Shepherd's Garage

This morning I want us to reflect on being thankful that God works in our failures.  With God, our failures do not have to be the final word on our lives.  God can redeem our suffering and he can redeem our failures as well.

November in my mind gets to thinking about Thanksgiving.  As I get older I find Thanksgiving to be a favorite holiday.  The theme of Thanksgiving is very Biblical so it is always appropriate to focus on it.  When we usually ask what someone is thankful for we get the usual and appropriate, answers like family, health etc.  I want us to focus on some other things we may not usually think of first.  The sermon today is about being thankful that in Jesus our suffering will be redeemed.  If we suffer as a Christian we can find joy in that.  Pick your battles in life and if you choose them well then the struggle and fight will be worth it.  Promise!  Dustin will be leading our singing Sunday and he has selected these songs and an explanation as to why they were selected.

The phrase Jesus uses about passing from death to life by believing is interesting.  We still will die but we have moved from death to life?  With other things in John, there is a deeper meaning than the surface one.  Could be that we now have eternal life and that is what is meant.  Could also be that we move from a dead way of living to a way of living that is fully alive.  Eternal life starts now and because of what we have it changes everything about how we live now.  The future determines the present for Christians.  We often like to say that we are not guaranteed tomorrow and there is a sense in which this is true.  But in Christ, we are promised tomorrow, an eternity of them!

It is good to be strong and to persist in something.  I admore who people who are persistent.  However, there is also a great strength in learning when to let go of something.  If it is something you need to let go of it's really going to hurt when god finally rips it from your hand.

Fear and faith with start with an “F” but with faith we should not fear.  That slogan sounds good but fear is with us all the time.  Maybe it is not so much about ever getting rid of fear as it is realizing that if your faith is in what is stronger than your fear then you should overcome your fear.  Maybe think not so much in terms of feelings, but action.  If we make fear about how we feel, then we will always be fearful.  But of we think of courage as moving ahead in spite of our fears there we are not “fearful” but faithful.

The question has come to me about charging interest.  Is it right or not.  Let's take a look.

It seems like all can agree that the world is a mess.  We are like the prodigal son who told his father to give him what he has coming and he will do things his own way.  Didn't work out well for the prodigal and it's not working out well for us either.  It's time to come to our senses and return to the father.

The question was brought to me about why we meet on Sunday and what about churches that meet on Saturday evening.  Is that all right.  Take a listen.

Why is contentment so hard?  Ecclesiastes chaper 6 has some insight as to why.

What does it take to get heard?  It seems like to really get attention you have to be over the top these days.  That should have an effect on how we listen and judge others as they speak in this day and age when pretty much anyone can pick up a mike and potentially broadcast their ideas to millions.

Jesus asks us to daily take up our cross and follow him.  Maybe to understand this cross should not be understood as a burden, but as a mission.  The cross is not a problem but a purpose.

The last in this series of looking at the Happy Lies book.  The last installment looks at seeker sensitive churches and her criticism of those.

This may be the sinner's prayer we all need to be praying.  "God be merciful to me a sinner."  Why?  Let's explore.

As we continue to look at the book "Happy Lies" I discuss the idea that I want Jesus to save me from myself, not to affirm me.  It makes a lot of difference as to how we listen to him.

People come to Jesus for all kinds of reasons.  Some are spiritual and some are not.  Jesus welcomed all who came for whatever reason.  We should too.

Let's take a break from the review of "Happy Lies" and look at the other side.  There are those who have not had success in life and they do need to hear a message that life can be more than what they currently have.  I'll get back to reviewing the book next week, but want to pause for a side commentary.

Do you want to get well?  This is a question asked by Jesus a long time ago and we need to be asking ourselves.  Our first response might be, "Yes, of course."  But do we really.  Many do not want to get well.  Why?

If we ask and God does not do what we ask is that a lack of faith on our part?  If we just had more faith would God give us what we want?  Maybe not.  It is likely something else.  Let's explore.

In John 4 there is the story of the official whose son was near death.  Jesus spoke the word and the son lived.  However, the man had to wait the night to gete the news that his son was well.  How hard is it when Jesus makes a promise but we have to wait for it to be experienced?  Sometimes it can be a day and sometimes it can be years.  Jesus can still be believed.  

We take a look at Chapter 7 of the book Happy Lies.  Is there any danger to the Law of Attraction?

Back to school time.  Let's hear what the parents and teachers have to say as the children go back to school.

Why do Christians meet each week?  The meaning of the word church is assembly.  Why is it so important to get together each week. Let's explore.  My apologies, the first part of the sermon was cut off.

A fundamental question you have to ask yourself is this:  Am I enough and I just need to discover myself or do I need a savior?

The series from Ecclesiastes continues from chapter 5 today.  "Whoever loves money will never have enough."  We also know it is so easy to fall in love and it is easy to fall in love with money as well.  How do we keep from this evil.  Is what you have an achievement or a gift.  It matters how you view it.

Just because we have a desire does that mean we should act on it?

Don't think of the church as a building or even an institution but an assembly of those who desire to follow Jesus.

This week i take a look at chapter 4 of Melissa Dougherty's book "Happy Lies."  Truth is not found inside us.  it is external to us.  One reason why we struggle with pursuing truth and loving it is that the truth is hard and may even cause is to suffer.  There are a lot of other reasons why we pursue truth inside ourselves instead of outside so check them out in this episode.

Why?  Such a small word with so much power.  We want to know why but are not given answers.  What is going on?  With all the problems in the world it seems like God could do more.

We continue our look at Melissa Dougherty's book "Happy Lies."  We desire to be God.  Maybe not even in some metaphysical or ontological sense, but just wanting to exert and have control and make the world the way we want it.  This is one reason "New Thought" has such a powerful influence and can make it's way into our lives.

Teh 10 Commandments are in the news again.  But, do yoou even know what they are?  Many believers cannot even name them, so what does that say about those who want them in public cpaces but cannot even name them.  Let's explore.

# 1 of a series as I take a look at Melissa Dougherty's book called, "Happy Lies."  

How do we live among those who do not believe?  First, we make sure that we have our own house in order.  We need to hold each other to a high standard and then we can walk more confidently among those who do not believe.

As Christians how do we have conversations with those who do not believe.  We start first with the understandng that if we have the Holy Spirit we have been given a gift to help us understand spiritual truths.

To be a good father one needs to be a man of integrity.

"Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." ESV Colossians 4:5-6How do we live among and talk to those who do not share our faith?  This is the beginning of a series that addresses how we can live and talk about what we believe in ways that are wise, gracious and seasoned with salt.  Main point today:  It matters how we act and how we talk if we want to be heard.

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  These famous words delivered by Joshua so many years ago are words we still need to hear today.  In fact every choice we make matters, but there are some fundamental choices that determine all else.

It's the fool who is not afraid of anything.  Fear of God is the the beginning of wisdom.  

It's Mother's Day and I want to look at a "bitter" mother.  Naomi had a lot of reasons to be bitter.  Life had not worked out for her.  She said her name was now Mara, which means bitter.  Yet through her life and story God was at work and I would like to image that at the end when someone called her Mara she corrected them and said, "You can call me Naomi."  She was no longer the bitter one.

Practice generosity.  This means with more than just your money.  How else can we be generous?  Let's explore.

We should be consistent and steadfast in our prayers.  We also need to be watchful.  How can we be more watchful in our prayers and what difference does it make?

The Road to Emmaus story in Luke 24 is what I like to call the "First Supper" after the Last Supper.  Jesus is present with us whether we recognize it our not.  And when we do, it makes all the difference.

Work as though you are working for the Lord.  It matters how we do the jobs that we have.

“The best way to forget the high cost of living is to live so that life is worth more.”  I do not know who to contribute this quote to, but there is a truth there.  One way we make life worth more is to grow ourselves spiritually as well as physically.  Proverbs chapter 10 has some ways we can do this.  Let's explore.

Is there a solution to the way in which the world beats us down and oppresses us?  Let's explore Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and see a different way that life can be done.

Paul tells fathers not to exasperate their children.  Good advice but what does that look like?  Lets explore.

Rocks, hills, stones, trees and so many other things in creation can praise and teach us about God.  We jsut need to listen.

Wives submit to your husbands.  Submit can seem like a bad word today.  Is it or does it have a different meaning in the Bible than our culture uses it today?  Let's explore.

Letting the peace of Christ rule in your hearts is something we wish for.  But it seems an impossible task, at least sometimes.  How can we have this peace?

We return to dust Solomon tells us.  But the news is that God knows what to do with dust.  That makes all the difference.

It's so easy to be misled we have to be careful what we believe.  One way we are easily misled is when what we hear is sensational or affirms something we already believe.

"All You Really Need is Love."  That can be true if you understand what love is.  If you do not it can cause lots of problems.  Paul tell us that love is what binds the other graces together so how does that work?  Let's explore.