When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded with Deuteronomy 6:4, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (ESV; see also, Matt 22:37; Mark 12:3; Luke 12:30). We will be looking at the first of these three aspects––the heart.

             What is meant by “heart?” For us, the heart may mean desire, fondness, love, and passion. While “heart” can mean the seat of desire in the Bible, it was also the place where mental activity occurred. This can be demonstrated in Ecclesiastes 1:13a, “And I applied my heart to seek…all that is done under heaven.” Another way it could be translated is “And I set my mind to seek…all that has been done under heaven” (NASB; emphasis mine).

A part of loving God is dedicating our minds to his service. While we may know many useful things, are we using our knowledge to advance God’s kingdom? One way we can do this is by filling our minds with Scripture and its worldview. Additionally, teaching others the gospel and training ourselves to meditate on God’s will is another way to submit our minds and desires to God. This mindset will result in having a renewed mind (Rom 12:2), which ponders heavenly things rather than our worldly desires (Col 1:1–2).

He was only 20 years old when he left this world. Inside his pocket was a counselor’s card. However, when my phone rang this morning, I had to inform a heart broken mother that her son had never booked or attended a session.

How many souls are out there wanting and needing help but never make it? And is that not sad? It is high time that we realize that it is not just our bodies that need a healer. Who, if their leg is broken, would not immediately consult a doctor? Our society needs to accept, without stigma, that mental illness is real.

What can we do to help and bring healing to our world? Here are a few brief ideas:

· Discuss mental health candidly. Instruct ourselves and others.

· Promote impartiality between physical and mental illness.

· Show tenderheartedness to those with mental illness.

· If you have mental illness, own it, and share your life story – do not allow the ignorant to shame you.

· Let people know when you are in treatment.

· And, finally, do not entertain self-shame.

From time to time you might find a white minivan in our parking lot and a mother wandering the woods – seeking something precious she has lost. May we all be better at helping and healing our world.

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· 800-273-8255 (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline)

· (859) 545-4391 (Counseling Wellness)

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 2:4-5

In Barcelona, Spain, the Sagrada Familia church has been under construction since 1882 and is not due to be completed until 2032.  Imagine a project that takes 150 years to complete.  The structure grows in grandeur stone by stone and generation by generation.  Its original architect labored on the structure most of his life, yet only saw 20% of it completed.  Even in its unfinished condition, it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Spain.

The Sagrada Familia pales in comparison, however, with the structure that God is building.  The church of Jesus is being built with the living stones of Godly lives, generation by generation.  This church will know no decay and its construction will continue until Christ himself returns to place it in its rightful place for all eternity.  Each Christian has the honor of being one of the living stones that form the building and the responsibility to bring others to the master so that each can take his place in its construction.  

The church of Jesus is established and will never fail or be replaced.  The strongest of earthly structures eventually crumble; yet the church made from living stones endures forever. I look forward to the day when we will be able to see this wonderful structure in all its glory and know that Christ used us to build it up. 

What a glory that will be!

Jesus Christ often found the need to spend alone time with God.

Before He selects His 12 Disciples, Luke 6:12–13 (ESV) — ¹² In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:

To keep His ministry focused, Mark 1:35–39 (ESV) — ³⁵ And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, ³⁷ and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” ³⁸ And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” ³⁹ And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

And when His workload became overwhelming, Mark 6:30–32 (ESV) — ³⁰ The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. ³² And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

At the start of our retreat we shared the stresses going on in our lives. Some of our stresses are a  result of allowing ourselves to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our world. Some were stressed because their lives had fallen into a purposeless and empty rut.

Yet, when I look at Jesus, I see Him calmly walking – with purpose. Our retreat was designed to reignite that purpose.

We were challenged to become people movers. It is our great privilege to challenge all to move from earth to heaven.

We were challenged to identify our gifts and then offer them as resources by: 1) Teaching all the whole counsel of God; 2) Working hard; 3) Kneeling down and praying with all; 4) Walking in humility before all.

We were challenged to identify our limitations – as Jethro pointed out Moses’ limitations. For instance, at Summit we are limiting our growth by having too few Elders, Deacons, and staff. We should equip ourselves to be a church of 350 or we will never break through the “glass ceiling”.

And finally, we were challenged to end well.

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Resources: David Shannon’s talk on leadership at Bear Valley and Acts 20.

At the Men’s Retreat this past weekend we listened to an audio series by current Freed-Hardeman University President, David Shannon, on the theme of leadership.

In part of the series he described what a “traditional” leader is versus what type of leadership is needed in the church. He also explained what resources a leader can provide and illustrated potential limitations leaders can have as individuals. One of the main points he expressed was, “If you are cut out to be a leader, to lead with diligence, which is with high priority and hard work.”

Romans 12:6-8 (NIV) “⁶We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith: ⁷if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

The often-quoted writer of inspirational maxims, William Arthur Ward, once said, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

The mediocre leader is able to move people from point A to point B. The good leader is able to plan and persevere. The superior leader is able to influence others to change. The great leader will grow a replacement leader that is stronger than themselves.

In closing one of the sessions Mr. Shannon stated, “The ultimate leadership moves someone from Earth to Heaven.” As individuals, we all have different gifts as Paul describes in Romans chapter 12, but whatever your gift is, use it diligently to lead others to Christ.

Over the last few years many couples have gotten into trouble because of social media. It gives the illusion that if the current relationship or marriage does not work out there is always a PLAN-B.

Many modern-day prodigals leave their spouse in search of happiness. They do this because they do not love and respect themselves. They are trying to find themselves. Not realizing that their goal ought not to be to learn to love, respect or find themselves but to daily die to self. In short order they dump the bride/groom of their youth only to find out that they have lost everything.

Matthew 13:44–46 (ESV) — ⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, ⁴⁶ who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

At the end of the day Jesus is going to sift through His net (Matthew 13:47-50) and commit all the unfaithful PLAN-B individuals to a “fiery furnace”.

Friend, you already have all that you need if you have Jesus and the one He has joined you to.

If the president invited you to the White House for a guided tour, would you go?  Wouldn’t you be excited?  If Coach Calipari invited you to go and watch the KY Wildcats practice, would you go?  That would make my day.  To watch Coach Cal, go over the x’s and o’s of basketball would really be neat.  If Coach Urban Meyer invited you to be on the sidelines when Ohio State plays Michigan, or any football game (if they play) would you go?  Would you be excited?  Would that make your day? What invitation would make you feel special?

We all get that special invitation every Sunday to come and worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth.  Do we get excited?  Do we look forward to meeting with our brothers and sisters?  I know many would drive 2-3 hours to watch their favorite team play, but we sometimes cannot drive 20 minutes to the church building.  We get up early or stay up late to attend a special event but getting up on a Sunday morning to log in for worship is often a chore. We all miss our traditional worship but that is not an excuse to just skip worship.

We should be praising our Lord and Savior every day!

Psalms 100:5 The Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting!! It is very comforting to me to know that the Lord will always be there for me, and his Love for us is Everlasting!

Psalms 111:4 The Lord is Gracious and full of compassion!! Have you ever worked for a boss that was overbearing and hard to get along with?  Our Boss (God) is gracious and full of compassion!!  Our God is our strength and our refuge and has an unfailing love for you and me!

Romans 8:31 If God be for us Who can be against us? With God on our side we do not have anything to worry about.  It is easy to get depressed about current events, the stock market, COVID 19, the civil unrest in our country and the amount of sin and discourse in the world.  But God is on our side!

Brothers and sisters, draw close to God, and he will draw close to you!  With the pandemic are you closer to God?  Are you reading your Bible more?  How is your prayer life? Don not just talk about your worries; take them to God. Pray for guidance as you pray for change.  The creator of this universe is on our side. He wants to be our Father; He wants us to live for him.

Remember:

No eye has seen, No ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. 

He extends a special invitation to us to be with Him.

Any Takers?

This is the title of a beautiful song we sing – but do we believe this? Can we defend and prove this statement? You see if Christ has not been raised then (1 Corinthians 15:13–19):

• Our preaching & faith is worthless

• We are misrepresenting God

• Our faith is futile, and we are still in sin

• And of all people we are most to be pitied

Lee Strobel, a Yale Law School graduate, and legal affairs reporter for the Chicago Tribune, was an atheist. For him, belief in God required too many leaps of “faith”. But in 1980, when his wife unexpectedly converted to Christianity, he decided to prove it a lie. A religious reporter, Kenny London, advised him to start with the resurrection. If it were proven to be false, then everything would fall like a house of cards. By the end of his book, “The Case for Christ”, Lee had also converted to Christianity.

Friend, I know that my redeemer lives because:

1. The tomb was empty

2. His post-resurrection appearance to 500 people at the same time

3. The testimony of “hysterical” women – a hoax would not use the testimony of women during that time

4. The transformed lives of the disciples – no one will die for a lie

5. The birth of the church of Christ

Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ^[15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ^[16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said to all who would follow him that they should let their light shine before others.  Jesus is the light and we should let His light shine in our lives.  We have always needed to hear these words and we might need them more than ever right now. 

There is a popular country song currently receiving lots of air time that is titled, “Be a Light.”  The lyrics reflect what Jesus taught us in his earliest teachings:

“In a world full of hate, be a light.
When you do somebody wrong, make it right.
Don’t hide in the dark, you were born to shine.
In a world full of hate, be a light.”

The key to letting our light shine is showing love to one another.  Jesus commanded in Matthew 22, “Love God…Love your neighbor.” In John 13, Jesus said, “as I have loved you…love one another.” The New Testament writers reiterated this command. Paul wrote in Galatians 5, “all the law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” James wrote that if you “love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.”  Peter wrote in I Peter 1, “love one another fervently with a pure heart.” In Luke 6, Jesus made it much more difficult when he said, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

The world needs our light.  The world needs love.  It can be so easy to start.  Be kind to someone you dislike.  Encourage someone.  Hold the door. Let someone go in front of you.  Pat someone on the back.  Be generous with compliments.  Write a thank you note.  Forgive someone.  And the list goes on….

Be a light!