New!

 

New. We don’t always like that word because it means change. New and change have always been hard for the church. We, as the church, have never embraced change very easily. That always seemed strange to me since when Jesus came, He brought and establish something new, a new covenant established by His blood. And in the Bible, there are over 200 references to “new”.

 

So, as we are about to enter a new year, let’s look at a new thing God did in the life of Elijah and in the life of His people.

 

1 Kings 18:17-19

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is having the courage to confront false belief.

 

God moves to have Elijah challenge Ahab and 850 false prophets to meet with him on Mount Carmel.

 

In 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah asks the people gathered on Mount Carmel to not try to go back and forth between Baal and God but to decide who is really God and serve that God.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls being willing to challenge others to really believe and follow God.

 

Then in 1 Kings 18:23-24 Elijah set the rules for the contest. The false prophets would build an altar and put an animal sacrifice on it and pray to their gods. Elijah would build an altar and put an animal sacrifice on it and pray to God. The winner would be the God who sent fire to burn up the sacrifice.

 

Then in 1 Kings 18:25 Elijah lets the false prophets go first. This on the surface is a risky thing. What if Baal sets fire before Elijah and God even get a chance? Well, Elijah knew a truth, Baal does not exist and God is real. Elijah also knew that this whole contest was God’s idea.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God enough to do the risky.

 

The outcome of the contest comes in 1 Kings 18:26-40. The false prophets try for hours to get Baal to bring fire and he doesn’t. Then Elijah sets up his altar and sacrifice and then three times pours water on it and then prays and God sends fire that burns up the sacrifice and the altar and licks up all the water. Then Elijah has all the false prophets killed. God removes the false influence that was separating His people from Him.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God to be faithful to what He says.

 

There is never another time in all the Bible where God tells another person to have a contest like this. God uses Elijah to do something new that draws His people back to Him.

 

New is never easy or comfortable but it is always an adventure.

 

I have always been a little bit of a rebel and always a proponent of change, but this year has stretched me in the area of letting God do new things.

 

Early in the pandemic it was a question of whether we were to meet live or not. We chose to not meet live for seven weeks. It was the hardest seven weeks of all my years in local church ministry. We did it not because we were afraid or because a governor was telling us to or to please our people. We did it so that, like Jesus, we would enter into the suffering of our community. We had people who had no jobs to go to. We had people who could not operate their businesses. We had children who could not go to school. We had parents who had to figure what to do with their children. We wanted to say to them by our actions, “We are suffering with you.”

 

So, by not meeting live, that meant we had to learn how to do online worship and Bible studies. We had to learn how to do all of our ministries in a new way.

 

So, what did God do in our faith family with all the new? Grew our worship attendance by 100 with our online people. Grew our Bible studies attendance by over 300 with our online people. Grew the effectiveness of our benevolence and outreach ministries. He even added new people to our faith family with new people coming live to our worship times and our live Bible studies.

 

The new was not our idea. The contest on Mount Carmel was not Elijah’s idea.

The new was not comfortable for us. The contest was not comfortable for Elijah.

The new resulted in greater honor for God. The contest resulted in greater honor for God.

 

New is not always comfortable and it is never easy.

New when initiated by God will always result in greater honor for Him when we as His people obey.

 

Have a Jesus joyful new year.

 

In the Newness of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                             Joe

An Empty Christmas

 

Christmas is the birth of Jesus and MORE!

 

We tend to focus on Luke 2:7, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

 

This is what Christmas is: The coming of Jesus, the Christ. But what does that really mean?

 

I want to use a word to describe Christmas that will sound a little strange but hang with me as I explain it.

 

The word is Empty.

 

In Philippians 2:6-7 Paul describes the first emptiness of Christmas. Paul writes, “Who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

 

The throne in heaven was empty. When Jesus left heaven for the manger in Bethlehem, He left the throne of God empty. Even though Jesus is the Son of God and was God, He gave up all of that, He emptied Himself. He gave up the glory and majesty of heaven to become a human and to serve all humanity.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging Jesus as God and being grateful for His coming into the world.

 

In Bethlehem Jesus came as a human baby and was born in a stable, a barn, and placed in a manger, an animal’s feed trough.

 

But Jesus did not stay a baby so the manger became empty. We don’t worship Jesus as a baby. We worship Him as God and as the Lord of all creation.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is worshiping Jesus as Lord.

 

Jesus went to the cross.

 

In Matthew 27:26 it says that Pilate had Jesus scourged and delivered Him to be crucified.

 

But Jesus did not stay on the cross. John 19:38 says that Pilate gave the body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimathea after he confirmed that Jesus was dead. In John19:41 we are told that Jesus’ body was put into a tomb.

 

Jesus died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sin, but Jesus did not stay on the cross. The cross is empty.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that Jesus died for our sins but did not stay hanging on the cross.

 

Jesus was in the tomb. But on the third day something extraordinary happened.

 

In Matthew 28:5-6 we are given the account of what occurred on that Sunday morning. It says, “But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay.’”

 

The tomb is empty. Jesus is no longer in the tomb He is risen and He is alive. He has returned to the throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the reality of the risen Jesus in our lives.

 

All of these mean that Jesus came into the world with the cross in mind. Since God is eternal and cannot die, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, entered into the human race through the virgin womb of Mary. He took on flesh and blood and became a man. He did this to offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. He was born to die, and He died to rise again. Because of His death, we can live forgiven; because of His resurrection, we can live forever.

 

That is why an “empty” Christmas is so fulfilling.

 

With the Reality of Jesus Empowering Us

to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls,

Joe

Pride or Humility Leads to Opposition or Blessing

 

James says it in James 4:6 and Peter says it in 1 Peter 5:5, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

 

God makes it very clear through all of the Bible that human pride will put a person in opposition to God and humility allows God to pour even more grace on a person.

 

Why does pride put a person in opposition to God? Pride is the root that causes us to sin against God.

 

Eve’s pride led her to disobey God and eat the fruit that God had said not to eat.

Cain’s pride led him to kill his brother Abel.

Rehoboam’s pride led to the nation of Israel being split into two nations.

Jonah’s pride led him to run from God and be shallowed by a big fish.

Judas’ pride led him to betray Jesus.

Paul’s pride led him to persecute Christians

The religious leaders’ pride led them to crucify Jesus.

 

Proverbs 16:18

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

 

Pride always leads to destruction because it put us in opposition to God and thus leads to sin.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeing that pride puts us in opposition to God and leads to destruction.

 

The poster boy for pride in the Bible may be Nebuchadnezzar.

 

In Daniel 3 Nebuchadnezzar builds a ninety-foot-tall statue of himself and commands that all the people are to bow and worship the statue.

 

In Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. Daniel interprets the dream. He warns Nebuchadnezzar in verse 27 to break off his sins by practicing righteousness and his iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed so that there could be a lengthening of his prosperity. God had already showed Nebuchadnezzar His wisdom in having Daniel interpret his first dream and showed His power by rescuing Shadrach, Meshach, and Meshach from the fiery furnace without any harm done to them.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is taking seriously the words of God meant to warn us and move us to repentance.

 

Nebuchadnezzar did not pay any attention to God’s words and actions.

 

In Daniel 4:30 Nebuchadnezzar says, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for glory on my majesty?”

 

Instead of giving God praise for all that God had given him and done for him, Nebuchadnezzar praises himself for the power and splendor of Babylon.

 

The result was that God drove Nebuchadnezzar out to live like an animal for several months. Pride leads us away from God because pride elevates us to be the most important, not God.

 

Humility draws us closer to God because, by humbling ourselves, it allows God to elevates us. 

 

1 Peter 5:6

Humble yourself. Therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.

 

Pride = self-elevation which leads to us falling off the pedestal we put ourselves on.

 

Humility = God-elevation which leads to us being exalted by God’s mighty hand by which we cannot fall.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is not exalting ourselves but humbling ourselves and letting God exalt us.

 

We live in a culture in which one of the big traits is entitlement. We talk about our rights, what we deserve, and what we are entitled to.

 

Jesus, who had every right to demands His rights, talked bout being a servant.

 

Mark 10:45

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

 

Jesus, the eternal God of all creation who could have rightly demanded that everybody serve Him, came to serve others and to die as the payment for every person’s sins.

 

As we are celebrating the coming of Jesus into the world, let us allow the Holy Spirit to form in us the image of Jesus by creating humility in our words, actions, thoughts, and desires.  

 

When we humble ourselves under the authority of Jesus, we will experience the joy and peace of Christmas.

 

In Humility Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls with Jesus as Lord,

                                                      Joe

Receiving God' Wisdom

 

If someone were to ask you what one gift they could give you, what would it be? Now, this person has the authority and power to give you anything you say you want. Most of us will never be in this position, but Solomon was.

 

2 Chronicles 1:7

In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”

 

God asks Solomon, ‘What is it that you want Me to give you/” God, the all-power one, asks Solomon, ‘What do you want Me to give you?”

 

2 Chronicles 1:8-10

And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place. O Lord God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of Yours, which is so great?”

 

Solomon answers God

 

First, he acknowledges how gracious God had been to his father David.

 

David had not been a perfectly obedient king. He had committed adultery. He had committed murder. He had, in his pride and arrogance, disobeyed God. Yet, God loved David and, in His love, had confronted David over his sin, He forgave David when David repented, and He restored David to still be a man after God’s own heart.

 

All that we have.

All that we are.

Is because of God’s grace.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is recognizing and acknowledging God’s grace shown to us in His steadfast love.

 

Second, he acknowledges how gracious God is being to him.

 

Solomon knows that it is God who has made him king in his father’s place. Solomon was not David’s firstborn son. He is not the oldest living son of David. Solomon is only king because God revealed to David that Solomon was to be king.

 

God has not blessed me based on me.

God has blessed me because of Him.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living in obedience to God because of God’s grace, not to get His grace.

 

Third, he asks God to give him wisdom.

 

Solomon knows that governing Israel was something that went beyond his natural abilities. He knows that he does not have the knowledge and wisdom to effectively lead Israel in the way that God wants him to.

 

Solomon humbles himself and admits that and asks God for knowledge and wisdom.

 

Life is complex and complicated and in our natural ability we don’t have the insight or knowledge or wisdom to live it in a God-honoring way. We need God to be our wisdom.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove is humbling ourselves under God’s authority and asking Him to be our wisdom.

 

2 Chronicles 1:11-12

God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”

 

God’s response is that He will give Solomon what he asked for: knowledge and wisdom. But God will also give him what he did not ask for: riches, possessions, and honor like no king has had before.

 

God’s grace is shown in that He gave Solomon what he asked for and what he did not ask for. This again shows how gracious God is.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is honoring God and receiving His grace.

 

When we honor God by obeying Him, God will then pour out more blessings on us because He can trust us. The more God knows He can trust us, the more He can graciously bless us.

 

In Obedience and Blessing Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                              Joe

In the Middle of the Storm

 

Many people have the idea that being a Christian, a person who not only believes that Jesus is God but who follows Him with all of their life, will never have storms in their life. That followers of Jesus will not have difficult times or struggles in their lives. They will never doubt God.

 

The truth is that, as followers of Jesus, we live in a fallen world and will face struggles, difficult times, grief, and doubt.

 

In John 16:33 Jesus tells us we will have troubles. He says, “In this world you will have troubles.”

 

We read about a storm that the Twelve faced and we read about what Jesus did for them in the midst of the storm.

 

Matthew 14:22-24

Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

 

Some storms come because we create them for ourselves.

 

We make ungodly decisions.

We listen to ungodly advice.

We desire ungodly things.

 

The storm that the Twelve find themselves is because they obeyed Jesus. Storms in our lives can come because of our obedience to Jesus.

 

The Twelve are in the storm because they obeyed what Jesus told them to do. The Twelve had to be asking some questions.

 

Why are we out here?

Where is Jesus?

Why is this happening?

Did we do something wrong?

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is obeying God no matter where it leads.

 

Jesus, according to verse 23, was praying.

 

There is no indication that Jesus was doing anything else. He didn’t eat. He didn’t chat. He didn’t sleep. He prayed. Jesus was so intent in prayer that He persisted even though His robe was soaked and His hair was matted. After He’d served all day long (feeding the five thousand), He prayed all night. He felt the gale-force winds and the skin-stinging rain. He, too, was in the storm, but still He prayed.

 

Where is Jesus when we face our storms?

 

Romans 8:34

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

 

The word interceding in this verse is a very strong word. It means making specific requests or petitions before someone.

 

When we are in the middle of the storm Jesus is right where He was when the Twelve were in the storm, He is praying, interceding for us. Jesus is interceding, making requests to the Father for us.

 

Hebrews 7:25

Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

 

Jesus is continually making intercession for us.

 

Jesus intercedes in the good times.

Jesus intercedes in the bad times.

Jesus intercedes in the in-between times.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that Jesus is praying and interceding for us all the time.

 

If Jesus loves us and if Jesus is all powerful and if Jesus is Lord of my life, then shouldn’t my life be storm free?

 

If Jesus is praying for us, why did the storm even happen? Wouldn’t an interceding Jesus guarantee a storm-free life? Yes! That storm-free life will be inaugurated in the eternal kingdom of God that we will one day enter. Between now and then, since this is a fallen world and since the devil still stirs doubt and fear and temptation, we can count on storms. But we can also count on Jesus’ prayers and His presence in the storm.

 

Matthew 14:25

But in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.

 

Matthew 14:32

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

 

Jesus comes to the Twelve as they struggled in the storm. And after Peter walked on the water and then sank into sea, Jesus got him into the boat and stilled the storm.

 

The second part of John 16:33 says, “But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

 

Yes, we will face storms in this earthly life, but Jesus will show up and overcome the storm.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting that Jesus will show up and overcome every trouble we face.

 

So, when you and I face storms, we need to remember and trust that Jesus is praying for us, that He will show up for us, and overcome the storm.

 

With Jesus in the Storm Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                   Joe

Blessing and Being Blessed

 

I love Thanksgiving. It is a holiday that reminds me of a biblical concept. The concept of blessing.

 

There are over 200 references in scripture to bless or blessing or blessings. Not surprising that most of these references are in Psalms which is a book of praising God. It is also a book that tells us how God has blessed us.

 

Psalm 29:11

May the Lord give strength to His people! May the Lord bless His people with peace!

 

The word bless means to speak a word of care or grace over us. God’s blessings to us are God gifting us with things all coming to us because of His grace.

 

You and I have nothing that is good that is not a blessing from God and all of it is given by God to us because of His grace and mercy. What God has blessed us with is not because of anything we have done. We deserve nothing that God has blessed us with.

 

Raise the Roof and Removing the Walls is recognizing that God’s blessings to us are about Him and not us and come to us through God’s grace.

 

Thanksgiving is a built-in time in our cultural calendar that allows us to take out time from our life routine to give thanks to God for all the ways He has blessed us.

 

James 1:16-17

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

 

The gifts that flow out of God blessing us are good and they will continue to come from God because God does not change.

 

The God that blessed:

Abraham

Moses

David

Isaiah

Peter

John

James

Paul

is the same God who is now blessing us.

 

2 Corinthians 9:15

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

 

The gifts that come from God blessing us are gifts that are so extraordinary that our words cannot express enough gratitude to God for them. We have to give God our lives to fully express our gratitude.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is expressing our gratitude to God for His blessings by giving Him our lives.

 

The Bible tells us about God’s blessings to us but the Bible also commands us to bless God.

 

Psalm 103:1

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

 

We are to bless God with all that we are and we are to bless His name, who He is.

 

Blessing God means speaking a word about God’s many attributes. It is recognizing the real blessing of God toward us is that we get to know God and experience His presence in our lives.

 

Psalm 34:1

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

 

I will bless God all the time.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 

I will bless God in all circumstances.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is blessing God because of who He is and doing it all the times in all circumstances.

 

I am writing this to remind not only you but to remind myself that even in a year of extremely difficult circumstances that we have never experienced before, we still have reasons to bless God and celebrate Thanksgiving. The number one reason we can bless God and celebrate this Thanksgiving is Jesus. 

 

I pray that you have a thankful and joyful Thanksgiving and you will use it as a time to bless the Lord with all that you are.

 

Thankfully Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe

Building the Church the Jesus Way

 

I have lived through a lot of trends in growing the church. There was the church growth movement of the 80’s and early 90’s. There have been many different evangelistic efforts and programs. The latest in ways to grow the church is coming up with ways to market the church.

 

These all seem to me to go against the things that Jesus did as He proclaimed the gospel and ministered to people.

 

There are four times when Jesus told people not to tell others who He was or what He had done.

 

In Matthew 8:4 Jesus tells a leper who He had just healed not to tell anyone that he had been healed but to go show himself to the priest so he could be certified as healed.

 

In Matthew 16:20 Jesus strictly charges the disciples not to tell anyone that He is the Christ.

 

In Matthew 17:7 as Jesus, Peter, James and John are coming down from the mountain after Jesus had been transfigured, He tells them not to tell anyone what they had seen until He is raised from the dead.

 

In Mark 7:36 after Jesus had healed a deaf man, He charged the people who had seen Him do it not to tell anyone.

 

Jesus was unclear on how to market Himself.

Jesus was very clear on how to trust and obey the Father.

 

What does that mean for us as followers of Jesus in the present?

 

First, it means that we are not to flaunt our obedience.

 

Matthew 6:1

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

 

God wants us to obey Him because we trust and love Him. Our obedience is not done to impress others. Our obedience flows out of our gratitude to God for sending Jesus to be our sacrifice for our sin. It is done to please God, not people.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is obeying God because it is what God wants and our obedience pleases Him.

 

Second, it means that God did not choose me because of how great I am.

 

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

For consider your calling, brothers; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

 

God does not love us because of us.

God did not choose us because of us.

God does not use us for His honor because of us.

 

God does all of these because of Him.

 

We, from the world’s perspective, are not wise. We are foolish, we are weak, and we are nothing. Yet God chose us to shame the world and to bring to nothing things that the world says are everything.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is boasting about Jesus, not ourselves or even our faith family.

 

Third, it means we are the servants but God is the power.

 

1 Corinthians 3:5-7

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

 

God is all powerful and any growth in the kingdom and in the church comes through God’s power, not our power or talent. We celebrate the growth as a gift from God and all about Him.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is giving all the credit to God for any growth that occurs in a church or ministry or our lives.

 

Fourth, it means we are not to grow weary in doing good because we know that we don’t labor in vain and God will give us a harvest when we don’t give up.

 

Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

 

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

 

Ministry is never easy but in our present covid-19 circumstances it has become even more difficult. The key is to continue to seek God and to continue to obey God. If we don’t give up, God will bring the harvest because we do not labor in vain. God will bless our enduring obedience.

 

It is not about you and me.

It is all about Jesus!

 

Exalting Jesus by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                         Joe

Going into the Unknown

 

The unknown is scary. We feel like and are being told that we are living in uncertain times. The truth is we are always living in uncertain times.

 

Look at what James says in James 4:13-14, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

We have never known what tomorrow holds but, given the time in which we are living, that reality has become much more real.

 

I am consistently getting offers for books or videos or courses that will help me navigate our church through the covid-19. I also get similar offers to help me know how to pastor our church after covid-19. The truth is no one has ever navigated a church through covid-19 and no on knows what the church will be like after covid-19. So, the truth is, no can tell us or even help us do what these claims offer. It is unknown

 

So, how are we to deal with life right now and how I am going to navigate our church through covid-19?

 

Hebrews 11:8

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going.

 

Abraham was going not knowing where he was going.

 

What was the basis of why he was going? – Faith.

What was the basis of where he was going? – Faith.

 

In Genesis 15:6 it says, “And he believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness.”

 

Abraham faced the unknown by faith and God honored that faith and declared Abraham righteous.

 

So, what was the faith based on?

 

Genesis 12:1

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

 

The first thing that Abram did was that he listened to God.

 

When we face what we have never faced before, the truth is each day is an unknown. We may have thoughts and plans but we cannot know the future. But God is all knowing and He knows the future. We first, before anything and above everything, need to listen to God.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is always being attentive to God’s voice.

 

Genesis 12:2-3

And I will bless you and make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

 

The second thing Abram did was that he believed what God said. He trusted the promises that God gave him.

 

Hebrews 11:1 defines what biblical faith is.

 

It is having the assurance of things hoped for.

It is having the conviction of things not seen.

 

Abram believed that God would:

Make him a great nation

Make his name great

Bless those who bless him

Curse those who dishonor him

Bless all the families of earth through him

 

Abram never in his life time saw the fulfillment of any of these promises, but he believed them because he believed God.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is believing what God says and what He promises because you believe God.

 

Genesis 12:4

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

 

The third thing that Abram did was obey God.

 

Abram heard what God said.

Abram believed what God promised.

Abram obeyed God and did what God told him to do.

 

Abram was not a young man starting his adult life. He was seventy-five years old. He had a family and responsibilities. He did not use those as excuses. He obeyed God and packed up and left.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is obeying what God says without using any excuses.

 

So, do we live in uncertain times? – Yes!

Are we moving every day into the unknown? – Yes!

 

I have never pastored a church in a pandemic before or dealt with online and live worship times. I have never done hybrid Bible studies. I have never ministered to two congregations (live and remote) before.

 

And you have never worked in a pandemic. You have never dealt with changing restrictions weekly. You have never had to try and educate your children in a covid-19 environment. You have never had to work and coordinate things remotely.

 

So, how are we going to do it? The same way Abram did.

 

We are going to be attentive to God’s voice, to listen to Him.

We are going to trust God’s promises, to really believe God.

We are going to do what God says, to obey Him.

 

When we do that, where are we going to be going? We will be going to the same place Abram was: to God’s presence and to God’s will.

 

With God into the Unknown Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                Joe

Engaging Others With Jesus

 

Question: How can Christians engage with those around us, while both respecting people whose beliefs differ from our own and still maintain our gospel confidence?

 

I believe that God has provided a way to deal with the pluralism. Pluralism is a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles of authority coexist.

 

Too often, the fact of pluralism is obscured in this country with an idealized vision of “one nation, indivisible” and the pursuit of “a more perfect union.” But our actual existence is often characterized more by difference and disagreement than by unity.

 

The truth is that today we are divided by some deep and seemly irresolvable differences over things that matter to us.

 

God gives us three passages of scripture to enable us as followers of Jesus to engage with our culture, meaning the people, to show respect for their freedom to believe what they choose, but also to maintain a solid foundation on faith in Jesus and to boldly proclaim the gospel of God’s grace.

 

Ephesians 4:1-2

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.

 

The first thing God has provided is our calling to a relationship with Him through Jesus.

 

Our calling as followers of Jesus is not:

To make people believe what we believe

To win a theological argument

To establish what we believe is superior to what others believe

 

Our calling is to live to show the love relationship we have with God through Jesus.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living in a daily relationship with Jesus.

The second thing God has provided is humility through the Holy Spirit.

 

Pride is something that will always separate us from God because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Pride always will lead us to exalt ourselves above others and create a wall between us and others. It is hard for people to hear and see Jesus in our lives when we are filled with arrogance. 

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living humbly before God and others.

 

The third thing God has provided is gentleness through the Holy Spirit.

 

The word gentleness is the word we get our word meekness from. It literally means strength under control. It means I don’t try to force people but I use the power of God’s Spirit in me to show the character of Jesus to others. It means I don’t demand my rights but give them up to meet the needs of others even when it means I have to sacrifice.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is relating to others with a gentle attitude that shows tolerance even when I disagree with a person.

 

The fourth thing God has provided is an ability to bear with others in love.

 

It is daily giving grace to others. When people struggle, we bear with them, even when it is something they have brought on themselves. It is not judging but loving others. It doesn’t mean endorsing their lifestyle or their decisions or their beliefs, but not condemning them or rejecting them because of what they believe or do.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is showing grace, not condemnation.

 

Hebrews 13:14

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

 

Philippians 3:20

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The fifth thing God has given is the knowledge that this world is not our home.

 

We are created with a desire for the eternal. We are to focus on eternity, not the temporary. Our home is our eternity with Jesus. If that is truly my focus, then I will know that God is in control and I will want others to know Him and experience the security of an eternity with Him.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living as a pilgrim who is just passing through this life to our real life.

 

The Christian calling is to be shaped and reshaped into people whose every thought and action is characterized by faith in Jesus, by hope because of Jesus, and the love of Jesus. And a people who speak and act in the world with humility, patience, and grace.

 

With Humility and Gentleness Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                    Joe