Monday, August 30th, 2010
Sunday was all about one idea from scripture. “Big things start with small acts of faith”. Throughout the Bible, the most epic and miraculous stories begin with a small act of faith. God first spoke to Moses by asking him to take off his shoes. God “introduced himself” to Abraham (then Abram) by asking him to move away from his relatives to a place he had never seen. Jesus repeated the “process” over and over during his time with his followers. Jesus asked fishermen to leave their nets and become “fishers of men”. He asked a tax collector to leave his table in the market place and follow him. In the passage we talked about Sunday (Matthew 21:1-11 ) Jesus asked his followers to “hot-wire” a donkey and bring it back to him…and if the owner asked why they were taking his property…Jesus told them to simply say that “the Lord needs it”.
Big things start with small acts of Faith. Retrieving a donkey can set off the “triumphal entry”…and the Crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord. I think we often miss the voice of God because we ignore the small and often odd requests the Spirit makes of us. Perhaps we think that when God speaks he asks for “Big” actions. Perhaps our embarrassment or self-consciousness about the often odd things God’s spirit prompts us to do holds us back from obeying “whispers from God”.
I shared Sunday how embarrassing it felt to “admit” that we thought we should start actionchurch. It seemed so ridiculous to say that we were starting a church when there are plenty of great churches in York County and we had absolutely no training or backing that would seem to make starting a church a “good idea”. I am so thankful today that I made a small step of faith…I’m so glad I did not ignore God and miss out on being a small part of the Big things God is doing at actionchurch.
REALLY excited for the folks that are taking the next step in their Journey with God by being obedient in “small acts of faith”. We’ll be be having a Baptism on 9/12 for them. Want to go public with your faith through baptism? info@actionchurch.com or talk to me Sunday.
Thanks so much to all the great actionchurch crew for all your individual acts of faith that have made this thing possible. YOU are responsible for what is coming for our church and county. Thanks to all of you who generously share your time, talents and money each week.
Special thanks to the guys from ionia. The reason why we were sound-checking at 10:45 is because they took a wrong turn on the way from New York City and arrived 20 minutes before the service started. In spite of their late arrival they were onstage and ready to rock by 11am…and the fact that they donated their fee back to actionchurch to help finance our move was beyond generous.
I really can not wait to kick off the “So Help me God!” series next week…
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Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Please continue to pray for God’s favor and guidance this week as we continue to wait for word about the huge “ask” that actionchurch made last week. I don’t have any new information to add…but this morning I was reminded of some “old” information that I thought I’d share…
1. We are moving somewhere. It’s been very clear since last October that our time at club 19 was coming to an end. I am so thankful for the kindness and generosity of the owners for allowing us to stay on this long…that’s the amazing story. But our time is clearly ending very soon.
2. So far every “simple and sensible” solution has failed. I really thought it would be a “breeze” to find a new venue. There are SO many vacant spaces open at good prices. I had no idea that finding a “next size up” venue would be so difficult. (Personally I think the difficulty has been a good thing as it has forced us to rely on God instead of whatever puny resources we have.)
3. We are a church called to action…not to an “eternal” building fund. Venue rental has always been one of our biggest expenses. I don’t expect that with any move that will change. It’s expensive to rent or purchase large commercial spaces. It’s important that we have a place to meet. However, if that is the ONLY reason we meet…if our only call to action each week becomes raising money for some “giant thermometer building fund” we will not be doing what we set out to do. (I am praying that God provides us with a place where MORE people can meet at a cost that is less per-person…so that together we can do MORE to serve others)
4. With God all things are possible. The above three facts don’t seem to go together. In fact, they seem to set up an impossible scenario. I’m fine with that…that gives God a great opportunity to do something “unmistakable”. It gives us the opportunity to learn to obey Gods “whispers” (even when they seem a bit crazy). We have the opportunity to put more of our faith in him…and less in ourselves and “our plans”. That’s what I’m praying for. I hope you will join me.
26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Matthew 19:26
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Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Sunday we kicked off the “@ the movies” series at actionchurch with movie popcorn, the Pledge, and the movie “The Blind Side.”
I love talking about the story of the “Good Samaritan”…It’s where we get our mission statement.
Love God,
Love people,
Take action.
27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” 29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:27-29
The parable Jesus told about the roadside robbery of the Jewish traveler, illustrates that without “taking action”, our claims that we love God and love our “neighbor as ourself” are meaningless.
I’ve read the line “stripped him of his clothes” so many times in the story of the Good Samaritan. I’ve never considered the implications of that line before this week. The Samaritan was the only one willing to stop and “touch a naked dude”. Being a Good Samaritan (Like the Touhy family in the movie The Blindside) means you are going to have to “touch stuff you don’t want to touch, and go places you don’t want to go”.
Yeah, I love the movie “The Blindside”, I wish more films were made about inspiring things that ordinary folks actually do!
What if we moved past our cultural idea the “Somebody should rescue everyone”, and followed the teachings of Jesus that “Everyone should rescue someone”. I think less people would “fall through the cracks”…and our lives would all be forever changed!
I couldn’t think of a better song to end with yesterday than Switchfoots “Meant to live”. I’m praying that as a church we will experience “so much more” in every one of our lives. That only happens when we stop “living with our eyes half open”. Great song.
Thank you actionchurch for “voting with your feet, and your wallets”. Great Crowd…and giving was up. Actions do speak way louder than words…or secret ballots!
Special thanks to the Fifes for the popcorn and machine. If it weren’t for this whole actionchurch thing I would definitely want to start a traveling Carnival with the Fife family. 
Except for the fact that Shawn still blames me for breaking the popcorn machine at Relay…
It was Great to be back at actionchurch…I love our crew! The most valuable thing that we have (other than the Gospel) as a church…is our people!
Thanks to all of you who are stepping up and offering to help in our next phase of moving/renovation?…
Please pray for God’s Favor and direction this week as we continue to pursue a venue that will ONLY happen if God moves in miraculous ways. Whatever happens…we want to end up EXACTLY where he wants us. NOWHERE else.
As usual the best part of actionchurch happens in actionkidz! Their “Ranch” series looks like so much fun. I only wish we could provide them with one of those bull riding machines…
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