When I read the Scriptures I am amazed at how often God speaks. He speaks to His people, through His people, and for His people. He is constantly speaking. This should tell us something about God. One, he is not silent, two he has something to say! In other words, when God speaks his isn’t just adding to the noise, he is cutting through it. He never speaks without having something to say.

What about us? When I say “us” I mean those who follow Christ. Do we always have something worthwhile to say when we open our mouths? Is what we say worth listening to? Are we imitating God as Ephesians 5:1 instructs us? Is our speech full of grace as Colossians 4:6 commands us? Are we saying anything worthwhile at all?

With everything that is going on in our world, I believe that we (the Bride of Christ) MUST have something to say! We must cut through the noise with the Hope we have in Christ. When we open our mouths to speak we should have something to say. Something worth listening to.

Challenge yourself this week to have something to say. Don’t pass on the opportunity to share love or hope, to share the Gospel, to speak peace into someone’s life, to build up others (Ephesians 4:29), to share the truth. We cannot forget who we are in Christ, what we have found in Him, what he has given us charge to share with others. I believe we could shake our neighborhoods to their core if we had something to say.

I had a childhood friend whose brother was an avid comic book collector. He had boxes and boxes of comics all in their plastic sleeves with cardboard backing. He was the real deal. When he was away at college, my friend and I would pretty much raid his collection. We would have comics strewn all over his bedroom floor as we read page after page.

My favorite comic book of them all was X-Men. I loved reading the mini-series and keeping up with all my favorite heroes. I knew everything about Wolverine and Gambit, two of my favorite characters. In fact, I went so far as to make my own Wolverine claws. These would not have been on the Top Toy List in Parenting Magazine. These were wooden, sharpened, tied to my wrist with rope, claws. I could have hunted small animals with them.  My point is this, I had a hero. I wanted to be just like him. My thoughts were consumed by him.

There will be a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus as the hero, but we should be doing this long before that day. When we truly understand what we have been saved from, when we truly understand the Gospel, we do not have a choice but to make Jesus the hero, and want to be just like him.

Not only is marriage worth fighting for – the definition of marriage is also worth fighting for. Marriage is not a government created institution. Marriage was created and defined a long time ago by the Creator God himself. Therefore, marriage has always been a sacred institution.

The first 3 chapters of the bible- Genesis 1,2,3 – provide us the definition of marriage. The Fall – where sin entered the world – corrupted and redefined all relationships, creation itself, and life in general. However, when the foundation is studied, the evidence is overwhelmingly clear that marriage was and is the union between one man and one woman.

Here in North Carolina we have the opportunity to vote on a Marriage Amendment on May 8^th.

The Marriage Amendment states specifically that marriage is the union between one man and one woman. 

In order to help us live out the Gospel, I have some bullets points I want you to know regarding this issue so we can be better equipped to have meaningful and edifying discussions about this issue.

We are about the Gospel. 

No message can get in the way of THE message. This is not to say we cannot stand up for issues like this one, but we must remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood, and everything we say and do should reflect the Gospel. We must be careful that the issues don’t distract us from what really changes lives.

We must love people – all people – and respond in love. 

When we define marriage between one man and one woman, we can be accused of being narrow and intolerant by those with differing views.  We must never forget that we are commanded to demonstrate the love of God in every situation. John 3:16 and 1 John 4:8 must be etched into the deepest parts of our hearts. We love because he first loved us, and we can now draw on His love for those who do not know Him in the hopes that God will move through us to draw all people to himself.

Live a life of daily repentance. 

I encourage you, never get over the fact that you have been redeemed. If you have said “Yes” to Jesus you no longer have to bear the penalty of sin, however we will still have to deal with the presence of sin. It is important to have a lifestyle of repentance. Not just confession of sin but a daily turning from yourself to Jesus. If we do not do this, our relationship with God gets muddy and our stand for biblical issues becomes prideful. We are all sinners and remembering this as we engage the world will help us keep perspective and approach these kinds of issues with humility, patience, and love.

In Conclusion:

The Gospel is not relegated to one area of our life; it speaks to every part of our life. It is the reason you exist. You have the right, because of the Gospel, to stand up for truth. I encourage you to stand for truth with the Gospel always in mind.

I encourage you to consider the implications of the marriage amendment and vote accordingly. Take the time to educate yourself and ask yourself the hard questions. Our motives are just as important as our actions.

We at The Creek Church will continue to bring fame to the name of Jesus Christ by heralding the Gospel, loving people, and repenting of sin.

To add to Granddad’s quote, “Marriage ain’t no bed of roses…..but its worth fighting for.”

I Peter 2:9 informs us that we are a people chosen to declare His excellencies, to proclaim the greatness of the One who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. We are the ones who have been made alive through the Holy Spirit, and we are the ones who have the Hope of Christ.

My question is this. Do we really believe this? I had a seminary professor who frequently reminded us of a little formula he used, stated belief + actual practice = actual belief. I wonder if it has become too easy to say, “I am part of the Body of Christ” or “We are the Body of Christ”. I wonder if we have forgotten the power behind those words, or the responsibility behind those claims. We are the physical manifestation of God on earth. We are His ambassadors. For better or worse we reflect our Savior to the world. Does our stated belief and actual practice show that we truly believe we are the Body of Christ? Is our reflection of Christ accurate?

I know I fail to act like I am part of the Body many times. I know I live for myself far too often.  What about you?  Have you been living like you were part of something more?  Have you ever realized what a privilege, honor and responsibility it is to be called the Body of Christ?

When: Sunday May 20th for 12 – 2pm
Where: Mills Park Middle School

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We have all experienced the “I thought I was going but did not get invited” response first hand. Maybe it was a wedding you were sure you would get an invitation to and did not. Perhaps a birthday party that all your friends got invited to but you did not. Whatever the occasion – party, wedding, or gathering  – it does not feel great when you don’t get the invitation. Then there is the awkward moment when someone asks you, “Why didn’t you come to the __________ party?” And you say, “I WASN’T INVITED.”

I have been really convicted about inviting people to church. I have informed many people in my neighborhood about The Creek. I have even told them how much I love what I do, where we meet, and the times we meet. However, I have simply not made the transition from INFORMING them to INVITING them. 

The most common and productive method for having new people come to church is through personal invitation. Not information but invitation. Some say the percentage of people who come to a new church or a church for the first time by invitation is 87%. Did you know that less than .01% come from a mail out?

People are always going through trials. Your neighbors are going through difficult times and struggling to find the purpose of life. Jesus is not just one answer or another answer – He is the only answer. At The Creek Church, we are about Jesus. We live to bring fame to his name. Inviting them to The Creek means they get to hear about King Jesus. It does mean we will grow but that is not the primary goal. Getting people to come hear about Jesus  – the answer for their life – is the goal.

Let’s together invite our friends and neighbors who are not in church to The Creek so they can never use the excuse I WASN’T INVITED.

After all, I believe The Creek to be the best “party” in town…….hands down!!

When: Sunday, May 27th after service
Where: Mills Park Middle School

“In part it is about having no money, but there is more to poverty than that. It is about being isolated, unsupported, uneducated, and unwanted. Poor people want to be included and not just judged and ‘rescued’ at times of crisis.”

This perspective changing statement was made by a mother who had lived all of her life in poverty. When I read this, I was heart-broken. We have become very good at taking on “projects.” We help in times of crisis, we put on one day events, we go to week-long mission trips, and we put together “programs” that are almost always under resourced. All in an effort to “reach out.” We have made people into “projects.”

As I take a good hard look at my own perspective on this I am forced to ask “Why?”. Why do I do this? Because its controllable? Because it’s not messy? Because its easier? Because it won’t take up too much of my time? Because I can hide behind the timetable or organizational set up? While all of these are reasons we do this, I believe these are just the fruits of a far more serious cause.

I believe that we do this because we have failed to understand and know the passion of our King. When you survey the life of Christ we do not see him taking on “projects” or putting together programs. We don’t read about all the planning or committee meetings Christ attended or put together. We simply see Christ build relationships, establish community, and share his life with people. We were never his project, we were not just rescued, we were loved. Despite our inability to give anything back, he loved us. He invited the poor and downtrodden to himself. He invited us.

As the Body of Christ we must remember that it is Christ’s heartbeat that beats in us. Its his passion for people that drives us. Let’s stop doing “projects” and build relationships. Lets invite others to be a part of our community in Christ. Let’s stop surrounding ourselves with people who are “just like us” so we can be comfortable. Let’s break out of the “People Project” syndrome and come to know, understand, and live out the heart of our King.

But before we go any further,  let’s examine and define the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ – in obedience to His Father – lived a perfect sinless life, died on a cross for the sins of the world, rose three days later and is one day coming back to restore all things to Himself. The gospel is the message of Christianity that separates it from all the other major world religions. It teaches us that we don’t have to try to hike up the mountain to earn God’s salvation, but that God became a man in the person of Jesus, and hiked down from the top of the mountain so that we could be saved by His efforts, not our own.

But is this message of the gospel only for those outside of the Christian faith? Or to put it a different way, once we realize that Christ – for His Father’s glory – hiked down the mountain “for us” and have placed our faith in Him to save us by grace, do we stop “majoring” on this message and move on to other, better things? Understanding the answer to this question is essential for our  spiritual progress and joy in the faith.

So, have you ever wondered why Paul constantly reminds Christians of the Gospel in his letters? Or have you ever thought about how many times he brings up to Christians the fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose for our salvation? If the gospel message is only designed for non-believers, than why can’t Paul, the author of over half the New Testament, get away from talking to believers about it? Suffice it to say that Paul realized that the gospel is the ultimate reality that can fuel you in the present. In other words, without a daily remembrance and trusting in the gospel as believers, we will live our lives aimlessly without any gospel centered, God glorifying motivation. We will fall in to the ugly and evil trap of legalism and just laboriously go through the motions of Christianity. Think of it like this: you put gas – very expensive gas I might add – in to your car so that it can run, right? Without it, your car won’t run. If you want to travel in your car from one place to another, you must have gas in your tank. Think of the gospel as your “gas” for running the Christian race. You need to constantly re-fuel yourself with the gospel. Preach it to yourself daily. Remember it. Bask in it. Glory in it. Be humbled by it. Allow it to be your underlining motivation for living the Christian life.

Is the gospel message for believers, too? You bet it is. It has both justifying AND sanctifying power.