Jonathan Evans

How to lift a burden rather than being one

“Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours, but you.” 2 Corinthians 12:14

 

SEEKING THINGS

Imagine, and maybe it’s not so hard to do, that someone arrives at your door, knocks and immediately upon seeing you demands something from you - a drink, some food, to borrow something, to play with your new toys, etc. Certainly, you would feel like this person is not interested in you, but in what belongs to you. In the verse above, Paul is assuring the Corinthians that when he visits he will not be a burden. He assures them by stressing that he will not be coming to seek anything from them. Instead, he will be coming to seek them, to be with them, to invest in them. Similarly, when we either visit our friends and family or are visited by them this holiday season, let’s make sure they know we’re much more interested in them than in the things they might have or be giving. 

 

SEEKING PEOPLE

Paul will go on in this chapter to explain what he means when he says “for I seek not what is yours, but you.” He has been “saving up” for them. He is going to gladly “spend” himself on them. In other words, he is looking forward to not only seeing the Corinthians, but also to serving them. He is MORE interested in giving than receiving. He is MORE interested in lifting their burdens than

being one. He feels this is his obligation. Of course, this is an obligation of love. Paul loves them as a father loves his own children. A father will do anything for his children. Indeed, it is the father’s duty to provide and to protect. But more than a duty, it’s his delight! When people know that you care more about them than what they have and that you enjoy giving and serving more than receiving and being served, then you can lift heavy burdens rather than adding to the load.

 

JESUS SOUGHT US

When Jesus came down to earth, he didn’t come seeking our silver or gold, our toys or cars, our houses or clothes. Jesus didn’t come to be a burden by seeking things from us. Rather, he came to lift all our burdens by seeking us, finding us and rescuing us. There is no burden-lifter like Jesus Christ! Having saved us, he continues to lift our burdens daily. He continues to serve us and to care for us daily. He loved US and he loves US! He did not come to seek what was ours, but to seek us. This Jesus was the example Paul followed and imitated with the Corinthians and throughout his life. The love of Jesus controlled him. 

 

Jesus is our example in life. So, being filled and controlled by his love for us, let us not burden our friends and families by seeking first what is theirs. Rather, let us lift their burdens by seeking first to give, to care, to serve and to love them. 

So You Want To Lead?

“After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead.” Joshua 1:1, 2

Joshua was Moses’ servant before he became the Lord’s servant.

In other words, Joshua submitted to Moses before he succeeded after Moses. Submission before succession is the key to becoming a leader. 

SUBMISSION

Joshua is described as “Moses’ assistant”. This means that he served Moses in whatever Moses needed. But beyond personally assisting Moses, we know that Joshua was integral to God’s bigger plan for Israel. The fact that Joshua was submitted to Moses did not mean that he was not doing important things or was not holding a position of influence or was not respected by others. He was. But here’s the point: Joshua learned to lead from a place of submission. Leading isn’t the goal, anymore than driving is the goal. The destination is the goal. You need to learn to drive in order to get to your destination. Likewise, you need to lead in order to arrive at the destination God has prepared for you. We need to understand the value and longterm leadership effect of true submission and humble service. When our heart submits under the leadership hand of another, God molds our heart in preparation for the day when we will succeed someone. 

SUCCESSION

Successful submission leads to succession in leadership. Moses was called the servant of the Lord. He was God’s chosen and appointed leader for a particular time in Israel’s history. But when his time came to an end, so did Joshua’s time as his assistant. Joshua becomes the Lord’s servant when God declares, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5) God’s faithfulness to Joshua was according to Joshua’s faithfulness to Moses. Future leaders fail to recognize the enormous consequences their faithfulness to another leader will have in their own leadership. It would be by God’s power and might that Joshua would take the land, as it had been by God’s power and might that Moses had led Israel out of Egypt. But God’s power flows most mightily through those leaders who are living in submission to Him and who have lived in submission to those He placed in authority over them. 

 

Leadership is not an end in itself. Many hold leading and leadership as the goal of succession, but it is not. The goal of leading is to get somewhere and to accomplish something. Joshua knew what he had to do. He needed to be strong and courageous to lead the people into the land, to conquer it and to possess it. The land was the destination. Taking possession was the goal. 

So you want to lead? Become a servant of your leaders, be a good assistant, and God will make you a great leader, a servant of His glory.

Jesus and Death

1 Corinthians 15:54 states that when Christ finally returns in His glory death will be swallowed up. According to Revelation 21:4, this simply means that death, as an event, will be no more. Our bodies will no longer die, but will now be glorified and live forever. While physical death is a consequence of sin, it is not THE consequence of sin, which would be eternal separation from God in hell. Other consequences in addition to death would include sickness and disease, natural disasters and every other form of brokenness in the world.

 However, death is representative of separation from God, since by death we are now separated from this life. But Jesus has conquered death by conquering sin through His death. He has reconciled and brought us to God. (1 Peter 3:18) 

 Jesus needed to physically die in order to fully experience and suffer all the consequences of sin. What this means for us is that because of Jesus, His person and His work, we can now in part (through salvation), but later in full (in the new heaven and new earth), fully experience and enjoy all that God in His love desired for us to have from Him and to know of Him.  This will be a life without any further separation of our body from our soul and spirit, and a life forever without any separation between us and God.  Jesus endured every separation known to man so that man could enjoy every blessing found in God.  

We will die, unless Jesus returns first. We will die not because Jesus death wasn't enough, but because the fulness and completion of the work of salvation is yet to be seen, though it is by faith secured.

FALL FEST 2011 Message

Hey, Elim Grace! I wanted to take a few minutes to remind us of the great opportunity we have before us in FALL FEST 2011. 

 

I want you to remember this: The fruit of the Gospel in your life is the seed of the Gospel in another's life. 

 

As Christians, every interaction we have is an opportunity for the Gospel of Jesus to transform a life. Therefore, every interaction matters because it can change a room, a circumstance or a person's life by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

 

At FALL FEST we will be interacting with dozens, if not hundreds of people. With each interaction, you and I will be planting gospel seeds in people's hearts, that by God's grace will grow. We're going to do this in three BIG ways:

 

OPENING OUR DOORS

We'll be welcoming people with great joy into our home, but more than that into an atmosphere that will be filled with the presence of Jesus. Since we believe that Elim Grace is a place where all things are possible with God, we want people to come in. Because we have been changed, we want others to be changed.

 

OPENING OUR HEARTS

We'll be serving people with great love, passion and care. Many people will be coming out of broken homes. Some will be walking out of spiritual darkness. There will be husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and strangers, who will never have experienced the transforming love of Jesus.

OPENING OUR HANDS

If you go trick or treating you're likely to get a lot of candy. But if you come to FALL FEST you'll not only get a lot of candy, but you'll also give a lot of candy away! We're happier when we give. And if we can give with generosity in our hearts, then what we will receive in return will be better than anything else. Candy is small, the love of Jesus is big! A smile is great, a transformed heart is amazing!

 

So, let's open our doors, our hearts and our hands, so that the fruit of the gospel in our lives can be the seed of the Gospel in other people's lives.

 

Pastor Jonathan

Three reasons we don't invite people to church

We love them too little 

Jesus found Phillip, who in turn went to find his friend Nathaniel. (John 1:43-46) This is how change happens. There is a a connection that cannot be severed between Jesus’ words to us, “Follow me”, and our words to others, “Come and see”. There was something that happened in Phillip’s heart that could not be contained. This is the power of the Gospel that transforms lives. This is the love of God that has been poured out into our hearts. (Romans 5:5) To the degree that we are astounded by the grace of God, we will love and go, seek and invite others to come and see Jesus. The love of God doesn’t terminate on us, but rather it compels us to be like Jesus.

We doubt God too much 

We go to church on Sunday expecting to sing songs, give tithes, and hear sermons. But we don’t actually expect anything to happen in our lives as a result of going to church. It’s a meeting. It’s what we do on Sundays before having fun and taking a nap. Therefore, if this is all we think is going to happen Sunday after Sunday, then what possible reason would we have to invite anyone to church? But since when has God ceased to be powerful? Since when has the Holy Spirit stopped transforming lives? Since when did the Gospel lose it’s power? On the other hand, if I believe that God is mighty to save and powerful to heal, then I WANT my friends to come! I WANT people to encounter the living God! Jesus is alive and His Kingdom is still advancing. 

We think of ourselves too highly

Sadly, many think that they don’t need a local church, that they can do “ministry” on their own. This is contrary to the testimony of the Bible and the testimony of Christians throughout history. Jesus never intended for His disciples to go, make their own disciples and start their own movement. In Acts, the disciples would preach the Gospel and those that believed were not only saved by Jesus, but were added to the body of Jesus, the church. (Acts 2:41-47) When we go out to preach or take part in a ministry, but then never plug those we reach back into the local church, we are not being true Gospel minsters. Additionally, when we start to un-plug from a local church because of the ministry we’re doing, we’re not being true disciples of Jesus. We cannot separate the new birth from the family we’re born into.

3 Thoughts on Prayer

Prayer is a quality of the heart
A prayer life begins with planning to pray. Like anything in our lives, if we don’t prioritize and schedule accordingly, the important things won’t get done. It is crucial that we understand that we pray because we’re helpless and can’t do life on our own. We pray because we need God. We needed God to save us from our sins and to rescue us from His wrath. In His love He has done this through Jesus! But our need for Him hasn’t evaporated now that we have eternal life. Because we are made alive in Jesus, we now draw our life, everything we need, from Him. Prayer is taking your heart and filling it up every day at the fountain of life - Jesus. This quality of the heart - dependency - is what drives prayer. Prayer is more than a quantity of the day, but not less than this. As we set time aside to pray, because God is important, then our hearts learn to pray continually throughout the day.

   
Our relationship with God changes prayer
Conversation is the means by which we give and receive from the heart. Friendships are begun in conversation, developed through conversation and sustained by conversation. Communication reflects the depth of a relationship, whether from the surface or from the depths. But underlying great friendships is more than great conversations. There is trust. The more you come to know and be known by an individual, the more you are willing to give. Prayer is conversation with God. But our communication with God is based on God first having communicated with us through sending His Son Jesus, who is called The Word. Everything God desired and desires to say to humanity He has said in Jesus: God is love. If we come to understand the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ, prayer becomes a pouring out of our heart to Him. There’s nothing we won’t tell Him or ask of Him. The channel of communication God has opened up for us through the blood of Jesus on the cross is an unspeakable joy. It changes everything! Good friends don’t have awkward or forced conversations. There’s a freedom and flow to their conversations that is unique, and irreplaceable. How much more with our God?! That in Christ we have been chosen to ask anything of God as His children is an unchanging reality that should change the way we pray.

Prayer is making room for Jesus
Because planning to pray is a necessary component for a fervent prayer life, we should persevere when it becomes a struggle to set that time aside. Still, often we miss that scheduled time or we can’t take as much time as we’d like. This can be due to many things, but often it’s because prayer becomes a chore, a duty rather than a delight. I often will say to myself, “I need to make room for prayer.” But this is similar to making room to clean or to mow the lawn. I have tried instead to remember that I am making room for Jesus. He is a person and there is a difference between doing a job and meeting a person. Whether it’s five minutes or fifty, making room for Jesus is a joy that has no equal.

 

We pray because we need God, because we’re thankful for Jesus and because we know Him personally.

Distractions and Priorities

DISTRACTIONS
There are many things in our lives that are good things. They’re not evil or necessarily to be avoided, but because of their appearance, we tend to overlook them as possible culprits in our lives. From football to facebook, we can all become so enthralled with something that we completely overlook the people around us or the things we need to get done. This doesn’t mean that every time you watch a game or check your status you’re being distracted, but simply that we have to be willing to recognize WHEN we are being distracted and WHAT we are being distracted from. We then need to be willing and able to walk away from the distraction and refocus on the priority.

A PROPER PERSPECTIVE
We need proper perspective in our lives. And the best way to cultivate and maintain godly perspective is by prayer. When prayer becomes a priority, we gain perspective on our lives. What perspective we gain is not our own, but Jesus’ perspective. And sometimes Jesus sees things differently than we do. We might not think that a particular decision is a bad one or that doing things a certain way is harmful. We might not think that spending more time on one thing and less on another is a problem. We may not feel that our spouse is unloved and unnoticed by us or that our kids lack affection and affirmation from us. We are often blind and need to be shown how things really appear to Jesus.

A PRAYER LIFE
In prayer we come to recognize Jesus’ voice and to discern the will of God for our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. While we come to know generally what it means to live according to the will of God, we also come to know specifically what that means for each of us. Through the Bible and by prayer, the Holy Spirit will lead us to see things that we need to change, stop doing or begin doing. If we’re not praying we will tend to overlook those areas of our lives the Holy Spirit is specifically speaking about. But if we are praying, then suddenly every area of our lives is actively under His sovereign and loving control.

WHOSE PRIORITIES?
When was the last time the Holy Spirit spoke to you about His priorities? When was the last time an area of your life came under the searching power of the Holy Spirit? In order for us to grow, this needs to happen on a continual basis. A people led by the Holy Spirit are those who come to know WHEN they are being distracted and WHAT they are being distracted from, who then are willing and able by the grace of God to confront the distraction and refocus on the priorities God has established for them. 

Radical

Think back to the last time you were really sick. I’m not talking about a runny nose or a light cough, but about the time you thought to yourself, “I hope I never get this sick again!” Probably all of us at that point have gone to the doctor, so that we can understand what we have and what medicine we need. 

Getting to the Root
The word radical has a few different meanings. The one we’re probably most familiar with is “extreme; a considerable departure from the usual or traditional”. Many, though, might be less familiar with the meaning, “proceeding from a root”. For example, using this definition, a radical surgery would be “to remove the root of a disease or all diseased and potentially diseased tissue.” 

The Root is Sin
Humanity is sick and at the root of our sickness is not anger or impatience, lack of resources or education, miscommunication or bad policy. At the root of our problem is sin. Sin is so horrible a sickness that it is incurable. “For thus says the Lord: Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous. There is none to uphold your cause, no medicine for your wound, no healing for you.” (Jeremiah 30:12-13) Radical treatment is needed, a treatment that is extreme and a treatment that gets to the root of our disease.

The Radical Gospel
The Gospel is radical. In fact it is so radical that Paul says that in the eyes and ears of the world it is folly and a stumbling block (1 Cor. 1:23). The world refuses to admit that it is sick. Perhaps there are some who do see that something is wrong with the world, but they don’t see the cure. Perhaps they’ve been told what the cure is, but they cannot believe it. The Gospel cuts away every excuse and barrier and gets to the root. The Gospel tells us that we are sinners under the wrath of God, blinded by Satan and slaves to our lustful desires. But the Gospel doesn’t stop after describing to us our extreme condition. It goes on to describe the cure. 

Jesus
To Paul, the Gospel is the power and wisdom of God. Actually, he says that Jesus Christ is the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24). Jesus is the Gospel! That is extreme, not like any other religion or belief system in the world. Jesus is not only “a considerable departure” from other so-called gods of the world, He is an infinite departure from them. The Gospel is Jesus coming into the world, being born into the world, living a sinless life, dying a sinner’s death on the cross, rising from the dead and ascending up to heaven. Only Jesus can get to the root of our sinfulness. Only Jesus can change us, cleanse us and create a new heart within us. Jesus is everything we need.

From the mouth of the lion

“Save me from the mouth of the lion!” Psalm 22:21 

Goliath
While David was the shepherd of his father’s sheep, his brothers were soldiers in King Saul’s army. David went back and forth from the flock to the army, delivering food and bringing home news. Now one of these times David walked through the camp to the battle line, where he heard the giant Philistine warrior, Goliath, defy Israel. Goliath had intimidated Israel for forty days, morning and evening (1 Sam. 17:16). Every day the Israelite soldiers would rise and go out to the battle line, shouting the war cry, but every day when Goliath would appear they would flee from him, being very much afraid. It was to this scene that David came. The shepherd boy could not believe what he was hearing and seeing.

The Paw of the Lion
David would not stand by as Goliath defied the God of the army of Israel. He would not stand by as the army of the Living God shrank back in fear. David was certain that God could overcome this enemy, and so he approached King Saul and volunteered to fight Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17:34- 37, David described to Saul how God had delivered him before. In fact, David had killed a lion with his bare hands. He had rescued a lamb from the very mouth of its predator. And when the predator would turn on David and attack him, he would take it by the mouth and kill it. David knew what it meant to rescue and to be rescued from the paw of the lion. David knew what it meant to be strengthened by God to fight God’s battles. The shepherd boy fully believed that what he had seen and heard before, God could do again.

The Rescuer
God delivered Goliath into David’s hand and Israel out of the Philistine’s hand. What David had witnessed and done would have a lasting impact. Soon David would be praised for slaying his ten thousands. But later he would be surrounded by thousands (Psalm 3:5-6). David would go to sleep in the mouth of the lion, with enemies on every side, and still God would sustain him, give him sleep, wake him and deliver him. God was David’s great deliverer, from the lion to the bear, from Goliath to King Saul, from a rebellious son to thousands of enemy soldiers. God would never fail to rescue his beloved, his child, his servant. “Save me from the mouth of the lion!” Psalm 22:21

Jesus
Sin is ever crouching, like a lion, waiting and ready to pounce on our hearts to destroy us (Gen. 4:7). The Devil is like a roaring lion, prowling around seeking someone to devour. Because Jesus was hated and persecuted, as his disciples we will be also. In a true sense, we are often found in the mouth of the lion. But there is one who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who is also the Lamb of God (Rev. 5:5-6) who has overcome the world, sin, death and Satan. This Lamb of God is Jesus, and he is able to save us from the mouth of the lion. As the ever-living and ever-reigning Lamb of God He stands over us and says, “This one is mine. I love him.” Jesus still delivers the sinner, the helpless lamb, from the mouth of the devourer. Jesus still delivers his people, his precious and blood-bought church, from the hand of the enemy. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and always.

Two Effects of Hearing God's voice

Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29)

Praying is leaning into Jesus and listening to his voice. But prayer is also kneeling before Jesus and worshipping in the splendor of his holiness. By prayer we can draw closer to God, coming to know the deep things of His heart. But by prayer we are also broken apart, being conformed to his image. By his voice he shapes our many thoughts and desires according to his very own. But by his voice he also shakes the many things that entangle our feet and harden our hearts.

Every time God speaks he accomplishes one of two things in us and for us:

1. God's word comes like a fire and purifies our hearts. All the impurities rise to the surface when we are in the presence of God. When he speaks, he purifies and cleanses. He doesn't condemn us in his presence, but he does convict us. Nothing can separate our thoughts from his, our affections from his, our flesh from his Holy Spirit, like hearing his voice. God's voice comes loud and clear and exposes the lies we've believed, the sins we've covered and the other voices we've admired. It is good to be in prayer and to listen for his voice, because his words purify.

2. God's word comes like a hammer and softens our hearts. There are many things that harden our hearts from hearing God's voice. But his word comes and breaks down the hardness of our hearts and softens it, so that we can be ever more sensitive to his leading, his impulse, and his presence. There is nothing that compares to hearing and recognizing the voice of God speaking to your soul. It fills you with awe, joy, love, thankfulness and adoration. Additionally, there are many things that battle over the territory of our heart. But God's voice comes to crush and strip all our enemies of their power. Nothing can stand against the power of the voice of God.