“Do You Love Me?”
In their classic 1962 hit, "Do You Love Me?," The Contours posed a question we’ve all asked. And while they weren’t asking this of God, and while their contingency was, “Do you love me now that I can dance?” we do sometimes ask it of God, don’t we? When we do, the answer we arrive at, and the reasons behind that answer, take on a significance that is of the utmost importance for our lives in Christ.
There are numerous places in the Bible where God explains to us why He loves us. Two of the most famous (in my mind) are in Deuteronomy 4:37 and Ephesians 1:5-6. Deuteronomy 4:37 says, “Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them.” Ephesians 1:5-6 says, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” As I heard one theologian explain it, the reason God loves us is because He loves us. He made a free will choice to love us before we could have done anything to make ourselves worthy OR unworthy of it. (Side note: as the father of adopted children, I get it. My wife and I made a decision that we loved our kids before we even saw them and before they did anything. Nobody forced us to love them, no one coerced us. As it was with us, so it is with God.)
When we ask God the question, “Do you love me?”, his answer back is always an enthusiastic “Yes!!!” And if you were to press him and ask, “Well, why?” his response would be, “Because I decided to, that’s why!” What a reality! God loves you because he decided to. It was his choice. No manipulating, no arm twisting. Just him freely doing what was in his heart to do! And get this, he promises to always love you! Jeremiah 31:3 says, “The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.’ ”
In John 15:9 it’s this kind of love that Jesus calls us to abide in, to live in, to dwell in, to make our home in. I don’t want to repeat myself too much, but it’s a love that we can’t earn, don’t have to earn, can’t lose, and won’t lose. It’s the safest love, from the safest Person, that we will ever experience. For a love-starved world, this verse and the reality it describes is a breath of fresh air! For Christians struggling with doubts of their own lovability, it’s like a cold drink of water on a hot summer day. And for people prone to legalism and earning love, it’s an important word of correction and hope.
The Father loves the Son, the Son loves you. Freely. He always has and he always will. Make your home in that love today! You’ll be glad you did.
I’ll see you along the way,
Scott Smith
Connection and Growth Pastor
R.E.S.T
God, in His goodness and wisdom, has given us tools that are designed to help us become disciples. He’s not asking us to make bricks without straw, but he’s given us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) As we’ve already seen, Jesus has given us His Spirit to help us. One of the other gifts God has given us is Scripture – his written word.
We can’t become fully devoted followers of Jesus without the Bible, but knowing the Bible won’t make us disciples, because discipleship transcends information. Jesus made that point when he confronted the Pharisees about the way they were using the Bible. To them, he said, “ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40) The Pharisees knew their Bible better than most of us never will, but knowing the Bible isn’t why Jesus gave us the Bible. According to Jesus, the Bible is a means to an end, and the end is Jesus. We have the Bible so that we come to Jesus and find life!
This begs the question: how can we read the Bible in a way that helps us become disciples? Let me propose the acrostic R.E.S.T as a way to read the Bible in a way that helps us follow Jesus.
First, we must READ. During different seasons of life, you may want to read at different paces. At times you may want to read shorter passages slower and in a deeper way, and at other times you may want to work through reading the entire Bible in a year. The important thing is that you have a plan. What I’ve found is without a plan, we tend towards sporadic and inconsistent time in the Word. There are some great apps that have many plans to choose from, my favorite is YouVersion. Start by picking a plan to follow.
Second, we must ENGAGE the Scriptures, meaning that we must think about what we’ve read. It may mean studying (a study Bible can be helpful for this), looking for themes in what we’ve read, making observations about the text, following cross-references, or doing a word study. The important thing is that we allow what we’ve read to sink into our mind and heart and that we think deeply about it.
Third, we SIT with Jesus. Many methodologies take Jesus out of the picture. This is his Word, and we must come to it with the conviction that Jesus wants to speak through it to us today. After reading and engaging, spend some time praying and asking Jesus what he wants you to hear. It might be one word or one phrase that the Spirit will highlight for you, but trust that Jesus has something unique for you as you seek him through his written word.
Finally, TRUST and obey. When reading Scripture, we must make it a point not to be only hearers of the word, but also doers of the word. (James 1:22) What if we assumed that there was a step of obedience Jesus was inviting us to every day? That would change the way we read the Scriptures. After sensing from the Lord what step of obedience he’s calling you to take, make it your intention to take that step.
Read. Engage. Sit. Trust. Try reading the Bible using this methodology and see if it helps you become a disciple of Jesus.
Pastor Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor
Don’t Just Read the Manual!
Every piece of machinery comes with a user’s manual (or at least ideally). But even if you read a manual cover-to-cover you’re no master. You’re a beginner. You’re only a master once you’ve mastered the hands-on application of a tool.
So too with the Christian life; a merely theoretical or head knowledge is useful, but only for the purpose of getting started! If we’re not careful we can treat the Bible as the end-all and not as the introduction to the real deal: a discipling relationship with Jesus via the Holy Spirit!
Towards the end of John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples: “it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7).
The Word of God, Jesus, required the Spirit’s assistance in order to fully teach his disciples to abide in him. Knowing the Word alone was not adequate for the disciples. Even though they had been with Jesus for the entirety of his ministry, they still needed to become filled with the Spirit.
We are no different. Knowing the Word is not enough to abide in, much less become aware of, God’s presence! We need the Spirit’s help! Jesus says as much further on in the same chapter of John’s Gospel, he says: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:12-13).
You see, Jesus’ accomplishment in life, in death, and in being raised again was just the introduction for the real deal, a new, eternal relationship with God himself via the Holy Spirit!
But this Spirit doesn’t offer any corrections to Jesus’s ministry. Rather, it continues and affirms the very things that Jesus says, bringing them to mind in the right moment and with the right application. Jesus says as much: “He will not speak of his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” (John 16:13-14)
Reading the Word alone and without the Spirit’s help can mislead us in providing a merely theoretical knowledge of the things of the Bible. It’s when we allow the Spirit to lead us into a new life with Jesus that we learn the real nuances of following Jesus. Our lives become an adventure with God, as he teaches us how to become agents of the resurrection newness around us - the kind of resurrection newness that we read of in Scripture!
When we know something only in theory, we are ill-equipped for the real deal. But when we are shown something firsthand by God himself we have a fighting chance of becoming real followers of Him. Knowledge of the Word alone is not enough to cultivate awareness, let alone obedience, to God. The Spirit is needed in order to make us real masters of the Christian life. Without him, we will only be good students of the manual and not good students of Jesus.
Pastor Ryan Lunde
Young Adult Ministry
Abiding in Conversation
Some time ago, a dear friend named Dan, and I set out on a road trip to Vancouver Canada. We had done this trip a few times before and we were looking forward to it again. This particular time though, I was planning on sharing with him the outline of a sci-fi story I had been working on with another friend for many years now. I knew once he understood the plot that he would appreciate the deeper meanings we were aiming to get across. Dan, to his credit, really engaged in understanding the story and we talked and talked, thoroughly enjoying the whole process. About five hours into the conversation we realized we had totally missed an off-ramp and were about half an hour from Vegas. We thought this was absolutely hilarious! That 24-hour trip became a 29-hour trip and one of my fondest memories.
The Lord invites us to spend time close to him and when we do, he has great and wonderful things to tell us. His words are perfect and meaningful to all, unlike my fiction, which is interesting to some at best. We have an open invitation to converse with him and gain understanding. His ways are categorically higher than ours, so It takes time, focus, and patience to understand and accept them. But we have the world’s best teacher and interpreter, the Holy Spirit who is always with us. So the next time you hear the Lord’s voice trying to tell you something, draw close, ask questions, and get answers. You might just find yourself on the best 5-hour detour ever.
Jonathan Duncan
Surely… this place?
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” - Genesis 28:16
This is a beautiful realization! It may sound like a pretty simple statement to us, but it represents a huge leap forward in the development of Jacob’s theology. Before this, he assumed that Yahweh was just like one of the other territorial “gods” or “goddesses” that were worshipped in his day. He assumed that Yahweh was limited by boundaries or geography or that his presence was confined to “holy places.” However, in this moment, Jacob encounters Yahweh in a place that he didn’t expect. Jacob was surprised by God. Have you ever been surprised by God? I am continually surprised by God, but I want to suggest that my surprise says something about what I really believe about God’s presence. Let me explain by starting with some questions.
Where do you expect to encounter God? Do you expect to encounter God at church? You can find him there. Do you expect to encounter God out in nature? You can find him there. What about at work? Do you expect to encounter God there? How about watching a movie? Or having drinks with friends? Or doing the dishes? Or taking care of a loved one? The truth that I want you to hear today is this: You can encounter God anywhere, because God is everywhere!
This may sound like a simple observation. You might even expect God to respond, “Well, duh... Of course, I’m in this place! I’m in every place! And by the way, don’t call me Shirley.” (Ok, maybe not the last part… you’re welcome Airplane! fans.) However, I don’t think that most of us really believe that we can encounter God anywhere. I know that because we only expect to encounter him in a few places. We are not that much different than Jacob.
The funny thing that I’ve learned is that when we expect to encounter God, we have a much better chance of encountering God. For years I took hundreds of High School students to camp. Early in the week, we would always ask students why they came to camp. Many of them would be completely honest with us and tell us that one of their main reasons for coming was so that they could reconnect with God. They knew that they weren’t living for Jesus, and they knew that they were in need of an encounter with God. And the funny thing is, that by the end of the week, most of them actually encountered God at camp! Go figure? They expected to meet God at camp and they actually met God at camp.
Maybe, we have the same problem as Jacob. Maybe, we don’t really know what he figured out all those years ago. Maybe it is time to start expecting God to show up, even in the mundane. Maybe, if we started expecting to encounter God anywhere, we might actually encounter him everywhere.
Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor
Pebble to Pillar
Roughly fifteen years ago, I went to a church camp with some friends. The speaker punctuated longer sermons with timed nature hikes, affording us a chance to reflect on what we just heard. The hikes seemed like a really cool idea until I remembered that there was gravel literally everywhere outside. My metallic steed takes great exception to such terrain; it is a picky beast. I thought I’d be clever and minimize the ordeal and sit reflectively on a log I had seen earlier on my way in. Sadly, it was not as close as I thought it was. The trek, made up of repetitive lifting of the walker over half a foot of gravel before taking half a step to close the distance, took a billion years! I arrived at the log all sweaty and tired, only to reconvene immediately back inside for the next session. Annoyed and frustrated, I plodded my way back. Between you and me, I was not feeling very reflective. In fact, I felt very alone. I looked at this one pebble sitting happily right in front of my walker wheel, and I thought, “No one will ever know about this pebble. No one will see how it frustrates and embarrasses me.”
Then God impressed on me that he knew all about that particular pebble and all the other malevolent pebbles that would prevent my walker from sliding. He knew everything about my situation. He witnessed it from every angle and knew precisely how annoying it was. I was not alone! I arrived late to the next session and despite my best efforts, failed to sneak inconspicuously into the back row. God didn’t prevent any of it from happening, rather he lived through it with me.
I remember that dumb pebble very clearly. The other details fade, but that one pebble remains crystal clear in my memory. In many ways, it has become a monument to God’s nearness and compassion for me.
Likewise, in Genesis 28, we find Jacob, lacking even sparse accommodations, laying his head down to sleep on a rock, which would undoubtedly be very uncomfortable. While he slept, God revealed a fantastic dream proclaiming his plans for Jacob and his descendants. Upon waking, he builds a pillar to memorialize the dream and in fact, he includes the pillow stone in its construction. Like my pebble, his pillow reminded him of something other than the discomfort it caused at the time. Take a second and revisit your monuments and thank the Lord for giving you reason to build them.
Jonathan Duncan
Hide and Seek
When my boys were little we used to play hide and seek. They loved to run and hide and then the search was on. Sometimes they found a great hiding spot, but usually I found them so easily that I pretended that I didn’t, to make it more fun for them. Sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking that we can run away or hide from God. Jacob fled his brother Esau’s anger at the deception that caused Isaac to give Jacob the blessing meant for Esau. Jacob was broken and at a low point but God pursued him and stopped him in his tracks with a dream that changed everything for him. (Genesis 28:10-22)
Moses struggled to believe he could deliver his people from Egypt after murdering an Egyptian and being rejected by his Hebrew brothers. Then he ran into the wilderness until the time when the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush. Instead of doing what God said, Jonah got aboard a ship and went in the opposite direction (Jonah 1:3). He was running away from God’s will. Jonah’s running from God was a result of reluctance to do what God commanded. David was known as a man after God's own heart, yet David was no stranger to wrestling with his faith. The book of Psalms is full of his questioning and pain, as well as his victories.
Each story is an example of God pursuing and working through the struggles and bad choices made by these men God loved. He was merciful and had a purpose for their lives in His bigger plan. They faced consequences but God never gave up on them. Our loving, pursuing, relentless God does not turn his back on us when we struggle in our faith or are disobedient. His mercy is far beyond our understanding, and we don’t always think we deserve it. We are mad at ourselves, so assume He must be too.
C.S. Lewis said “Pain is one of the things that can prevent us from seeing God, it’s also the ‘bullhorn’ God uses to rouse a deaf world.” We can run but we can’t hide from our heavenly Father.
Let’s close with Psalm 139:7-12 as our prayer today:
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” (Psalm 139:7-12)
Deb Hill
Executive Assistant
Beauty in the Desert
For some, COVID has been a season of intense busyness; constantly surrounded by people. Your home, what used to be a quiet sanctuary during brief moments of the day, now feels like the 5 at rush hour - everyone is home, all the time, working, playing and doing school. You are not alone, but you may feel lonely.
For others, COVID has been an intense season of loneliness; physically, relationally and emotionally. You eat alone, watch TV alone and go for short walks alone. It just hurts.
The former is maddening, and while you may not want to complain, it’s real and it’s disconcerting. The latter is agonizing. If you are alone due to isolation, our hearts break for you. You are seen and you are loved; even though it may not feel like it.
In Genesis 28, Jacob has been sent to live with his uncle Laban. His twin brother Esau hates him, his father Isaac is not happy with him and his mother Rebekah can’t protect him. In his weariness, Jacob finds a place to rest. While asleep, Jacob has a dream which ends with hearing the voice of God. Verse 15 says, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” How could this pursuit from God, this promise of hope, be true, amidst so much despair? Jacob had fallen asleep with the pain of loneliness. He now wakes up with a new hope; a hope that can only come through an encounter with God. He is no longer alone, but instead, he is experiencing the sweet aroma of solitude with God.
Henri Nouwen says, “To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude.This requires not only courage but also a strong faith. As hard as it is to believe that the dry desolate desert can yield endless varieties of flowers, it is equally hard to imagine that our loneliness is hiding unknown beauty.The movement from loneliness to solitude is a movement from the restless senses to the restful spirit, from the outward-reaching cravings to the inward-reaching search, from the fearful clinging to the fearless play.”
Jacob’s circumstances had not changed, but his perspective did. He had been pursued by God, experienced his presence and was now able to both rest in God’s love and celebrate his provision; all in solitude.
I realize that asking you to embrace solitude in month 11 of a pandemic may feel like rubbing salt in a wound. Just one more time, invite God into your loneliness. Ask him to search your soul, to comfort your yearning heart, to allow you to experience his presence and give you hope. In solitude, God just might reveal beauty in the desert.
Lynette Fuson
Director of Counseling & Soul Care
Where are you?
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” - Genesis 3:8-9
When I was a kid, I can remember going to my first Padres game at the now-defunct Jack Murphy Stadium. Being at the game for the first time was sensory overload for my young mind. My dad, brother, and I began the journey of looking for our seats while I was overwhelmed by professional baseball players and strange guys selling cotton candy and Cracker Jacks. Before I knew it, I was lost. I can remember panicking and trying to find someone that would help me find my dad. Little did I know, I was never actually lost. My dad was of course aware of where I was the whole time and was yelling at me in the crowd something I’m sure similar to “Seth! Where are you going? Come over here!”
This experience, while terrifying in the moment, has always been a reminder to me of how I think God sees us sometimes. We’re so easily entangled in sin and our ways and our distractions that we sometimes miss the fact that God is with us, He’s standing right beside us, asking the question to us, “Where are you going?” While in the midst of our mess, we have a God that pursues us. As we remember Adam and Eve, in the midst of their shame and brokenness due to their sin, God is there. Adam and Eve have taken it upon themselves to hide, they’re afraid and are ashamed. Instead of coming for vengeance, God stands in the garden asking Adam, “Where are you?” This is the same God today who in the midst of our sin, brokenness, and shame stands calling out to us to come home. Although we are tempted to hide from God, God’s love drives His pursuit of us and calls us out of hiding.
God’s love is the driving force behind His pursuit of us. We know that God demonstrated His love for us that while we were still enemies of God, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Sometimes, like at the game, we feel like our Father is far away, but He’s standing there next to us asking, “Where are you going? I love you, come over here.” If there are areas in which you’re running away, bring those things before the Lord in prayer and stop hiding. Your heavenly Father who loves you is right beside you.
Pastor Seth Redden
High School Pastor
Bring the Kingdom
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
This is the message that Jesus “began to preach.” Notice that Matthew doesn’t make it sound like this was a one-time sermon. It was an ongoing message. It was a part of Jesus’ greatest hits. You might even say that this was his main sermon. And we’re told that Jesus started preaching this, “from that time.” If we look a few verses earlier, the time is a reference to the arrest of John the Baptist. In other words, once John’s ministry was over, Jesus’ ministry began. And notice how Matthew describes John’s preaching in the opening words of chapter 3. He says that John “came preaching” (not a one time message either) the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The exact same words! Do you think that maybe this is an important message?
Here we have two wildly popular preachers who each drew thousands of people with the very same message. Each of them were Rabbis with their own disciples and followers. Two people who made a huge stir in the religious and political power structures of the day because of the message that they preached. And their message was the very same, very powerful message. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
It was a very simple message. Repent! In other words, change your mind. Why? Because this heavenly kingdom is on its way to us. Clearly this was a massively influential message, because we are still talking about it 2000 years later, but it was also an incredibly dangerous message, because it got both of these men killed!
What made this message influential is the same thing that made it dangerous. This message wasn’t just about saying sorry, it was about a complete regime change. It was about a kingdom change. Therefore, if we are going to be people who do as Jesus did, by taking his message to those around us, we need to realize that this message of the kingdom is dangerous. It is dangerous because it is designed to usurp the current power structure in your life and replace it with Jesus. Has this message been dangerous in your life? If not, then it might not be the gospel. Has this message conquered you? Has your old kingdom been overthrown? Have you been so conquered that you need to surrender to Jesus as King? If so, then you are now enlisted as one of Jesus’ messengers. Your commission is: Wherever you go, bring the kingdom with you.
Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor