Category Archives: Sermons

Do You Hear? Christmas Series

November 29, 2010 mjfelker1980

This year, I am preaching for the entire month of December so I decided to do a Christmas series and I am so excited about it. As I have been preparing I felt like we needed to hear what God is saying to us through the birth of his Son, Jesus. God is speaking some powerful truths to us. The question is, “Through the rush of this Christmas season, do you hear what He is saying?”

After I wrote down some notes on which direction to go I came across some great artwork from Elevation Church that captured my thoughts exactly. I ran it through Photoshop and put together this promotional poster for the series.

What do you think?

I am so thankful for Elevation Church for making promotional materials and artwork available to other churches. Way to go!

Discipleship, Jesus, Jesus is the Christ, Preaching, Sermons

Sermon: Over The Edge

May 2, 2010 mjfelker1980

Take a moment and let’s read the words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28-30.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 TNIV)

I’m here to tell you. I am TIRED! The month of April has wore me out! Anyone else here just plain tired right now?

When I about 12 years old I had a season pass to Wet ‘n Wild in Garland. I would ride my bike to the park and then spend the entire afternoon riding the rides and hanging out in the wave pool. Oh. I loved the wave pool! If you’ve never been to one of these water parks there is a large pool in the center of the park and every fifteen minutes or so a bell rings, kids go crazy, and everyone flocks to the pool to enjoy the waves. A giant machine pumps water into the big pool and causes these massive waves to build up and if I remember right these waves can get as high as 30-50feet (Don’t check that fact. Just trust me). The wave pool really is a ton of fun but it can also be really, really dangerous. One time I was in the wave pool and I was extremely tired. I decided I was going to climb out of the pool at the ladder but I slipped, fell into the high waves, and then struggled to stay above the water. The waves kept coming and pounding me and I was helpless to do anything. By the time it was over I felt bruised, beaten, and helpless. I was done with the water park.

The sheer power of the water and the constant beat-down I received from the waves drained me of all energy and stamina. I couldn’t take the constant pounding. I just wanted to quit. I was tired. I was used up. I was done.

Maybe that’s how some of you feel today as you sit here. April has been a difficult month for us all and some more than others.

Stomach bug
TAKS test
Surgery
Illness
Accidents
Emotional pain
Allergies
Death

This week I heard a seminar teacher challenge me with this thought. He said each week, someone in your community is In Trouble, Under Tension, or Going Through Transition. That pretty much sums up our problems doesn’t it?

This week, some of you were In Trouble. Your marriage is in trouble. Your kid is in trouble. Your job is in jeopardy. The credit card payment is due and you have no idea how you’re going to pay it. The brakes went out and there goes your bonus. Trouble is beating you down.

This week, some of you were Under Tension. (Joker- Dark Knight Score- The tension just keeps being ratcheted up as the film progresses) That relationship you’re in did not get better, in fact it is now worse. You were tested this week to compromise your integrity and your faith. You are under tension. Some of you in here are Under Tension with God. Your faith has taken so many hits you don’t know if God is even real. You are struggling to even care about your faith. You are living Under Tension.

This week, some of you are Going Through Transition. You are adding a family member. That means a new budget and a new schedule. You got promoted and demoted. Your teen started driving or got in a wreck this week- either way you’re transitioning into a new payment plan with your insurance agency. Life may be full of transition but transition/moving is tough.

Trouble, tension, and transition can be overwhelming. For some people the problems in life get too much to handle. People get depressed, apathetic, and despondent. Life becomes way too much to handle. When life becomes this hard we can relate to these words of Lamentations:

“Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace.

Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners.

We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows.

We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.

Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. (Lamentations 5:1-5 TNIV)

However, there is good news. Today’s message should not leave you feeling like Debbie Downer. Here is the Good News:

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then can condemn? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39 TNIV)

Have you ever heard of the Tojinbo cliffs of Japan. These cliffs on the northern coast of the Sea of Japan are a formidable sight. Powerful winds and waves have pounded these shores and over time they have carved these ominous and treacherous cliffs.

Just looking at these cliffs you can almost imagine the sheer power and the drama that carved these cliffs can’t you.

The country of Japan has been faced with a suicide epidemic over the last few years. The suicide rate in Japan is more than twice that of the US. According to Time magazine, 1 in 5 Japanese men and women have contemplated suicide and 30,000 a year for the last 10 years have committed suicide. That is 300,000 people! In fact the article I read was from 2009 and that year from Jan to April, 11,236 people had committed suicide that year.

Many of those suicides happen at the Tojinbo cliffs. When the weight of the world comes crashing down on people they come to these cliffs to contemplate the end of their lives.

Maybe some of you have been in a similar place in life. The weight of the world seems like it is about to crush you and you just need some help, some relief.

Some of you know what it is like to stand at the cliffs of Tojinbo. You know what it is like to feel overwhelmed, lost, afraid, and alone. I think feeling alone and abandoned is the worst part of our pain. And Satan loves to exploit this. He’ll whisper to you that God doesn’t care. God can’t hear you. God has abandoned you. Satan loves to make you feel alone.

For years, the people who went to the cliffs of Tojinbo to end their lives were alone. However, since 2004, they have someone looking out for them. There is now someone who meets them at the cliffs, who counsels them, and who takes them in.

From TIME.com:

For five years, Yukio Shige, 65, has approached people at the cliffs’ edge with a simple “Hello” and a smile. He might ask how they came there and at what inn they were staying. Sometimes after a light touch to the shoulder, Shige says, they burst into tears, and he begins to console them. “You’ve had a hard time up until now,” he says, “haven’t you?”

The retired detective from nearby Fukui City has patrolled the cliffs two or three times a day since 2004, wearing white gloves and a floppy sun hat, carrying binoculars to focus on three spots on the cliffs where suicides are most common. After he’s talked them off the cliffs, Shige–a trained counselor–takes them to his small office, (for) counseling sessions. For men, Shige says, the biggest problems are debt and unemployment; most of the women are there because of depression or health issues. “If it’s a case of sexual harassment, I’ll go with her to the office and confront her boss,” says Shige. “If a child has issues with his father, I tell the parent that he is driving his child to suicide and get them to write a promise to change. They hang it on the wall.”

In April, on the fifth anniversary of starting his operation, Shige sat reading a three-page, handwritten letter he had received that day from a Shizuoka man, one of many he gets from those he has helped. The letter concluded by thanking Shige for providing the man with an awareness of the love that surrounded him. As Shige finished reading, the melody of “Amazing Grace” rose from his cell phone. “I want Tojinbo to be the most challenging place,” he says. “Not where life ends, but where it begins.”

Guess what? In your life today at your cliff of Tojinbo- whatever your feeling, whatever your trouble, whatever the pain- you have Yukio Shige and his name is Jesus Christ.

You see, Jesus himself has been to the cliff. In Genesis, we find the first prophecy ever concerning Jesus. God warns Satan about the coming King by saying that, Satan will bite his heel but that Jesus will crush his head. One of the Hebrew words for a cliff is SHE-en and it means Sharp as a Tooth. Jesus triumphs over the Sharp Teeth that try and destroy us.

Jesus left the throne room of heaven to become a man. He walked the earth and lived among us. He didn’t just speak to us from afar behind the pearly gates. He didn’t call out from behind the clouds, “I feel your pain!” No! He came to earth and he touched and healed the sick, the poor, the hurting. He knows what you’re going through because he knew suffering while on this earth. His family rejected him, his followers abandoned him, he was beaten and hung on a tree.

Jesus deals with the true source of our pain- Sin. One of my favorite parts of the article is when Shige deals with the source of the people’s pain. If the problem is the boss, he talks with the boss. If it is a family member, he talks to the family member. He goes straight to the source of the pain and the problem.

For us all pain and hurt and confusion come back to Sin and its effects. Sometimes the sin is committed against us and sometimes we suffer the consequences of our own sin. God was no satisfied with sin separating Him from us.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:21 TNIV)

The Cross is where life begins. If you are struggling in your life right now with anything you are at a moment of challenge. How will you respond? Will you give up, abandon hope, abandon faith? Will you believe the lie that you are alone and that God wants nothing more to do with you? OR… Will you believe that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ you have an advocate and a Savior more powerful than any problem in your life?

“We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:2-12 TNIV)

Sermons

Reveal Part 3

March 24, 2010 mjfelker1980

Continue reading in Psalm 19 and you will see a second way that God REVEALS Himself to us- His WORD or His LAW.

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalms 19:7-11 NIV)

God REVEALS to us His plans, His love, & His way of living through His Word.

In Isaiah 55, God says that just as rain and snow have a purpose in watering the earth, His word too has a purpose. God says that His Word,

“goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11 TNIV)

I read a book this week called, “My Year of Living Like Jesus” by Ed Dobson. In this great memoir, the author chronicles his year of trying to live just like Jesus. He eats kosher, wears the tallit katan, grows out his beard, and even attempts to retreat alone in the wilderness.

Early in the book, Ed describes a conversation his son had with a Rabbi while studying in Israel. The rabbi said “If you’re a Christian and aren’t reading through the Gospels every week, then you’re not a very good Christian. How can you claim to take Jesus’ teachings seriously when you spend so little time actually reading them?”

Ed said that this statement haunted him. It haunts me.

So often we want God to REVEAL Himself to us and yet we neglect reading His Word. This is God’s REVELATION. Don’t ignore it. Don’t neglect it.

The more I read God’s Word, the more I WANT to read God’s Word. Can you say the same?

Are you in love with His book? Do you read from it daily? How can you claim to take the teachings in this book seriously when you spend so little time actually reading it?

Sermons

Reveal Part 2

March 23, 2010 mjfelker1980

When you spend your week in the mountains you cannot help but marvel at how God REVEALS Himself through CREATION.

As we drove to Colorado last Saturday we experience so much of God’s creation- 14 hours worth! We saw the plains, the sky, foothills and plateaus, dormant volcanoes, and then finally the mountains! On one part of the trip, as the sun was setting, this rock formation in front of us looked like old, wrinkly skin. It was almost breathing. It was spectacular.

Then we get to the mountain. The first day God REVEALED to us his awesome and mighty power. It was the worst storm the mountain had seen in 30 years. The wind was blowing, the snow was falling. You had to pole down the mountain because the wind was so powerful.

However, on Monday and Tuesday God REVEALED to us the beauty of his creation. This picture is from the summit and so is the next one. You are looking out over the Continental Divide. Absolutely beautiful huh? These pictures don’t even do it justice.

In Romans 1:20, Paul tells us that through creation God REVEALS to us His “invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature.”

Psalm 19:1-6 says this:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.” (Psalms 19:1-6 NIV)

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” I can remember the first time I caught a glimpse at just how big and powerful God must be. We were somewhere in away from the city lights and I was looking up at the stars. Way up there I saw a tiny star moving at a pretty fast clip across the immense sky. It was a satellite. It was something that we- mankind- put in the sky. It was so small and insignificant against the backdrop of God’s creation. That satellite’s faint, yellow glow was nothing compared to some of those stars a million miles away.

God REVEALS Himself to us through the beauty and majesty of His creation.

Preaching, Resources, Sermons

Reveal Part 1

March 21, 2010 mjfelker1980

I had the opportunity to preach this week and since we spent the first part of the week skiing I got to prepare most of my sermon while on the mountain. As I was thinking and praying about what to share this week an overwhelming sense of thankfulness and gratitude filled my heart at the thought of how we serve a God who is not hidden. Our God has made himself known to the entire universe. He has REVEALED Himself throughout history and continues to REVEAL Himself everyday.

The word REVEAL comes from the Greek word we use for apocalypse meaning to “take off the cover, to disclose, to pull back the curtain.”

When I think about this idea of pulling back the curtain to REVEAL a mystery I think about the movie “The Wizard of OZ.” Remember, the great and powerful OZ appears to Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion as a massive face with a loud and booming voice. Fire and smoke fills the room. The Wizard instills fear and trembling into Dorothy and her friends… but not Toto.

Toto pulls back the curtain to REVEAL the true nature of the Wizard. He is not great and powerful but weak and sad. The Wizard was nothing more than a con-man with a laser light show and a fog machine. The Wizard wanted to remain hidden behind the smoke in order to boss people around. His power came from the mystery.

The REVELATION of God couldn’t be more different than that of the “great & powerful OZ.” While there is and always will be some element of mystery surrounding God, He has INTENTIONALLY revealed Himself to us. He pulls back the curtain and says, “Look, see this is my nature. These are my plans. This is WHO I AM.”

God is powerful not because He is hidden but because he has made Himself known.

We could talk about the millions of ways that God REVEALS Himself to us but we would be here until Kingdom Come. This week I want to talk about 4 Ways God REVEALS Himself to the world. Tomorrow, we’ll look at how God REVEALS Himself through His CREATION.

Campus Ministry, Faith in Action, Ministry, Sermons, The Word, Wrestling With Scripture, Youth Ministry

The Star Maker

September 14, 2009 mjfelker1980 3 Comments

Psalm 147:4
He determines the number of the stars & calls them each by name.

Growing up I always felt pretty average. I wasn’t ever the best at sports or the smartest in class or anything like that. I was smack in the middle. Completely average in every way.

In football, I was the only starter under 6 feet. I played hard but my name never appeared in the paper next day and there was never any chance that I would play beyond my four years in high school.

As for my grades, I graduated 25th in my class… out of 54. It doesn’t get more average than that!

Even today I still feel pretty average. I’m not the best looking or the most talented. This average guy is just pretty plain vanilla. Rather than feeling sorry for myself I feel pretty great about my average status. When I look in scripture, I see a plethora of average or below average individuals. Even a cursory reading of the Bible makes me see that I am part of a very large group of average men and women. Some might even have called these people losers. They started life out as average joes and janes but they didn’t remain average for long. These average people rose above themselves and became great and powerful, amazing and world-known. These individuals went from average so-and-sos to international super stars. Let’s take a quick look at a few nobodies to find out who they were and what they became.

David- When we first meet David he is a mere shepherd boy so average that his own family essentially forgets about him. When Samuel comes calling looking to annoint a new king they “conveniently” forget he’s even a part of the family. However, this shepherd boy showed his mettle when he killed Goliath, became a feared warrior, and became a great and mighty king. Don’t forget that he also came to be known as a man after God’s own heart. Average no more.

Gideon- In Judges 6, Gideon is told (by the angel of the Lord no less) that he is a mighty warrior. Gideon’s reply shows just how average Gideon saw himself. “How can I save Isreal?” he asks. “I am the least in my family.” The least in his family ended up leading the army of Israel into a great battle where they triumphed over an army that greatly outnumbered his own.

Moses- He left Egypt as a disgraced prince and lived for 40 years in utter obscurity as a shepherd. He returned to Egypt in order to lead the Israelites out of slavery and triumphed by standing toe to toe against the most powerful man in the world.

Joseph- Joseph was seen by his brothers as some punk with a loud mouth and a big head (full of crazy dreams). To silence him they sold him into slavery. After toiling away as a slave and then in prison, Joe rose to the ranks of a great leader and literally saved the world from famine and starvation.

The Woman at the Well (John 4)- She was an outcast so outside of her community that she had to fetch water at a time when no one else would be at the well. But after a chance encounter with The Living Water she went back into town and became a powerful witness for the Gospel. “Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did.”

The Apostles- They were simply a rag-tag group of no names and nobodies. They were simply average men living in the middle of Palestine, a obscure Roman outpost. It is hard to believe that these nobodies took the message of Jesus to the masses and turned the world upside down.

But let’s be clear. In fact, I want to be crystal clear that these people became stars because of one reason and one reason alone.

They didn’t become stars because they were the smartest, the best looking, or the most talented. It wasn’t because of their titles or their deep pockets. They didn’t become stars because they were born that way.

The only reason these average people became stars is because they had the faith and the courage to obey when they heard the voice of God.

One more time: The only reason these average people became stars is because they had the faith and the courage to obey when they heard the voice of God.

The world around you will encourage you to be average. The world wants you to look and be just like everyone else. They will tell you to just go along. Don’t stand up for your beliefs or stand out in the crowd. Don’t cause a scene. Do as your told. Blend in.

That is no way to live your life. Nobody should shoot for average.

The only way for us to shine out like stars is to give our lives over to the Star Maker. No one in the kingdom of God is average. Jesus Christ came to this earth to invite us into the family. The Father takes us in and through the power of the Spirit average lives are transformed in to the extra-ordinary.

In order to shine like a star you must have the faith and the courage to obey when you hear the voice of God.

So here’s the question.

What is the voice of God calling you to today?

Do you need to make that apology? Do you need to confess that sin? Patch up that friendship? End that relationship that is dragging you down?

If you want to rise above mediocrity- to be more than average- you have to step out in faith and into obedience.

Discipleship, Preaching, Sermons, Wrestling With Scripture, Youth Ministry

5 Ways to Avoid Graduating from Your Faith

June 1, 2009 mjfelker1980 1 Comment

We celebrated Senior Sunday yesterday as we honored and blessed the class of 2009. The point of my message was to challenge these teens to not graduate from their faith when they graduate from High School.

I based my message on 2 Timothy because it is probably the last letter Paul sent the young minister. Paul’s life was coming to an end and in this letter he lays out the “non-negotiable” for Timothy. Paul’s final words to his young friend highlight the things that will help Timothy grow his faith long after his mentor moves on. I think this letter has a lot to say to you and me and our young graduates.

1) Don’t Be ASHAMED of Your Faith

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self–discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,” (2Timothy 1:6-8 TNIV)

This culture- especially the culture found on many college campuses- wants you to be ashamed of your faith in Jesus Christ. You will feel the need to apologize for being different or for having a different morality than those around you. It was much the same for young Timothy. The minute you begin to apologize for what you believe or the minute you begin to be embarrassed by the gospel is the minute you begin living on your own understanding and move away from living in the power of God.

2) PURSUE Righteousness

“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” (2Timothy 2:22-26 TNIV)

When you step foot on your college campus or when you start in the workforce you are going to see people in pursuit of many things in their lives.

People will be in pursuit of grades.
They will pursue power.
People pursue glory for themselves.
People will be pursuing what feels good.
They will pursue what’s easy or what they can get away with.

They will pursue all kinds of things but not necessarily what is Right or what honors/glorifies God.

3) ENDURE with God’s help and protection

“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2Timothy 3:10-15 TNIV)

Keep on keeping on. Once you decide to not be ashamed of the gospel and set you heart/mind to pursue God’s ways with your whole being- ENDURE!

Find your pace and trust that God will carry you through.

4) Fall in Love with GOD’S WORD

“All Scripture is God–breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2Timothy 3:16-17 TNIV)

How do you know the power of the Gospel- the truth of Jesus? How do you know what is right and how to follow it? Where can you find encouragement to endure? You find these things in God’s Word.

5) Intentionally RECOMMIT- Everyday/Every way

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2Timothy 4:1-8 TNIV)

Everyday and in every way you have to recommit in your heart to follow Jesus Christ. Living out and believing in the Gospel takes recommitment everyday.

Every one of us is just one day away from graduating from our faith. Each day brings its own troubles, challenges, & changes that jockey for 1st position in our hearts.

These graduates aren’t the only once susceptible to the world around them. Each one of us in here must pledge allegiance to the Gospel of Jesus Christ every single minute of every single hour of every single day.

Discipleship, Ethos, Leadership, Ministry, Sermons, Theology, Thoughts, Wrestling With Scripture

Are We Human?

January 26, 2009 mjfelker1980

I had the opportunity to speak at the junior high and senior high chapels at my alma mater this morning. I really enjoy speaking and teaching and so I try to take every opportunity that comes my way. I look at it as “honing my speaking skills.” Jay Leno hits the comedy clubs. I hit the guest speaking circuit.

I was given the assignment to speak on “What is the definition of humanity?” Real easy huh?

I decided to approach defining humanity by the way we treat others who are different from us. Meaning, our humanity depends on us treating all men with dignity, respect, kindness, and compassion.

This first issue the church dealt with was with racism. The Jewish Christians were unwilling to fully accept the Gentile Christians. This bred hostility and an attitude of exclusiveness.

“We’re in. You’re out. Deal with it!”

In Ephesians 2 Paul reminds us that, regardless of our past, we all have a brand new beginning with Jesus. Because of his mercy and grace, we have been brought inside. We belong to one another and to him. He goes on to say,

“It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.

The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

Christ brought us together through his death on the Cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:11-18 MESSAGE)

We are part of a New Humanity. Being human means that we live out the Greatest Command not just in our cozy holy huddles but by loving those who are considered outsiders. Loving the unloveable. Jesus is our example and our mark.

Through the story of the Good Samaritan we learn that being this new human means we care for those who are a different race and religion than we are.

Through the woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery we learn that this new humanity show compassion to those whose moral compass points a different direction than our own.

Through watching Jesus heal the lame, the diseased, the poor we see that being human is loving the broken.

Have have you shown your humanity to others today?

Ethos, Film & Theology, Leadership, Ministry, Popular Culture, Preaching, Remarkable, Sermons, Stories

What is Vision?

March 27, 2008 mjfelker1980 1 Comment

Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 KJVS)

I began thinking about this verse and I remembered a scene at the beginning of one of my favorite movies, Seven Samurai.

Kurosawa’s 1954 classic film begins with a gang of bandits tearing through the Japanese’s countryside. They come to a stop at the top of the a hill overlooking a small, poor, insignificant village. They are about to attack the defenseless hamlet when their leader reminds them that they attacked this village last season. He tells them that they should come back when the barley harvest is in so that they could really wreak some havoc. They agree and they ride off vowing to return and destroy everything. An older man from the village had been hiding on the hill and he overhears the bandits plans and he rushes down the hill to warn the people.

The very next scene show the entire village weeping and wailing and sitting in the dirt in the center of the village. Some are crying out they they wished that they could die right now. Doom and gloom is all around. Most have given up every ounce of hope.

One young man stands up and proclaims passionately that the villagers must fight the bandits. Most of the older men shout him down telling him that his idea is ludicrous. The older men agree that the course of action must be decided by the leader of the village. Every villager stands up and marches to the old mill where the oldest and wisest man living among them resides. The old man will tell them what they must do.

After much deliberation and thought the old man agrees that they must fight these bandits off. He tells them that they must hire samurai to help protect the people. Many of the men argue with the old man’s words saying that they could never afford to hire samurai. They ask him incredulously, “What Samurai would work for barley and rice?”

The old man responds to their doubt by saying, “We will look for hungry samurai.”

That’s vision.

Without his vision, the people would perish. The old man knew that his people were in trouble. He knew their fears and he knew their limitations. They needed help and they needed a different perspective. The old man exhibited vision to see beyond excuses.

Effective vision is most often the most practical. The people were focused on what prohibited them from surviving. The old man focused on what they had and what would help them survive.

Quit whining and crying about your situation and what you think is keeping you and your people from success.

Go find you some hungry samurai and protect your village.

Discipleship, Leadership, Ministry, Sermons

Life in Transition

May 23, 2007 mjfelker1980

Sunday was our Graduation Sunday.

Next weekend each of these students will be graduating in ceremonies all over the area and in a few weeks each of them will be moving from their homes and onto college campuses. There has been a lot of preparation for this moment by their parents and families. Lots of apprehension and a little bit of anxiety as these students take the big leap and head out into the world.

Life is full of transitions. Graduation from high school is but one of the many stages of life that we pass through. While Seniors are leaving for college their parents are having to transition into a new stage of life as well. The only constant in life is that things change.

The message I delivered on Sunday was on the life of Hannah.

I think Hannah has a lot to say to us today. Hannah transitioned from a life without children to having a child to dedicating that child to a life of service in ministry.

Here are some of the highlights from my message on Hannah:

I believe the story of Hannah speaks to those you who are parents. I think is Hannah were here today she would ask each of you who have been blessed with a child,

“Have you given your children back to God.”

Right off, let me say that Hannah is not telling you to drop your kids off here at the church office for me to raise!!! If you did that I would respond like Eli and ask you if you’ve been drinking!!!

No, by asking you if you have given your children back to God she is asking you if you have fully invested in your child’s spiritual life. Are you making real sacrifices so that your children can know God?

Are you praying for and with your child? Are you living in such away that your children know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the love of your life is Jesus Christ? What are you teaching them about the importance of growing and maturing in their faith?

Do they know that their relationship with God is the most important thing or is it something that they can work on only after their school work, sports team, or other extra activities their are involved in?

Samuel had a relationship with God because his mother had the courage to do something radical. She showed him true faith looked like.

What does radical sacrifice look like in your life? What sacrifices might you have to make to ensure that your children know God and have a deep, rewarding relationship with Him?

Does it mean that you pull you child from one extra activity so that you can have a family devotional?
That they see you or your spouse reading the Bible more?
That you make a stand and keep a hedge of protection around Wed. and Sundays even if it means that they can’t participate in …. (you fill in the blank)?

I think I would have a hard time giving Hannah any excuses as to why I was letting the good things of the world get in the way of the greater things of God. Hannah shows us that faith and devotion often require radical sacrifices.

The story of Hannah doesn’t just speak to those who are parents.

Hannah speaks to everyone who’s life is in transition because she shows us what it means to grow up.

Growing up means…

Making Decisions

Hannah made the decision to lay her broken heart and her broken womb before the Lord. In times of transition are you more apt to try and work everything out on your own or are you willing to ask the Lord for help?

Making Sacrifices

Hannah made the ultimate sacrifice to make sure that the Lord was honored and that she followed through with her promise. Are you making any sacrifices to keep the promises that you’ve made to God?

Making Connections

Hannah made connections with the Lord (1 Samuel 2:1-10) and with her son Samuel (2:18-20). Are you connecting with God and with the people in your care?

MichealFelker.com