Financial Peace.

Well, it’s that time again.

Every year, our church leads through some sort of series devoted to helping us think about how we use and manage money. This year, we are calling it “Christian Atheist” and we are challenging ourselves to think through the provocative question: Do I say I believe in God but spend and manage my money like I don’t even believe He exists? I am certainly not immune to mismanaging money. One look at my financial profile will show you that. I’ve got some student loans, a huge car payment, and some credit card debt (that I am horribly ashamed of because it’s mostly on spur of the moment, impulse purchases).

No doubt you will be hearing a ton about this in the days and weeks ahead, but our church offers a class called “Financial Peace University,” and it’s great. Through the incredible generosity of a couple at our church (who had went through the program themselves a few years before), I was able to take FPU a couple years ago, and it was probably the most helpful thing I’ve ever done financially in my entire life. While there, I learned some really helpful skills that have helped me be so much more responsible with my money. And while I’m not totally there yet, with each passing month and payment, I’m getting one step closer to financial freedom and that is an incredibly exciting feeling.

If you are on the fence, I want to push you over. DO IT! You will not be sorry you did.

For more info on Financial Peace, you can contact Robin McHugh (robin.mchugh@suncrest.org) about signing up for one of the classes happening at Suncrest this winter/spring.

Debt: A Biblical Exploration

…by Bobby Jackson

One of the things I love about my church is that we are practical in our approach to help people follow Jesus.  Leaving people with lots of guilt or a “you should” mentality isn’t really all that helpful so each week we try to nail down some specific next steps that we can all take.

In the midst of a financial series we can start to feel like we are at a financial seminar.  It’s possible to forget that the Bible is where we draw what we believe about finances and how we use money.

Here is a resource we love from the guys at Lifechurch.com that walk us through some things the Bible says about how our heart and money work together (or against one another.)

Click on the link below to follow this five-day reading plan.  Its quick and painless to sign-up.  (Everyone should have Youversion on their computer or phone anyway, it’s great.  :-) )

5 Day Debt Reading Plan

 

 

Beyond Sunday: Christian Atheist-Trendy vs Wise

…by Dave Wright

 

I woke this past Sunday morning looking forward going to church.  I told my wife the previous night that I was looking forward to posting my first blog of the year.  Then I walk in…and of course I get to write about finances…YEA!

 

I guess I did learn one thing this morning.  I am in the average column.  I have debt like the majority of other people.  I do have a job.  Do I want a better job?  Do I want to get paid more?  Absolutely.  Have I practiced my faith in God and prayed about it?  Yeah…maybe not so much.  Deep down, Sunday was much more than a SERMON ABOUT FINANCES!

 

“They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.”  Titus 1:16

 

(Pause now as reality hits in 5,4,3,2,1…)

 

Why is it so hard to trust God?  It should be simple…but, it is not.  Human nature makes it hard to not try and do everything ourselves.  But that is the beauty of God’s love and grace.  He is waiting to take us in just as we are.  I am paraphrasing…if you just obey his word; God’s love will be made complete in you.

 

Pray everyday for God’s help!  Listen to what he says…he is waiting.

The Power of Looking In the Mirror.

On this site, we’re all about providing some useful tools for all of us to grow in cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus.

I had a revelation recently, and that is that the greatest tool for cultivating is oftentimes staring me right in the face.

It’s just looking in the mirror.

Okay, I’m obviously not talking about a literal mirror (though looking in one of those can lead to you needing to take some action too!), but a metaphorical one. Take a look at a few words from Scripture, found in James 1:22-25:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.

We’ve got the perfect mirror staring us right in the face, and it’s the Word of God.

Here at Suncrest, we’ve just completed this series called “Listen” where we talked about the power of sitting back and simply taking some time to listen to the words that God wants to speak into our lives. We practiced silence for 10 minutes a day, simply placing ourselves before God and asking the question, “God, what do you want to say to me today?” and then just listening. It’s been cool at a staff level to hear a few of the stories that people have shared about listening and what they feel that God is saying to them.

But even if that’s not so much your thing, you’ve got a document straight from God: the Bible. Page after page is filled with God’s message to us, His followers. As I engage with the Bible, I often discover a message from God straight to me about something.

But so often, I find myself cruising through life just like the people James talks about in this passage. I hear God’s word, but I don’t do anything about it. I don’t let my faith and my listening inform my actions. Nothing changes in my life. And that’s wrong. If the God of the Universe says something to me, the least that I can do is respond.

What’s worse, though, is that sometimes I take a message that God wants to speak to me, and instead of applying it to myself, I think of how it applies to all the other people in my life. I’m the perfect example of the person with the plank in my eye who is trying to help someone with the speck in theirs (see Jesus’ words on this in Matthew 7:3-5). And I know I’m not the only one who does this. In fact, I’ve seen it practiced in a lot of various situations recently. I’ve had conversations with people who are throwing their spouse under the bus for underperforming at this or that, I’ve seen “friends” complain to me about something their friend is doing that is harmful or hurtful, and all kinds of stuff like that. I’ve often been a leading and willing participant in those conversations myself.

But in those situations, I think I really like to direct attention away from myself because I know that God’s word to me will require me to change. And that makes me uncomfortable. Yet, I want to grow in my faith. And therein lies a huge contradiction.

Guys, it’s possible that the most powerful thing we can do to cultivate a greater personal relationship with Jesus is quite simply to start looking in the mirror. Instead of directing my time and attention toward thinking of what God wants other people to do and only deceiving myself, I need to start directing my spiritual attention toward me. Instead of praying, “God, so-and-so is the problem; please help them and help me deal with them,” maybe I need to start praying “God, I am the problem. Thank you for Your grace toward me and please give me the wisdom and discipline to grow as a follower of You in this area.”

I don’t think there’s a single person reading this who would say they are perfect. And I don’t think there’s a single person reading this who can’t think of an area of their life where God is asking them to grow. Instead of looking at others, let’s start looking in the mirror and dealing with ourselves.

Making that a regular habit of our lives could be the greatest cultivating tool of all.

Beyond Sunday: Listen-Responding

…by Michael Switzer

It’s difficult to listen to God when life is thrown into numerous directions.  We all want a solid sense of direction and in an attempt to create one ourselves, we, or at least I, do everything in my power to gain control over all aspects of life.  A prevalent theme I’ve been struggling with this week is not so much how to respond but how to listen.  I’m behind the curve on this whole series because, sadly and ironically, time has not been carved out of the day to listen.  Does that mean I don’t believe in the validity?  Does viewing listening to God as a ‘Well I’ll know it when I see it” aspect of life challenge my faith?  I’ve done a horrible job posturing myself to be open to God and while I think I want to hear His plan for me, I’m not being open to it.  I love the idea that listening to God and actively responding will be freeing but how then do I prepare my life, in terms of personal and professional work?

 

It’s also been too easy for me to synonymize serving with the Church and doing actions which indirectly glorify Him to doing His will.  It’s almost as if I’d rather work 3 hours on some mission related task than take 10 minutes to listen.  I’m embarrassed to confront that reality but it speaks to my personality.  If I can just keep myself busy all the time I can say “well hey, I’ve been focusing my efforts on productivity at work and some serving at church and if God wants to intersect my life at those points, I’m totally open to it.”  That mindset is nowhere near intentionally seeking God and opening myself to Him; I’ve fooled myself into thinking it is.  This whole concept was deep in my sub-conscience and I appreciate having the opportunity and taking the time to explore.  10 minutes a day to listen is probably much more valuable and much less painless than I’m making it out to be.

Beyond Sunday-Listen:Clarifying

…by Bobby Jackson

At the example of a friend, I decided to take one child per week and have breakfast with them on Wednesdays.  Our school starts a few minutes later on Wednesdays so it makes a perfect opportunity to add something cool to the usual routines.  We joke, make the waitress smile, and play games in the booth together.  Extreme anticipation has made Tuesday nights a hard night to fall asleep for one of my children each week.

I was really looking forward to this time each week yet was a little nervous in the back of my mind that we might run out of things to talk about (I don’t know much about how 8 year-old girls think).  But that was the point: I wanted to get to know how my kids think, what interests them and who their friends are, what they’re learning and what makes them sad and what they want me to hear that I’m sometimes too busy to listen to.

Forward to Sunday when I’m reminded that God is looking for the same thing in my relationship with Him.  Though He has always invited me to spend time with Him, I am now personally inviting Him to spend time with me and making time to listen to Him.  I want to listen to what interests Him and what makes Him sad and what He wants to say to me that I’m sometimes too busy to hear.

Already I’ve learned a few things:

-I need this.  I’ve been talking and not listening long enough that this past week was a different experience between God and I than usual.  Taking time to be still and listen was harder than I thought which means I haven’t been doing it much or well.

-I’m not a good listener.  My good friends probably already know this, but it was obvious to me this past week when every time I began to listen I would have an excuse or something I wanted to say that was more about me and less about empathetic listening.  Greg encouraged us Sunday that we find growth in our relationships when we have curiosity.  I’m approaching God this week with a renewed sense of this ability.

-I need this.  I really do want to hear from God specifically.  Some of the questions like, “God, what you think about me?” have been powerful.

Looking forward to a good week and a better relationship moving forward.

The Circle Maker.

Hey guys!

Wes here – just wanted to take a few moments to let you know about a great book I just finished this past week on prayer. It encouraged me to think and change in some positive ways in terms of my relationship with Jesus, and hopefully it will for you, too. The book is called The Circle Maker, written by Mark Batterson from National Community Church in Washington D.C.

For all my apparent relational prowess, I have always felt like my prayer life resembles more of the awkwardness a boy and girl dancing at a junior high formal than a well-oiled machine. I think one of the huge reasons, though, is because my prayers are rather small. And boring.

Maybe you can relate. I was raised in a church culture and in a family where we didn’t ask God for a ton. We’d certainly ask for him to watch over us and protect us, and we’d turn to Him whenever facing a decision. But we weren’t much of believers in the miraculous. Don’t get me wrong – we believed in all the stuff that the Bible talks about, but as for modern-day, well… we weren’t holding our breath.

And I think that has translated into my prayer life as an adult. I don’t know that I see God work in a lot of ways through prayer, but if I’m honest, it’s because I haven’t asked Him to. And that’s to my discredit. God is eager to show His power and provide a real testimony in our lives. But He never will if we never offer Him the opportunity through our prayers. That’s not to say by praying we have somehow forced God’s hand, but instead to say that nothing is hard for God. And God offers bold prayers.

Reading through The Circle Maker was a great way to start my year; it’s challenged me to pray bigger this year and sit back and watch God do what only God can!

Hope you guys have an awesome start to 2012. And remember that as we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8)!

Beyond Sunday: Listen-Silence

… by Larry Walker

I listened to Greg this Sunday and no offense to him but I could not get out of there soon enough.  I have several good friends that I could not wait to share this with to get their thoughts.  I wanted to ask when their quiet time would be and what obstacles were in the way.  These are just some of the responses (yes, permission was granted to post).  I think in honest moments, we’d all admit to these types of hindrances. 

“Really wanna watch Tebow this afternoon.  I mean he’s a good christian so God’s cool with it.”

“Mornings aren’t good for me because I’m in a bad mood.  Evenings are horrible… between big bang theory, laundry, and checking emails it’s just too much.”

“I think I’m gonna do it during my morning break. I usually get a 15 minutes and I can do it while I’m doing angry birds.”

I think if we look at it as if our faith depended on it, we might be able to squeeze some alone time in for Him.  I got home and took a mental inventory of my excuses.  That’s when I think the real part of this message hit me.  It really affected me that I had excuses to begin with.  Ten minutes a day… less than 1 percent.  And I’m coming up with excuses?  How many things in my day could I easily remove?  Arguing with my spouse? Complaining to no one in particular about that guy who was 3 cars in front of me only going 3mph over the limit?  Watching the same Sportscenter for the second time because I’m not quite tired enough?  Standing in the mirror for 15 minutes wondering why I lost hair but added weight?

It’s not a matter of where I’ll find the time.  The busiest person in the world even has 0.6% of his day to give to God.  It’s a matter of do I want to.  That’s where the excuses come from.  Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

Beyond Sunday: New and Renewed

…by Gordon Barker

I was struck by three things in this week’s service.  At first I thought that they were unrelated, but after looking at them again I see a common theme.

  1. The power of worship. When the band stopped playing during the last chorus of “How He Loves Us” I could hear the church singing all as one, “Oh How He Loves Us”.  It reminded me that I am part of something much bigger than myself, that we have a shared faith.
  2. The theme of the message. God is about renewal in this world and wants to include us in the effort.  It is my “choice” to be a part of this renewal or not.  It is my “choice” to live my life unselfishly for others or selfishly for myself.
  3. Christopher Hitchens. Did you notice the list of well-known people who died in 2011 during one of the videos?  One of the names was Christopher Hitchens.  If you are not familiar with Mr. Hitchens, he was a well-known atheist author and speaker.  We will all face death some day, I wonder if he had any doubts when he came face to face with his.

What’s the common theme?  Hope.  The first two are powerful reminders of what God offers us; faith, love, grace and ultimately hope.  The third makes me very sad for Mr. Hitchens, facing death without any hope.

I wonder what happened in Mr. Hitchens’ life that pushed him away from hope.  Greg told us Sunday that “God loves us just as we are, but too much to leave us there.”  That’s true for all of us, you, me and Christopher Hitchens.  The choice is up to us, I choose hope.

How He Loves Us by David Crowder

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

 

 

Beyond Sunday: Unimaginable World-Still Searching

…by  Kevin McHugh

It sure was great to have John Wasem at the St. John campus to teach this week. When we think about all the positive things this church has accomplished, and all the people who have turned to Jesus, we have to be grateful to John for his leadership and wisdom, and that God led him to St John to start our church. Plus, he always has little known facts to share; for example I did not know that Bethlehem Memorial Hospital was open 2000 years ago or that the innkeeper was connected to the Bethlehem cable TV affiliate – what an advanced society!

OK, back to the message. John taught about what it means to be a seeker and used Mary, Joseph, the wise men, and even King Herod to illustrate what different people are seeking in life. The question posed to us was “What does it take to be a true seeker?” I am reflecting on this question as I also think about what it means to be a Christ follower and John’s five points ring true. I am adding some comments after each of these points, I encourage anyone reading to stop and reflect about your own.

 

Be Open: Our God is fully active in this world, all the time. Keep your eyes open, avoid distractions, do not count things as “coincidence” when that is not the case.

Be Alert: We are not saved by works but by His Grace, yet He has prepared good works for us to do. Look for opportunities to reflect the grace of God to others.

Be Focused: Keep the commandments, live with integrity, earn the trust of others – when we invite, they will be more likely to say yes.

Be Trusting: John acknowledged that many of us are going through something tough, but then he also reminded us that honest faith will sustain anyone – we should take comfort in that and we should also be inspired by that.

Be Free: That is free from negativity, free from evil, free from distraction.

 

John gave us some thoughts on putting all of this into action and used the words:  stop – look – listen – go.

 

For me, it all hinges on stop. As a seeker, as a Christ follower, my number one obstacle is all the the things that this world throws at me that end up capturing my attention and often prevent me from noticing where my focus should be. I have learned that when I am able to stop, it is far easier to look, listen, and then go. So during Christmas time, can we all just try to stop for a minute, realize how blessed we are, and then respond in some positive way? Let’s be intentional about it and try our best.

 

Our Savior is born! – Merry Christmas to you all!