Mythbusters

This past Sunday we began a new teaching series at Delta called "Mythbusters."  What we're doing is looking at different myths that surround Christianity such as "The Bible is a fairytale," "God can't be good because of suffering in the world," "God is just mean and sends people to hell," and "There can't be only one way to heaven."  We'll then spend the final week looking at the clues of God in this world that reveal the Heavenly Father to us all.  I'll also be using about half of the sermon to do some Q & A from question cards, emails, Facebook posts, and comments from this blog.

If you're looking to do some extra-credit reading, the following books will be helpful:

• The Reason for God, Tim Keller
• Beyond Opinion, Ravi Zacharias
• The End of Reason, Ravi Zacharias
• Simply Christian, NT Wright
• They Like Jesus but not the Church, Dan Kimball

There are other great apologetic books by the likes of C. S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, and Josh McDowell.  I'm also reading the new book by Al Mohler called Culture Shift which addresses some of these issues, but have not finished it yet but it looks very promising. Here's my book disclaimer: Read with discernment, and don't take anybody's word as 'gospel' other than Jesus.  I may not agree with everything in the books I recommend, but I do in general.

So please, send in your honest questions about God & Christianity.  If you're looking for a fight, don't bother because we're not.  But if you sincerely have some questions and have an open heart and mind and are willing to thoughtfully engage your questions, then please participate with us.

Blessings...

Stories of Transformation

We took some time going through our mission statement for Delta the first few weeks of September.  We spent a week on "Loving God", then "Transforming Lives", and finished with "Changing the World".  The second week was particularly powerful, as at the end of the service our worship team played through 'Amazing Grace' and our people filled out cards that read "I once was ______________, but now I'm _____________" as they reflected on the transforming power of the Gospel in their lives.  They then posted their cards up on some posterboards as acts of worship.  The following list is a sample of the cards that were filled out.

I once was an unlovable mess, but now I’m loved.

I once was filled with fear, but now I’m filled with love.

I once was selfish and lived for myself, but now I’m a servant and find joy in meeting other’s needs.

I once was lazy and sluggish, but now I’m active with a goal.

I once was alone, but now I’m surrounded with love.

I once was unforgiven & lost, but now I’m forgiven & found.

I once was confused, but now I’m hopeful.

I once was not telling my friends about God, but now I’m doing it more.

I once was a wretched sinner, but now I’m a saved sinner.

I once was prideful & bossy, but now I’m learning to let Jesus be the boss.

I once was trying to be in control, but now I’m letting go.

I once was guilty, but now I’m free.

I once was scared, but now I’m confident.

I once was empty, but now I’m full of love & hope.

I once was abandoned, betrayed, & lost, but now I’m treasured, loved, & redeemed.

I once was terrified, but now I’m hopeful.

I once was hopeless, jealous, joyless, & restless, but now I have purpose, hope, and a Christ who is sufficient.

I once was timid, but now I want to be bold.

I once was all alone, but now I’m feeling at home.

I once was self serving, but now I’m serving others.

I once was unconfident in myself, but now I’m confident in Christ.

I once was fake, but now I’m real.

Transforming Your Life

A couple weeks ago we began a new series called "Transformissionary" (named after this blog) at Delta where we're looking at our mission statement of "Loving God...Transforming Lives...Changing the World."  Yesterday was on "Transforming Lives", and I realized that I had a lot of information, so I thought I'd post it here to save people from writing their hands off from taking notes.  Here's the highlights:

2 Corinthians 5:17 gives us the promise of our transformation through the Gospel.
Acts 3:1-10 gives us an example of this Gospel-transformation in action.  The man was:

• Regenerated: He became a new creature...his depression was turned to joy!
• Justified: He longer sits outside the Temple; he now IS a temple of God!
• Sanctified: His new ability to physically walk mirrors his new spiritual walk with Jesus, becoming more and more like Him.
• Glorified: His physical healing is a foreshadowing of his complete future restoration when he'll be in heaven with Jesus.

But when Delta talks about your transformation and my transformation, what exactly are we talking about?  We mean that we desire that you transform from:

• Unchristian to Christian - Ephesians 2:1,4,5.  You have no hope for anything else unless you are a Christ-follower.
• Self-centered to God-centered - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. Jesus gave us everything, and our only appropriate response is to give everything back to Him.
• Consumer to Servant - 1 Corinthians 9:19. Being an inward-focused consumer will only lead to your isolation and ineffectiveness.  Being an outward-focused servant will bring you friendship and bring about Gospel-transformation in others.
• Member to Missionary - John 20:21. Church is not about belonging to an elite club that just sits and soaks.  Church is about being infused into the world, bringing the transforming power of the Gospel with you.
• Fence-sitter to Influencer - Matthew 9:9,10. We stop letting life pass us by and taking what we can get.  We begin influecing those in our lives toward Jesus.

We know that Jesus is the initiator and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6).  But what about the inbetween?  How do we best join Jesus in his transforming work in our lives?  The answer lies in community.  We need to fully engage in the community of Christ-followers in obedience to what the Bible says about community

• There's importance of being together - Hebrews 10:24-25.  Being together at church, in homes, in community group, or any other gathering is how we're loved and encouraged to live for Jesus.  And we are to "consider" this: planning it, prioritizing it, making the most of it.
• There's importance of those who have gone before us - Hebrews 12:1. We find encouragement and victory over sinful, destructive patterns in our lives by learning about saints that have gone before us.  God has always used common, fallen people to do great things for Him through their simple faith.
• There's importance of submitting to spiritual leadership - Hebrews 13:17.  God gives us Elders and Deacons to teach us, guide us, comfort us, and discipline us so we can love Jesus more.  We submit to their leadership willingly for our own good, and for their own good as they will stand before Jesus one day to give an account on how they led and cared for people.
• There's importance of the community's role in healing - James 5:16.  Confession to other people doesn't provide forgiveness of sin (only Jesus does that); but confessing our sin to others who love and care for us helps unload the burden of sin, finds that we're not alone in our struggles, and allows the Body of Christ to love like Jesus does.

Remember that we are all like the lame beggar.  We all need our lives radically transformed as only Jesus can do, but we also need someone to grab our hand and help us up.