Todd Sepulveda

So this guy calls me this last Saturday.  I was on my way to do a wedding in Tomball and was just about at the wedding facility.  This guy started out the conversation by wanting me to tell him a little about the church and “the Lord.”  I get these calls often, so I started talking about the church, history, my experiences, etc…  He again asked, “Can you tell me about the Lord?  What does He mean to you?”

OK!  Well, from my double digit years of ministry experience, I know that when someone asks that question, one of two things is going on.  One, they have been hurt by someone in the church and they are carrying some baggage, or two, they have expectations that no one could ever meet in any kind of explanation of “Who the Lord is to me.”

Apparently, my answer wasn’t the right answer, so he hung up rather quickly.  It did get me thinking and reflecting about my answer…and, I still wouldn’t change my answer.

My answer to “who is the Lord” was, “He is everything to me.”  It’s the truth.  There is nothing more that matters to me more than my relationship with God.  If that was to go, I would die.  I know.  If you don’t like that answer, then too bad!  It’s my answer, not yours!

What I should have told this guy is that he needs to not worry so much about what other people think of “who is the Lord” and instead focus more on living in community with others in the family of faith.

Whatever this guy’s issue was, it seemed like he was calling around other ministries, trying to find a better place.  No!  Stay where you are and work it out with your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Unless there is some fundamentally wrong doctrine coming in between you and the rest of the faith community, you should work on living in peace with your family of faith.  It’s so easy to bail nowadays and assert your rights by making some excuse that people aren’t “living” correctly in “the Lord.”  You’re just a wuss! (send hate mail to todd_sepulveda at yahoo dot com)

Family life is messy!  At times, there are arguments, hurt feelings and a lot of stress.  Just look at the DISCIPLES: wanting to call down fire, trying to block kids from Jesus, carrying swords, using swords, trying to get Jesus to rank them (sit on the left and right), not understanding Jesus’ mission (after being told countless times), etc…

Family is messy, but families are FAMILIES.  What can I say?  When you think about family, what do you think about?  Ok, put aside your messed up family life, if that is your experience.  Instead, think about the perfect family and what you think that should be?  Maybe you think about a family on TV or maybe you think about a close friend’s family.  That family is close.  They care about each other.  They are there for each other.  There is love. Yes, there are issues… No one is perfect.  But you come back to work on those issues because…you are family.

That is what this guy was missing.  He wasn’t connected.  He didn’t feel cared for.  That is sad, because I’m sure that he had stuff that he needed to work on…maybe just fellowship.  Having a community of believers to belong to is important!

So let me end with this…when you find yourself at odds in your community of faith, pray and seek God, don’t bail.  You’re supposed to be family.

We’ve been looking at the story of Jonah these last three weeks.  This Sunday, we will tackle chapter 4.  The main theme of the last few weeks has been that you can’t figure out God.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

When we look at life through our own eyes…or even through the eyes of another human, we will never see what God sees.   We are so finite and usually can’t get passed our current emotion…that usually changes with the wind…

So how do we work with something/someone that we can’t figure out?  I know this is a simplistic view/story, but can ou apply it?

After a long day at work this week, I raced home to pick up my son, so I could race to the school to get him fitted with pads for football.   It was an exciting time for him because this was his first year to play for the school.  I was excited because I was done with forking out the big bucks for him to play with the local community sports association, dodging fundraisers and long practices while parents waited in the Texas sun! (Now I just have to pick him up from after school practice!)

As we entered the gym, we quickly noticed two lines, a student line and a parent line. A few inquiries by the parents that all walked in together helped us realize that there were some items to purchase….I wasn’t going to get off scot-free after all!   I also found out that they would only except cash or check.   I didn’t have either!   At this point, after an already long day, in a building without AC (forgot to mention that earlier), I’m standing in a gym, again, with no AC…I could have pitched a royal fit. “I deserve to know beforehand that I need to bring cash. I shouldn’t have to wait in this long line, why won’t they get their act together. I need some AC! I…I…I..”

Thank God that I didn’t pitch the fit. I left my son in line and ran and picked up some cash. The good news was the parent line was almost gone by the time I got back.

I guess the point is that there is some “go with the flow” attitude that is needed sometimes…. maybe a lot of the times. We can’t always figure everything out ourselves.  We are definitely not going to figure out God!   In those times when things are unclear, unsure, not making sense, we should make every effort to trust and “go with the flow.”  It’s easier said than done…but that is another post.

Last week we talked about reasons why God would save Nineveh from destruction. We left it open-ended for the purpose of reflection….Here are the 3 possible reasons again.

1. God is a just and merciful God. When they repented, God was merciful and changed his mind to destroy them.
2. God wanted to show his love for all people by saving an enemy of Israel.
3. God was doing something in Jonah.

What do you think?

We are reading 1 Samuel 16 for our discussion/praise time this week.

Peace.

I don’t normally link to another article as my main article entry, but I’m going to do that today.  I’m linking to David Barton’s article “Preparing for the Unknown.”  It was posted on the Blaze website.  Click here to check it out.

Family Day
We are having Family Day this Sunday.  It will be a great time for fellowship and eating!

Small Group Discussion
We are reading in Acts. Read Acts 23 for our Sunday discussion.

Where is the line between personal action and waiting for God? I wish I had the answer. I would probably have a best selling book, get invited to talk at conferences and a host of other famous people type of stuff. The answer is that there is no formula or template that you can follow. We do like our points to follow and BOOM – instant success! But you’re not going to find it in this arena.

Why do we want to navigate the “line?” God has a plan. His plan is good. When we get in the way, we screw it up. But the thing is that sometimes God wants us to react or respond to His movement…His ways. Sometimes He just wants us to wait on Him. It’s important to be familiar with how God wants to move in you.

Navigating this “line” mostly depends on our relationship with God. We have to know Him to be able to know His will. We read the Bible, pray, ask for wise counsel and stay in a place where we can be led by the Holy Spirit.

We need to be purposeful in knowing Him though. It is too easy to relegate these spiritual disciplines to the weekend…or church. Can I tell you, that’s not enough time to work on/build up your spiritual man. Just think about it in terms of being healthy. If you devoted 1 hour a week to being healthy, would that cancel out the other 167 unhealthy hours? Uhm…NO! So staying healthy with God is vitally important in navigating the “line.”

Homestead Revival Website
Take a moment to check out this article on Food Prices, Grocery Budgets, and Self-Sustainability. The blog is run by a pastor’s wife and is sold on eating healthy, like God intended.  Homestead Revival Article.

Psalms 25
Have you read this through a few times?  What are your thoughts as you stayed with it all week?

Small Group Questions
Check out the questions from last week.  We are still reading Acts 21.

Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” The people of Israel had the privilege of prophets coming to their towns and announcing what God was about to do. Most of the time it wasn’t good news, but you can’t say that God didn’t warn them or give them a heads up.

In fact, in Amos 3:1-6, God makes it very clear that the coming persecution to Israel was a direct result of their actions.

1 Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt: 2 “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.” 3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? 4 Does a lion roar in the thicket when he has no prey?
Does he growl in his den when he has caught nothing? 5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set? Does a trap spring up from the earth when there is nothing to catch? 6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it? – Amos 3:1-6

There is this cause and effect thing going on here. God wanted Israel to know that they were not holding up their end of the deal. God mad a promise to them, and they weren’t holding up their end of it.

And it’s real easy to see it in Scripture. When the people did what they were supposed to do in their relationship to God, things were good, real good. But when they became comfortable, allowed idols worship to run unchecked, didn’t take care of the priests and didn’t follow the ways of God, things turned bad.

My question here is, has anything changed? Does God still look over His creation and bless them and punish them like He did in the Old Testament? Or are we living under so much grace that He is just waiting for Jesus’ return to intervene? What do you think?

Small Group Questions* – Acts 21

False rumors about Paul’s ministry among the Gentiles had quickly spread through Jerusalem. The Jews arrested him and accused him of turning people against their laws and traditions. Paul defended himself, not for selfish reasons, but to gain a chance to preach the gospel. He saw even the most frightful situation as an opportunity for God to work through him.

OPEN
1. Why do most people feel a strong need to defend themselves?

EXPLORE
2. What did Paul do to avoid offending anyone in the church? (21:20-26)
3. Why did the people in Jerusalem want to kill Paul? (21:27-30)
4. How did Paul show Christ’s love to his accusers? (21:38–22:21)
5. What was the central theme of Paul’s defense? (22:3-21)

GET IT
6. In the face of persecution and possible death, what was Paul’s primary concern?
7. If you had been in Paul’s shoes, how do you think your defense speech would have been different than his?
8. How can we determine when defending ourselves is the right thing to do?
9. Which of the character traits displayed by Paul would you like to cultivate in your own life? How?

APPLY
10. How can you prepare yourself to defend your faith, even when others falsely accuse you?
*taken from Ilumina Bible Software

Sunday Sharing
Do you want to read Acts 17 in a different version? You can go here – http://www.biblegateway.com/ If you want to look at Greek and Hebrew words, you can go here – http://www.studylight.org/

Subscribe
Have you subscribed to the Assurance Church Tidbit? You can subscribe right on the blog (link to the right) to get blog updates in your email.

I’ve kind of been hanging out with John 10:10 lately. The verse reads, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” I focused on three words this week, “I have come.”

Jesus broke into our world and changed the course of history. We were on a crash course to disaster and then He came along. History acknowledges it too. His birth separates our calendar, before Christ (B.C.) and Anno Domini (A.D.), which means “the Year of Our Lord.” Even when some people have tried to change B.C. to B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) or just C.E. (Common Era), the point where B.C.E becomes A.D. is still the birth of Christ.

But when Jesus grows up and enters public ministry, one of His first messages (Luke 4) quotes Isaiah 61:1-12.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

The word for “anointed” is used 5 other times in the New Testament. Applied to Jesus, it means – consecrating Jesus to the Messianic office, and furnishing him with the necessary powers for its administration. However, the word applies to us in 2 Corinthians 2:21, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,”

This anointing that Jesus received and talks about in Luke 4: preaching the good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom to prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind….resides in us! He anointed us!

Do you believe you walk around as an anointed one? One that should share the good news, proclaim liberty and freedom and recovery of sight to the blind? Didn’t Jesus tell us to preach the “Good News?”

The thing is…where is your place where you preach the Good News? Where is your niche? I believe that God has given you a place to minister…and everyone is a minister…you are where you are for a good reason. Your work, your neighborhood, your kid’s extra-curricular activities, the grocery store you frequent, are all places where God has placed you in to reflect who He is.

You don’t have to get on the corner and preach fire and damnation. That is not for most people. In my experience, that really doesn’t do any good either. But, people respond when they see that it is real.

Be real in your niche for God!

Superbowl Sunday/Family Day – Sunday, Feb. 6 ,2011
Change in service time! We will have a full tackle church service, fellowship, eat and watch some football!

Men’s Meeting – TBA
Eating…The Word…Praying…And Some Man Stuff!

Small Group Questions* – Acts 17

The gospel caused quite a stir in Athens. Several philosophers invited Paul to explain this “new idea” at one of their meetings. Paul was prepared for this opportunity—he presented the gospel in a convincing and articulate way. Like the apostle Paul, we should be prepared to explain salvation to anyone who is interested.

OPEN
1. What is the most difficult theological question someone has asked you?

EXPLORE
2. How did Paul familiarize himself with the culture in Athens? (17:16-19, 23)
3. What common ground did Paul establish with his audience? (17:23-24)

4. How did Paul challenge the beliefs of his listeners? (17:23-31)
5. How did the people respond to Paul’s presentation of the gospel? (17:32-34)

GET IT
6. What principles of evangelism can we learn from Paul’s example?
7. What prevents some Christians from telling others about their beliefs?
8. In what ways do you feel inadequate to present the gospel?
9. How has God worked through you in the past, despite your fears and weaknesses?

APPLY
10. When can you spend some extra time in Bible study this week to better prepare yourself to answer people’s questions about God? *taken from Ilumina Bible Software

Sunday Sharing
Do you want to read Acts 17 in a different version? You can go here – http://www.biblegateway.com/ If you want to look at Greek and Hebrew words, you can go here – http://www.studylight.org/

Subscribe
Have you subscribed to the Assurance Church Tidbit? You can subscribe right on the blog (link to the right) to get blog updates in your email.

Peace

Plain and simple, people need hope!  There is so much craziness in the world…it is very easy to become dissolutioned with our reality.  Just go watch the news for a bit!  And if we are not careful, we will fall right into the same trap.  Fearful. Worried.  Scared. Depressed.  But then we are no good to God.   The thing is that we have the answers…we have what the world really needs.  Faith. Security. Love. Joy. Peace.  Forgiveness. Hope!

It’s all right here – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 (NIV)  The semicolon separates us!

On one side you have the thief (false teachers), the voices that want to call us away from life that God has for us (read John 10).  On the other side stands The Good Shepherd, calling our name.  We know His voice.  Follow Him. Live in Hope. Be the one He will use!

My favorite movie of all time is Jesus of Nazareth.  However, I’m a typical man that likes to watch butt kicking movies too.  Some of my favorites are The Godfather Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Gladiator, The Patriot, Braveheart, you get the picture.  I also like vampire movies (think Blade and Underworld vs Twilight).

But lately, I’ve noticed a lot of Zombie movies: Resident Evil franchise, I AM Legend, Zombieland, 28 Days, Shaun of the Dead, etc…  And, just recently, AMC debuted a new TV series, The Walking Dead.  The show was so popular that Season 2 was ordered with double the amount of episodes (12) before Season 1 was over.  I read somewhere that it was the most watched series on basic cable ever.  Why?

I don’t think that there is ever going to be a Zombie Apocalypse.  Although, some of the stuff in medicine and nanobot technology can freak you out if you start to think about that something ever might go wrong.

I do think that people are drawn to shows like The Walking Dead because it shows humanity fulfilling their most basic needs vs. the complexity of life.  If a Zombie Apocalypse ever breaks out, you won’t have to worry about your bills, your education, what you are getting Uncle Joe for Christmas, painting your house or cutting your grass.  You won’t have to worry about your retirement, or if the economy is going to recover.  You won’t have to worry.  You’ll have to have laser like focus on your efforts to survive: eat, sleep, fight off zombies that want to eat you, scavenge for supplies and stick with others who want to do the same.

So why am I posting this here and not on my super secret zombie blog?

We are so distracted.  It is hard to focus on the important things in life because we have so many things going on.

The Message Bible, Matthew 17:17a says, “Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things?”

Maybe, just maybe, we subconsciously want the Zombie Apocalypse to come so we can focus on the important things…like trusting in God and appreciating what we have.  Maybe we need to be forced into it!  I hope not!  But wasn’t our focus changed on 9/11 or for those of us down in the South, during Katrina and Rita?  Times of crisis help us to stop and reflect, but why do we need to go there?  Why can’t we just take time to stop and reflect without the need to go through troubled times?

Is your life focused on God?  Isn’t that the most important thing that you can focus on?  When you weigh it all out, eternal life vs. making another buck, etc..  Isn’t it a no-brainer?  It should be, but it isn’t….for most.   What are you going to do?

Christmas service, Dec. 20th, will be an evening service @ 6:30.