There is a lie to expose in our culture. Do you hear it? The lie to expose is that we blame God for our pain and suffering. God didn’t create this pain and suffering. Look at Genesis 1-2. Look at the relationship between humanity and God that is being established. I know some of us get distracted by the existence of dinosaurs and the age of the earth. Stop looking for secret hidden codes, and look at the God that is being described in Genesis 1-2.
Category Archives: North Village Church
Discipleship; Basic Details
Who disciples? Col. 3:2 “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
- The eternal minded that see the big picture
- Those that are personal and have a passion to walk with others
- People who love Jesus
- Lovingly reprove those you lead, and be are teachable
How to disciple? (Barnabas, Paul, Timothy)
Is there a God? Does it matter? Part 2
The next question we need to consider is, “Does it matter?” I believe this questions matters, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, because on some level all of humanity has already committed themselves to some type of god. Even if we say, “I don’t care about all that religious stuff.” It isn’t true.
If you read all your psychology and sociology books they will all tell you that people have needs, and underneath all those needs is a deep, deep need to fix our hearts and minds on something, and give complete allegiance. It is to put all your weight, trust, belief, and security in something, and at the end of the day it is our own personal type of god.
Is there a God? Does it matter? Part 1
In Romans 1 it makes the claim that we can look at creation and see evidence for God! Can you believe that?
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
When you see the phrase, “Eternal Power” in the original language it is the word “Dunamis” it is where we get the word “Dynamite.” It means when we look at creation we can see powerful, explosive, miraculous characteristics that point god-like creator.
Getting involved in the lives of other people:
On Sunday mornings North Village Church has been studying through the book of Esther. A common theme we see throughout the book is that God involves people in the lives of other people. It’s that simple.
Throughout Scripture we God involving people in the lives of other people and it is something we need to consider about our lives today. Here are a few questions to help us reflect:
Am I Embracing My Faith? Esther and Mordecai hid their faith for half of the book. There are specific parts where they tell one another to “Tell no one.” Continue reading
Three People In Church
On any given Sunday there are three types of people who show up on a Sunday morning:
- Legal Larry: Legal Larry is self-righteous. He tends to look down on other people, quick to judge, and thinks too highly of himself.
- Loose Louis: Loose Louis errs on grace. He doesn’t really worry too much about holiness, obedience, or Scripture as long as people love each other and get along.
- Lost Lenny: Lost Lenny isn’t sure what to think about the whole experience. He is skeptical, guarded, and cynical from the moment he walks in the door.
New Sunday Location: Norris Conference Center
Although negotiations went late into the night we were able to secure Norris Conference Center as our Sunday location between now and December 22, 2013. Here are some details:
- $700 a week (We started at $1,200 a week)
- Price includes 5 rooms, coffee, water, projector, screen, chairs, and needed tables.
This new location has a few drawbacks, but overall we believe it will provide the following benefits:
- Less items to set up and break down
- More efficient drop-off and pick-up for our children
- More consistent and reliable
- One primary entrance and exit for new people
- More exposure to people in the community
While we will miss the “community and personal” feel that is provided by Lucy Read, we are hopeful that we will be able to capture a few of those components through our personal relationships and interactions with one another on Sunday.
Thank you for being so flexible over the summer. We are thankful for God’s grace to spend so many years in Lucy Read, but we are excited about this next step for our church family. Lets all take this as an opportunity for Jesus to give us a fresh perspective on Sunday morning, our lives and our community.
With you and for you!
Norris Conference Center
2525 W. Anderson Lane – Suite 365
Austin, Texas 78757
Worship
We can go to a football game and get dressed up in our favorite jersey, stand on our feet for 3 hours, paint our face, chant songs, and have a shared experience with 1000’s of people because we see the value. We will go to concerts to stand, sing along, and hold up our lighters because we see the value.
Therefore, we need to ask ourselves, “If I am having trouble worshipping God then maybe it is because I don’t see the value of God.”
Think of it this way. If your grandmother dies and leaves you her jewelry box you might get excited at first, but then you would remember, “Granny doesn’t have any jewelry that is valuable.” It is all costume jewelry. But, then one day a friend says, “What are you wearing. It is awfully unusual. You should get it appraised.”
Six churches in north central Austin are
Six churches in north central Austin are gathering tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 9am to pray! It is really awesome. Come join us at Northwest Park: http://bit.ly/13FZvvk
Father’s Day Picnic! Sign up to bring s
Father’s Day Picnic!
Sign up to bring something: http://bit.ly/1bx6A3X
Do you place your life under the authority of Scripture?
In our culture today that question probably sounds like nonsense. We place ourselves as the final authority in life on all matters, however, this isn’t very logical because all we have to do is look back on the last 6-months of our lives to see that our “final authority” isn’t very reliable.
This is why Scripture is so important.
I know there are some objections and concerns so let me respond quickly:
Excuses we give to avoid reading Scripture:
1. I didn’t grow up going to church: I didn’t either. When I first started reading Scripture I thought David and Goliath was about a bear. It’s okay. You have to start somewhere.
2. I don’t like to read: That’s a lie. You read fiction junk all the time about vampires and hunger games. You read about sports. You read about music. You have all the draft beers memorized at the Flying Saucer. You can do this. It is simply a matter of you coming to a place where you decide if you want to stay in this fight.
Where do you find your confidence and boldness in life?
When we look at Scripture we see the Apostle Paul find his confidence and boldness as an “Apostle of Christ Jesus.” It is easy for us to assume the authority comes from the title “Apostle” but the only reason it carries any authority is because it is connected to Jesus. He found his confidence in Jesus?
Consider all the places where we look for confidence and boldness in life. We easily turn to our physical appearances. If we feel like we are in shape and eating healthy then we walk with a little pep in our step. We also turn to our finances. If our savings is growing then we feel confident about life. We turn to our circle of friends also. If they are inviting us places and including us in social activities then we tend to feel better about ourselves.
Praying for Austin City Council
In 2010 I was asked to pray for our city council. You can look at a video of the prayer here: http://austintx.swagit.com/play/10052011-686/#2
On April 11th, I will have another opportunity to pray for the city council and I see it as a great opportunity to come along side our city council members for spiritual encouragement. I am sure they have personal agendas. I am sure this is something they are doing to advance their career in some capacity. But, I am also sure they are under immense pressure. Please take a moment to pray for the leaders of our city today!
Living On Mission Smart Phone Application
North Village Church has recently created a tool to help us stay connected with people and living on mission with Jesus. It is a simple tool to help us:
– 3 people to pray for
– 2 people to serve
– 1 person to have spiritual conversations
Click on the link or search “Living On Mission”
Serving North Central Austin 