us as Christ's followers, and for making a difference in the world in which He's placed me!

It's just days away until Jesus rocks the lake here in Milwaukee in the upcoming "Rock the Lakes Milwaukee" outreach! Many of us live in the Lake Country, where many have been attracted its beauty and lifestyle. Milwaukee is often advertised as a great place on a great lake! Jesus Himself grew up near the lake country of His day near the Sea of Galilee, and from there called His first disciples and did many life-transforming ministries and miracles, as well as preaching life-transforming messages.

Both His messages and ministry drew crowds, whom Jesus saw as filled with those in life who were harassed and helpless…people whose lives broke His heart! He saw their surface needs, He saw beneath the surface to their core needs, and He invested His life in meeting people where they were but did not leave them where they were. After rocking their world and rocking their lives, He called them to go and likewise rock their world!

This series is designed to prepare us for our upcoming greater Milwaukee outreach … and the days that follow! The outreach is just the beginning. More than a life-changing decision that many will make, people will be called to life-changing discipleship to become Christ-followers taking their next steps in their new journey. We will be called to come along side of those who are entering the family we enjoy and the journey we are on. May Jesus prepare us for this refreshing adventure by rocking our world afresh and helping us ride the waves of His Spirit in our midst! We begin by looking back with fresh eyes at those days when Jesus first rocked His lake around the Sea of Galilee! Let the waves begin!

The world is communicating its philosophy relentlessly everyday through media and social networks that have developed. No longer can people seek to "protect" themselves from outside influences. We are exposed to many ideas about God, Christianity, Heaven, Hell, Truth, Eternity, Right and Wrong every day.

The assault on Christian beliefs is relentless and comes from within and without the established church and Christian community. Polls show that the American Christian is in danger of becoming irrelevant as their beliefs become a melting pot for new ideas about religious belief and their lifestyle declares their beliefs to be quite similar to those surrounding them, who proclaim no belief.

If we as Christians are to be relevant without losing our faith, we must work to build a faith that can endure the test of time … a faith that will give us an abundantly meaningful life right into eternity … a faith that will not sink along with the world around it.

The apostle Paul faced the same situation when he penned his letter to the Colossian church. He knew that "a little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump of dough". He knew the danger of false teachings in the form of wisdom gradually working their way into the fabric of Christian truth. He knew the impact on the Christians walk of faith and the many casualties that might occur if solid faith and truth became a conglomerate of lies.

This series will be a reminder of the truths that have stood the test of time and will attempt to help people stay strong in faith as our world is crumbling and to build a strong faith as they travel the journey of following Christ.

We take a fresh look at the cross of Christ in the courtroom of Scriptures, seeing ourselves as helpless defendants before our plaintiff — eye witnesses, character witnesses, judge, jury, and mediator — and seeing God's miraculous intervention that meets His demands and rescues our lives! Each message is preceded by a short courtroom drama involving the characters of the message.

The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are recorded in reverse chronological order with the priority of the message taking priority over the sequence of the events. All three books address the broken worlds of God's people and the rubble and ruins of the past. Ezra addresses the first priority of coming back to God, beginning with the coming back to worship and His Word (Ezra's mission!) From there, with God's help and through His servant Nehemiah, God's people begin to rebuild their broken world and find hope for their broken hearts (Nehemiah's mission!). Following the rebuilding of the wall, Nehemiah reinstructs God's people about their priorities. In Nehemiah's day, walls were a symbol of strength for a city and important for survival and broken walls were a symbol of weakness. The real need was to re-strengthen God's people by addressing their moral and relational and spiritual weaknesses and then to turn them into strengths.

Whether it's our broken world of worship, our broken personal world, or our society and community, God can help us rebuild our broken worlds … and have strength left over to help rebuild the broken worlds of those around us! Let's enter the classrooms of our co-teachers, Ezra and Nehemiah, and their complementary missions!

If there are three words that sum up the Christmas story and its meaning — three words that reveal one of Jesus' names in Matthew's version of the Christmas story — they would be God with us! Just His presence with us would be more than a gift! But the idea behind God with us is the idea and reality that God would be there with us working for us! And, as we learn later in Romans 8, if God is for us, who (or what) can be against us?

All the characters of the Christmas story faced some bigger-than-life crises right around the advent of Jesus where they longed to see God with them and working for them. Many of them had reached a point where they began to question if God were truly with them and if He would work for them and come through for them. Even before Jesus arrived, His name was unveiled: Emmanuel, God with us! When we are convinced that God is with us, we can have a whole new lease on life. On the other hand, when we have forgotten that God is with us and is ultimately working for us, life can be burdensome — at Christmas and all year round!

There is increasing relevance in knowing God with us in an ever-challenging world that seems lacking in resources and hope. This Christmas, let's join with some of the main characters of the story in unwrapping Christmas … God with us!

As we come away from the series on God's Hall of Faith, we enter the closing appeal of the writer of Hebrews, who seeks to spur his contemporary Christ-followers onward and forward in their journey of faith! These closing words contain three big-picture, take-away convictions which can mold the rest of our lives … convictions which can make us unshakable!

Everyone loves a hero. Many would like to be one. Except for Jesus, no one is born one! In this series, we look not only at the heroes from God's hall of faith in Hebrews 11, but we will see them up close and personal — their strengths, their weakness, their shining moments, their dark moments. As we look closely, we'll see glimpses of ourselves in many of their lives. They were ordinary people marked by extraordinary faith and occasional failure of faith! Their stories allow us to see how God deals with our imperfections and limitations. Their stories are more than history, but rather lives lived with His purposes in mind. And each one reminds us that we can be defined more by our faith than our failures! We will invite each hero from God's hall of faith to be our speaker each week. Let's enjoy and learn from these Old Testament guests who now enjoy a New Testament perspective … and fame!

We often hear the phrase "going the Second Mile" in our modern conversation, but it actually has its roots in first century Palestine. During Bible times, the Romans had conquered much of the known world and ruled with an iron hand. A Roman soldier could compel a subject of one of the conquered lands to carry his backpack, or "load," for him one mile, but only one mile. When Jesus spoke to His followers in the Sermon on the Mount, He said:

"If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." (Matthew 5:41 NIV).

The death and resurrection of Jesus reveals the heart of God who goes the extra mile for His people … and those who are not His people. These acts, along with Jesus' ascension and His establishment of His church reveal His mission, His message, and His method for reaching planet Earth!

By God's going the second mile and more for us, He demonstrates the power of a much higher law … the law of kindness, generosity, love, and sacrifice. When His Son went the extra mile for us, it transforms our picture of Him from that of a victim to a victor!

The pressure is on … in our country and around the world. Tough economic times are here for families, businesses, schools, churches … for anyone who needs money! We're all beginning to feel the anxiety, the helplessness, and the frustration of the big pinch! One consolation for Christians is that tough times are not new … the Bible abounds with stories of how believers have gone through tough times. More than any other subject in the Bible, God has addressed money: how to view it, how to spend it, how to save it, how to invest it, and how to be prepared for, survive, and even recover from tough times! More than simply good advice, the Scriptures offer us strategies and wisdom which will help us weather financial storms and take charge of our financial lives.

Series Goal: To help us get God's perspective and strategies on handling money during tough times, so that we can survive, thrive, and become a model of hope and effectiveness to the watching world!

It's not unusual at the start of each new year to hear personal resolutions that involve losing weight and getting into shape by altering one's diet and exercise game plan. Most would agree that healthy living involves both good nutrition balanced by consistent exercise.

This series will focus on the nutritional side of healthy living, especially with spiritual applications. It is obvious that the Bible talks a lot about nutrition and taking good care of your body as a good steward in whom the Holy Spirit indwells. That is motivation in itself. We will look at the nutritional insights we can gain from the world of nature (and natural foods in particular) and the importance spiritually of making healthy choices which will help us grow spiritually.

We will look specifically at 5 different ways of absorbing spiritual nutrition of the Word. See the Message Notes for The need for self-feeding for details.

We will help you to rethink Christmas by unpacking the secular version of it and getting back to God's original game plan.

We can learn a lot from the witnesses to suffering. Suffering is a huge and unavoidable experience of the human condition. To be human is to suffer. No one gets an exemption. In the book of Lamentations, God offers witnesses to suffering. In the history of God's people, there were two major events surrounded in suffering … the exodus from Egypt and the exile into Babylon. Such suffering raises many questions, but the book of Lamentations neither gives answers about suffering nor offers a program for the elimination of suffering. Rather, it gives dignity to suffering, letting us know that our suffering is not wasted on God, and reminding us that suffering allows God to enter our suffering and be a companion to us in our suffering!

This series is built around the heart of God and His Son for the under-resourced of the world. We can be overwhelmed by the needs we see, or oblivious to the needs of those who are poor … hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick and in prison. But God sees them, for sure, and His heart aches for their physical needs as well as their spiritual ones.

Too often Christians have dichotomized our response to the down and outers … either sharing our resources to alleviate their pain and suffering in Jesus' name or simply sharing our story and His in hopes that they will focus on their eternal destiny. The Gospel points us to a response that ministers to both the physical needs of the under-resourced and their spiritual needs. Let's hear from the heart of the Father and His Son, see their responses, and learn what the Father and the Son expect from us. Our response will deepen our dependence on Him and our love for the down and outers!

• To know more about the heart of God for the under-resourced … and what He expects of His followers … and to develop a mind-set that reflects His heart.
• To feel more of what the under-resourced feel as we try to experience a bit of their lack of resources.
• To do one or more things each week that would reflect the heart of God towards the poor and under-resourced and make a practical difference in our world!

Additional information for this series: Grace Church Takes the 5-day Challenge
Read Mike's 5-day Challenge Blog

"My Spiritual Journey" will introduce you to the practice of assessing your spiritual journey. We also introduce a tool for assessing your spiritual journey in an interactive venue. The overall goal of the "My Spiritual Journey" assessment booklet is to develop a spiritual growth plan for becoming more like Christ. Visit the My Spiritual Journey page to get the booklet.

"Mission Possible" is based on the life of Jonah and the unlikely mission God gave him! Sometimes God calls us to love the unlovely, to reach out to the seemingly unreachable, as He calls us to make a difference in our world. It can be quite the ride, and in the end, we may be the ones most changed by our outreach experience! Come along for the ride of this short series and relive Jonah's journey, feel his feelings, pray his prayers, and learn from his actions! It's a "whale" of a ride, one you won't soon forget!

In this post-Easter series, we look at the final 40 days of Jesus on earth before His ascension and the impact on His first-century followers. In the spring of every year, churches celebrate Easter. People who avoid church much of the year are often present on that day. Preachers rise again that day to proclaim the resurrection message and the hope that it brings. The choirs raise their anthems, and the church in general pulls out the stop to celebrate that day.

Then things go back to normal!

The resurrection is one of the most written about topics in literature. Often overlooked, however, are the post-resurrection events of those 40 last days of Jesus on earth as the resurrected Christ! Jesus appeared a dozen times and did so in an undeniable and physical way. Bible scholars often point to these as evidence for the resurrection, but detailed applications of these events are often overlooked. Those who saw the resurrected savior had a close spiritual encounter of the Jesus kind, and their lives were forever transformed! They were never the same again. Doubts about Christ were addressed and resolved. Broken relationships were reconciled and restored. Death, doubt and despair were faced head on, and the sting of each was removed! His followers some 200+ decades later are still being changed by the resurrected Christ!

One might think that once Jesus left the empty tomb that first Easter Sunday, He would have been justified in going straight back to the Father for a well-deserved homecoming celebration. But instead, He stuck around for 40 more days for the purpose of finishing unfinished business! Jesus' followers learned during those 40 days that what Jesus began in them, He continued to completion until they were ready to launch into a waiting world that needed their message of hope!

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. - 1 Peter 2:21

Christ is not only our example in the way He lived, but the in the way He died! In His 7 last words on the cross, He demonstrated the principles He lived by … and died for!