Messages of the Orchard Church

When a person is in conflict, they will frequently seek out others to provide counsel and guidance. If someone in conflict comes to you, then you will be getting one side of the story and it is easy to get drawn into the corner of the person you are speaking with. But, peacemakers are not in one person's corner or the other, but rather in God's corner which is the corner advocating for a healthy resolution of the conflict. So, it is important to be a wise counsel, understand that you are only getting one side of the story, and remain impartial.

The truth of God is immense. If truth were the size of the Sun, God has revealed truth to humanity that is about the size of a pea. I've received some of this truth and I'm still receiving it. God seems to progressively reveal truth to us, and each nugget of truth that is received is powerful and disrupts our course of life. So, how are we to deliver truth to others, particularly when it seems their life could use it? We are peacemakers, and we deliver truth in peaceful ways to people who are hungry for truth. (Forcing truth down someone's throat, or insisting that they obey, is not peaceful).

Just about everyone is a fan of peace, so long as peace is on their terms. Is it God's will that we only accept people if they are totally agreeing and practicing what we think is correct? No. Just as Jesus welcomes us and is with us despite our failures, peacemakers welcome others as they are, and not as we wish them to be.

If you are serious about spiritual growth, then you will be serious about loving others. Love always means getting closer to others who we'll find are different and sometimes challenging. Conflict will happen. Though strenuous, it needn't be overwhelming or exhausting. How will you respond? Most of us have a natural tendency to address conflict in a particularly unhelpful way, so it is important to avoid 3 attitudes that ultimately hurt your growth: "I don't have the energy", "I'm right", and "Change now".

Many of us may think that gossip is a small thing, but it isn't thought of that way in Scripture. Gossip is likely the very reason that people of a church want to stay private, or superficial, or seeming as if they have no struggles. This opening message is intended to shine a light on the problem with gossip, not only helping us to understand how the Bible describes it, but also why the Bible implies that it is corrosive to people and relationships.

The parable of the sower describes a farmer distributing seeds on four types of soil: hard, rocky, weedy, and good. Only one of the soils is successful. We could tend to use this parable to judge others and their response to the Gospel, but do you really think Jesus intends this parable to help us feel spiritually superior to others? No. It is a parable intended to help us realize unsuccessful responses to Jesus that we might be mired in. If anyone of us is not producing tremendous fruit for the Kingdom of God, then here is some truth: our soil may be bad and our soil may need to be changed.

Two of the shortest parables about the Kingdom of God describe a man searching and finding a treasure of such value that he sells everything to acquire it. Jesus described the elements of these parables elsewhere in places like Matthew 6:21, Matthew 19:21, and Luke 12:33. Three simple questions arise from these parables: Are you looking for the treasure? Do you really expect to find something of such immense value? Are you making the exchange?

Let's say that you are one of those who are at The Party described in Luke 14:15-24. Now what? There are several parables Jesus told that seem to indicate that the party could last a long time. And, though we might be tempted to fall asleep, or go off and do our own thing, that isn't what God has in mind. As Uncle Ben in Spiderman famously says, "With great power comes great responsibility."

The Party is a parable that describes a banquet or celebration in which the invited guests come up with excuses to not attend. Upset, the host of the celebration tells his servants to go out and bring in anyone they can find. This message includes a modernized depiction of the story. While you are listening, remember that a party is never about the invitation ... it is about who will be there.

Judas is widely thought of as the disciple who was a mistake - he was the one that betrayed Jesus. Did Jesus somehow not know this when he appointed Judas as one of the twelve? Was he selected intentionally to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 11:12-13? Or was it something else? Scripture has just a few things to say about Judas, but they all seem to suggest that Judas loved money more than Jesus, and that ultimately led to his horror. Such misplaced love is still among us.

Paul's writing in Romans can be confusing. He uses words that are often unfamiliar, and he is describing religious attitudes that we've never encountered. So I wondered ... what kind of analogy might help us to better understand what Paul is saying? Maybe I could compare the church to a karate dojo, and illustrate how karate belts represented aspects of our knowledge and maturity with God. And that's what I'm doing this week.

There are a lot of "sin lists" in the Bible. You may know them as the "thou shalt not" scriptures. Many times, people will weaponize these lists to condemn others, to feel superior, and to win arguments. But in doing so, they mishandle that list from Romans Chapter 1 in a way that Paul clearly condemns in Romans Chapter 2. The ways we handle scripture is important. Today I want to help you see a couple of ways that prideful attitudes can cause well-meaning people to fumble the messages of God.

In the introductory paragraphs of Romans, Paul uses these first words to set a tone and thesis for the whole book … simply, it is the humble person who finds the truth and power of the Gospel.

A big benefit of being a Christian is that God frees us from the bondage of sin. Put another way, if we have a destructive behavior - even as destructive as an addiction - the power of God frees us. That's what God does. God frees us from the sin, but we have to flee from the sin. We have to want to walk away from those cancers.

The word "wealth" is often understood to be an abundance of money and possessions - the storehouses of resources we idle for the future. Typically, the wealthier a person, the more stingy they become. So, what happens when one becomes a Christian? As we love more, our stinginess changes to generosity. But this generosity of wealth goes beyond just money, for love also unlocks two other treasures: our time and our mercy.

Where are you headed in life? Do you want to have a big family, or be famous, or more loving, or a better follower of Jesus? For most dreams to be successful, you will need to surround yourself with like-minded people who share a similar vision, and wish to support one another toward those goals. So, what changes when we become a Christian?

Marriage has been a part of societies since prehistoric times - it isn't unique to any particular religion or culture. And, generally speaking, marriage is viewed by most every one of these societies as a superior status in life over singleness. This attitude can also be felt in the churches. People who are single can be made to feel as if they aren't quite measuring up, or that there's something deficient. That shouldn't be, because Jesus specifically told us that the Kingdom of God has a special kind of relationship in it, and it isn't marriage. Everyone is a brother or a sister. That's it.

There is an overwhelming amount of technology that surrounds us - every year it is more and more, with a pace that now seems to be doubling every few years. And, whenever some new tech or innovation is introduced, doesn't it seem that we just blindly adopt it, without considering if it could have a negative impact on our life? Just because we can add new tech and surround ourselves with so much of it ... should we?

The Bible describes a fairly simple phenomena of spiritual living that goes something like this: If you genuinely pour yourself into seeking God, you will find him. You will!

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, "seek and you will find." His words are quite similar to what prophets and writers of the Old Testament said of God, like from Jeremiah, "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Even though God is all around us, God can seem quite hidden from us. I wonder if people experience a lack of God because they aren't really seeking God? Well, today's message is a story of a woman who sought after God with all her heart, and she was the first one to see Jesus after his resurrection.

Imagine that your life is focused on climbing a mountain. All your training, vision, partnerships, and effort are focused on this mountain. Maybe you've been climbing it for 20 years or 60 years. You are probably struggling to get to the top, because only a few get there. For those who struggle, how do you react when an expert mountain climber tells you he can help you get to the top of a mountain, but everything you learned is wrong? Also, you're climbing the wrong mountain.

Who wants to have an addiction in their life? An addiction robs us of time, money, relationships, joy - for that quick hit, there is a lot of cost to one's life. With the word “addiction”, you may be thinking of things like alcohol, drugs, or the nicotine that is in vaping and cigarettes. Yet, there are other addictions that we overlook or minimize - we don't think they are serious because we just don't see their ugliness. These are things like over-shopping, pornography, hoarding, stress eating, or endless hours of TV, gaming, or social media. Spiritually, these are just as costly to our souls as crack, and just as deadly to our eternity as meth. Whether you struggle with alcohol or chocolate, there are some basic scriptures that describe your pathway to freedom.

Everyone has fear from time to time. If temporary, fear can be a good emotion because it helps us get away from danger. But, a frequent pattern of fear can sometimes turn into what is called trepidation. Trepidation can result in sluggish movement in the directions of God - it can look like procrastination, or avoidance, or being lukewarm, or even substituting something else for the will of God. God is powerful. And as he accompanies us in life, he provides courage for us to unglue ourselves from the fear that keeps us stuck in old familiar patterns that pretend to be safe and comfortable, but can be harmful. God “un-fears” us, so that we can begin attaining a new, fresh, and better life.

Truth is important. Truth helps us to find directions for our lives that are healthy, and deceptions can point our lives into hazardous directions. Yet, every day we are overwhelmed with both truth and deception. How do we figure out which is which? Well, a wise approach is to not merely learn something, but to experience it. Jesus did not merely present us with truth, but he challenges us to put the teachings of the Gospel into practice to verify that they are viable and worthwhile.

Do you know someone who is lonely? Is it you? A lot of previously unlonely people have begun to realize the darkness of loneliness as this pandemic continues. Loneliness arises not simply due to the absence of other people, but the absence of meaningful connection to other people. And, even though we might try to combat loneliness with Zoom, FaceTime, or social media apps, these often do not get us beyond relational shallowness. For many, loneliness tends to develop poor habits that perpetuate loneliness, and feelings of bitterness and jeoulosy can further distance us from others. God didn't design any human to be alone and disconnected, and at the heart of our relationship with God is a renovation of relationship, overcoming loneliness habits, and helping one another to genuinely connect.

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt powerless? Of course you have, because everyone encounters events and environments where we feel powerless - it is part of our lives, and this pandemic is a big example of that. Different people respond in different ways to powerless situations. Some fight. Some take flight. A few freeze. But, God describes a fourth response, and that is trusting in him as our strong Father. The reality is that we are indeed weak, fragile, vulnerable, and powerless without God. But with God? With God, we are strong!

Whenever we think of hell, we think of fire and suffering. There's also imagery of pitchforks, Satan with horns and a pointy tail, and lots and lots of the baddest of bad people. History has added so many layers of legend to the imagery of hell that it can come across as mythical or cartoonish, not much different than believing Napoleon was short or that Adam and Eve ate an apple. True, some of the imagery of hell is embellishment, but still much of it comes from the Bible. Hell is real, but having a clear view of hell is important. Why? As we gain a clear view of hell, it helps us to understand who might be headed there.

It is quite common for people to make resolutions at the first of a year. Losing weight, fixing finances, getting organized, and spending more time with loved ones are at the top of many lists. A physical trainer might suggest better exercise, and a nutritionist might suggest changing your diet from high-fat, high-sugar items to foods that had better health benefits. And, of course, a pastor might suggest that you put some item on your list in order to adjust your life better toward God's will - maybe stop this sin or add that virtue. But, there is a different approach. Rather than basing our resolutions on what is wrong, let's look at what is right ... or let's consider what God has done in our past to color where we go in the future. The Old Testament book of Esther describes such things, as it lays out three types of reflections that we rarely contemplate. These reflect on the state of our life and where we've been, and they can have tremendous value in charting our steps with God: commitment, honor, and providence.

Have you ever stepped back from the Christmas Story and wondered why God chose to connect with us in the form of a small baby, and as Jesus grew and ministered, to eventually overcome the power of sin … all in the fragile form of a human? He could have done it dozens of different ways, some of which would have been quick, spectacular and miraculous - he could have commanded or imposed it upon us. But, he did it in this human way, and in a way that ultimately reflected his love and his desire to connect with us.

Have you ever wondered why the three wise men are included with most manger scenes, even though they visited Jesus and his parents more than a year after his birth. Well, I don't really know the answer, but I have noticed that there is something that ties each element of a manger together, and that thing is God's provision.

Have you ever wondered why the three wise men are included with most manger scenes, even though they visited Jesus and his parents more than a year after his birth. Well, I don't really know the answer, but I have noticed that there is something that ties each element of a manger together, and that thing is God's provision.

Mercy is powerfully demonstrated at Christmas. Presence is greater than presents.

Have you really considered what it means for God to be close to you? That's the main thing that we celebrate at Christmas: God being around us. So, that got me to thinking. If God is around me and you - like all the time - then that should start to have some influence on us. His presence is the greatest of presents.

The benefits of the Kingdom of Heaven do not start when we die ... the benefits of eternity begin whenever Jesus becomes our Lord.

The benefits of the Kingdom of Heaven do not start when we die ... the benefits of eternity begin whenever Jesus becomes our Lord.

Bad news seems to be on every news channel we find. It is exhausting. But there is good news that does not simply make us laugh in the midst of all the bad news ... it lifts us out of the bad news. It changes our life journey.

Bad news seems to be on every news channel we find. It is exhausting. But there is good news that does not simply make us laugh in the midst of all the bad news ... it lifts us out of the bad news. It changes our life journey.

We all are feeling the emotional drain of the pandemic to some degree - for some it is severe. An Easter Scene on the Road to Emmaus is a helpful reminder of how we can support one another to find hope.

We all are feeling the emotional drain of the pandemic to some degree - for some it is severe. An Easter Scene on the Road to Emmaus is a helpful reminder of how we can support one another to find hope.

Patience is one of the core strengths that comes from God. Sometimes we need to be patient with a difficult person, and sometimes we need to be patient through a difficult time. Patience helps us to get things "right" rather than merely "right now".

Patience is one of the core strengths that comes from God. Sometimes we need to be patient with a difficult person, and sometimes we need to be patient through a difficult time. Patience helps us to get things "right" rather than merely "right now".

Whenever we have times of difficulty, whether with an individual or to a society as a whole, we wonder if God is angry. We wonder if his wrath coming upon us. God's wrath is a reality, and Paul's letter to the Romans helps us to properly understand it.

Whenever we have times of difficulty, whether with an individual or to a society as a whole, we wonder if God is angry. We wonder if his wrath coming upon us. God's wrath is a reality, and Paul's letter to the Romans helps us to properly understand it.

The parable of the Good Samaritan could be viewed in a lot of ways, but at the heart of the message is a contrast between a person who was prepared to love, and others who were ill-prepared. Religion should not prepare you to be religious, but it should prepare you to love.

The parable of the Good Samaritan could be viewed in a lot of ways, but at the heart of the message is a contrast between a person who was prepared to love, and others who were ill-prepared. Religion should not prepare you to be religious, but it should prepare you to love.

Whenever there is a widespread crisis, people feel that their lives are out of their control. This is understandable. In such a crisis, Christians bear the tangible message of the God who is ultimately in control, who loves lost people, and who compassionately ministers to them. Compassion can't be seen if Christians lock ourselves in our houses.

Whenever there is a widespread crisis, people feel that their lives are out of their control. This is understandable. In such a crisis, Christians bear the tangible message of the God who is ultimately in control, who loves lost people, and who compassionately ministers to them. Compassion can't be seen if Christians lock ourselves in our houses.

It is common for us to look at the appearance, history, or facts of a person, and then construct a whole biography. In doing so, we might show preference to one person over another. But the people of the Kingdom of God are all new creations - our past and appearance do not define our value, but rather the beautiful spirit that now dwells in us. Judgment looks at a person's history ... mercy forgets their history and looks to their future!

It is common for us to look at the appearance, history, or facts of a person, and then construct a whole biography. In doing so, we might show preference to one person over another. But the people of the Kingdom of God are all new creations - our past and appearance do not define our value, but rather the beautiful spirit that now dwells in us. Judgment looks at a person's history ... mercy forgets their history and looks to their future!

In our worldly condition, we punish our enemies with retaliation, attacks, condemnation, gossip, shunning, relational fractures, and more as we seek to have them submit. But, something changes after Jesus encounters us with mercy. We become equipped to love our enemies with mercy ... mercy wells up with compassion for the one who falters, continues to engage in the relationship, and withholds punishment.

In our worldly condition, we punish our enemies with retaliation, attacks, condemnation, gossip, shunning, relational fractures, and more as we seek to have them submit. But, something changes after Jesus encounters us with mercy. We become equipped to love our enemies with mercy ... mercy wells up with compassion for the one who falters, continues to engage in the relationship, and withholds punishment.