Advent Anxiety

34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’

Are you anxiety driven? I mean is it fear and trepidation that drives you? This week is the first week of advent and maybe you go into with anxieties. There may even been added anxieties this year as many do not have the resources that they have had in past. (I mean the economy has been tough) We worry that we will not be able to afford the right gifts. We also have all those anxieties that surround the shopping season. I mean there is the fear of finding a parking spot in the same area code of the store. Then there is the anxiety of waiting hours in line to purchase gifts that some people will stand in line again to return. Then you have the anxiety of decorating the house and getting it ready for Christmas company. Let's face it, the Advent season will cause some to experience huge bouts of fear and anxiety. Some may even need medication after the season. But today we find a scripture that could even lead us to a new level of anxiety. This is scripture is about the second coming of Christ. So your question may be why start off the Christmas season by talking about the the second coming of Christ. I mean is Christmas not about the celebration of the first Birth? Well to answer that, "yes" it is but in order to really go back to the beginning we must first be reminded of the future. We must be reminded that it was more than just the birth of a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths. It was about a Savior that came to save us and will one day come back to get us. So maybe Advent anxiety is self induced. Maybe by focusing on the assurance that Jesus came to earth to save us that we can find security and not anxiety. I mean when we have have asked Jesus to be Lord of our life rather than fear of his coming back we can live with the security that his return will be as celebrated as his birth.

(Never) Changing

John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed* us from our sins by his blood, 6and made* us to be a kingdom, priests serving* his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 7Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him,even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.So it is to be. Amen.
8 ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty

The one constant in life is that things are going to "change". The truth is that not only do we expect change but we embrace change. We read books about it, we live for it, and our president was elected on a slogan promising it. We live in a society that loves to change. We change our clothing style, hair color, addresses and even our music genres. But when it comes to God, we are glad that he is the one constant. We are glad that Jesus was, is and always will be. This week we celebrate "Christ the King Sunday". It is a Sunday when we celebrate that Christ is the King who has never changed. His mission and death has never changed the salvation process. This week we will examine how in this every changing, fast-paced society that changes in the blinking of a eye, Christ remains the one constant that we can find our assurance. Christ is the beginning and the end. The alpha and omega. We will also examine how as a Church we have evolved and changed over our hundred year history but our one constant is Jesus. In the past three years our Church has went through so many changes. We changed locations, names, worship style, and ministry positions but the constant is that Jesus has always been present. Christ the King Sunday is a huge reminder that even though we may change Christ never will. The one constant in life is that when you need Jesus he is there.

Hurry Up and Stop!

26Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Have you ever been cruising along in the right hand lane when someone passes you on the left going twice as fast as you only to get caught 300 yards down the road by a stop light? "You think to yourself' a lot of good that did. That person has just wasted gas and made me mad all at the same time." So many times in life we hurry up just to wait. Have you ever considered that you spend 5 years of your life waiting? This is waiting in line or in traffic or even at the gas pump . But so often we hurry up just to wait. This week we encounter a scripture about the second coming of Christ. Now as we examine the Scripture we must note that we have no need to hurry up and wait on a Savior to return. The writer of this scripture encourages us to focus more on making the most out of the wait and less time on the worry. Most people hurry because they worry. They worry that they will be late. They worry that they will miss out some important bargain or item. They worry about being last. The truth is that most of the time they just hurry up and still wind up waiting. But consider this: when we have asked Jesus into our hearts there should be no worries. Can you remember the song in the 90's that went "don't worry be happy"? Well the truth to that Song is that when we know Christ we can be sure of our salvation and be sure that Jesus entered the Holy Sanctuary. There is no need to just kick back and wait on Jesus. In fact, maybe we should do just the opposite and focus on serving our fellow brothers and sisters as we await the return of our King. the promise behind this concept is that it is not necessary for us to hurry up to wait but it is more essential that we take in life. By taking life in we take risk and by taking risk we change lives. That is what we are really all about here at Lakeview. So hurry up and join us but I promise you will not have to wait.

Giving It Your All

What does it mean to give your all? You have heard the expression for years,"you got to sell out if you really want it." Today we see the story of a lady that gave all she had. But is this really possible, can we really give all we have or is this even expected? This week we will investigate what Jesus meant by giving all that she had. Maybe this parable is more about sacrifice and less about the amount that we give. Jesus also stresses one of the most important lessons that we learn in life and that is the lesson of other's first. We live in a society that seems to think me first and others later. But this lady considered others first. It was not the value of what the lady put in the Treasury, it was the reasons behind why she did it. There were many others that were putting huge amounts of money into the treasury box but they were doing so for show. They gave in order to brag about what they gave. They also did it so that they could try to buy there salvation. They gave to have the "best seats in the synagogues" and the "places of honor at the banquets". Another thing that we will examine is the fact that Jesus was stressing that rather than this poor widow giving all she had, it should have been the others taking care of her. They were giving but were ignoring the real reason for giving. They did not give so that they could benefit but so that others could benefit. Let me ask you this question? Are you really giving it your all?

More than a Gift

2 Corinthians 9:6
“the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”.

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” We have borrowed that phrase for years and the question is where are we right now: "are we in the best of times or the worst of times?" This year has been a rough year for many people. The economy has taken a turn for the worse. There are people that have had to foreclose on houses and others that have lost employment. The reality is that if you asked most people they would probably say these may be the worst of times. The truth is that back in 2004 at the height of the prosperity some people would have said that these were the worst of times. Incomes were growing, housing was expanding, and people were getting healthier and living longer but so many people were feeling worse about their life. Maybe it was that they came to realization that money prosperity and things can not buy happiness. Maybe Paul knew the true meaning of happiness when he wrote to the Church in Corinth. Here he is teaching the church some valuable principles that can carry over to today's society. "God loves a cheerful ...giver". If you truly want to be enriched then you must exhibit great generosity. To glorify God you must show your brothers and sisters “the generosity of your sharing”. You see the key to stewardship is not what we have been given or earned but what we do with what we have been given. So this week we will examine the joy that we may receive from giving. Here is the question: are you a cheerful giver?

Is Jesus Dangerous?

Mark 10:17-22
17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'[d]"
20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

When we see pictures of Jesus do we ever really think of him as being threatening or dangerous? Most of the pictures that we have of Jesus he seems like the gentle little lamb. The fair complected good old boy. But the truth is that following Jesus can be the most dangerous thing that one ever decides to do. Jesus is dangerous because he can change your values and your way of thinking. He is dangerous because he may call you to make decisions that are counter to cultural thinking. He may call you into situations to witness and to share the gospel that may be less than desireable. He may call you away from a profession or community. Yes, following Jesus is not as easy as it may first seem. Now believing in Jesus may be easy but following into the field of Battle may have a different slant. This Sunday we will look at someone who had the opportunity to follow Christ but chose not too. When you really look at the Scripture you see this man knows that following Jesus may leave him in uncharted territory. He may have to give up all that he has relied on and held tightly too. He will have to trade his comfort for uncertainty and his security for danger. Is Jesus dangerous? I think that this week we will investigate that very issue. But hang on because following Jesus just may be the ride of your life.

Do Something!

This week we will continue to look at why we exist as a church, here at Lakeview. Last week, we talked about vision and that those without a vision will perish. This week we will look at how we can get involved and how we can lead people to Christ. This week our key verse comes from Matthew 10. It is here that Jesus gives some hard teachings and then goes into telling the people that they must have a servant heart. "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."-- Matthew 10:42 When I first read this Scripture I thought how hard could this be bringing a cup of cool water to a child. Then it dawned on me that in some ways this may be a greater task than first imagined. To live in the desert meant to draw the water from a well or from a cistern. This meant the water would be cool if the child you were taking it to was in close proximity or if you you hurried to get them the water. This meant that either way there needed to be some sense of urgency to get the cool water to the little ones. Do we look around our community with a sense of urgency to we see that there are those that need a place to worship?
Do we see that there are those who need Jesus? In order for a Church to grow and be healthy we must recognize the need of the little ones. In order to do this Christ calls us to not love anything more than him. Do we have a sense or urgency for our community do we really care that the walls are being tore down and that we have gotten use to it?

This week after worship we will eat together and then do some service together. This promises to be a great Sunday so come and join us.