7.6 is the average number of times a nonbeliever must hear the gospel before they receive it. Do we know what it means to be a disciple? This class will find us studying our beliefs, what the Bible calls us to do, and how we can carry out those actions. “It makes sense, then, that all disciples of Jesus exist for others, and his church exists for others. Just as faith is real only when there is obedience, the church is real only when its faith leads it to become a community for others.” Join us on Wednesday nights starting September 15, in the Faith Lights Room from 6:00 – 7:15 p.m. I encourage you to invite a friend to come along. It’s more fun when we’re learning together. If you have any questions, contact Jerry Waage at j.waage@mchsi.com or 987-5573.

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New to Faith? Long time member? Curious of why guys get out of bed early on a Saturday morning? Whether new or not so new, young or old, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that a group of guys can get together, eat breakfast, and discuss Christian principles as guys. I invite you to bring a friend or a family member or come on your own. Please RSVP to Jerry at j.waage@mchsi.com so that adequate food can be prepared. See you on the 18th!

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Good morning. The next men’s breakfast is scheduled for May 15 from 7:30-9:00. Hope you will place it on your calendars. If you’re a guy reading this, come and join us. If you’re a spouse, sister, or a friend of a guy, perhaps you know someone you can recommend this to. Contact Jerry Waage with any questions at j.waage@mchsi.com

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We started class with a follow up to last week’s class. As class finished up last week, we had been discussing the notion of whether or not God has a plan for our lives and just how much does free choice come in to play. I read Psalm 139 which discusses, among other things, God knowing our words before they are on our tongues. Matthew 10:30 says God knows the exact number of hairs on our heads. We discussed the notion of God having plans for our lives but that sometimes, people choose to stray from the path.

I read a story out of Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love about a 14 year old girl that believed it was her calling to buy and pass out Bibles to any unbelieving friend so that they might find redemption. She was killed in a car accident. At her memorial service, over 200 Bibles were passed out out to those that felt compelled to accept Jesus as Lord. This girl believed with all her heart God had a plan for her.

“What am I called to do” became our next topic along with who’s will are we living out. Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Are we focusing on our will or God’s as we go about our daily lives. John 20:22-23 discusses how God fills us with His Holy Spirit. Jesus is telling disciples to preach the good news about Jesus so that people’s sins might be forgiven. So who’s job is to teach the good news. Are we being disciples? Do we know how?

Acts 16:6-9When seeking God’s will:

1) make sure your plan is in harmony with God’s word.

2) ask mature Christians for their advice.

3) check your own motives.

4) Pray for God to open and close the doors of circumstances

Ephesians 6:19-20

Philippians 2:13

Philippians 4:8-9

Being a good disciple is simply a matter of following Jesus with  willing heart.

Mark 3:14 There were 12 disciples. The one thing they had in common was that they were willing to obey Jesus.

Mark 6:7 Disciples were sent out in pairs in order to strengthen and encourage each other.

I encourage you to for God’s will to be done in you.

Prayer: God, lead me today to those whom I need and those who need me, and let something I do have some eternal significance.

I shared with the class that I will be changing over next week to teaching Financial Peace University on Wednesday nights for the next 13 weeks. I am willing to continue to teach this for a few more weeks during Lent following the Lenten services. It would also be great if someone else felt called to continue facilitating the class so there is an outlet for members of Faith to share and discuss their faith and religious topics. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I am already preparing another class for next fall. But let’s get through spring and summer first.

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The class had been asking for a discussion on worries and giving up control to God. So we attempted to tackle that last night. I began listing the worries the class could come up with. Interestingly enough, it was later in to the hour before someone realized that no one had placed “eternity” on their list. So the question became, how do we handle these worries and turn things over  God.

Matthew 6:25-34 has Jesus teaching about worry. Verses 33-34, but strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Sounds simple enough doesn’t it?

We viewed a segment of the movie Facing the Giants, that discusses living on purpose. When we look at things we’re doing in life, why are we doing them? Are we doing them to glorify God? Or are they for our own satisfaction? As the coach put it, “we’ll praise Him if we win and we’ll praise him if we lose.”

We looked at some Bible verses to see if we could help determine how we might go about turning everything over to God.

Joshua 24:15 …but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord. My footnote mentions, But the time comes when you have to choose who or what will control you.

Romans 8:31…If God is for us, who is against us?

1 Chronicles 29:11… my footnote states, out constantly changing world is controlled by a constant and unchanging God. His love and purpose for us never change. Only when we understand this can we have real peace and security.

Psalm 37: 8-9…if you concentrate on God and his goodness you will find peace.

I read a passage from Crazy Love by Francis Chan: “Basically, these two behaviors (worry and stress) communicate that it’s okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare out tendency to forget that we’ve been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won’t be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God’s strength, our problems are small indeed. Why are we so quick to forget God? Who do we think we are?”

Jeremiah 29:11 For surely I know the plans I have for you…

Mark 9:24 my footnote: growing in faith is a constant process of daily renewing our trust in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:16

1 Peter 1:5-7

So we can’t draw a big X thru all of our worries but we can draw a circle around them with God giving us strength to deal with them.

We finished class viewing another segment from Facing the Giants. This segment told the story of two farmers who were praying for rain. But only one of the farmers prepared his field for rain. Which do you think the rain fell on? The farmer that prepared his field for rain. Are you preparing your field for rain?

Daily, we need to be preparing ourselves for rain. When God determines it is time, he will deliver the rain.

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To get the class in to the mind set I was hoping for, we started with a video from Tony Campolo titled It’s Friday but Sunday’s coming.It\’s Friday but Sunday\’s Coming!

After viewing the video, we began discussing the following two questions:

1) Would you live differently if you knew today was the day of the 2nd coming?

2) If so, do we need to make adjustments in our lives now?

This got the class to reflect on how we are each living our lives now. And as to whether we are living Christ like lives.

We then viewed a video by Francis Chan, a minister at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA.

Jesus: More than a Savior

Discussion ensued regarding if we view Jesus as a role model and if so, are we following in his footsteps?

Training for the Christian Life

1) Deny yourself many things in order to do your best. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

2) Put all your energies toward winning the race. Philippians 3:13,14

3) Spiritual exercise will help you grow in faith and character. 1 Timothy 4:7-10

4) Fighting long and hard without giving up. 2 Timothy 4:7,8

Know Christ, be like Christ and be all Christ has in mind for you. We need to develop our faith using abilities God has given us. It’s all worth it in the end.

Class concluded with a second video from Francis Chan that we’ll follow up on the 24th.

Balance Beam

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This session was introduced by watching a video. Steve Harvey Introduces Jesus Christ.

As he says about his introduction of Jesus, “this might not be how you would do it, this is just how I would do it.” The class agreed that we would probably all introduce Jesus differently due to our current levels of faith and spirituality.

Our two main topics for our time together on Wednesdays are:

1) knowing Jesus Christ

2) What does it mean to be a Christian?

Take a look at the following Bible verses: Jeremiah 29:13 & Philippians 3:10. Both of these verses encourage us to seek God with all of our heart.

We then began discussing how much time we are spending each day with God. How do we determine how much time is appropriate? The more time that I have spent preparing for class, the more my understanding has grown.

Given our discussion on time, I played a video called 40 Million Minutes.

40 Million Minutes

This video helps put our time with God in perspective to the many other things we do daily. We then chewed on the question, “Is religion a convenience for us?” What choices are we making in our lives? Do they glorify God? This will continue to be a discussion point for us throughout the class.

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For the past several months I’ve been facilitating an Adult Confirmation Class on Wednesday nights. The class came to be, I believe, as a result of the Holy Spirit. I had long desired adult education time on Wednesday nights. The youth had classes but classes didn’t consistently exist for adults. At the same time, I was being a hypocrite since I wasn’t encouraging my children to participate in the programming available to them. As the month of August approached, the scheduling calendar, again, did not show any adult education classes on Wednesday nights. It was now put up or shut up time for me. I had been feeling led to offer a class so that there could be a place for adults to gather and learn with one another and grow in their faith. Was God calling me to lead such a class? I consulted with the pastors and with my wife. It was decided I would offer a class, that she would come to it willingly and that our children would begin going to their programming.

Now my wife and I have been attending Faith for almost 18 years. Why now? Why this time around? I believe God is working through me so that His message continues to be shared. After all, we are called to go forth and to share the good news. I had been seeking to grow stronger in my faith, to share it with others and to help them do the same. My own faith grew even more last week as we were preparing to finish our discussion on faith. I had decided to pass out a singe mustard seed to each class participant. It was taped to a sheet of paper along with Matthew 17:20 written on it. A person’s faith, like a mustard seed, starts small and grows if nurtured. A visual came to me as I was working with the seeds. A piece of tape stuck to the bigger piece of paper where all of the seeds had been placed. When I lifted the tape without holding the paper down, the seeds went everywhere. Ah Hah! Indeed, they did go everywhere. As they combined and then spread out, I imagined the faith of each class member doing the same. Go forth and be disciples. Share the good news. Until next time…

“And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

Disciples, Faith, Holy Spirit Hide

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This is my first blog post!

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