Don't Surrender

By Pastor Tim White

If God is for us who can be against us?  Is that poetry or is it something we can count on?  I bet my life on this concept from Scripture.  No matter how long, how hard, how overwhelming, how or impractical, I refuse to give up on the dreams that I believe God has given me.  In the words of Winston Churchill “I will never, never, never give up.”  I know that 99% of us do not know what this means.  But God does. 

I think about the founding of the United States of America; The Declaration of Independence took place on July 3^rd 1776.  However, after the war - after the election of the first president of the United States – they were still pounding out democracy.  They slowly were moving the government system from federalism to democracy.  Eight years into the Washington’s presidency it still wasn't settled.  

The 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln brought about more battles on many of the same issues. Oh how Abraham Lincoln was tempted to give up, but the resolve he expressed in the Gettysburg address continued until the day he died.

My point is simple.  Don't surrender to discouragements, setbacks, or to opposition.  Don't surrender to mistakes, to your insecurities, when your friends give up on you, and certainly don't surrender to evil.  Surrender only to God.  We want his way, because if he is for us who can be against us?

I pledge to live by this verse; how about you?

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White 

Take the High Ground

By Pastor Tim White

August 11th, 1938 was the day that Dr. Bob had his last drink, he and Bill W. began the 12 step program.  That may seem like a long time ago but two of my mentors, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and Dr. Bruce Larson, knew Bill W. and had met him in a small group Bible study.  Both Dr. Peale and Dr. Larson have passed on to heaven although their impact remains in many lives still carrying the torch.  Both of them often spoke of Bill W. and his commitment to Jesus Christ as well as the inspiration of the 12 steps in the program coming from the Beatitudes. 

Do you know how many people have been set free of addictions and given a life of joy and sobriety since 1938?  That is a real question because I don't think anyone knows.  I know that the American Psychological Association has stated that this seems to be the most effective method for overcoming addictions in history.  You can find an AA group almost anywhere or anytime.  It has been said that today AA makes up only 20 percent of all 12 step groups.  There are Narcotics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Crystal Meth Anonymous, Marijuana Anonymous, Sex Addiction Anonymous, Neurotics Anonymous, and many more. Recently, Dr. Rick Warren started another program Celebrate Recovery which is sweeping the country in churches where they believe that Jesus is the most powerful higher power.

It all starts with Humility - and that is the first Beatitude.  I admit my problem is unmanageable without help.  Jesus put it this way.  Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God.  In that radical statement in Luke the first point is made.  God is against the proud, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.  In Luke, he seems to be saying more than that:  Maybe in this Sermon on the Plain he is talking to his disciples first.  But the Beatitudes which are in the Sermon on the Mount and in Mark are given a special emphasis in the Gospel of Luke.  They are condensed to four dynamic life points, which we are entitling “Take the High Ground.  These points will transform our lives and our church even if they are very difficult to swallow. 

‘Blessed are the poor’ means God has a special affinity for the poor.  It calls back to the rich young ruler, the definition of true religion in James and so many places that say God cares for the poor.  It takes a way a false notion that somehow the rich are the only ones that God loves and that wealth is somehow a definition that God has blessed someone.  Osama Bin Laden was multi-millionaire and was not specially blessed by God. 

Watch out! Don't let pride grab you into thinking that just because you are rich or successful that somehow you are better than the poor.  God loves the poor.  They are blessed.  This is not saying that God loves poverty.  He doesn't like it when kids have to eat garbage out of a dump.  But you would be blind not to see that the children of the dump posses a blessing that many of us need to learn from.  That is why when we send a mission trip to Honduras many times the kids come back and clean their room, do their chores and get straight A's.  Because they have a new appreciation and a dream to be a follower of Jesus Christ.  

In Luke each of the four Beatitudes is accompanied by a woe.  What happens if you don't make this choice of living?  “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort” Luke 6:21.  Jesus was followed by rich and poor, Jews and Samaritans, slaves and Roman soldiers.  They knew that the temporary achievements of this life were not the end solution.  In fact, they loved and respected each other as the family of God.

I share this hard message with you to set our church free.  Free from the pride that can destroy an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ – thereby preventing each of us from being the leaders God has designed us to be.  Last week as I preached, I was overwhelmed by the love and response of the congregation to this little preached on passage.  Rich and poor alike left with a better understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven.  I felt like our church took a giant step towards becoming the great caring network that we were meant to be.  I was so excited to hear people testify as they left, of a new sense of God’s Kingdom at work in our midst.  

Join me next week as I talk about what it means to regain your hunger for Jesus and life.  This word will change your life.

The Unlikely Invite

By Pastor Rey Diaz

In seventh grade, I received an invitation to join one of my teachers for lunch.  His name was Mr. Manning. I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about but I assumed it was my bad attitude, bad influence, and bad grades.  I was not the model student.  I had just been arrested the week before for fighting.  I had been suspended for 3 days and had served a number of detentions.  It was just going to be another teacher rebuking me for my bad decisions. Mr. Manning was everyone’s favorite teacher.  He also coached a flag football team for the school and led a Christian Bible club. 

I’ve never forgotten what Mr. Manny said to me that day.  He basically said he didn’t think I was a bad kid.  I can’t tell you what this did for my identity.  I saw myself as a bad kid, yet here was a teacher telling me I was good.  And he invited me to come to his Bible club.  That was the beginning of my return to God and one year later I accepted Jesus as my savior.  A simple invitation started a domino effect. 

There was no one more unlikely to receive an invitation from Jesus that Matthew, the tax collector.  He was bad and he knew it.  He had abandoned God, the synagogue and his faith.  He wasn’t an ‘accidental’ sinner.  He was an ‘on-purpose’ sinner.  Yet Jesus makes an invitation. An invitation to follow.  And it’s an invitation that would change Matthew’s life. 

Every single day, at every moment of our life, Jesus is making an invitation to us.  It’s the same one he made to Matthew.  “Follow me.” 

And this invitation was the first and last words Peter heard from Jesus.  Follow me.  It was a reminder that it doesn’t matter whether we have been following Jesus for 30 minutes or 30 years. Discipleship is not a destination or location.  The question is not “Where am I?” but “Am I following?”

It’s the question I want to answer this morning.  It’s the question I want you pray about today. 

Are you following?

Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.”

Ask for Water

By Rey Diaz

It was 2006.  My best friend was living in Arizona, the site for the college football national championship game, where my Florida Gators were 15 point underdogs.  Somehow, hopefully legally, my friend found us two tickets to the game.  I explained to my wife, “It’s a once a in a lifetime opportunity.”  I couldn’t believe it when they won.  It was everything I expected.  After years of waiting for this happen, my team finally won the championship!  It was glorious.  It was amazing.  And it lasted about one hour before I started thinking about next year.  Two years later it was another “once in a lifetime opportunity” as I flew to Miami to watch my team again win the title.  2 in 3 years.  But was it enough?  Am I satisfied today? H –E –double hockey sticks – NO!  I want another title. 

I thought that once my team won, I would be satisfied.  But it didn’t work that way.  In fact now I am even thirstier for championships.  And that is why, in a nutshell, this world will never satisfy.  Because we all thirst for something this world cannot offer us. 

The Bible has compares the pleasures of this world to sand, in the sense that sand will never quench your thirst.  That is the questions I asked us last weekend – how many cups of sand does it take to quench your thirst?  How many successes, how many resources, how many promotions, how many relationships, how many fill in the blanks until you are completely satisfied?  The answer is none.  Sand doesn’t ever quench our thirst.  In fact, sand actually compounds our thirst. 

Into this mess, Jesus speaks with authority.  As our creator, he knows about our unquenchable desires.  He knows about our longings.  And he offers us a gift.  He has living water for us.  And he promises that if we drink this living water, we will never thirst again.  Never.  As in, not for the rest of our lives.  Not most of the time.  Not on weekends, not when we are older, but never.  It is possible to be fully satisfied in God.  Most of us don’t believe it because we haven’t tried it.  That’s the challenge. 

Will you admit that all of your efforts, that all of that this life has to offer has left you thirst?  Jesus wants to put you in touch with your thirst.

Ask for the gift.  Ask for the living water.  Drink it.  And thirst no more. 

Where are you?  Have you realized that sand will not quench your thirst?  Have you asked for the gift?  Have you tasted of the living water? 

Going Public

By Pastor Rey Diaz

Most of you know the story of how I publicly asked Elise to be my girlfriend.  You know how I wrote a song for her and then threw rocks at the wrong window. I was so nervous I sang the wrong lyrics, singing “I want to be your girlfriend” and had people walking by shaking their heads in embarrassment for me.  Afterwards one guy came up to me and said, “Wow that was so bad, it had to come from the heart.”  It’s all true.  It’s one of the story I don’t have to embellish.  That night I went public with my love for Elise.   But that night I also started a ripple effect.

When I look at my two beautiful children, I can’t help but think that they are part of that ripple effect.  Without being overly dramatic, these kids can be directly linked to a decision to go public with my love for Elise.  I go public with my love.  She reciprocates.  We get married.  Yada, yada, yada, now we have two children.  Going public really did start a ripple effect. 

Now think about going public with your love of Jesus.  Wouldn’t that be infinitely more powerful? Wouldn’t that ripple effect be exponentially greater?  When you go public with your faith, two powerful events occur simultaneously.  First, going public frees you.  The secret truth is that most of us care too much about what people think and it hinders us.  We start making decisions based on what other people will think.  Going public frees us.  Secondly, and even more important, is that going public starts a ripple effect.  The Bible says the faith comes by hearing the word of God.  There is something supernatural and unexplainable that occurs when you go public with your faith.  The people around you experience something almost divine.  It is like you suddenly unleashed God’s spirit on their lives.  And who knows what will happen?  Maybe that’s why Jesus called us salt and light. 

How many people around you need salt and light?  How many people around you are waiting for some hope?  How many people around you prayed to a God they aren’t even sure they believe in, “If you’re real show me a sign.  Send someone my way.”  You are the answer to someone’s prayer.  But you will never know, unless you go public.

Where are you at?  Have you ever gone public with your faith?  With your family?  With your neighbors?  With your co-workers?  If someone needed someone who could pray for them, would your name pop up?  Are you free? 

Last thought – you are probably a follower of Jesus because someone went public in your life.  You are part of the ripple effect.  That’s how this whole thing works. 

Romans 10:17-18

¹⁷ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. ¹⁸ But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

Freedom Fest

We have a really fun event coming up in 3 weeks on Sunday, June 30th.  We are calling it Freedom Fest, as we celebrate freedom we have in our country and the freedom offered us by our heavenly father. 

What is it? 

-                A family picnic with hamburgers and hot dogs, activities for kids of all ages, sports on top of the hill, and all this for just $8/adult or $5/child (Free for kids 3 and under).

-                Honduras Benefit Concert featuring Travis Graham and his band New Heights and Musician Erik Sutten.  We are asking for a suggested donation of $6 to support the work our church will do in Honduras. 

Two reasons why you should come to Freedom Fest:

1 – Its going to be fun!  When you have fun with people, it forms a bond together.  We consider ourselves a family of churches with one dream.  Families learn together, grow together, follow together, and have fun together.  This is our chance to have fun. 

2 – It’s a golden opportunity to bring someone to our family.  We want you to feel comfortable inviting your friends and neighbors to our church.  This is a great first step for many people who would otherwise say they are not quite ready yet.  Food, fun, and a concert.  We have made it so that your guest can come for free. 

We are challenging everyone to bring someone to Freedom Fest.  At the very least you can ask God to give you the names of 5 people you could be praying for.  And if a door opens up, ask for the boldness to invite them.

Acts 4:29 -30 – Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

Better Than Ever

Last week we looked at a prophesy for our church from God's word that was laid on the heart of Pastor Rey’s godly mother, Isabel Diaz.  Focusing on Haggai 2:3-9, the message was entitled “Better than Ever” and I challenged everyone, not only to pray about participating in the transition fund at Washington Cathedral but to buy a Bible, if you don't have one, and bring it to church with this passage marked.  We believe it is the word of God for us.  We receive it, we are going to stand upon it and we are going to live by it. 

Last week I heard the sad news that David "Deacon" Jones had passed away at the age of 74.  I had the privilege to spend some time with Deacon Jones and invited him to come and speak at Washington Cathedral.  I had called him a couple of times to arrange for him to come and speak but he was always too busy with his charity activity.  If you are not a football fan then you might be wondering why I would invite this mountain of a man to come and speak at our church.

 I had met Deacon at a Super Bowl Most Valuable Player of the Year party.  Well, there was a special party before the party.  He walked across the room and introduced himself to me and said, “Hi I am Deacon Jones and I smell a quarterback over here.  I hate quarterbacks.  I want to kill one right now.”  I was talking to Bart Starr and asking him for his autograph for my dad. And he said, “Not Bart Starr, he is the only quarterback I like but the rest are… (he then let out a string of old fashioned swear words).”  Then, while he still had my hand, telling me how he was going to kill a quarterback tonight, he said, “You didn't play quarterback did you?”

 I think it was a set up by my friend to put the fear of The Lord in me.  It worked because I lied and said that I had never played quarterback.  He said, “You smell like a quarterback.”  I have to tell you, I was shaking.  Deacon Jones was called the greatest pass rusher in the history of the game.  They never counted quarterback sacks until after his time.  He coined the turn.  They used to be called quarterback dumps.  He was a part of the fearsome foursome from 1961-1971 at the LA Rams.  In one 14 game season, he had 26 sacks in 1967.  That was before QBs threw the ball so much.  There was no one like him. I asked him if he was a Christian, thinking that might help with his squeezing my hand and saying he was going to kill me.  He swore, “Of course, my name is Deacon Jones.”  I have to tell you that this man caused you to respect him.  Later we talked about his love for charity and he agreed to come and speak at our church. 

When Deacon Jones talked people listened.  Do we respect God's word as much?  God said, “Be of good courage do not give in to fear - things are going to be better than ever.” Do we respect him enough to believe it?  Speak it?  Live it?

I spoke to Deacon Jones that night. I am not a quarterback - I am a pastor.  I hoped he believed me.

Now we speak God's word.  We are not fearful people; we are your people ready to live by your word.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White