The Same Old Barn

Galatians 2:15-21 (The Message)

We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over "non-Jewish sinners."

We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it—and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.

Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?)

And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren't perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous.

If I was "trying to be good," I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ.

My ego is no longer central.

It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

How many times do we need God to tell us...stop building the "same old barn."

Paul really wanted to do things right. He really wanted to please God...maybe.

Or, maybe, in his first life as "Saul," he really wanted to use God to his advantage. He liked the idea of pleasing God, but what he really, really liked was everybody knowing that he was the best God-pleaser of them all.

God made him famous. He really knew how to do the God thing better than anybody else. And that life left his lost and empty.

Really consider these words...they're the ones we'll be considering together on Sunday at SOTH:

My ego is no longer central.

I don't need your good opinion of me.

I don't have to impress God.

It's no longer my life you see me living.

What could those statements mean for each of us?

Grace & Peace -- Adam

Don't wanna be a martyr in this war
Don't wanna hear the same excuses anymore
That everything's a threat
And it's only gonna get worse if we let it

Don't wanna blame the rich for what they got
Don't point a finger at the poor for what they have not
Though the politician and the priest
Live in the belly of the beast because we fed it

Freedom is seldom found
By beating someone to the ground
Telling them how everything is gonna be now, yeah

Now if the tables were turned tell me how you would feel
Somebody busted up into your house telling you to stay still
While the leaders will deny defeat
Innocents they testify by dying in the street

Freedom is seldom found
By beating someone to the ground
Telling them how everything is gonna be now

Freedom is seldom found
By beating someone to the ground
Telling them how everything is gonna be now

Regret

Galatians 1:13-24

I'm sure that you've heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way.

In those days I went all out in persecuting God's church.

I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career.

Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother's womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him.

Immediately after my calling—without consulting anyone around me and without going up to Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles long before I was—I got away to Arabia.

Later I returned to Damascus, but it was three years before I went up to Jerusalem to compare stories with Peter. I was there only fifteen days—but what days they were! Except for our Master's brother James, I saw no other apostles. (I'm telling you the absolute truth in this.)

Then I began my ministry in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. After all that time and activity I was still unknown by face among the Christian churches in Judea.

There was only this report: "That man who once persecuted us is now preaching the very message he used to try to destroy."

Their response was to recognize and worship God because of me!

Everybody has a past. Everybody has something they regret.

Paul has more than most folks. He "systematically" persecuted the church. He was responsible for death and mahem among the early followers of Jesus.

He killed in the name of God.

How could he ever overcome that kind of past?

Honestly, I'm not convinced that he ever overcame the guilt. He certainly always had regrets.

But he also witnessed God putting his past actions and reputation to use in the Kingdom.

Because of the incredible story of his own transformation, the followers of Jesus could believe more than ever in the power of God. If Saul could become Paul, then anything really was possible in Jesus Christ.

What do you regret?

Is it possible that God could actually turn those regrets into the biggest places of transformation in your life and the lives of others?

Of course it is.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Summer Camp 2010

The youth and I have returned from Summer Camp on Friday...though I have not completely recovered! What an amazing weekend from the beach to the worship - across the board - it was an unforgettable experience for those who attended.

The theme of the week was "Next" and it was a focus on the things Jesus said that we might pass on; and I dont mean that we share it, either. I mean He said "Go do ________________" and we respond with "I'd rather not."

The four talks centered on Jesus saying:

1) Follow me.

2) Take up your cross.

3) Do not be afraid.

4) Go make disciples.

Some of our groups' highlights from the weekend:

1) Adam and Amber Rigby coming along! Both were amazing assets and presences on the retreat both for the kids and for me. I actually caught a little bit of flack from the other youth directors when they first discovered that Adam was my senior pastor - In case you didnt know: Its not cool to have your pastor along on a retreat. But as the week rolled on and the others got to see Adam at work with the kids, they grew to the point of being envious of my ability to include a senior pastor on a youth trip that didnt suck the cool-factor right out of the room. Amber was a great addition, too, who not only had a great time herself but also enhanced the experience for the youth as she played all of their games on the bus and took them where ever they wanted to go without complaint while we were at the beach. So grateful for both of their presences at Summer Camp!

2) Six hours on a bus makes for some interesting time killers...They ranged from the game Catchphrase to Adam annoying the youth with songs from his mp3 player about harvesting corn to Brian Riehl free-style rapping. Yeah. That happened.

3) On our last night at the camp, two amazing things happened. The first happened right after the talk that evening. The worship space was made quiet as an invitation for youth and adults alike to sit in prayerful communion with and reflection on their God. Watching as the SOTH youth sat, heads bowed and arms around one another, was awesome. I sat in the back literally in awe of their faiths and love for God and one another, blessed at the fact that I have been called to SOTH in such a capacity as to nurture and witness to their spiritual lives, and humbled at the fact that my effects on their lives are nothing compared to what was going on in those moments. Later that night the kids wanted to walk on the beach to the pier and back - not a short jaunt, mind you. En route, a bunch of them struck up singing worship songs...and didnt stop. Not for fear of shame in front of the other random folks on the beach as we walked. Not for shame in their singing abilities. Not for anything. They lifted their voices and sang to the One they love.

4) Adam and I had two awesome opportunities on the retreat to prove that he was not the lame senior pastor that some feared he might be. The first came when Adam was called upon to participate in a game during which he had a large jar-like container of ping-pong balls taped to his stomach and was instructed that he had to get all of the balls out of the container without using his hands or turning upside down before his challenger did the same. Adam and I, using our tried and true telepathy, knew exactly what to do, and when the guy running the games said "Go" I tore through the crowd of youth towards the front and used MY hands to clear his container before his opponent of the game dude knew what was going on. Victory was ours. So was the respect and wonder of the youth directors in the room who realized that Adam and I share an amazing mind-meldish bond. The second cool-point winning moment for Adam was his inclusion in the prankster team of youth directors. He even scored some major laughs from the kids with his shenanigans. I think Adam will be a welcomed part of Summer Camp next year should he choose to attend...

Summer Camp 2010 was a huge success both relationally and spiritually. Many thanks from the youth ministry to those who prayed during our stay for safety, fun, and for God's movement. Summer Camp wouldnt have been the same without you!

Direct

A Month with Galatians...

That's what we're doing at Shepherd of the Hills on Sunday mornings, and I thought it would be good for me to work through this powerful little letter day by day on the SOTHblog. Thanks for indulging.

So, here we go:

Galatians 1:1-5, The Message (read the whole chapter here)

^1-5 I, Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the Galatian churches.

My authority for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor does it come through the appointment of some human higher-up.

It comes directly from Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

I'm God-commissioned.

So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we're in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

God's plan is that we all experience that rescue.
Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!

As we jump in to what Paul had to say to this church, first things have to come first.

He needs to remind everyone of his authority. Really, the authority isn't his, it's been given to him directly.

The message he carries isn't his own invention. He didn't write this sermon. It's straight from God.

Paul is "God-commissioned."

Acts 9 tells the story, and it's really the place where this letter begins.

Saul was heading to Damascus to arrest the followers of Jesus. Until he met Jesus himself. He experienced the resurrected Christ first-hand. He sat blinded for three days. His life changed forever.

As these next chapters unfold, we'll hear Paul say some hard things to these people he loves. He says it because he has to. The truth burns inside of him and he has to speak. They've been led astray, and that's not something Paul is able to tolerate.

He's God commissioned.

Curious about what a person who saw the risen Jesus face-to-face might have to say about what it means to be a follower of "The Way?"

Then let's keep reading.

Grace & Peace,
Adam