Verse Of The Day

Lent, Week 2: Focus

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If you’ve given something up for Lent, you’ll see that it can be a great time to more fully appreciate the meaning of the cross. Hopefully you are treating it as a time to deepen your relationship with the Lord, rather than doing it “just because”. This Lenten season is meant to enrich our worship to God, growing in our intimacy with Him as we fast these things for 40 days.

But it’s so easy to get stuck in a routine, “Oh, no thanks. I can’t have sweets”, as if we are on a diet. So how can we make Lent less about us, and more about God? How can we focus on Him?

I was reflecting on Psalm 119:33-40, which says that we ought to turn our eyes away from worthless things and preserve our lives according to His word… because His laws are good and we find delight in Him… Fasting from something should help us take our eyes away from these distractions and focus more on the Lord as we live faithfully by His word, His commands, His statutes.

This past Sunday at our home church, we led songs about surrender and how (no matter what we gave up) Jesus is our supplier, provider, satisfier. It’s not easy living a life that shows it but we believe that this discipline can come from regularly spending extra time with God. Rather than dwelling on what you can’t do, use this time to center in on Jesus. Use that TV/internet/dessert/shopping time to regularly be in His word this Lenten season so that we can grow in God’s grace. It’s now Week 2, and we know that there’s great news coming! Rather than thinking we’re taking something away from our lives, let’s reconsider and think how we can add spiritual discipline to prepare for Easter this year.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Reflection Song: Christ Is

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 (Palm Sunday) | Good Friday | Easter

Lent, Week 1: Ash Wednesday

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Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the Lenten season. For the next 40 days of Lent, we reflect upon one of the most significant days of our faith… Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. With ashes made from the previous Palm Sunday, we mark a cross on our foreheads and have a repentant attitude, remembering that we came from dust and will return to dust.

This year, Pope Francis has chosen for his Lenten message a theme of “He became poor, so that by His poverty we might become rich”, which comes from 2 Corinthians 8:9.

So often we might give something up for Lent thinking it’ll also be good for us to do so (sweets, TV, games, etc.) but it’s very easy to forget that Christ died for totally unselfish reasons. It wasn’t just for your sins. It wasn’t just for my sins. It was for the sin of the world! (John 1:29) And though Lent was originally observed in the fourth century as a time of examination and denial of oneself, we may find ourselves treating it more like a countdown to Easter (“only x more days until I can eat/do _____ again!”).

In the coming weeks, we hope to reflect with you so that, whether or not you’re fasting something, we can prepare the way of the Lord together – not only giving things up, but also laying our lives down in surrender as we contemplate the price Jesus paid on the cross, that we might become rich in Him and have life to the fullest. Let’s set the tone for this season.

What are you giving up for Lent?

Reflection Song: Prepare The Way

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 (Palm Sunday) | Good Friday | Easter

True Love (A Valentine’s Day Blog)

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Maybe you’ve seen a movie like 2010’s Valentine’s Day or some other rom-com where they try to answer the age-old question “What is love?”, or you’ve been to one too many weddings where they quote 1 Corinthians 13, or you’ve been able to celebrate Valentine’s Day with somebody special over the years.

But perhaps on this Valentine’s Day, I can offer a different perspective: Valentine’s Day is about true love. Can you believe that just 300 years ago, Valentine’s Day flowers, chocolates, and cards never even crossed our minds?

The story goes that Saint Valentine was a Christian priest and physician in early Rome, during a time where it was very anti-Christian and anti-marriage. Yet, he constantly did good deeds, cared for the sick & the poor, and secretly performed Christian weddings. Right before the Roman Empire beheaded Valentine for his Christian faith, he fell in love with a woman and gave her a final note signed, “Your Valentine”.

Now where in that story did you see true love? The origin of Valentine’s Day cards? Or how Valentine knew the value of his faith and love for Jesus Christ that he would take it to the very end?

When we think of true love, we may think of romance… but real, true love is unconditional, like the true love shown to us by Jesus Christ – the perfect sign of God’s love on the cross. This true love is what inspired and drove Valentine to do what he did. He risked persecution, punishment, and even death to take a stand for his Christian faith. Jesus was his shameless plug.

So this Valentine’s Day, have fun with the candy and flowers but don’t just fall for the commercialism and Hallmark holiday of February 14 – Valentine’s Day is more than that. Consider true love and show true love to those you care about: your friends, family, husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, and even strangers. How can you show more of the true love of Jesus?

Reflection Song: Here Today

Hand Of God

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Yesterday, news emerged of NASA’s NuSTAR space telescope capturing this image of a star exploding 17,000 light-years away…

A star that exploded 17,000 light-years away was named the “Hand Of God”

What do you see?

Well, the astronomers who captured this called it the “Hand Of God”. What’s going on scientifically is that as the star is dying, a cloud of particles leftover are interacting with the nearby areas of magnetic fields, causing it to glow. The star is about 12 miles in diameter and is spinning nearly seven times a second!

How amazing that this was the snapshot it took… Do you see God’s hand at work in your life? I think this discovery is a great reminder of how great, how big, how massive God is! …and ultimately how small we are.

1 Peter 5:6-7 says that we ought to humble ourselves beneath God’s hand – quiet ourselves to His will, His way, and rest safe in the shadow of His wings. But the best part comes in verse 7: “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

It’s not likely that we’ll see a physical hand at work in our lives, which is why I think it’s great that this reminder comes from farther than we can see with our own eyes. This giant hand in the image above helps us to remember that there are indescribable things going on in our small lives, guided by a big God who cares and has a plan for you! We need to speak to Him, listen to Him, and trust Him to lead us in both joy and anxiety… because He cares!

Why do I feel like Louie Giglio will use this NASA finding in a future sermon? #Laminin

Reflection Song: Here I Stand

The Day After The Most Depressing Day Of The Year

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Researchers determined that yesterday was “The Most Depressing Day Of The Year”, calling it “Blue Monday”. They say that January 6th would be the most miserable day, based on guilt-related words and weather complaints all throughout the internet – apparently up to six times more results than past first Mondays of the year.

I don’t know about you, but that kind of news just makes me think about the things that I’m grateful for and what to look forward to in the new year. Sure, the holidays are over and work/school is starting again. And yes, today is a drastic temperature drop from yesterday (The Most Depressing Day Of The Year): a shocking 6° (real feel -16°). But what are you looking forward to?

Let’s look ahead and remember that God is faithful. 2013 is done, and we’ve almost had a full week of 2014. Instead of complaining and living a life of regret, let’s continue to find satisfaction in the Lord this year. You may be “used to” bad news and discouragements in the past, but that’s not how we should live. Instead, God wants us to expect the good He has planned for you in 2014! (Isaiah 30:18)

It’s a new day, it’s a new year! Let’s put our faith and trust in God this year as the best is yet to come! Psalm 119:49-56 reminds us that God and His Word give us hope… hope for this new year, hope for a joyful and fulfilling life. All that we need He will provide. So let’s rejoice and live for Him, magnifying Him, and make Him known. Happy New Year!

Reflection Song: Prepare The Way

Advent Week 4 (2013)

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In Luke 2:8-11, an angel of the Lord shares news to the shepherds. News that would cause great joy in us. News that would change us forever. News that Jesus is born!

Week 4 of Advent means that Christmas is near. It may not feel like it though because Thanksgiving was only 4 weeks ago, or because you still haven’t gone shopping yet, or because over here in the northeast we had unusually warm weather… (Maybe this is what Christmas in California feels like?) But soon we will be celebrating and giving glory to God in the highest for the gift of gifts – His one and only Son, and our Messiah: Jesus Christ!

We’ve enjoyed sharing our thoughts during this Advent season with you this year. Hopefully Christ won’t be the center of attention only during Christmas but every day as we live for Him. Just like we say in our song Unending Praise: Jesus, more than anything be our everything!

Reflection Song: Unending Praise

Advent Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

Advent Week 1 (2013)

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Isaiah 40:1-5 says to “prepare the way for the Lord” – to make straight paths for our God. On this first week of Advent, we focus on “hope”. By definition, hope means a feeling of expectation or desire for something to happen.

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is less than 4 weeks away. But as we begin this season of Advent, we have an expectation for Jesus – an anticipation for His birth as God’s glory is revealed. So instead of hoping for that thing you didn’t get during Thanksgiving weekend, or hoping for other things this Christmas, let us put our hope in Christ. Let us put our faith in God’s promise, believing, so that we will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we start with Advent Week 1, may we make straight paths for the Lord, clearing away all the distractions of what the mall might make us think of Christmas. Instead, may we make Christmas about Christ, as it should be.

Reflection Song: Prepare The Way

Advent Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

“If Only” (A Thanksgiving Blog)

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In the book of Exodus in the Old Testament, God uses Moses to lead the Israelite slaves out from Egypt. Yet on the fifteenth day of the second month since they came out of Egypt, all the Israelites did was complain to Moses:

“If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:3)

How quickly their celebration in freedom turned to complaint! Moses reassures the people that God hears their grumbling and surely, soon after, God provided manna and quail. But really, what good was their grumbling and complaining? Of course our God who freed them would surely provide, if not already! God who showed His power through ten plagues. God who parted the Red Sea. God who delivered them from bondage and oppression. Their grumbling was part of their forgetfulness: “if only we had stayed”, “if only we had food to eat”, “if only”, “if only”, “if only”… “If only” they remembered God’s provision! I mean, how could they forget?

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s easy for us to overlook Thanksgiving and what we’re thankful for. Time to time, we might find ourselves grumbling with complaints, regrets, or even “if only I could get this or that for Christmas”. There’s no need to look back on our lives and think how it “could be”. Let’s not forget to be grateful for what God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives. It’s not a matter of “if only” – since we are in Christ, all things are possible with God and through God.

Hopefully the only grumbling this Thanksgiving will be coming from our stomachs before dinner. Let’s be thankful: Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

God Who Hears Me

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In Genesis 16, Hagar (Sarai’s servant) is pregnant with Abram’s first son, Ishmael. But Hagar is mistreated by Sarai and runs away. An angel of the Lord finds Hagar and tells her to stop running away & to submit. Here she realizes God’s omniscience in her life and calls Him “God Who Sees Me” because God knows her inside & out through all the joys & troubles in her life.

We may face struggles and uncomfortable situations of our own, but have we realized God’s omniscience and presence in our own lives? Have you found God to be the one who sees you, hears you, knows you? He knows your life and circumstances, your past and future… So this song, “God Who Hears Me”, is us submitting & saying “yes” to our God who listens to us – our God who sacrificed His son for us – and so we sacrifice ourselves to Him.

Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for us and tearing down the veil (Matthew 27:45-56) so that we would have a means of communication with the Father… Jesus, we sing to You forever!

God Who Hears Me
Words & Music by Andy Lee

God who hears me, God who sees me
You search me and You know me
God who loves me, God who leads me
You paid the price for me

Jesus, we sing to You forever
Jesus, we sing to You forever
You’re our reward and our treasure
Yes, we give our lives to You

God who heals me, God who shields me
You hear my every call
God who made me, God who saves me
You sacrificed it all

To You alone, our God who hears us
To You alone, our God who’s near us
To You alone, our God who hears us
To You alone, our God who’s here with us