What Do Circles Offer?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

I love rows.  My life has been blessed by rows.  I share weekly using the rows format.  But I know the truth.  Circles are better than rows.  My life has been changed in circles.  Here is why circles are better than rows.

When people sit in a circle, something powerful happens, which is totally unlike the interaction people have when they are seated in rows.

In rows, people look at and learn from the pastor. In a circle, they look and learn from each other.

In rows, people are treated as passive and dependent. People wait for the “professionals” to minister to them. There is a strong message of inequality between the leadership team and the congregation. In a circle, people are active and self-directed. They are implicitly empowered to minister to each other. There is a sense of equity and respect for everyone.

In rows, there is no opportunity to respond to the information presented. There is no place for prior knowledge or life experiences to be shared. There is no chance to discuss, ask questions or disagree. In a circle, there is ample opportunity to interact and explore new ideas and concepts. Individual life experiences are valued and sought, and robust discussion is allowed and encouraged.

In rows, learning is minimized and boredom is prevalent. Learning is constrained to a single event and a single intelligence (listening). The focus is on attaining knowledge from a single source (the pastor). In a circle, learning is maximized by tapping into multiple intelligences and promoting an attitude of continuous learning. The focus is on growing wisdom through shared experiences and interaction, and applying that wisdom to real-life situations.

A circle creates community.

A circle activates learning.

A circle empowers everybody.

A circle accelerates authenticity.

A circle gives everyone a voice and value.

A circle is a natural way of interacting.

A circle is symbolic in its very nature. A circle speaks of unity; of equality; of connectedness; of completeness. A circle is non-hierarchical, organic and natural.

I’m not saying that every interaction we have in church has to take place in circles. I am saying that we don’t use them often enough, and that we haven’t discovered the power of using circles in our Sunday church services.

Will you join a circle this fall semester?  Now is the time to sign up.  

What's in Your Hand?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

God is asking you “what is in your hand?”  Because if you give what is in your hand to God, He can use it for his kingdom.

This past week we focused on one of the most powerful principle found in scripture - Everybody can accomplish more than somebody.   Paul uses this analogy of the human body to describe the church.  Everyone is valuable.  Everyone is significant.  Everyone needs one another to fully function.  We are all mission critical to the body.  We can accomplish more together. 

We need you.  Our community needs you.  The world needs you.  Our awesome church is not about going to church but about giving back as the church.  We can do so much more together than we can alone.  Everybody is greater than somebody. 

So here is what I’m trying to convince you to do:

• To get off the bench and step onto the playing field.
• To get off the sidelines and get into the game.
• To leverage some of your time to make a Kingdom difference right here.
• To take whatever you have in your hand, and use it for God. Everybody can play a part.

The church is a volunteer organization…it’s the power of everybody working together.  We are an army of people, all with important parts to play.  We are people that were created to join God in His mission. We serve because it gives us a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.  For me it’s the most fulfilling thing I do.

Everybody can have a part in the mission and there is no unimportant task. The body of Christ is made up of many parts...all of them help the others.

So, where does God want you?

Serving is for everybody.  You don’t have to have a special card to be a volunteer around here.  You don’t need to have a signed permission form from the Holy Spirit.  You don’t have to be a super Christian.  You just need to serve somewhere.

God has a mission and everybody can accomplish more than somebody.  Everybody that serves in some capacity around here is spreading the Gospel.  You’ve been created and gifted to serve.  You use your passions and gifts throughout the week…in your home, in your job, why not leverage them for use in your church?

So let me be clear about what I want everyone to do.  I want everyone to serve somewhere.  Because everybody is better than somebody.

I don’t want you to serve because we have a whole bunch of needs that if they don’t get met, disaster will strike.

I want you to volunteer because you were created and hard-wired by God to do it.  And when you serve somewhere you will find fulfillment, people’s needs will be met, and the gospel will go forward.

What Do Angels Long For?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

It’s an interesting notion, isn’t it?  We all know what it feels like to long, desire, or eagerly await something.  We know the butterflies in the stomach feeling, the emotions, and the anticipation we experience in our longings.  But angels.  Those heavenly beings, they long?  They have desires?  They eagerly await?

Peter briefly mentions that angels do have longings.  And do you know what they long for?  They long to see our salvation.  They long to see God rescue us.  Redeem us.  Transform us.

They long to see God fulfill His promises.  Angels know something that we all struggle to grasp or comprehend.  They have been with God for hundreds, thousands of years.  They know that when God makes a promise, he never breaks a promise.  They know that God finishes what he starts.  They know that He who promised is faithful.  So they long.

They long to see God fulfill the promises he made ages ago.  God really made some incredible promises to us.  So we have to position ourselves to receive these promises.  In last week’s message, I shared how we do that – We draw near.  How can you draw near this fall?  How can you encourage others to draw near?

Peter wants us to feel more gratitude and wonder for our salvation that the angels of heaven longed to see; that we have now experienced through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We should be amazed at the greatness of our salvation.

1 Peter 1:12 (NLT)

"They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen."

God has a Plan

By Pastor Rey Diaz

God has a plan.  Let’s look at this story of Joseph from God’s perspective.

God: There is a famine coming that could wipe out my chosen people.  I promised Abraham that I would bless him so that he could be a blessing to the world.  And when I make a promise, I never break a promise.  So I have to save his descendants from the famine.

Angel: How are you going to do that?  Egypt has a Pharaoh that doesn’t serve you and they are the only country big and powerful enough to provide the food.

God: I will send 7 years of prosperity so that they will all have enough to last through the 7 years of famine.

Angel 2: But Pharaoh and his posse will probably just spend and overindulge during the 7 years of prosperity.

God: I need someone who knows how to manage prosperity, yet also knows how to manage in scarcity.

Angel: Who is that?  Jacob?  Reuben?  Judah? Potiphar?  The warden?

God: Nope.  It will be Joseph.  He has a hard life ahead of Him.  But I have a plan.  He will learn how to manage prosperity with Potiphar.  Then he will learn how to manage scarcity with the Warden.  Then once he trusts in me and is ready, I will make him governor over all of Egypt. 

Angel: But Joseph is going to be sold by his brothers to slavers who will then sell him to Potiphar…

God: I will be with him.

Angel: Then Joseph will be falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’ wife and sent to a dungeon….

God: I will be with him.

Angel: Then he will be forgotten in the dungeon for years.  It won’t seem like you are with him.

God: I will be with him through it all.  Sin, weakness, and tragedy- none of it can thwart my plans.  I’m in complete control.  I need someone to save the chosen people.  Joseph is that someone. 

Angel: I still feel bad for Joseph but at least you will be with him.  Can you punish the brothers for me?

Okay, I don’t think it happened quite like this but I hope you see that God was in complete control and he had a plan the entire time.  God was silent but he was not absent. 

I believe the same is true in your life.  Things have not gone your way.  You can’t believe the way things turned out.  You struggle to understand God’s purposes.  But I know That God has plans for you. 

Jeremiah 29:11-12

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² In those days when you pray, I will listen.¹³ If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

What is God in Control of?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

God was in control. God is in control. God will always be in control. A snowflake doesn’t hit the ground without God knowing. God is in control of how many hairs are on your head. God is in control of all the cells of your body. Down to the molecular level, God is control of every neutron, electron and proton.

God is in control of every detail of your life. He is in control of you past, present, and future. God is in control of your immediate family. He is in control of your extended family. He is in control of you friends. God is in control of your finances.

God is in control of the stock market, and the economy, and the NASDAQ.

God is in control of the school system, and the crime rate and the unemployment rate.

God is control of your struggles, and weaknesses, and shortcomings.

God is in control of every detail of your life.

There is no arena of your life over which God does not have complete utter control. Nothing is beyond him. Everything is under his watchful gaze. And in due time he will lift you up.

You might not feel his control. It might not seem God is in control. All the evidence might suggest God is not in control. But this is a promise in scripture – God is in control. He reigns sovereign.

Can you believe this? Do you struggle to accept this? Will you vocalize this? Will you surrender control to God?

Colossians 1:15-20

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."

God's Promise

By Pastor Rey Diaz

What to do when you don’t think God is there?

I have responded as if God has forgotten me, as if God is too busy for me, as if God doesn’t like me, as if God doesn’t care, as if God is not strong enough.

I could go on and on, but in my years of following Jesus, I have had so many responses to circumstances that it embarrasses me.  I so often allow my interpretation of reality to distort the promises God has made to me.

The truth is that God made a promise to me – I will be with you always (Matt 28:20).  This is a promise not contingent on me, my behavior, my record, my anything.  It is God and his infinite faithfulness that will fulfill this promise.  So the truth is that God is always with me.  In my failures.  In my victories.  In my doubts. In my beliefs. When I’m scared, anxious, and worried.  God is with me.  When things are going well and when things are going bad, God is with me.

That should change me.  That truth could change me if I would surrender to it.  How would my life be different if I responded to every circumstance the way anyone would respond if they were absolutely confident God was with them?

That’s my challenge. That’s your challenge.  How would your life be different if you responded like that?  How would your faith grow?  How would your family flourish?  This month there is a group of us who are experimenting.  In our everyday lives we are going to pause as ask, “How would someone in this circumstance respond if they were absolutely confident God was with them?” 

The story of Joseph is a very frustrating story.  But it has a lot to teach us.  This young man loses it all.  He is betrayed by his brothers, stripped of his identity, sold as a slave, and sent to a different land.  How does he respond?  Like anyone would if they were confident God was with them.  So now God is going to bless him and save him and rescue him.  Nope, instead he is falsely accused of a crime and sent to prison.  He is being punished for the very crime he refused to commit.  So where is God in all of this?  The Bible is clear that God, though unseen, was very present with Joseph.  And that is how Joseph responded.  As a slave, God is with Joseph.  In the dungeon, God is with Joseph. 

Where are you?  Can you believe this truth?  Is it hard to accept?  Where can you grow? 

 Read Genesis 37 and 39.  Share the story with your family.  Come to hear part two of this story (sorry for the cliffhanger).  It will get worse before it gets better. 

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