I read today about the essentiality — yeah, that’s a word — of optimism in leadership. Corporations headed by pessimists, whether they be churches or tech giants, seldom overcome obstacles necessary to grow.  I need to be optimistic. What’s frustrating is how easy it is to be negative. It’s easier to say, “Nazareth?! Can anything good come from there,” than it is to say, “We have found the Christ,” (John 1). And it’s easy to be swayed by negative energy. It has a power to stifle both productivity and creativity.

Today I was feeling anything but positive about what God was doing in my life… until the UPS man came to my door. No, he didn’t drop off that 65 inch television I’ve been dreaming about. Instead, he dropped off the cross that we ordered to replace the one Anna bought in memory of her husband. You may recall the original cross had been stolen. Immediately, Laurel and I hopped into the car and headed up to see Anna. As we drove, I shared my negative feelings with Laurel and my struggle to be optimistic.

Then we arrived at Anna’s home. She showed us in and we talked about her health, the church, her home, and her family. I showed her the new cross and told her the story of how God had provided a larger cross for the same price as the smaller one with which we’d all been dissatisfied. We rejoiced together. We then prayed together, taking time to pray that the person who had stolen the original cross would turn to Jesus and find forgiveness. That was a great visit, but probably not for the reasons you would expect. It wasn’t because of the prayer. It wasn’t because of the new cross. It was because Anna epitomizes grace. Grace toward the thief. Grace toward her brothers and sisters in Christ. And grace toward people who crank out negative energy. She was so gracious and positive I left feeling like a completely different person. I said to Laurel, “Every now and then, God surprises you with a person who brings incredible joy.” Such people are people of grace.

As you go to God in prayer, may I suggest praying three ways:

1. Pray that you can be a person of grace, for people of grace are anything but negative.
2. Pray that God would use you to be a gracious influence on people around you so that when they leave they feel like life is a good thing.
3. Pray for those who struggle with negativity — that God will so bless them they can’t help but see him in the world around them.

Oh — and pray for me, that I might have the optimism essential to ministry and life.

Let your conversation be always full of grace… (Colossians 4)

~Pastor Steve

Last night as we concluded our study on the Holy Spirit in prayer meeting, instead of simply sharing requests and then praying for them, I asked this question: What would you do if you found an Aladdin’s Lamp? You clean it off, and as you rub it, a genie appears and offers three wishes. What would you wish for? This got us thinking of James words when he says we have not because we ask not. Then James immediately remarks that we often ask for selfish motives. As the evening progressed, the small group gathered there moved from talking about genies and talked about what we would really ask God for since we can.

Here’s some items from the list:

1. That marriages would be healthy and families healed
2. That we could accept people who are different than us
3. That people who have been hurt would find healing in Jesus
4. That we could be better examples of Jesus
5. That grace would abound in our midst

What a great list of prayer request for our congregation. Join us as we pray for these kinds of things.

~Pastor Steve

On Wednesdays, we are exploring what may be missing in a Christian’s life — the evidential work of the forgotten God.

Join us at 7 p.m. in room 101 for a group discussion and time of prayer.

This week’s discussion material is here:

The Lord challenges us to suffer persecutions and to confess him. He wants those who belong to him to be brave and fearless. He himself shows how weakness of the flesh is overcome by courage of the Spirit. This is the testimony of the apostles and in particular of the representative, administering Spirit. A Christian is fearless. — Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 220 AD)

1. What is Tertullian’s point in this statement? What is he saying that God desires in us?
2. Chan asserts that many Christians are “afraid” to explore the Holy Spirit. Some even become defensive when such teaching is presented. Why? How can one personally avoid/overcome it?

Luke 11:13(NIV) ¹³If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

3. Jesus speaks of asking the Father for the Spirit. Chan suggests that some fear doing so because they feel God failed to show up when they prayed in the past. How does his statement, “There’s a difference between believing what God has promised and praying for things you’d like to be true,” (p. 49) address the problem of “unanswered prayer”? How does it apply to the ministry of the Spirit?
4. A second fear some have regarding the Holy Spirit is not that he won’t show up, but that he will. What are common things that Christians fear when they imagine the Spirit interacting in their lives?
5. A third fear that keeps us from asking the Holy Spirit to fill our lives is the fear of what others will think. We want to be “Christians” but we want to be “respectable”. What if the Spirit leads us to do something radical? What kind of fear is this? How can we escape it?
6. The Bible speaks of healthy fear concerning the Holy Spirit. What ones do you see in the following passage? How can we be sure to act correctly as we observe what we believe to be the work of the Holy Spirit?

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (NIV) ¹⁹Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; ²⁰do not treat prophecies with contempt. ²¹Test everything. Hold on to the good. ²²Avoid every kind of evil.

7. What standards are we given in the following verses to evaluate what is presented as the work of the Spirit?

1 Corinthians 13:2(NIV) ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 14:3(NIV) ³But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

1 Corinthians 14:31(NIV) ³¹For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.

Take some time to consider what fears you have about the Holy Spirit. It may take a while to pinpoint exactly what your attitudes and responses toward the Holy Spirit have been. Don’t hide your fears. Admit them, first to yourself, and then to God (who knows all of them already yet desires to have us share our fears with Him). As you come to Him, be honest about how you fear disappointing people more than quenching His Spirit, or how you don’t really trust Him to come through on His promises, or whatever else you may be feeling to Him. – Francis Chan, pp. 56-57

Beginning in mid-April, on Wednesday at 7 pm, we are talking about the Holy Spirit, using the book Forgotten God from Francis Chan.

Acts 4:13 (NIV) ¹³When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

If you are wondering if this study is for you, consider these questions, framed from the introduction of Forgotten God.

1. How do you react to this statement: “While no evangelical would deny His (the Holy Spirit’s) existence, I am willing to bet there are millions of church-goers across America who cannot confidently say they have experienced His presence or action in their lives over the past year” (p. 15)?
2. Chan says, “There is a big gap between what we read in Scripture about the Holy Spirit and how most believers and churches operate today. In many modern churches, you would be stunned by the apparent absence of the Spirit in a manifest way. And this, I believe is the crux of the problem” (p. 16). What kinds of manifestations do you think Chan is referring to? Are they missing? Why?
3. Chan asserts that the light of the American church is flickering and nearly extinguished, having largely sold out to the kingdoms and values of this world. Do you see that around you? If so, why is little being done about this?
4. Do you think that the “forgotten-ness” of the Holy Spirit is due to lack of theological teaching or are there other reasons the power of the Spirit is not evident?
5. Chan suggests that the holding back Christians have concerning the Holy Spirit is not based in a fear of getting too much of Him, but in a fear of giving ourselves to God. Why don’t Christians want to give themselves to God? How can we overcome such obstacles?
6. Paul said that his words to the Corinthians were not “wise and persuasive” but were “in demonstration of the Spirit’s power” so that their faith would not rest on the “wisdom of men” but on the “power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). Does your faith rest on the power of God or on the wisdom of men?

“There’s more of the Spirit and more of God than any of us is experiencing. I want to go there—not just intellectually, but in life, with everything I am.” — Francis Chan, p. 22.

Join us in room 101 for a discussion on this book and a time of prayer Wednesdays at 7 pm.