Growin' Up Gregory

Yesterday morning's message from Pastor Robert Chapman was inspiring, challenging, and extra enlightening for me since it was from a passage that I've studied and spoken on myself before.  After following up on last week's sermon about what it means to be a disciple; following Christ, being changed by Christ, and being committed to the mission of Christ, we began to look at what a mature disciple of Jesus Christ looks like. The scripture passage comes from Philippians 3:15-21, and Paul tells us in the first verse that he is talking to mature believers here, aka church people, who already have a working knowledge of who Christ is. 1)  We are maturing in Christ as we live up to what we have (v.16).  It's not always about knowing more and more, it's about living up to what we already know.  "Hold true" here refers to the believers walking in line and behaving as they should.  And their spirituality should continue to progress based on the same principles

More and more now days people are reacting with anger and hate toward Christians who share Christ with them.  I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons for that people don't want to hear the gospel message proclaimed but as Christians we cannot let that deter us from pursuing God's mission, which is spreading His message.  However, we must work towards that objective and earn the right to share Christ with people if we want them to truly listen and hear.  So how do we earn that right?  The simplest way of doing this is by showing Christ's love for people by our actions.  For instance, if a coworker or classmate gets sick or injured and you visit them at home or in the hospital, that will show them love.  Or if you remember someone's birthday, and that's not even hard with Facebook reminding us everyday.  Or here's a tough one, if you hurt someone and you are strong enough to go to them and apologize.  When someone can see that we as Christians are differen

No Monday Morning Preacher this week since we were out of town this weekend but I did read a good devotion over the weekend, especially considering the amount of traffic we dealt with. We often question God when something goes wrong and tragedy strikes.  But why don't we thank Him more for all the times He protects us?  We are quick to give Him the blame for the bad in our lives but never want to give Him the credit for the things that go right.  Every day people get up, go to work, school, gyms, stores, any number of places and return home safely to their families.  All the while, not knowing how many time God has protected us from harm during the day.  But it only takes one bad thing to happen and we begin to ask "Where are you God?"  "O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure." - Isaiah 25:1 I'm certain that everything in my life, both good and bad,

As you read the passage listed above, work through the progression of ideas that Paul gives us below: A person calls on whom they "believe". They believe when they "hear". They hear when someone "preaches". And someone preaches when they are "called". This progression shows how nations come to know and share the knowledge of God. After that quick glimpse at God's plan for a non-believer to hear the Word, let's work backwards through it to see how a believer in  Christ should respond. V.15 - God's plan involves sending his servants, "unless they are sent."  When we accept Christ and follow him, we are signing up for whatever his plans are for our life.  He sends us out to tell others about him. V.15 - Still in v.15 we see that God's servants preach the gospel.  Everyone is not called to become a preacher in full time ministry but we are all called to go and proclaim the gospel.  Just because you don't sta

We didn't have a traditional service Sunday morning at Tabernacle so this week so I don't have notes, just my memory of the story and scripture with a little input from what I've read.  We were having a breakfast with more casual dress, upbeat music, and laid back atmosphere of fellowship to celebrate reaching a milestone in paying down our debt as a church.  It was a really fun time and I hope that everyone enjoyed the time to relax and just enjoy God's presence as much as I did. That being said, we were fortunate enough to hear a devotional from Sam White.  The text he used is found in James 1:22-25.  He started it off with a story of three guys who were out deer hunting, a doctor, a lawyer, and a preacher.  Well as they were preparing to head into the woods for their hunt, out of nowhere steps a huge trophy buck.  All three men pull their guns up and fire in the buck's direction at the same time.  And as luck would have it, it must have been a perfect shot beca

As media and the government try to redefine things in our world like marriage and gender, we as Christians much search God's Word to see what it says on such topics.  This is necessary for multiple reasons: 1.  1 Peter 3:15 tells us to "always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that it is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." 2.  Our eyes, minds, and hearts are being flooded with pictures, images, and sounds promoting sinful things of the earth and the only way to keep ourselves pure is to guard our heart with vigilance, Proverbs 4:23.  An excellent analogy of this that I've heard is that what's in the well comes up in the bucket, we must pray to keep our hearts pure. 3.  We have to stand up for our beliefs.  Matthew 5:14-16 tells us that we are the light of the world, and that we are to let our lights shine.  Well if the world isn't dark then our lights wouldn't shine very brightly.  Go outside at n

As we begin the study of Joshua 2, God is fulfilling his promise to the Israelites as they continue the process of overtaking the promised land.  The first city they approach is Jericho which is about 8-10 acres in size and provides a good starting point for their invasion.  The main character of our focus today is Rahab, a harlot (prostitute) of the day.  As we go thru this story, think about the people we come across in our lives who may be Rahab's of today, drunkards, drug addicts, prostitutes, and other sinners. This passage with Rahab shows us four points of saving faith. 1.  Saving Faith is initiated by God's grace.  V.1 tells us that Rahab was a prostitute, someone that many of us would not show grace to if we crossed paths with today.  V.15 informs us that her house was built into the  city wall.  This was convenient for the spies, but indicated that while Rahab may have been "popular", people wanted her kept at a distance.  There are also only two women m