Three Great Questions – Missional Micropost.

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Pastor Jesse

II Corinthians 1:3-7 talks about “comforting others with the comfort with which we’ve been comforted.”  Praying over that passage and looking at it through the lens of discipleship led me to three really good questions.  I had the privilege of asking these questions at the Stuart Congregational Church this weekend.  I thought I’d share them with you this morning.

1) What has the Lord done for you?  Be specific in your answer.  How has the Lord intervened for you in a time of need.  He helped Paul and his friends during a time of struggle in Asia.   Where and when has the Lord done something for you?

2) What does it mean?  When God acts, we need to spend some time here.  When God took action what did it say about who God is?  What does it say about who you are?  And what does it say about your relationship with God?   (We use those questions a lot in the learning circle.  Getting to a good answer takes some work and prayer.  Don’t short-cut it.)

3) What will you do about it?  We grow spiritually when we respond to what God has done for us.  Too often, we skip this step, but it’s worth the time.

The questions have several of us at FCMC reflecting on what it means for us.  A number of us have experienced healing from past hurts.  I am wondering if God may be leading us to have an MC whose identity and mission can be captured in the phrase “wounded healers.”

How would you answer those questions?

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A Both Hands Opportunity! for the widow and the orphan…

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Pastor Jesse

Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

 You have an opportunity to put this scripture into action this week – to help a widow in need and to raise money for the adoption of Olevia and her sister! Two parts to this project.  Details below…

Part 1: Tomorrow (July 12) at the Hyppo Café in St. Augustine (1765 Tree Blvd) from 4:00 until 6:00, there is a support letter mailing party. Bring your addresses. $100 prize for the person who brings the most addresses.   Form letters are provided!

Part 2: July 18, work at Mrs. Corin’s house. Her husband died unexpectedly in January and her home is in need of repair.

For more info, contact

Crystal Libby 252-414-4606, Crystalelks@gmail.com  0r

Darren Libby 704—918-3781

Below is a letter from Crystal…

Hey Team,

I hope you have your calendars marked for this Sunday, July 12th at 4pm at the Hyppo Cafe. There will be music, food, and someone will win a $100 Amazon gift card!!! That’s right, whomever sends the largest amount of sponsorship letters will win! Side note – all you need to bring is your addresses. Letters, Envelopes, and Postage will be provided unless you feel so lead to bring your own.
We really can’t thank you enough for partnering along side us to bring little Olevia and her little brother or sister home. I know they’ll be excited to meet each and every single one of you and learn of how much you guys rallied to bring them home.
We do still need supplies in order to finish the projects at Ms. Corinn’s house. We’ve visited and followed up with 10 home improvement places and are having a really difficult time. If you know of anyone in the industry that could help us get our foot in the door that would be awesome. Both Hands is a 501c3 non-profit so they will receive a receipt for their donations. I’ve attached a supply list and a donation request in case any of you have any contacts.
Above all, please be praying. As you enter those addresses into your spreadsheet or jot them down in your notebook please being praying that God will be preparing their hearts for your letter. Pray for Ms. Corinn, that she will truly feel the love of Jesus on that day as we attempt to be His hands and feet.
Again, we are super pumped for Sunday! Get your addresses ready! We are hoping you’ll have at least 50 each!
Grace & Peace,
Darren, Crystal, & Olevia

This is being done in partnership with Both Hands Foundation. Both hands: One for the Widow – One for the Orphan. http://www.BothHands.org.

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Personal Confessional Questions for Missional Living

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Pastor Jesse

To be missional, in short, means that God has a mission and God’s mission has a church.  God doesn’t need us to do his work for him.  God is at work and invites us to join him in his work.   It’s a privilege.  The key to mission, then, is being in a right relationship with God.  Unless we are in a right relationship with God, we won’t hear him very well.

I bet you understand how this works in human relationships.   When a relationship or fellowship is going well, everyone feels respected and understood.  Communication is pretty easy.  It is not hard to work on things together.  Collaboration is natural.  It’s easy to talk, solve problems, and make plans.  You come away from times together feeling respected and understood.  But if someone is feeling offended or unappreciated, communication becomes difficult, it is hard to work together, and the problem spreads.  Feeling offended can be contagious.

It is inevitable that problems will emerge in relationships and fellowships.   All people sin and naturally offend.   The Bible is clear on that (Romans 3:23, for example, or just read Judges for a book of illustrations on that point).

So there are two questions for us in terms of community (IN).  1) How can we keep our fellowship healthy?   and 2) What can we do about it when things go bad?   There’s also questions for our relationship with God (UP): How can we do our part to hear from God?  And all of this relates to mission (OUT):  What do we need to do to understand where God calling us into service?

The solutions to these questions are a little different, but they have one thing in common: Personal confession of sin.

When we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and will purify us from unrighteousness… (I John 1:8-2:2)  James says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so you’ll be healed. (James 5:16)  David gave a great model of confession in Psalm 51.  Confession is powerful.  It restores relationships.

I learned this in friendship, marriage, and family over the years.  When I start by confessing my sins to God, I begin to see how I offend others.  The grace I receive from God gives me strength to acknowledge to others my part in causing offence.  That brings healing.  At least it does most of the time.   Relationships can be tricky.  All people sin, you know.

But reconciliation is part of God’s mission in the world.  We can’t be missional if we can’t confess sin.  Without it there is no reconciliation with God or people.

This is a growing area for us, but our missional community has grown closer as we’ve become more comfortable doing this.  We confess sin in times of prayer together.  We are learning this skill and are certainly novices.  But as we are growing in this skill, I see evidence of God’s grace growing in our relationships (IN) and service (OUT).

But confessing in the presence of others begins, I believe, with a habit of confessing in private.  That’s not easy for me.  I can gloss over it in my prayers.

Henry Cloud said, “If you lack discipline, add structure.”   I find structure helps me to confess.  So I want to make this post practical.  Here are a few questions I use during my own times of private, personal confession.   I do not use these questions to replace the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  If I ask God to help me to recognize areas of sin in my life, God does!  But these questions represent areas that need regular attention for me and that I might neglect without structure.  I offer them as an example.  You may want to create a list of questions yourself, questions that help you confess.  Here’s mine:

  1. Who do I need to forgive?
  2. Am I answering the call to be a husband and dad?
  3. Am I keeping a Sabbath weekly?
  4. Am I answering the call to preach?
  5. Am I equipping disciples to be disciples who make disciples?
  6. Am I acknowledging God in all my ways?
  7. Is my mind set on earthly things?
  8. Is my heart set on Christ?
  9. Am I listening for the Spirit?
  10. Am I thankful to the Father?
  11. Am I blaming anyone for anything?
  12. Am I thankful to others?  Am I telling them?
  13. Am I praising God regardless of circumstance?
  14. Do I appreciate the people in my life?  Am I loving my neighbors?
  15. Am I a faithful steward of resources?
  16. Am I anxious, hurried, or worried?
  17. Do I have compassion for broken people? sinners?  people who are mean?
  18. Am I working on what is most important?
  19. Am I wasting time on distractions?
  20. Am I doing what is right and important or what is easy?
  21. Am I maintaining a sustainable pace?
  22. Am I finding security and significance in God?

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.  In the name of Jesus Christ, you and I are forgiven.  Alleluia!   Amen!

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Responding to Unsettling Times, Upcoming Events, and a Few Prayer Requests

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Pastor Jesse
God is good!
1) June is just about to slip into history… I want to offer a brief word of encouragement.  For many, events around our country have been unsettling.  How should we respond?
By trusting in the Lord as we love our neighbors, serve our city, and do the work of being disciples who make disciples.  Unsettling times offer great opportunities to bear witness to Christ and share the hope found in the Gospel.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  Listen for his voice.  Respond in faith.
2) Our next worship gathering is Saturday, July 11 at 6:30pm at Faith Community Church.
3) Put the evening of July 28 on your calendar.   We have the opportunity to load a bus, strap in car seats, and pray as we send girls and babies off to Young Lives camp.
4)  We’ll be meeting for huddle on Wednesdays (send me an email if you want information on Huddle).
Prayer Requests:
For Mark, Shawn, Luke, and Ellie settling in to a new place in St. Augustine.
For Darren and Crystal as they continue to move toward adoption.
For Jordan and Rose as they serve a Young Life camps this summer.
For God to open up new discipling relationships for those in our Huddles.
For Jim and Heather seeking new jobs.
For Will and Dawn as they move and seek Christian Fellowship in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Again…
God is good.
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Young Adults Who Return Home. And The Problem Is?

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Pastor Jesse
kids 2014

Sarah, Jordan, Seth, Jared

We had a really tasty lunch today. Cut up melon, good bread and fresh tomatoes for turkey sandwiches, sandwiches, and chips. And what made it better was having our family around the table – all six of us. Jordan is home from Florida Southern College for the summer and we love having her around. She returns in August – and Seth will move to the dorm at UNF.  We are acutely aware of temporary privilege of having all the kids at home. And we are grateful for the bright, independent young adults they are and are becoming.

So I took a little time at lunch today to tell them something important.

If they want to return home as young adults, they will be joyfully welcomed.

There is a reality that has forced the conversation. It is apparently kind of hard these days to get a job that allows you to rent and furnish an apartment, buy a car, and put money aside.  Apparently, it isn’t much easier after graduate school. And this has been very surprising to a generation that heard this materialistic cultural narrative: “If you go to college, work hard and get a good degree, you’ll get a good job and make lots of money.” It’s been a disillusioning, who-moved-my-cheese kind of moment for many young adults and their parents. In the previous couple of generations, such disillusionment landed on those who suffered a mid-life career challenge. Now it happens earlier. So a lot of young adults find themselves disappointed about their job prospects and disillusioned by that empty promise. A fair number pragmatically return home. Unfortunately, that option is not open to some and others find their return rather cold. That won’t be the case for our kids.

Because maybe this is an opportunity for disciples of Jesus. This is an opportunity to discover the joy of being an extended family on mission.

The more I learn about following Jesus in community, the more I simply desire for my kids to follow Him wherever he leads and to do so in community.  If Jesus leads them back into our house and our community of friends, why would I have a problem with that? And the more I experience of missional community and the more I learn about being a family on mission the more I would welcome my kids living in our home on into the future. Because to be on mission together leads to mutual support, shared resources, encouragement, close fellowship, adventure, and shared meaning. It is about doing life together. Why would I ever want my kids excluded when I wish other included?

Please don’t get the wrong idea. It would not be acceptable for them to return home, consume our resources, sleep all day, play video games all night, and complain no one does their laundry. No. Adults in our house will be expected to pull their own weight and then some.

And I realize that seasons of independence are essential for kids to grow confident as adults. I recognize the importance of a college experience and education. We do not cease to encourage them to take those needed steps. And we already expect them to develop their talents, seek work, earn money, and make a contribution. But if they do so from our house, all the better. Not only will they be able to set resources aside and stay out of debt, they will be able to extend the mission of God in our city! Because to do life with our family is to be invited into and included in our mission. We believe Jesus has put us together to bless our neighbors and to serve our city. And we already get to do so with several other families. If we get to do so with our kids who are becoming wonderful young adults, well, you won’t find me grumbling about that. No, you will find me giving thanks.  Because, while I want my kids to get good jobs I want something better for them than a materialistic cultural narrative.  I want them to be the kind of people who bring the grace, truth, mercy, and healing of Jesus to our city, who embody what it means to love God and love neighbors.

After my announcement, Jordan said, “This is kind of relieving to hear.” It is indeed.  They may never come back home after college. That’s okay, too. But if they do I will celebrate.

Last thought on this:  When people describe heaven, they commonly talk about being welcomed with joy by family and people they love. They talk about finally making it home. So if our kids come home after college – whatever their prospects may be – we will welcome them home with joy. And maybe experience a bit of heaven in our house.

Blessings on the journey.

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