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Over the past two weeks we’ve looked at three questions:
#1. What is the church?
#2. What is the purpose of the church?
#3. How do we fulfill our purpose?

We determined that you and I are the church, our purpose is to love God and be loved by Him, and we fulfill our purpose by surrendering everything to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we want to look at a fourth question,and that question is: What are the expressions of the church?

Before we explore the answer, let’s make sure we understand the question. What are the expressions of the church?

You may remember back two weeks ago when we were looking at the purpose of the church, I told you about how I had written up these five “purposes” of the church. They were worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry & evangelism. But then we clarified our understanding and said actually, our purpose is to love God and be loved by Him. So if that’s our real purpose, what are those five things that I listed as purposes earlier? I think they are best described as expressions, and here’s why.

The word ‘expression’ comes from a Latin word that means ‘to press out’. Think about facial expressions for a minute. When we are experiencing deep sadness or grief, that feeling of sadness wells up within us, is pressed out upon our face. Tears flow and our face involuntarily distorts itself to express that feeling. Or when someone tells us something funny, that feeling of laughter wells up within us, and presses itself out on our face and we smile and laugh. We don’t try to laugh, it just comes out. It’s our feelings pressed out on our face. It’s a natural reaction.

And these five things – worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry & evangelism – work the same way. When we are living in a growing, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, surrendering our whole life to Him, these five things will just flow out of our lives. They are the natural expressions of the Christian life. Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who missed last week’s message (and for those of you who have forgotten), last week we introduced a series of messages on the church. And to start it off, we looked at the two most basic fundamental questions you can ask about the church.

#1. What is the church?

The church, we were reminded, is people. Church is not a building, it is not a charitable organization, it is people who belong to the kingdom of God – followers of Jesus Christ.

#2. What is the purpose of the church?

And we discovered that our purpose, as individuals and together as Christ’s church, is simply to love God and be loved by Him.

Now the question I want to answer today is “How do we do that?” How do we love God and be loved by Him? So as I started to prepare for today’s message I began to come up with a list of different things we should do if we want to really love God.

• Read the Bible.
• Study the Bible.
• Memorize the Bible.
• Pray.
• Love my neighbor.
• Tell others about Jesus.

Before I was finished, I realize that the list I had looked very much like a Christians New Year’s Resolutions. Have you ever done that? Maybe not at just New Years, but after listening to a convicting speaker or reading a great Christian book, or while attending a Christian conference? You make a firm resolution – I’m going to read my Bible more. Or I’m going to spend more time in prayer. Or I’m going to be more bold in sharing Jesus with my friends.

I’ve sure done that a lot, I imagine you may have as well. But what happens most of the time? You get up at 6:00 am to read our Bibles on Monday. Then again at 6:00 am on Tuesday. You’re a little tired on Wednesday, so you bump it back to 6:30 am. On Thursday you manage to squeak it in at 6:45 am. Friday you hit snooze too many times and are running late, so you decide you’ll read your Bible before you go to bed that night. You forget all about it over the weekend, and by Monday, you’ve given up. Then it’s back to your regular routine until the next time you feel convicted.

After we’ve been through that cycle about 10 times we begin to think that we’re a pretty terrible Christian. Why can’t I read my Bible more – or why don’t I get more out of it when I do? Why can’t I memorize verses – I know I should, but I can never stick to it. Why can’t I be more bold in sharing Christ with others? Even when opportunity comes up, I chicken out. How can I really love God, if I can’t do all these things I know I should be doing? Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first of five messages on the topic of the church.

A little over two years ago God began to take me on a fantastic journey. I had been working full-time with Camp Little Red for about four years when Heather & I began to feel led to resign from our position of follow-up supervisor. We didn’t really know why – we certainly enjoyed working at the camp, and we didn’t have any other job options at the time. But we felt increasingly led by God to leave the camp and begin a new chapter in life – whatever God would have us do. So in October of 2006 we resigned from the camp and I took on a job as a teacher’s aid at the small Christian school that I had attended as a kid.

Up until this time, camp was the over-riding theme & focus of my life. I had directed camps, developed new camping programs, and spent my energies thinking of new creative ways of doing camp. I loved planning camps and dreamed of one day starting my own camp. In fact, at one time I had proposed to the camp board that I start up a brand new camp here on Buffalo Lake. But about this time, God began to shift my focus.

I started to think about the church. The church that we were attending was going through some difficult times. Attendance had been continually dwindling. New Christians were few and far between. Church seemed lifeless and dull. And to be honest, most Sunday mornings I really didn’t want to go to church.

So I thought, is this really church as God intended it? Where was the “abundant life” that Jesus had promised His followers? The church that I read about in the Bible was alive and exciting! Had the church gone off track? Or maybe was me who’s got the problem? Were things messed up in my approach to church? Maybe my relationship with God isn’t what is should be? Whatever the issue is, how can I fix it? I began to have all these questions about church and my focus started shifting from wanting to build fantastic camps to wanting to build a fantastic church.

So to make a long (but exciting story) short, God has taken me on a fantastic journey over the past 2, 2½ years that has taught me all kinds of things about who God is, who God wants me to be, and what part He wants me to play in His church. I certainly don’t have it all figured out, but I am very excited to share with you some of the things that I have been learning and to continue to learn with you. Read the rest of this entry »

Ava Semerau is a published author and award-winning journalist. She’s also an American expat, a wife and mother, and a Christian. Her latest book is titled, , And God Was Pleased

How many kinds of salt do you have in your pantry?

I checked the other day, and I have six – probably five more than I need! I have table salt (with and without added iodine), coarse salt, grinder salt, sea salt and even grey salt.

You could say I got hooked on salt a few years ago when a friend gifted me a fancy salt grinder. The gift came with a small bag of chunky coarse salt. As the saying goes, I tried it and I liked it!

It wasn’t long and another friend gave me a bag of sparkling white sea salt for my new grinder.

And then one day at the local market, I found a bag of funny-looking grey salt and had to try it, as well. Grey salt looks like sea salt only dirtier and tastes more bitter. It’s an acquired taste, I guess.

I like salt a lot. Probably too much, but I love what it does to food. It takes away the bitterness of an eggplant and adds to the sweetness of a melon. It brings out the flavor of pork chops and turns even a bland hard-boiled egg into something spectacular.

Salt just brings out the best in things.

That’s probably one of the reasons Paul referred to salt when he was telling the Colossians how to behave around non-believers.

Season your conversations with salt, he told them. Remove the bitterness, enhance the sweetness. Give the things you say more tang, more texture. Turn the average into the unforgettable!

In other words, bring out the best in others – and for others.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5-6 NIV)

Be kind, Paul reminds us.

Lift others up instead of running them down. Let your words reflect Christ in your life.

Show consistency between what you believe and who you are, and follow the advice of James 1:22: Don’t let the word of God go in one ear and out the other. Do what it says.

Act on what you know to be pleasing to God and, as my favorite recipes all say, salt to taste.

Paul’s advice to “season with salt” hits equally hard on two different Biblical principles, Be Kind and Think More Praiseworthy Thoughts.

Be Kind tells us: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32 KJV). Be Kind is exemplified in the Beatitudes, and it reminds us to treat others the way we want to be treated.

Thinking Praiseworthy Thoughts encourages us: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.(Philippians 4:8 ). Thinking Praiseworthy thoughts is all about staying positive – in the things we think and say, and the things we pay attention to.

These two principles together help us to keep a positive mental attitude toward others as well as ourselves, and form the basis of a God-pleasing life.

For more information on these principles, as well as the other 15 Biblical principles for creating Christian success, pick up a copy of book And God Was Pleased by Ava Semerau. The book is available online at amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions, and is also available at fine booksellers around the globe. To learn more about Ava Semerau, visit her sit at www.avasemerau.com, or simply send her an email.

I’ve decided to do something I’ve never done before. I am going to be part of a blog book tour. Just recently Ava Semerau sent me a copy of her new book “And God Was Pleased: Biblical Principles for Creating Christian Success”. I’ve only just read the first few chapters, but thus far it’s been an enjoyable read. As she points out in her introduction, it’s “not a theological treatise and it’s not a Sunday morning sermon”, but it is a refreshing reminder of some simple Biblical principles for pleasing God.

I’m going to continue reading through this book, and on October 1st, I’ll be posting an article from Ava here on this site.

For more information, pick up a copy of the book And God Was Pleased by Ava Semerau. The book is available online at amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions, and is also available at fine booksellers around the globe. To learn more about Ava Semerau, visit her sit at www.avasemerau.com, or simply send her an email.

The Tower of Babel – Genesis 11

“Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

What were the people of Babylonia trying to do? Build a tower to make themselves famous

Were they being successful? Apparently

What made them successful? A common language – the ability to communicate successfully

Was that good or bad? Why?

What did God say about them? “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!”

Do you think God would say that about your church? Your family? You and your friends?

The people of Babylonia were united in doing something wrong, so God had to stop them. But what if a group of people could be united in doing something right? Nothing would be impossible for them – God said so.

So how does a group like that become so united together? How did the people of Babylonia do it? Look through the passage. They all spoke the same language – they talked – they understood each other. When their ability to communicate was stopped – they were finished. I think Satan has done a great job of keeping us Christians from communicating with each other because he knows that Christians who have that kind of communication – nothing will be impossible for them.

Think about it: When you’re at church, how often do you talk to someone about the things that really weigh on you heart? How often do you share your deepest hurts, how you really feel, what you’re really concerned about. The last time I was at church my conversations went like this:

Me: Morning.

Other person: Morning, Dave. How are ya?

Me: Hey, I’m doing great. You?

Other person: Real good. How’s work been going?

Me: Not bad. Keeping busy, anyway.

Other person: That’s good. How’s the kids?

Me: They’re good. Well, I better go find this kids. Nice to see ya.

Did we really communicate? Not really. Most of what was said wasn’t even true. That’s not communication – that’s not even fellowship. God doesn’t want us to only communicate with Him (although that’s surely important), He wants us to communicate with each other. The Christian life was never meant to be lived alone – God intends us to live life in unity with other Christians.

What would happen in your life if you had a small group of friends that you could really communicate with? A group of friends that you could share your biggest struggles with – no matter what they may be? People who ask you how you really are – how you day has really been. People who say they’ll pray for you and then actually do. Friends who don’t just talk about the weather, they talk about what God’s been doing in their life and what He’s been teaching them. I tell you, nothing would be impossible for a group like that.

Would you like to be a part of a group like that? I sure do. But it’ll require a change in the way we communicate. Casual conversation isn’t enough. Non-believers can have casual conversation. Christians need intentional conversations. Our natural tendency is to be very superficial in our conversations – even with close Christian friends. The “Hi, how are you? I’m great” kind of stuff. We need to intentionally make our conversations count.

Ephesians 5:16 – “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” Or “Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.” Ask the real questions. Answer questions with truth. Take the opportunities you have to encourage one another and build each other up. Don’t waste your time on weather and politics – talk about things that actually matter.

Exercise: Pair up with someone who you know fairly well and spend five minutes being real with each other. Have an intentional conversation.