Compassion

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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Compassion
Blog by Megann Graf

Doesn’t this picture sum up compassion perfectly?  Which one are you – the lion or the zebra??  If you’re like me, compassion does not come easily, just ask my husband how nice I am to him when he’s sick.  I’m not an overly affectionate person, and I just really struggle with loving others well.  Most times, I feel like the lion in this picture, I have to let go of my power struggle and my strength, and be gentle.  But, honestly, there are many times that I feel like the zebra, and I need to approach someone who IS the lion and give them a big ‘ole hug and tell them I love them.  That’s just as hard.  It doesn’t really matter if you’re the lion or the zebra in this picture, either way, it’s tough to do.   

Chapter 8 of the Believe book starts by saying “All human beings are valuable to God, and he calls us to see people as he sees them.  Compassion goes a step further by compelling us to feel their pain.  Compassion literally means “suffer with.”  God calls us to come alongside people who are suffering.  It doesn’t mean we can fix their problems, but it does mean we can enter into their pain.  Before we act or practice this belief, we must believe it is God’s call on the life of ALL CHRIST FOLLOWERS.  When we believe this in our hearts, we will show compassion to all people, especially to those in need.”  

So, if you’re usually the zebra, go find your lion, and if you’re usually the lion, go find your zebra.  Don’t find them to fix them, find them to love them.  Don’t go with a solution, go with compassion.  Love them, suffer with them, enter into their pain.  Allow God to teach you, at the same time He is providing for them.  This is where our journey of compassion will start.  

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A Prayer Guide for Today, the Christian Sabbath

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Jeff Lampl
Sunday, October 25, 2015

A Prayer Guide for Today, the Christian Sabbath

 

The Call to Prayer

Search for the LORD and his strength; continually seek his face.

Psalm 105:4

The Request for Presence

Hearken to my voice, O LORD, when I call; have mercy on me and answer me. You speak in my heart and say, “Seek my face.” Your face, LORD, will I seek. Hide not your face from me, nor turn away your servant in displeasure.

Psalm 27:10-12

The Greeting

What terror you inspire! who can stand before you when you are angry?

Psalm 76:7

The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me out of all my terror.

Psalm 34:4

A Reading

Through towns and villages he went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your hardest to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed. Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself standing outside knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us,” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will start saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets,” but he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all evil doers!” Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrown out. And people from east and west, from north and south, will come and sit down at the feast in the kingdom of God. Look, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.’

Luke 13:22-30

The Refrain

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me out of all my terror.

The Morning Psalm

I Did Not Conceal My Guilt

While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, because of my groaning all day long. For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not conceal my guilt. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin. Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble;* when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

Psalm 32:3-7

The Refrain

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me out of all my terror.

The Cry

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name. May your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for yours are the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Prayer Appointed for the Week

Grant that I, Lord, may not be anxious about earthly things, but love things heavenly; and even now, while I am placed among things that are passing away, hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Concluding Prayer

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.   Comment



 

Body of Christ

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Jeff Lampl

Friday, October 23, 2015

One of my favorite recent stories is of a member of our church family who happened to be sitting near a couple who were relatively new to CLC.    He befriended the newer couple and as time went on the husband became sick and eventually did pass away.   However during his illness he would visit he couple.   He and another member of the worship team even went to their home to pray and they sang worship music for them.  

This is a story of love within the Body of Christ fulfilling Jesus words . . .  

 "And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."   John 13:34  

But there is so much more to it isn’t there?  The man I cited above had to actually notice the new couple and talk to them.  He then needed to notice them again and again engage in conversation with them, caring about their lives.   And once the illness was discovered the relationship continued to grow.    

Caring often requires time, communication outside of Sunday mornings, phone calls, visits, inconvenience, finding creative ways to help, time in prayer, and attention diverted from “my time with my friends” after the worship service.   Noticing and caring are often messy, inconvenient, and frequently involve entering territory for which you feel unprepared and inadequate.   

I love our greeters and they are more than loving.  But “Connection Command Central” (cartoon above) won’t do it.   It is you and I who are the Body of Christ. 

Perhaps you can begin the practice of entering worship on Sunday mornings with the two thing that matter:   an open heart toward God and “people eyes”, eyes wide open for the person beyond your circle of friends who needs to be noticed.

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What Were the First Christians Like?

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Jeff Lampl

Thursday, October 22, 2015

What Were the First Christians Like?

 

 "What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?" asked Jesus. Mark 4:30

The Following anonymous account dates to about 150

“the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe.

For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity.

The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrine.

But inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, . . . and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.

They dwell in their own countries, but simply are sojourners.

 As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners.

Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers.

They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring.

They have a common table, but not a common bed.

They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.

They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven.

They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws of their lives.

They love all men, and are persecuted by all.

They are unknown and condemned;

they are put to death, and restored to life.

They are poor, yet make many rich;

 they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all;

they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified.

They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified;

they are reviled, and blessed;

they are insulted, and repay the insult with honor;

they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers.

When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life;

they are assailed  . . . as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred."

Justin Martyr writes;

“We who used to value the acquisition of wealth and possessions more than anything else now bring what we have into a common fund and share it with anyone who needs it. We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country. Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies.”

Clement writes this

“He impoverishes himself out of love, so that he is certain he may never overlook a brother in need, especially if he knows he can bear poverty better than his brother. He likewise considers the pain of another as his own pain. And if he suffers any hardship because of having given out of his own poverty, he does not complain.”

Tertullian wrote

“see how they love one another”

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How Can the Church Become More Loving? WRONG QUESTION!!!

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     Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Jeff Lampl
How Can the Church Become More Loving?
WRONG QUESTION!!!!

Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus.  So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, "This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them."  
Luke 15:1-2 (CEV)

Pastor Gregg Boyd writes the following about church;
“God has leveraged everything on the Church loving like Jesus loved, “By this the world will know you are my disciples,” Jesus said, “by your love” (Jn 13:35). By God’s own design, Christ-like love is supposed to be the proof that Jesus is real. In John 17 Jesus prayed that the community of his disciples would embody the perfect love of the Trinity so that the world would know he’d been sent by the Father (Jn 17:23).
Think of the implications of this phrase, “so that.” Above all, we are to be known for the way we manifest the perfect love of the Trinity. We are to be known for our scandalous willingness to love the unlovable, even our enemies—even Islamic terrorists.
Our lives are to be so unique that they raise the question in the minds of unbelievers that only accepting the reality of Jesus Christ can answer: namely, why do you love me and sacrifice for me the way you do?
But let us be completely honest.
Is the Church consistently putting on display this Jesus-looking, Calvary-quality love? Which is to ask: Is the Church advancing the Kingdom of God? Ask yourself:
                ‘Are many non-believers walking around wondering why we Christians sacrifice so
                much in service to them?’

Consider that Jesus’ love attracted the vilest of sinners—the tax collectors and prostitutes—just as they were. Are the tax collectors and prostitutes of our day beating down our doors to hang out with us? Do they find that they experience a kind of love and non-judgmental acceptance when they hang out with us that they can’t experience anywhere else?
We don’t have anything close to the reputation Jesus had. If anything, we have the opposite reputation. Ask any random sampling of non-Christians what first comes to mind when you mention “evangelical “ or “born again” Christians. Does anyone for a moment think their first response would be “scandalous, sacrificial love”?

The one thing that matters, the deal breaker, the all-or-nothing of Kingdom life, the thing that God has leveraged everything on, is desperately missing in the Church. No heresy could possibly be worse! (Yet, oddly, never have the heresy hunters in the past or present gone after this heresy!)
What can we do about this catastrophic heresy?
How can we infuse Calvary-like love into the Church? How can we transform the Church from a meaningless religious institution into the Kingdom of God?  

“I’ve come to believe that this is actually the wrong question to ask.  

“The right question—and really the only question any of us need to answer—is this one: Am I myself willing to live in love as Christ loved me and gave his life for me?This question is much more difficult than the question about how to fix the Church. I’d much rather worry about why the Church at large isn’t more loving. I’d much rather immerse myself in complex theological issues about the Kingdom. I’d much rather talk about the Kingdom than be confronted with the personal task of actually doing it.The only question I need to answer, and the only question you need to answer, is not one you or I can settle in our heads. It can only be answered with our hearts on a moment-by-moment basis. It is this: 
“Are we willing to love as Christ loved, right here and right now? Are we willing to die to ourselves and bleed for this person, and now for that person?”
We answer the question of whether we are Kingdom participants not once and for all, but with how we treat each and every person we meet, with every choice we make, with every breath, heartbeat and brain wave that is our life. The Kingdom question is always concrete and existential, never abstract or theoretical.
I’ve discovered that living in this commitment has freed me from my life-long proclivity to be cynical about the Church. As I remain fully devoted to the single task of receiving and replicating Christ’s love in the present moment—toward this person, and now toward that person—I simply don’t have mental or emotional space to worry about or even notice who else isn’t replicating Christ’s love. Fixing them, or fixing the Church, or fixing the world, is not my job.

(See more at: http://reknew.org/2015/06/how-to-fix-the-church-the-kingdom-of-god-part-4/#sthash.lIJWfa8e.dpuf)

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The Church; Why Bother?

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Saturday, October 17, 2015
Jeff Lampl

A growing question among Americans is, “why go to church?”    

Do you ever feel that way?   It is so easy to think things like, “I’m a believer but going to church doesn’t do it for me,”  “I don’t get much out of it”, “I can be good and pray and help others out of my relationship with Christ, but I don’t need church for that”.   “It’s the same old thing every week, songs, announcements, a lecture that’s about the same every week, and then I go home relatively uninspired.   Frankly it’s boring.  Why bother?”
or . . . .
“What is a church anyway?  A building or is it people?  And if the answer is people, why don’t I feel a connection with them that goes any deeper than ‘hi’ or ‘I’m fine’, which most of the time I’m not.”  

“And the guilt.   If I do go to church I leave feeling guilty, and if I don’t go to church I feel guilt for not being there.  How is that helpful?    Does God want me to live in guilt?   And don’t get me started on the money.   I’m strapped as it is.    I’m not sure I want to give money to pay for all those salaries and a big facility.   How’s any of that helping the world, much less me?”  

Tune in tomorrow for more on “Church, Why Bother” at CLC at 9:00 and 10:30, childcare provided (now there’s a reason to go to church!)  

“Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.  Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.  He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”      Ephesians 4:14-16 (NLT)    

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Identity in Christ

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     Thursday, October 15, 2015

“Why your identity in Christ matters to the church.”
By Megann Graf  

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10   "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for
their labor; if either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone
who falls and has no one to help them up. " 

I saw quote above and thought, “that is so sad.”  Someone questioned others so much,
that she ended up with no one.  Worry and doubt, and probably cynicism, was rooted
so deeply, that she could not see the truth.   She is a child of God and she is deeply loved,
but think of what her misguided identity cost her.   And probably not only her
but those around her.  

We are called to be the Church.  Not a specific church or denomination, but God’s church,
a church that reaches out to a broken world.  As Randy Frazee writes in his book, “When the church functions as God intends, nothing else on earth work quite like it.  Christ’s bride is not an organization, but rather an organism.  It’s not so much about the hype of programs, but the health of people. The church is not a building, but a body.  When submitted to God and serving together in true community, the church is a family that will surround people with strength and grace, while continually pointing toward the abundant life in Christ.”   

Ah!  Catch that last part, please!  “Continually pointing to the ABUNDANT life IN CHRIST."  Why?  Because we are NEVER going to be the best for anyone all the time, or maybe any of the time. We are human.  And, if you happen to be on the other side of the story, and waiting for someone to fulfill you and prove that God is good, and prove that the church is worthy, I am so sorry to say, that you will likely be let down.   You’re looking in the wrong place.  The church is certainly not off the hook in our responsibility, but we ARE NOT perfect.  Please don’t mistake looking at Christians for perfect peace and not Christ.  Don’t push people away because you feel like you cannot trust them.  First, put your trust in the One who loves you unconditionally.  Who will always forgive you when you ask, who will not hold a grudge, who will not judge you based on your looks or your job or your status.  He covered all the sins of the world, yours and others, when he gave His life for you.  Find your identity in Christ, and then go BE THE CHURCH to a hurting world.  Comfort them, surround them with strength and grace, and most of all, point them to Christ!    

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Which Jesus Do You Like?

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     Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Jeff Lampl
Which Jesus Do You Like?

“To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm?  My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him”.     Isaiah 53:1-2 (NLT)  

Do you prefer your Jesus to look European, with highlighted hair, blue eyes, about 6’2”, strong, purposeful, kind of like Mel Gibson (yes I know he’s not blonde) or the latest handsome Jesus in the movies?  To be honest I’ve always liked that kind of Jesus myself!   A “Western” Jesus, one who would have led the American Revolution and free the captives from the tyranny of Rome (I mean England, same thing).   

I recently read this about the first picture above. 

“About a decade back, on the basis of archaeology, art, forensic anthropology, and some anatomy and biology, here’s what the experts think.  Average height of a Jewish male in the 1st Century? 5 feet one inch. Average weight? 110 pounds.    Analysis of excavated skulls of 1st-century Jews and images from ancient Syrian frescos reveals that the traditional image – from that depicted on the Turin Shroud to Willem Dafoe’s blond-haired portrayal in the Last Temptation of Christ – is a fictitious construct based on centuries of erroneous impressions.   By combining computer images of ancient skulls with 6th century images of Christ, the series producers believe they have come up with a far closer likeness.   It’s not the face of Jesus, but how he is likely to have looked given the scientific information we’ve got,” said Lorraine Heggessey, controller of BBC1. “That’s what people from that area of the world looked like at that time.”  

Now, combine that information with Isaiah 53:1-2.   What if Jesus, based on what 21^st century American call attractive, was very unattractive to look at?  

Can you identify with and follow that Jesus?   The one who didn’t look too hot, and who “caved” when push came to shove and let the corrupt civil and religious leaders both execute him without even a fight?  

But there’s more to the story isn’t there?  

Take just a few more incredibly worthwhile minute of your time to read the read and meditate on the rest of story found in Isaiah 53.   Do you find him to be weak or strong, delusional or sane, commanding your attention or losing your respect? What does it mean to you that you are (or perhaps aren’t) a follower of this man?  

I find it pretty amazing that Isaiah wrote this description of Jesus 700 years before he was born.  

“He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows^[a] that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly,
    yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
    he did not open his mouth.
⁸ Unjustly condemned,
    he was led away.^[b]
No one cared that he died without descendants,
    that his life was cut short in midstream.^[c]
But he was struck down
    for the rebellion of my people.
⁹ He had done no wrong
    and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
    he was put in a rich man’s grave.

¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
¹¹ When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins.
¹² I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.”    Isaiah 53:3-12

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