How to Pray for College

USC students return to campus this week and Saturday kicks off Midtown College’s Best First Week Ever. College Staff members, Cole Simpson and Garrison Weiner, let us in on why they hope our college students will participate in the Freshman 15 and how we as a church family, can be praying for our college leaders and USC students…

Both Cole and Garrison originally connected with Midtown family during their first weeks as college freshmen at USC. Cole attended a Best First Week Ever event where two older college guys invited him to join their LifeGroup. While it was several months before he attended a Gathering, Cole participated in LifeGroup every week, growing in relationships and understanding of what it meant to be Jesus-centered family on mission. Garrison came to college as a very new believer and recalls that his plan had been to party and join a fraternity but instead, almost immediately met a group of Christian guys who welcomed him in. Through these guys inviting him into their lives, Garrison realized he no longer needed to search for friends elsewhere because he’d met his people.

Now adults and serving in staff roles with our church, Cole and Garrison have a desire to meet and connect with college students over the first fifteen days of the school year because they know personally how it can change the trajectory of a student’s time in college and beyond. The two men have spent the last year raising up and equipping thirty two college leaders in our church who are ready to be sent out to their campus in hopes of welcoming in new students to our church family.

The college team has planned several events on campus that will make up what we like to call Best First Week Ever. Each event is designed around the goal of connecting with students and inviting them into Jesus-centered community in hopes that they can experience why Jesus is better than anything else. Our college leaders have been challenged to participate in the Freshman 15 and for the first 15 nights of the school year plan hangouts that they can invite new people into. The team is also prepared to launch 8 new freshmen LifeGroups within these first few weeks. For the second year in a row, we also have the opportunity to host on-campus college Gatherings (called First Five) for the first five weeks of the semester all leading up to our College Fall Retreat.

As a church family we want to join our college team in prayer during this vital time in their ministry. Below you’ll find a prayer guide for each day of the Freshman 15. We’d invite you to print this off or save it to your phone as we join our students and staff in asking God to use them in welcoming people into His family and showing them that He’s better than anything else.

Freshman Fifteen Prayer Guide

August 20

Pray for our college leaders as they assist with Move-in Day today on USC’s campus. Pray for the students and families that they will meet and serve.

August 21

Pray for the students that will come out tonight to Best First Week Ever’s Concert at Cool Beans and our college leaders as they welcome them in and begin to connect.

August 22

Pray for our college students to have boldness to invite people they’ve met to hang out and pray for the first evening of hangouts our students have planned.

August 23

Today is the first day of classes at USC. Pray for our continued favor on campus and for Midtown students to be used by God in their classes this semester.

August 24

Pray for our 8 new LifeGroups that will be forming and the leaders who are prayerfully seeking people to invite into them. Pray specifically that non-believers will join and through it, come to know God’s love for them.

August 25

Pray for tonight’s hangouts and for our students to be in tune with if there are people they’ve met who they should invite to tomorrow’s Gathering. Pray for new students who may attend a Gathering for the first time. (This would be an extra great Sunday for many of us to arrive 15 minutes early to in hopes that God might use us to connect with new students)

August 26

Pray for our Block Party after the 11:15 Gathering. Pray that new students would stick around, connect, and get a glimpse of what we are all about. (All of church family is invited to this event! There will be food trucks and more opportunities to create margin around our Gathering time)

August 27

Pray for students that will come out tonight for Best First Week Ever’s Music at the Russell. Pray for conversations that will be had and relationships that are forming.

August 28

Pray for our new Freshmen LifeGroup Leaders as they are continuing to invite in and put on display what it means to be Jesus-centered family on mission.

August 29

Pray for tomorrow night’s on-campus college Gathering (“First Five”) Pray for new students to attend and that believers and non-believers alike will feel welcomed.

August 30

Pray for Michael Bailey as he teaches out of Ecclesiastes tonight at First Five. Pray for the college students in attendance as they hear the truth that Jesus is better than anything else.

August 31

Pray for our leaders as they follow up with students who attended First Five. Pray for tonight’s hangouts and for our leaders to continue to have energy and not grow weary.

September 1

Pray for continued conversations between new students and our college leaders. Pray for relationships to be formed.  

September 2

Pray for today’s gathering and specifically for college students who may attend for the very first time.

September 3

Pray for college leadership as they continue ministry throughout the year. Pray specifically pray for the next four weeks of “First Five” that will lead up to College Fall Retreat.

Sermon Recap | Ephesus

This week we wrapped up our Lessons from Church Planting series by looking at the Church of Ephesus. We have more information about this church than any other in the Bible (Acts 19; 1 and 2 Timothy; Ephesians; Revelation 2) Kent Bateman, pastor of City Church in Knoxville, walked us through two particular passages of scripture to see what we might apply from the church of Ephesus to our own lives.

Acts 19:11-20

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all[a] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Following Jesus is necessarily disruptive.

The power of God is so evident through Paul that followers of Jesus bring everything that represents their former way of life, place them on an altar, and destroy them. Their way of life was disrupted in a major way by following Jesus.

When following Jesus disrupts someone’s life, it’s an absolutely beautiful thing to watch.  And when followers of Jesus allow Him to disrupt their lives, we begin to see what the church in Ephesus saw: the power of God prevailing mightily.

Acts 19:23-27

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all[a] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Following Jesus not only disrupts your individual life but the life of your city.

Following Jesus so impacted the lives of believers there that the very city felt the shock of men and women no longer worshipping idols in Ephesus.

But somewhere along the way, something happened. And when we see the church of Ephesus addressed in Revelation, it comes with an instruction of warning:

Revelation 2:1-5

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

The church in Ephesus had lost their preference for the things of God.

The word that the Bible uses for love in this passage means “to choose to show unconditional preference for something.”

Jesus warns the Ephesians (and us) to not follow the natural drift that will cause everything else to disrupt their love for Jesus. He encourages them to rediscover their love—their preference—for following Jesus that they had in the beginning.

Every time Jesus or what the Scriptures teach conflicts with how we like our lives to be, we have two choices. We can choose to view these moments as threats or as opportunities. And all of that depends on whether or not we’ve allowed Jesus to disrupt our lives.

When Jesus disrupts people, lives change and cities change. So let’s be a part of seeing God’s power prevail. Let’s be a part of the beautifully disruptive kingdom of God. And that all starts with Jesus disrupting us.

Sermon Recap | Athens

This week we learned from Paul in a city called Athens as he was asked to provide a reason for why anyone might trust Jesus and become a Christian. The following is one of the most studied and discussed passages in scripture on the topic of mission and engagement. What we see is Paul contextualize the gospel for the city of Athens. He meets people where they are and, using their own quotes and ways of thinking, presents the good news of Jesus. 

Acts 17:16-34
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

Paul is motivated by love and concern for these people who are misled, confused, and wrong. Everything that he says and does next flows out of his love, compassion, and concern. This is what drives mission in our lives. People are not projects. We love people because God loves people and we believe that Jesus is worthy of being worshipped by the people He loves. Like Paul, we believe that lives begin to fracture and break down the more that the one true God is pushed out and replaced. 

17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,[a] 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’;[b] as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’[c]

29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst.34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

What should we take and apply?

1. Observe the idols
What are our idols? What are the objects of our worship? Everyone is pouring out their lives for someone or something. The opposite of Christianity is not atheism but idolatry. We need to know our friends’ and neighbors’ beliefs and idols. 

2. Undermine the idols
Nothing created can bear the weight of providing us with identity and meaning—only God can do that. What do our friends and neighbors believe? What are their idols and how can we help them see disconnects?

3. Show how Jesus is better
We show this to our neighbors and friends in two ways: First, by showing them that Jesus is a transcendent treasure unto Himself and second that whatever it is that they are pursuing in life, Jesus offers a better version of it. Repent and believe is always the invitation. Jesus is the only God who won’t let them down, who laid down His life for them, and rose from the dead to prove that every word He ever said was true and right. 

4. Be provoked
And with all of this, we have to be provoked, like Paul was. We must be provoked by our city and the brokenness that we see. We must be heartbroken over the ways we see people trying to make their lives work apart from God. We must see our indifference as wickedness. If we love the people around us and we believe the gospel, we must figure out every possible way to communicate it effectively.
 

Sermon Recap | I Am the Resurrection and the Life

What do we do with the brokenness and suffering of our lives and in the world? 
What does Jesus have to say about it? What does He offer to real people who go through real pain and suffering?

In John 11:1-16, we see a family in the midst of intense suffering and pain. Jesus’ answer to the suffering and grief of this family is His answer to the suffering and pain we experience: I am the resurrection and the life. 

Nothing in our lives happens by chance or fate. God cares about all of our lives—from the biggest things to the smallest things. He cares about our lives and He’s working in the midst of them. He’s orchestrating all of it to an end and that end is God’s glory. (John 11:4)

In John 11:5-6, we read that Jesus’ love for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus is the reason he does not come and heal Lazarus immediately. 
    Because He loves them, He lets them go through it.
    Because He loves them, He doesn’t heal right away.
    Because He loves them, He lets them hurt and suffer.
    Because He loves them, He lets them mourn and grieve.

This is perfect love. This is love that seeks the ultimate good. This is love that knows that the ultimate good is the glory of God. 

The most loving thing that Jesus could do for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus is wait and let them go through the pain and suffering so that they can see the glory of God. 

And then, in John 11:14, Jesus states that one of His reasons for not immediately saving Lazarus is so His disciples would believe. 

Jesus doesn’t see life the way that we see life. No suffering is wasted in the Kingdom of God. No pain is empty or hopeless. God is using all of it to accomplish His purposes. For His glory and our good. In the moment of Martha’s grief over the death of her brother, Jesus’ response is: “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)

Through this statement, Jesus is reminding Martha that her hope is not in some specific event or set circumstance. Her hope—our hope—is not in a pain-free life. Jesus’ goal is not for Martha to be pain-free in this life; it’s to teach her something through the pain. It’s to accomplish something in her through the pain. Jesus wants Mary and Martha to shift their hope from earthy circumstances and set that hope on Him—their resurrection. 

Martha’s eyes are on the closed tomb of her brother but Jesus wants to move them onto the future empty tomb of her Savior. Death is a certainty for all of us, but Jesus has come with an offer of true life: 

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” –John 11:25-26

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He does not say He’s bringing these things. Jesus is the embodiment of the undoing of the curse of sin. Jesus is saying that He is the resurrection for this dying creation; He is the hope for the entire world. Suffering and death is not the end of our story because it was not the end of Christ’s story.

So cling to the one who has all power and all control, who is good and is working all things for His glory. Cling to Jesus who has promised us a resurrection with Him.
 

Sermon Recap | I Am the Light of the World

Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12 

In this statement, Jesus is saying that we all exist in spiritual darkness and that He’s the only one capable of turning on the lights. He then goes on to explain what gives Him the authority to be the light of the world: 

Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. - John 8:14

Jesus’ evidence for his authoritative statement is that He knows where He came from and where He is going. Later, in John 12, He further draws out this comparison:

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

One way that we, as humans, have adapted to living life in the dark is that we tend to operate the truth train backwards and lead with our feelings and experiences. All these feelings and experiences only add up to speculation. But Jesus offers us something much better than speculation; Jesus offers revelation. In John 12:8, Jesus invites us to follow Him out of the darkness and into His light. 

The rest of the book of John will continue this refrain:

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” – John 11:9-10

46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. – John 12:46 

Jesus invites us out of darkness and with this invitation we can stop basing our lives on speculation and instead center them around revelation. 

Revelation says that God’s truth is the only truth. What we feel and think matters, but it does not bend reality in any way. 

If you are going through a difficult season right now, the good news about Jesus being the light of the world is that we do not grieve as those who do not have hope. We don’t suffer the same way as people stuck in the confusion of the dark suffer because we’ve been led out of it. He brings us out of our very limited view of our lives and tells us that He’s working all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. 

Because Jesus is the light of the world, He shows us over and over again that we’ve been looking at things all wrong. He’s come to call us out of darkness—out of speculation—and into His glorious, unchanging revelation. 

Jesus is the light of the world. He knew where He came from. He knew where He was going. He is the only trustworthy authority to follow out of the darkness. Thanks to Him, we don’t have to base our lives and eternities on speculation anymore.
 

Sermon Recap | I Am the Good Shepherd

When Jesus claims to be a shepherd, He’s saying two things:

1. He’s leading God’s people. He’s the one who cares for us.
2. We are the sheep

Ezekiel 34:1-23 paints the picture of us as sheep in need of a good shepherd to save us. Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Ezekiel 34:22-23. God has not forgotten His flock and He sent Jesus to rescue and care for His sheep.

Three ways that Jesus is our Good Shepherd:

1. Jesus gathers God’s people (John 10:1-6)

Jesus fulfills the prophecy to draw God’s people back to Himself. Jesus knows and calls each of us (His sheep) by name. He knows everything about us. We follow Jesus because we are His sheep.

2. Jesus protects God’s people (John 10:7-10)

Jesus isn’t just the shepherd; He’s also the door of the sheep. Jesus protects us from the destruction of sin and gives us joy. In Jesus, regardless of circumstances, we can find unshakable joy and abundant life. The Good Shepherd promises that the closer we walk with Him and more intimately we follow Him, the greater our joy will be.

3. Jesus dies for God’s people (John 10:11-18)

When the sheep are in imminent danger, our Good Shepherd lays down His life. A hired hand loves his own life more than he loves the sheep. Jesus isn’t a hired hand. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The sheep belong to Him and He loves them more than He loves His own life. That’s why He lays down His life for the sheep. When He sees the enemy coming, He doesn’t run; He steps in front of the sheep.

Who are you following? You are following a shepherd. We all are.  We are all sheep. The question isn’t whether or not you’re following a shepherd, it’s whether or not you are following the Good Shepherd.

Sermon Recap | I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Immediately following the Last Supper and washing His disciples’ feet, Jesus told His friends that He was about to go away—meaning that He was going to die, resurrect, and ascend to heaven. And then this conversation took place:

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. -John 14:1-11

Jesus tells His disciples that He will get them home to heaven—a place where their hearts and souls will finally be at rest. And when His disciples question His claim, Jesus reminds them that He is the physical encounter with God; His works validate His claims. (Of course, He will eventually put the exclamation point on all of this by rising from the dead) In this little section of scripture alone, Jesus uses the word “believe” five times. Jesus says to His disciples, “I will handle everything. I will prepare a place for you. I will get you home. You just need to see to it that you are with me. Believe—entrust yourself to me—and I will get you home.”

Men like Peter and Paul took what Jesus said and they continued to teach it. (1 Timothy 2:5; Acts 4:11-20) This teaching was in direct contradiction to the Roman Empire’s pluralistic belief system of many gods and many ways to the gods. Many Followers of Christ were actually killed because they would not say that Jesus was one of many gods, but instead, even under severe persecution, continued to proclaim that Jesus was Lord.

So how do we today, deal with questions and criticisms against Jesus’ claim that He is the only way to God?

1. Isn’t it dangerous to claim that Jesus is the only way to God
Doesn’t religious fundamentalism cause all sorts of problems and therefore shouldn’t we be done with it?

Generally speaking, religious fundamentalism can certainly be dangerous. It all depends on what the fundamental is. At the center of our faith is a man dying for his enemies. If you met a true Christian extremist fundamentalist, he wouldn’t kill those he disagreed with; he would die for them.

Calling people to follow a man who died for his enemies won’t make people dangerous. It will make them beautiful.

2. Isn’t it arrogant to claim that Jesus is the only way to God? Isn’t it arrogant to say that we have the truth and everyone else is wrong?

“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been reversed. We are on the road to producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table” –GK Chesterton

Truth is not about pride or humility; it’s about fact.

Claiming that Jesus is God who rose from the dead and that He alone can get us to heaven is not about pride or humility. Now we could be right or wrong, but Jesus says that we should believe on account of His works. We believe He is right because He validated himself. We are not saying that we have the truth. We are saying that Jesus knows the truth. He’s the one who said it. Not us.

Now, sometimes people accuse Christians of being arrogant because Christians are being arrogant. If Christians ridicule other religions, are harsh or rude or self-righteous towards people of other backgrounds, or afraid of any sort of dialogue, then they are fairly criticized as being arrogant. It is possible to hold to the truth in a way that undermines the truth to which we hold. But the arrogance is not because we hold that Jesus rose from the grave.

3. Isn’t it more inclusive to claim that all good people go to heaven, no matter what they believe? Aren’t we being unnecessarily exclusive? Can’t we just say that all good people go to heaven?

By saying “all good people go to heaven” we are excluding bad people: people who don’t measure up, those who fall short and are inadequate. That is far more divisive and exclusive and self-righteous than Jesus is. To reject Christianity because it is exclusive but then say, “all good people go to heaven” is actually being more exclusive than Jesus. Jesus invites us to simply “believe” and be accepted by Him.

Jesus is exclusive but He’s not exclusive because of who He lets in; He’s exclusive because He’s the only way to get in.

There is room for everyone at the foot of the cross.

For those of us who know Jesus, it’s not just that He’s the only way home; He is home. Heaven isn’t heaven without Jesus. Heaven is heaven because Jesus is there. The presence of God is our home. For those of us who belong to Him, we’ve found Him to be all He says He is and more…including the way, the truth, the life.

Sermon Recap | I Am the Bread of Life

This week we looked at the claim Jesus makes in John 6 that He is the Bread of Life.

The Problem:

People assume the purpose of religion is to have God as a helper who provides them with abundance and happiness, perhaps through material possessions, a promotion at work, or inner peace and tranquility.

In America, we live in a society spiritually marked by what people call Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. The 5 central tenants of this religious worldview are:

1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth

2. God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other as taught in the Bible and by most world religions

3. The central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about oneself

4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem

5. Good people go to heaven when they die

This is a Jesus-less belief system. This is American spirituality that has no need for a savior. Jesus has no place or value. He will never be valued because He is irrelevant at best.

In John 6:35, Jesus confronts and destroys this belief system: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Key Words:

• Bread: Bread was the central, critical food item and Jesus calls Himself the bread of life (bread=survival)

• Life: There are two Greek words for “life” (bios=exist; zoe=live) and Jesus uses the word “zoe” to emphasize that the bread of God is coming from heaven to give life.

• Believe: The word used was “pisteuo” meaning to entrust oneself to another. Belief does not mean laboring or working for God. In fact, to receive the bread of God, you actually must stop laboring and working for it. Belief is a personal relationship with a very real and personable God.

With these three words in mind, we can further unpack this grand statement of Jesus’ that He makes in John 6 shortly after He feeds the multitude:

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

Jesus tells the crowd that they are seeking Him for the wrong reasons. They came to Him only to fill their physical appetite, but He offers them something different and much better: Jesus moves from their physical need to their spiritual one.

28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

When they then ask Jesus how they should work for God, His response is that they must believe. Working for Jesus does not make Jesus precious to you; Seeking and savoring Jesus makes Him precious to you.

30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

When the people finally say they want the bread of life, Jesus tells them that He is the bread of life.

Jesus did not comE into the world mainly to give bread, but to be bread.

Like the crowd in the story, we often come to Jesus only to get what we can from Him. The problem with this mentality is that God is not a mere helper to make our lives better; He is life. Jesus did not come to meet our earthly desires; He came to change our desires.

Do you see Jesus as useful or do you see Him as the treasure?

If Jesus is the Bread of Life, then nothing else can be. The good life is not found in possessions or circumstances but in His presence. It is not something He gives but something He is.

47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Because Jesus is the Bread of Life broken for us, He must be consumed. Jesus makes everyone choose: Either He is the Bread of Life, you believe and you consume Him… or you walk away.

Following Jesus is about getting Jesus. It’s not about what He will give you. Jesus isn’t a means to an end; His promises begin and end with His presence.  

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

The commitment to Jesus is often high when He gives people what they want, but many turn away when He reveals his identity and thus calls for their lives.

Who is Jesus to you?

Is Jesus the Bread of Life broken for you? Does your life reveal that? Do you really believe that the good life is found in Him? If none of your earthly desires were granted or if they were ripped away, would you still follow Jesus because He is the only bread of life?

Because Jesus is the Bread of Life, we must repent of everything else we’ve been chasing, and of all the ways we’ve viewed Jesus as merely helpful or useful, and come and eat.

Sermon Recap | I Am

This week we kicked off our new series, “I Am God.” For the next six weeks, we will journey together through the gospel according to John as we examine seven different “I Am” statements that Jesus makes about himself.

We began our series by examining John 8:48-58:

The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me.  I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.  Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death.  Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.  Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”  “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

There has never been a more profound revelation of who God is than: I AM WHO I AM

(Exodus 3:1-15). It was from this proclamation in Exodus that God gave his covenant name: Yahweh: the intimate name between God and His people. As a result, Moses and his descendants knew this was the most holy and most sacred name—so much so that they refused to speak it or even spell it.

This name was the holiest word, the highest expression of divine self-reference, and in John 8, Jesus Christ does not simply take it on his lips; he takes it on himself.

With this self-revelation, Jesus draws a line in the sand. He claims to be God.

The seven statements that we are going to examine in this series are extreme:

I AM the way, the truth, the life

I AM the good shepherd

I AM the bread of life

I AM the gate

I AM the light of the world

I AM the true vine

I AM the resurrection and the life

Jesus has left us no middle ground. We have to do something with Him—either we worship Him or we crucify Him. There is no in between. We either reject Him or we give every inch of our lives to Him.  The more that we see Jesus as I AM, the more we realize we are not. And that changes everything.

Sermon Recap | Every Group Around the Pool

Because of sin, we have three problems:

1. Broken Creation (death, disease)

2. Internal (Because we are sinners, we don’t trust God and we’ve built our lives around things other than Him)

3. External (We have set ourselves up against God; He is rightly offended and opposed to us. He cannot let sin go undealt with and remain just)

What we need is reconciliation. We need for creation to be restored to its original design and we need to be reconciled to God. God’s response is to provide a way for us to be reconciled to him—first through Abraham and the Law and then, ultimately, through Jesus. (Genesis 12:1-3)

Jesus’ life was about reconciling all things back to God. (Colossians 1:19-22)

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

-2 Corinthians 5:14-20

As new creations in Christ, we are given new minds that want to learn about God and know Him and new desires that draw us to God and the things of God. This is what propels the church of God forward.

Be sure to listen to the sermon for a broad summary of how the Gospel spread from Jesus’ closest friends all the way to us in Columbia, SC!

So how does our church go about the ministry of reconciliation?

Midtown’s Philosophy of Ministry:

Gatherings and LifeGroups are our primary programs

The Bible calls us into:

1. Knowledge

2. Care

3. Friendships

4. Mission

A healthy church culture will embody each of these things which is why that’s our aim for LifeGroups.

Elements of LifeGroup time:

1. Discuss the sermon

2. Engage the heart

3. Catch up on life

4. Review the mission

According to feedback from LifeGroups, the area that we are the weakest in is mission so we are starting an initiative called “Every Group Around the Pool.” We want every LifeGroup gathered around the baptistery as someone they led to Christ gets baptized.

We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and we find ourselves in a long line of believers who have faithfully proclaimed and ministered and watch God bless it by saving and redeeming and reconciling men and women to himself.

Resource Round-up | Self-Absorption

Over the past three weeks, we’ve been examining a fifth enemy to our spiritual health: self-absorption. We define self-absorption as being preoccupied with our thoughts, feelings, desires, and concerns above God and others. We hope these additional resources will be helpful as you fight self-absorption in your life.

Video: Freed from Self-Absorption by John Piper

In this sermon excerpt, Pastor John Piper explains how the gospel frees us from being self-absorbed. Piper explains the phrase “omnivorous attentiveness” and how we can become more alive as we are more and more captivated both by the world around us and by God’s daily gifts.

Article: Rescued from the Sea of Self by Stacy Reaoch

The author discusses the dangers of being consumed with self, and how we can fight to be free from being sinfully inwardly focused. Reaoch looks to scripture and Jesus’ ultimate act of sacrifice on the cross to give us reminders and tools for fighting our self-absorption.

Article: The Self-Centered Christian

This piece helps us understand where self-absorption comes from, how it affects us, and how we will have to repent and overcome it to live the blessed life God has called us into. By submitting to God and asking the Holy Spirit to fill us with His love, we can then freely live for and serve others.

Article: Intimacy for the Avoidant by David Brooks

This opinion piece discusses how the ways we choose to use technology may be making us more self-focused and unhappy. Brooks goes into detail about how Internet and phone addiction have made deep friendships and connection more and more rare as we are encouraged to become “social multitaskers”.

Article: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed by David Cain

Although this article is not spiritual, it sheds some helpful insight on how our established rhythms of work in the Western world can cause us to be more selfish and unintentional with the little free time we do have control over. Cain not only looks at how our world encourages a consumerist lifestyle in how we spend our money but also at how this mindset has changed how we spend our free time for or with others.

Article: How Technology is Killing Eye Contact by Carolyn Gregoire

This article looks at how our digital habits are affecting our ability and tendencies to make eye contact and be fully present with the people we are with. This is something worth paying attention to because in order to truly see, care for, and encourage the people in our lives, we have to be able to give them our full attention.

Sermon Recap | The Joy of a Life Not About You

This week, we are taking one final look at the spiritual enemy of self-absorption as we learn how to be transformed into self-sacrificing people.

Self absorption: being preoccupied with our thoughts, feelings, desires, and concerns above all else.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

- Philippians 2:1-2

The call on our life as a part of this church is to have one mind, which means we can disagree on so many preferences, because in the end, personal preferences don’t matter. We have a mission, goal, and focus as a church to take the Gospel to our neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family members - together (Philippians 1:27).

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

- Philippians 2:3-4

Paul tells us to do nothing in a way that is self-serving, self-glorifying, self-seeking. If we constantly consider ourselves first, we will not be able to have the same mind or strive together for the glory of God in our community. We must remember that people don’t exist to serve us - we exist to serve others and put their needs before ours.

The Bible is really clear on this - to follow Jesus is to walk, live, and think in such a way that we are radically others-centered in the everyday workings of life.

And that’s why we want to end this entire series with one final Personal Liturgy challenge: to serve one person sacrificially each day.

Like everything else we’ve done in this Personal Liturgy series, this will take effort and work. But there is hope for living in the vision God has for His people:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

- Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus, the only one who deserved to be exalted, chose to humble Himself and be obedient to the Father. He took the form of a servant, giving up His rights and laying down His preferences, to go to the cross on our behalf. Jesus is the ultimate example of someone who was not self-absorbed, but rather, self-sacrificing.

Jesus looked in the face of all of our self-absorption and self-exaltation and He died for it. Jesus gave Himself away so that prideful, weary, conceited sinners like us could be brought back into relationship with God...but then He sends us back into the world to do the same for others.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

- Philippians 2:9-11

And now we lay down our self-absorption to see Jesus more and more exalted in our lives, in our church family, and in our city.

Sermon Recap | A Blueprint for Biblical Encouragement

This week, we are continuing to learn more about our fifth and final spiritual enemy, self-absorption.

Self absorption: being preoccupied with our thoughts, feelings, desires, and concerns above all else.

Last week, we touched on the freedom that is found in knowing that life is not about us, but about God’s glory and grace. When we live in this mindset, we aren’t let down or frustrated by others when they don’t live up to our expectations, and can instead serve others.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

·       Hebrews 10:19-25

The author of Hebrews uses Old Testament imagery in verses 19-22 to show us that Jesus became our priest and mediator in order for us to be reunited with God. Through Jesus, we can now “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”

Verses 24-25 call us to encourage each other daily in order to stir up love and good works in one another. We are to sit down and put intentional thought towards how we will encourage.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

·       Hebrews 3:12-13

The ultimate goal of sin is to turn us away from God.  Hebrews 3 is a group command, not an individual command. It’s all of our jobs, as family, to make sure that none of us turn away from God.

The method by which we “take care” is to exhort or encourage one another. Through biblical encouragement, we can remind others of God’s presence and activity in their lives.

We are prone to either compliment others, or wait for grandiose reasons to encourage others. We are called to encourage one another daily - this means through the ordinary days of our ordinary lives! We are prone to either give compliments or wait for grandiose reasons to encourage others, but for it to be biblical encouragement, it has to help us hold fast to our hope and stir us to love and good deeds. Biblical encouragement will soften our heart towards God and prevent us from falling away from God.

Categories for Encouragement:

1. “Here is how God has used you…”
2. “Here is how I see God at work in you…”
3. “Here is what God has promised you…”

In a culture where we tend to be sarcastic and self-protective, encouragement is radically countercultural - and all the more necessary. Our Personal Liturgy challenge for this week is to encourage someone every day. We are shifting the focus off of ourselves and taking an active part in our call against sin by encouraging and pointing others towards God.

Sermon Recap | Freedom from a Life-Long Temper Tantrum

This week, we’re exploring our fifth and final spiritual enemy, self-absorption.

Self absorption: being preoccupied with our thoughts, feelings, desires, and concerns above all else.

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

- John 12:23-33

Jesus uses the analogy of a seed to unpack a reality about how life works: A seed’s purpose is to produce fruit, but in order to accomplish this purpose, the seed has to die.

Seeds can self-protect, but this requires them to stay on a shelf, hidden and alone. If the seed remains alone, never producing fruit, is not and can not fulfill its intended purpose. Seeds are to be planted and spent. This is what Jesus is about to do by sacrificing Himself on the cross (John 12:32-33). He is about to die, and in doing so, He will produce much fruit. His death will birth much new life.

In verse 25, Jesus expounds on the seed analogy when He says, “whoever loves his life will lose it, and whoever hates his life will keep it.” This is a warning against self-absorption. In focusing all our attention, time, energy, money on ourselves and our lives, we will lose our lives. We end up like a seed that stays on the shelf. And in doing so, we lose the purpose of our lives.

This hits right at the heart of what sin does to us. St. Augustine first used the Latin phrase, “incurvatus in se” to describe sin. It means curved inward on oneself. Sin causes us to bend inward and use physical and even spiritual goods for our own purposes. Sin even blinds us to the fact that we are bent inward and away from God.

And this inward, self-absorbed bent is what we observe when children throw tantrums. The tantrum is their form of protesting the fact that the universe isn’t about them. “I do not like that the universe is not custom-built to my specifications and preferences!”

Just because we grow up doesn't mean we accept the reality that life is not about us. Much of our frustration in life is caused by this. The more we operate as though the world is supposed to be built around us, the more we are going against the grain of how the world actually works. You will be perpetually frustrated with your job, annoyed with your spouse, disappointed by your friends and infuriated by your children if you believe that they all exist for you.

But the truth is: It’s not about you. Life is about God (John 12:28). Your work, marriage, kids, and friendships are not about you. They are about God. They exist to bring God glory. Other people don’t exist to serve you. Your job does not exist to serve you. Your LifeGroup does not exist to serve you. Your LifeGroup leader does not exist to serve you. God does not exist to serve you.

And in all of this, Jesus is actually fighting for our joy (John 15:11). Just like a seed that has to die, we can only find our life’s true purpose by dying. In refusing the temptation to be preoccupied with our own preferences and instead choosing to give ourselves away for God and others, we wind up being with Jesus (John 12:26).

Jesus is the greatest picture of the seed analogy: He gave Himself away for us. He died and was planted in the ground. And bursting forth from the ground He has brought an entire harvest of new life and fruit.

We believe the lie that we need to look out for ourselves. But the truth is, God has promised to look out for us (John 12:26). We have what we need in Christ. He is sufficient. We are free to spend our lives on the glory of God and the good of others. And when we do so, we can allow ourselves to be spent, bothered, and inconvenienced for other people.

So, this week in our Personal Liturgy challenge, we are fighting self-absorption by praying for another person in our lives for 10 minutes. Let’s use this challenge to shift the focus off ourselves and serve others instead.

Member Spotlight | Fighting Cynicism

Throughout our “Personal Liturgy” series, we’re interviewing members of our church family to hear how they are impacted and actively fighting against the “joy killers” in their lives. This week, we hear from Matthew Travis, a college senior and member of our Business Council, as he shares with us how his fight against cynicism looks like in light of the gospel.

How does cynicism show up in your life?

Cynicism shows up in my life when I focus on myself and my struggles, rather than on Jesus. This specifically looks like praying for something and then moving on with my day without being attentive to how God might be at work in my day. Then, when the prayer is answered, I think, “that probably would have happened anyway.”

A large part of it is also fear - I tend to shy away from things that scare me. I think I will be my best protector because I have my best interest in mind. In those moments, I fail to realize that the Lord loves me so much that He gave His only Son to redeem me into His own family. He loves me better than I ever could imagine, which means verses like Psalm 27:1 can reassure me that I can live fearless because the Lord is my God and my Protector.

A very real example of cynicism in me is in seeking to be in a relationship simply to avoid being single. Until recently, I had not been aware of how much weight I was giving to finding someone to date. I thought I had to take the situation into my own hands because God obviously didn’t want the best for me. So for years, I had so much anxiety about being single and knew that I was the one to blame, because the situation was, in my eyes, dependent on me. This is cynicism - not trusting that God is working in my life or believing that He has a beautiful, abundant plan for me.

Where have you seen personal growth or victory in this area?

I have seen growth in overcoming my sin of cynicism by being upfront and honest with people in my LifeGroup. It has been a huge relief to be able to go to the guys in my group and tell them how real this struggle is. They speak gospel-truth over me and reassure me that God is moving and working in my life and that He has not overlooked me.

Since starting to use the Personal Liturgy app back in January, I have begun to notice cynicism in my life. It has made me aware of how much I tend to doubt God’s presence in my life and His active movement in my circumstances. Without the app’s daily encouragement to think through my thoughts, emotions, and feelings towards God, I probably would not have noticed this sin in my life as something that needs to be addressed.

How has your understanding of the gospel specifically impacted how you deal with cynicism?

Cynicism attempts to attack my identity in Christ and tries to tell me that the truth of the good news of Jesus does not apply to me. The gospel shows me that because of Immanuel, God is always with me and never leaves me or forsakes me. Jesus gave me the Holy Spirit when I became a believer and assures me that because of His love, I never have to be insecure ever again about whether or not He is active in my life. This is the confidence the gospel gives me.

What are practical steps or habits you practice to fight cynicism in your life? Have there been any scriptures, books or teachings/sermons that have been particularly helpful as you have dealt with cynicism in your life?

Honestly, the best tool for me to fight cynicism in my life has been to turn to Scripture and read the truth about how the Lord loves me personally and how He will never leave me. He is faithful. When I am not faithful, He is still faithful. It’s beautiful to know that the Lord’s faithfulness is not dependent on me.

• Hebrews 13:5-6 has really helped me. This references Psalm 118:6 which states that since the Lord is on my side, I have no fear. Hebrews 13:5-6 says that the Lord is not only on our side, He is our Helper!
• Exodus 3:12 says that the Lord Himself will be with us.
• Deuteronomy 31:8 says that the Lord Himself will be with us. He will go before us and not leave us nor forsake us.

One important characteristic about cynicism that has been hard for me to understand and grow in is that the presence of cynicism doesn’t depend on how much I know. Simply knowing Bible verses and being able to recite them is not enough. I am fighting to live in light of these verses, instead of just knowing them in my head. This takes active, pleading prayer to God for help to make these verses change the way I live in light of the gospel.

What encouragement would you offer to others in our church family as they seek to fight cynicism in their lives?

If you notice yourself leaning towards cynicism in your life when you think about God, I would strongly encourage you not to try to hide this from other people, or quite frankly, from yourself. Being open and honest with personal struggles is a healthy way to live life. I think it is really easy to say that doubting God is normal and everyone has those thoughts, when in reality, God desires for us to talk about those thoughts and believe in Him more and love Him more as a result of those conversations. Please don’t miss the beauty and the power of other believers encouraging you through your sin and struggles (Hebrews 3:12-13).

I would also say that there is joy in remembering that the Lord is sovereign over all things, including cynicism in your life, which means we can now approach every situation, no matter how hard, frustrating, or seemingly impossible they are, with hope. This hope in Jesus that He has conquered the grave and our sin allows us to fight cynicism in the grace that He has already provided for us. This is good news!

Sermon Recap | A Spirit-Filled Life

This week, we’re going to dive into what it really means to hear from God’s Spirit. Some of us respond with cynicism to hearing from God’s Spirit because we’ve seen it go bad. We’ve seen people talking about what God told them to do in immature and not well-discipled ways. However, time and time again, the Bible talks about how we are to hear from God’s Spirit for teaching, guiding, and instructing (Ephesians 5:18, John 14:16-17, John 16:13, Galatians 5:24-25).

Some helpful context for hearing from God’s Spirit:

• God is a speaking God. (Genesis 1:28-31, Genesis 8:15-17, Genesis 17:1-8)
• Relationships are formed through communication.
• God's Spirit is more focused on who you become than on what you do. (1 Thess 5:18, 1 Thess 4:3, 1 Peter 3:17, Romans 12:1)

“The Spirit of God’s main work is to shape us into being the kind of people God wants us to be, because when we become the kind of people God wants us to be, we will do the things God wants us to do.”

- J.D. Greear

In answering the questions, “how do we hear from God’s Spirit?”, 1 Thessalonians gives us our guardrails to not fall into the two extremes as we explore the different ways we can hear from God’s Spirit.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

- 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21

Paul tells us not to fall into the pit of quenching the Spirit or despising the idea of hearing from God. And He also tells us to test everything and not fall into the pit of believing every passing whim and message we think God is telling us.

Five ways to hear from God’s Spirit:

1. Through God’s Word

God’s Spirit is the one who inspired the writing of Scripture. God cannot and will not contradict Himself. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 16:13)

Here’s what this means for us:

• We should open our Bibles and expect to hear from God’s Spirit.
• We should not blame the Spirit for disobedience to God’s Word.
• We should test any message from God’s Spirit by the message of God’s Word.

2. Through the church

In Acts 13:2, we see the church in Antioch is gathered together, worshiping, when the Holy Spirit speaks. In Galatians 2, we read that Paul, after 14 years of ministry, is prompted by the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem and submit what he was teaching to the leaders of the church.

In our lives, it is really helpful for us to submit what we’re hearing from the Lord to the church because the church is a body of believers with God’s Spirit as well!  (Ephesians 5:21)

3. In our giftings

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

- 1 Corinthians 12:7

God has given the church different gifts to be used for His kingdom and our good. We can learn what God is saying to us by looking at what God has put in us. Part of how we receive God’s Spirit is through the gifts He puts in us.

To begin to discern what your gifts are, look for the intersection of these three categories:

• Affinity - what we are passionate or care about. This is something God has given us a heart for.
• Ability - what we are good at. Some of us have natural giftings and skills that can align with the Spirit’s giftings.
• Affirmation - what other people see and call out in us. God’s Spirit can speak through other people to show us our giftings.

4. Through our circumstances

But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me...

- 1 Corinthians 16:8-9

God in His sovereignty can use our circumstances to open some doors and close others as He guides us through life. We don’t have to panic about whether or not we have missed out from hearing from God, because He has us where we need to be in order to be on mission for Him.

5. Impressions of God’s Spirit on our spirit

This final way of hearing from the Spirit can make people uncomfortable or nervous because we’ve seen it get weird. We’ve seen it mishandled. However, we cannot write it off, because it’s evidenced in Scripture.

In Acts 20:22-23, we read that Paul was impressed by the Spirit to go to the Jerusalem, even though the Spirit showed him that he would face imprisonment and hurt. In Galatians 2:1-2 and Acts 16:9-10, we see how mission and evangelism is brought about by specific messages and visions from God’s Spirit In our cynicism, we are prone to look at and write all this off as, “Well that was Paul and Acts! It doesn’t apply to us.” However, over and over again, Paul calls us to follow Jesus the way he does (1 Corinthians 11:1, Philippians 3:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:7+9)

It’s important to note that Paul and the early church heard from God sometimes, but not every day. So we shouldn’t assume hearing from God’s Spirit every day, But if we wait and listen, we will likely hear Him speak at times in our lives. Sometimes He will convict us of sin. Sometimes He will remind us of the truth of the gospel and God’s great love for us. Sometimes He will prompt us to pray for those who are hurting. Sometimes He will help us see how to love and engage those who are far from Jesus. In all these ways and others, God’s Spirit  desires to speak to us and we will be wise to listen humbly.

Conclusion:

If and when we think we hear something from Him, we should submit it to God’s Word and God’s people. We should ask if it aligns with our gifting and our circumstance. And lastly, we should make sure it’s in line with God’s clearly revealed will to grow our holiness and to grow His kingdom.

Sermon Recap | Why "Parakletos" Should Be Your Favorite Word

This week in our Personal Liturgy series, we continued to explore our fourth enemy to our spiritual health: cynicism. Our working definition of cynicism is a posture of skepticism that leads you to doubt God’s presence and activity in your life.

Beginning in chapter 13 of John, we see Jesus’ dialogue with the disciples as they eat the Last Supper together. Jesus knows that He is going to die soon, and takes the time to prepare and encourage the disciples, who don’t yet understand why Jesus has to die and what that means in the grand scheme of things.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

- John 14:18-20

In verse 18, Jesus speaks to the core of their struggle. He says, “I will not leave you as orphans.” Ultimately, the disciples are wondering if they are going to be left alone. This same idea forms the foundation for all of our cynicism. The nagging question of, “Is God going to be there for me? Is He reliable? Is He going to leave me?”

But Jesus offers hope that He will not leave them as orphans. He promises the disciples that He will come to them. And He offers this for us as well.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

- John 14:16-17

Here, Jesus introduces a new idea to the disciples. He says He will ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to them, to dwell with them, and be in them. This is the context in which He says “I will not leave you as orphans.” The supernatural Spirit of God is going to come and miraculously dwell in them. The Spirit will be their ongoing connection to Jesus.

Jesus calls the Holy Spirit a “Helper”, but this translation doesn’t concisely capture what Jesus is describing. The Greek word here is "paraklētos." It literally means "called in aid." It comes from para- ‘alongside’ + klētos (from kalein ‘to call’).

It’s a contrast word to the English word parasite. The word parasite is the combination of the words “alongside” and “eat”. It’s something that is stuck to us to take from us and steal our life and energy. Parakletos is the exact opposite. It’s something that is called permanently to our side to help us, and to give to us energy, resources, life, and power that we don’t have.

Despite Jesus wonderful promise, the disciples are still confused and upset. So Jesus continues to press:.

But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

- John 16:6-8

These verses are actually very corrective for us.
We think everything in life would be better if Jesus was just here beside us. We could fight sin better and love God better and our faith would be so much stronger if Jesus was here in the flesh with us.

What Jesus says though is that the Spirit inside of us is even better than Jesus beside us.

To understand this better, look no further than the very disciples Jesus was talking to. Peter, who said he would lay down his life for Jesus — within 12 hours would deny Jesus three times (even curse Him!), acting out of complete fear. However, after being filled with the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, Peter is a completely different person. He gets dragged in front of the king and boldly says, "Kill me if you want, but I will never stop preaching the gospel."

The Spirit inside Peter was more fruitful and powerful in Peter's life than Jesus beside him.

The difference is amazing, but it doesn’t stop there. Looking at the other disciples, we also see a night and day difference after Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes. There is a supernatural boldness and power that was not there before. Doubt, fear, and timidity turn into confident hope and joy.

Our cynicism does not all look the same, but at the root of it all is this: “Is God really present? Does He care?...About me? Can He really do anything to help me? Is He trustworthy? Is He doing anything?”

The cross and resurrection answer those questions with a resounding “Yes!” But another word answers those questions with a resounding “Yes,” and that word is parakletos. Our Helper. The Spirit of the living God, sent to live in us.

Here is what this means for us, if we are Christians filled by the same Holy Spirit:

• When we doubt, we are not alone.
• When we feel distant from God, we are not alone.
• We don’t repent of sin alone.
• We don’t obey God alone.
• We don’t read the Bible alone.
• We don’t pray alone.
• We don’t rejoice alone.
• We don’t live on mission alone.
• We don’t battle Satan’s accusations alone.
• We don’t sleep alone. We don’t drive alone. We don’t eat alone. We don’t work alone. We don’t battle nightmares alone. We don’t daydream alone.

We are never alone.

This is the God we need. This is the God who puts cynicism to death. He is the supernatural, constant help we all need. God’s Spirit is always with us, and that’s even better than if Jesus were sitting beside us.

Resource Round-up | Cynicism

This week we began examining the fourth enemy to our spiritual health: cynicism. We are defining cynicism as a posture of skepticism that leads us to doubt God’s presence and activity in our lives. We hope these additional resources will be helpful as you fight cynicism in your life.

Video: Are You Cynical About Prayer? by Paul Miller

In this quick two-minute video, Paul Miller (author of A Praying Life) explains how an undercurrent of cynicism in our culture negatively affects our prayer lives.

Book: A Praying Life by Paul Miller

In his book, Miller goes in heavily on cynicism as a hindrance to our prayer lives. He has a lot of insight into how we identify cynicism and overcome it through trusting Jesus.

Article: Putting Off Cynicism by Paul Maxwell

This article defines cynicism and looks at some of its biggest hidden dangers. Maxwell identifies the five components of cynicism (including its connection to apathy) and then offers five things that Christ provides to help the cynic.

Book: Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves

During this portion of the series, we will be covering how the Holy Spirit battles our cynicism by continually pointing us to trust and put our hope in Jesus. This book provides a wonderfully compelling vision of God as Trinity and how He works in our lives. Reeves calls us out of our cynicism and invites us to delight in God and in knowing Him.

Article: Warm Yourself at the Fires of Meditation by David Mathis

David Mathis makes the case for how meditating on God and His Word is a central means of grace and healing in the Christian life.

Sermon Series: “Crisis of Faith”

If in the midst of your cynicism you find yourself wrestling with tough questions and doubts, we recommend checking out this sermon series by Midtown. This series takes a look at six questions or issues that hinder people from following or trusting Jesus. For more resources on these topics, check out the blogs posted for this series here.

Article: The Sin in Our Cynicism by Jonathan Parnell

This piece looks at the sinful roots that often lie underneath our cynical attitudes towards God and others. Parnell argues that cynicism is a problem, and more than that, it is sin. He challenges readers to fight cynicism by beginning to see things as they are—as God has told us they are in His Word.