What to Pray for People

Blog »  What to Pray for People
Wednesday, July 31, 2013      Jeff Lampl

 

                My experience with Jesus has been much like C.S. Lewis described it.  

  “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”      CS Lewis

 

I pray that the eyes of your heart will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
Ephesians 1:18  

Before becoming a believer I was interested in many things but I had did not have the benefit of sight from God’s view.   I was in a forest and could not see it for the trees.   But then I became a follower of Jesus, and the “Son had risen”, so to speak.   That changed everything.   “By the light of the Son” the forest came into view.   I came to see not only the forest but also where it came from and where it’s going.  

So where is it going?   It and everything in it will be purged of sin and evil and it will be transformed into a glorious “forest” inhabited by the most magnificent of creatures, redeemed believers with new bodies, new Life in a new community of incredible vividness, goodness, vitality, purpose, and love.   

That’s our confident hope.  It’s also our inheritance as believers.  It seems to me that knowing this changes everything today.

It is for this that we rightly pray when we pray for others.

 

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What to Pray for People

  Blog »  What to Pray for People

Tuesday, July 30, 2013      Jeff Lampl

“ I pray for you constantly”
Ephesians 1:16  

Ephesians 1:15-23 is a great prayer to pray for other people.   I hope you read it this week and pray it for someone else, believing that your prayer will result in exactly what the passage asks.  There are six things that Paul prays for the people in Ephesus.

 

1.       For wisdom and insight so that they may know God better

2.       That their hearts would be enlightened so that they can know the Good
          that God has in store for them

3.       That they know the power they have available to them, which is like the
           same power by which Jesus was raise from the dead

4.       That they know and rely on the fact that Jesus is right now reigning over
          all things.   He’s in control.   God’s got your back.  You can trust Him,
          even when the worst that can happen happens

5.       That the church, the gathering of believers,  is a powerful place, a place
          where, when you connect with others in it, is the most potent life changing
          force on the planet.  

Will you make this your prayer for others this week?  

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What do others think you think of them?

  Blog »  What do others think you think of them?
Monday, July 29, 2013      Jeff Lampl

“ I have not stopped thanking God for you”
Ephesians 1:16  

How many of the people you know believe that the above passage is how you think of them?  Although Paul is thanking God for the Ephesians’ partnership in the Gospel, it seems to me that there is also a prior attitude toward people that we need to have, one of letting others in on how God delights in them.          

Does your husband or wife believe that the above passage is how you think of him or her?   Do your children think that this is what you think when you think of them?    Have you ever actually said this sentence to anyone?  How often?   Have you said it to the members of your family?          

It may be that the deepest need of every human being is to experience a taste of Christ delighting in us.    How does that experience happen?  Typically by way of a believer in whom Christ dwells doing the visible and audible delighting.    

Will you today check your attitude toward those around you?   Will you choose to find delightful things about each?   Will you find a way to thank God for them.   Will you express that to at least one other person?

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The Good Virus: Thank God it's "incurable!"

Blog »  The Good Virus:   Thank God it’s “incurable!”
Friday, July 26, 2013   Jeff Lampl 

  

 “ you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.   The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him."
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NLT)

 

You probably won’t like this blog, so you don’t have to read it.

 

When I think of the Holy Spirit, the actual Life of Christ, alive within me, I conceptualize it as the opposite of its evil twin depicted so often in horror movies.   Some alien being, kind of like a tick, bores  its way into a human and then grows from the inside out, slowly but surely taking over the human being until the person is now dominated by the alien being.    Can you see what I’m getting at?

 

The Holy Spirit is the good virus, the alien being, the good yeast, which once it “infects” a person, cannot be removed as in the horror movies.   It’s the down payment that God gives to believers.   It’s real.   He’s real and alive within you.   

 

Do you have any inclination at all to be something or someone who honors, or represents God?  That’s the Holy Spirit, the Good Virus.   Do you have a “want to” within you for the things of God?   That’s the Holy Spirit.

 

I once rode a bicycle with a motor on it, but the motor didn’t work until I would pedal.   Once I pedaled the motor would kick in.   The Holy Spirit is much more than that, but it is that.   The way to for you to allow the Good Virus to grow and “take you over” is to move in the direction of the hopes, dreams, desires, yearnings deep down hidden within that God has given you.      It’s more than “let go and let God”.    Move and do so into The Holy Spirit’s leadings.    The Bad Virus takes you by force.   The Good
One takes you by invitation.

 

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God's Secret Plan

Blog »  God’s Secret Plan  

Thursday, July 25, 2013   Jeff Lampl

“God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure.   And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together
under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth”.
Ephesians 1:9-10 (NLT) 

The Apostle Paul’s personal encounter with Jesus (read about it in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4) changed everything.   In that experience in heaven Paul learned of a mystery that had been hidden from the world.    The mystery had to do with what God, Israel’s God, was going to with all the pagans, all those who didn’t get in on God’s grace given to Israel.    When Paul met Jesus the mystery was solved.  Paul learned two things:   first, that God wants everyone to “get in”, even the pagans.  

But the second thing is even bigger.   There will come a day when everything in the universe, everything and everyone, will be brought under the authority of Jesus.   Actually everything is under his authority right now and He is currently setting all things to rights (God’s renewing fingerprints are all over world history!).   But one day He will finish the task.   He will remake the heavens and earth and all whose lives have in some degree been conformed to His will live forever in a new world without suffering, but with joy, vibrancy, and the Life that is truly Life.  

Here is the Good News:  That which is greater than anything you can imagine can’t not happen!

If this is true how is it possible not to be a positive person?  Of course we all have to suffer for a little while, but that’s just it.  It’s only for a little while. 

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Twice Chosen

Blog »  Twice Chosen

Wednesday, July 24, 2013   Jeff Lampl

  "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.  This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."Ephesians 1:5  

Kathy took a picture of the moment that I met our first adopted child, Sam.    Muriel, God angel from Catholic Social Services, handed six month old Sam to me and as she did his eyes met my eyes and my eyes met his.   Our eyes (okay mine) were locked into his with joy and amazement and awe that, wow,  this child now belongs to me.  

 

Could it be that God saw and sees you in exactly that same way?. . . . that through the cross God locks you, yes you, not humanity, but you, into his heart forever, never to be forsaken, the only thing with any power to separate you from his love being your refusal to accept your adoption?   Yes this is the case. And this gave God great pleasure.

 

Adoptions cost.   Ask any adoptive parent.   But it’s worth it.   Again, ask any adoptive parent.   Do all adoptions work?   From the parent’s side, my answer is YES!   (and in our case, yes, from the child’s side).  From the child’s side?   In the case of God’s adoption of you, it’s an open question.   Are you able lock into God’s eyes and say, “Daddy?”    Can you tell your friends that you are indeed “Twice Chosen?”

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Chosen

Blog » Chosen

Tuesday, July 23, 2013 Jeff Lampl

“he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight”             Ephesians 1:4 (NIV) 

The Above Graphic is a picture of  God choosing you, not from among other people, but from among the infinite possibilities that God had to chose from when he made you. This is mind boggling. When I think about the implications from what we now know about the odds of even surviving beyond conception, it’s incredible that God has given you and me the gift of existence! 

Out of all the possibilities that God had to choose from, He created you, sustained you, and brought you to this point, place, time, and life context in human history. You are an incredibly blessed person. Not only that but God chose you before the big bang 14 billion years ago. It’s beyond my comprehension how this could possibly be true now that we know so much about what’s happened over all that time, but so it is.  

To be holy and blameless? Yes, even that. Through the cross Jesus has made you so. “in his sight”. If you’ve chosen to receive His forgiveness, God sees you as a young dad sees his sleeping child . . . .innocent, holy, and blameless (even though he’s a terror by day!)


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The Greatest Run On Sentence Ever Written

Blog »  The Greatest Run On Sentence Ever Written  

Monday, July 22, 2013   Jeff Lampl

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  . . . . . . . . . . . ."
 Ephesians 1:3, 4 Ephesians 1:3-14 is all one sentence in the Greek language, the language in which the New Testament was written.  Here’s what verses three and four look like in the Greek New Testament in case for some very odd reason you’re interested.  

 Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ εὐλογήσας ἡμᾶς ἐν πάσῃ εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ, καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ,  

I actually used to be able to read this!!!  

I hope you read verses 3 to 14 today or at least sometime this week.   If you are like me you won’t understand a whole lot of it.   What, for example,  does Paul (the author of Ephesians) mean by heavenly places?   

 

But there’s hope!  Picture Paul not writing a theological thesis to be dissected, rather picture him standing up, walking around excited and amazed and kind of preaching to no one while his secretary writes down what he says.  He’s amazed almost singing or just shouting out all the incredible  things that amaze him about God.     

Basically in this long sentence Paul is saying, “WOW”.   Chosen!  Adopted!  Included in Christ!  Christ in me!  Are you kidding me?   Wow!!!!!!!   And this what YOU get when you believe!  Are you kidding me?!!

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Dominos

Blog » Dominos

Friday, July 19, 2013      Nick Cirino

Philippians 3:8-11 are like dominos. We’ve all seen dominos stood up in a line. When you knock over the first domino, it triggers in turn all the other dominos. Phil. 3:8-11 works in a similar way:

 Domino 1

     · 8 For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish,

Domino 2

     · in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my
       own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the
       righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Domino 3

     · 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings,
        becoming like him in his death,
Domino 4

     · 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  The first
       domino is that Paul counts all things loss. He pushes that domino over in order to knock
       over the second domino: I counted all things loss in order that I may gain Christ
       (justification). 

That second domino knocks down the third: that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffers (sanctification). 

The third domino leads to the last domino: our final resurrection (glorification, see Phil. 3:21). 

This is the journey of the Christian life. We abandon saving ourselves in order that we may be justified. Once we are declared righteous before God, then we work that reality out into our lives (sanctification). The process will one day culminate in our resurrection from the dead and being made perfect in the presence of God forever. This is the Christian journey. 

Photo from: flickr.com/photos/cav666/4335615871/

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Judging Part 2

 Blog » Judging 2  

Wednesday, July 17,   2013 Nick Cirino

“That was really mean.”  

Is that statement judgmental? Depends. Let’s play it out in two different ways:  

Person 1: “That was really mean. I can’t believe how he just yelled at his kids like that. I would never do something like. He should learn how to have some decency. I just can’t stand him.”  

Person 2. “That was really mean the way he yelled at his kids. I don’t know if he understands how hurtful that is to them. My heart brakes for them and for him. I pray God would be working on him to soften his angry heart.”  

I would contend that the first attitude is judgmental. The second is not. What is the difference? The difference is not their observations. Both observed the same incident (yelling at the kids). Both rightly noted that he is characteristically mean to others.  

The first person however was loveless. In fact, they were borderline hateful. They were also prideful. There was an intrinsic assumption that they are better than him. That person passed judgment on him. They declared him condemned.  

The second person did not shy away from the truth about him, but they had love. The second person hoped for better for him. That person was on his side. They left the judgment to God. God will either condemn him or declare him righteous. That is not our job. Our job is to love one another and work toward all men living their lives to the glory of God.  

So here’s the challenge: God calls me to relentlessly love the people around me. He calls me to see them accurately, both the good parts and the sinful parts. Seeing another’s sin shouldn’t make me feel better than them. It should remind me I’m a sinner and it should prompt me to love them, to long for them to change.  

James 4:11-12 ESV
    ·        Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a
             brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But
             if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one
             lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.  But who are you to
             judge your neighbor?

 Photo from: flickr.com/photos/safari_vacation/  

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Judging

 Blog » Judging  

Tuesday, July 16, 2013 Nick Cirino

In last week’s sermon, I mentioned being judgmental and critical. Let’s explore that concept.

Matthew 7:1 ESV: “Judge not, that you be not judged.”  

Often when someone say, “Don’t judge,” they mean, “Don’t say anything negative about another person.”  

A blogger gave this example: “Luke has just informed his uncle that he and his girlfriend have moved in together. Owen responds that he thinks this is morally wrong. Owen explains that he still loves Luke and understands that society accepts co-habitation as an acceptable living arrangement, but since the Bible considers sex outside marriage a sin, he must too. Luke then responds with ‘Christians are so judgmental.’”  

Is that judgmental? I’m not so sure. I’m convinced there is un-judgmental ways to say something negative about another person. In fact, I think that sometimes it is loving to say something negative about another person. Not judging does not turning a blind eye to sin.  

In last week’s sermon I said that when I judge someone, it is usually a signal that is an area where I am legalistic. So what is the difference between saying something negative judgmentally and saying something negative non-judgmentally?  

Pride and love. More on that tomorrow.  

Quote from: theruthlessmonk.com/christian-stereotypes-christians-are-judgmental/

Photo from: flickr.com/photos/safari_vacation/

Experiment Time Part 3

Blog » Experiment Time!  Part 3
Monday, July 15,   2013 Nick Cirino

The questions I received two weeks ago were immensely helpful in deciding how to tackle the section we looked at.   Thank you for your questions!  

This week’s sermon is on Philippians 3:12-21.  When you read through this section, what questions  come up?   Here are a couple of my questions:

Verse 12. What hadn’t Paul already obtained? How is that related to being perfect?
Verse 18. What caused Paul’s tears? Why did he tell them often (in the past) about these people, and then tell them again now?   Use the “comment” link to post your questions below! 

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Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eleaf/

The Dying of Jesus

Blog » The Dying of Jesus  

Friday, July 12, 2013 Nick Cirino

Philippians 3:10 NASB
     ·        that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His
              sufferings, being conformed to His death;  

What does this verse mean? It is a question someone had asked in last week’s blog and a question I have been trying to tackle in preparation for this week’s sermon.  

If you have a chance today, reflect on 2 Corinthians 4, especially verses 7-18. How could this passage help us to understand Philippians 3:10?  

Image from: flickr.com/photos/moneyblognewz/

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