Category Archives: North Village Church

What is communion? (part 3)

The third one is to know that communion is individual.

As we enter into this celebration there is a picture of spiritual nourishment that takes place as we grow in the truth of the gospel because what Jesus accomplished at the cross is beautiful. The gospel is like a diamond and the more we turn it, the more we look at it, the more we study it, the more beautiful it becomes.

Might we never get tired of growing more infatuated with the gospel and that it would continue to stir in us more joy, peace, and love for Jesus and one another.

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Attitude Toward Trials

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2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds

Notice in verse 2 it says “whenever” we face trials. It isn’t if, or might, but whenever we face trials. Trials are going to come. Life is hard. Some of us will push back and think that is a real negative way to look at life because Jesus brings joy, and He does, but it is important to get it in the right order. He doesn’t bring joy by the absence of trials, but He brings joy in the midst of trials. It is why verse 2 starts off with “consider it pure joy”.

For some of us when we are in the midst of trials and someone said this to us it would make us want to punch them in the face, but lets be clear that it isn’t teaching us to find joy in the trial as though we should experience smiles and dancing in the midst of pain like a bunch of masochist. It isn’t that we are to take joy after the trial which is what most of us want to do right? However, it teaches us to consider it.

What does it mean to consider? To reflect, to contemplate, to think carefully about “it” about the trial. This reflection will shape our attitude toward the trial and below is a simple way to help us move in that direction:

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Spiritual Entitlement Part 4

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Gaze in wonder of what Jesus accomplished at the cross.

In Luke 15 there are three parables that are told. One of a lost coin, a lost sheep, and the one we have been looking at and in the first two stories there is always someone who goes out to look for the lost coin or the lost sheep, however, in the last story nobody goes out to look for the lost son, and it is suppose to strike you off guard and it is because the older brother was suppose to go out. The older brother should have gone to the father and said, “Father, my younger brother has acted foolishly and his life is in ruins.” I will leave the home, go look for him, pay for his debt at my expense, and bring him home.” However, that older brother doesn’t exist in the story and as Jesus is telling the story He is inviting us to imagine and yearn for a true older brother. Jesus is that older brother.

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Spiritual Entitlement Part 3

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Sin disrupts that attachment.

The scriptures tell us that Jesus who created and sustains all of creation is perfect and Holy and that His holiness demands that we be perfect to dwell in His presence. The scriptures tell us what keeps us from dwelling in the presence of Jesus is described as sin. Most of us think of sin as an external behavior that doesn’t line up with the Holiness of God, however, Jesus shows us in the Luke 15 parable it is more than merely our external behavior. This is what tripped up the older brother.

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Spiritual Entitlement Part 2

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When our hearts begin to drift off toward spiritual entitlement we need to be on guard. Below are a few biblical principles against spiritual entitlement.

All of humanity was created to be attached to Jesus

Simple right. We desperately need Jesus. We find ourselves living in a culture that gives the appearance of self-sufficiency and if we want food we go to the grocery store, if we want water we turn on the faucet, if we want something new we order it online and it shows up at our door. It becomes difficult to see why we would need Jesus. We conclude we are basically good people who will occasionally need a little help and Jesus is there to give us a hand. However, the scriptures describe it a little differently.

Hebrews1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

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Spiritual Entitlement Part 1

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When I was 18 a friend of mine began to talk to me about Jesus and to be honest it was really annoying. I saw Jesus as a crutch for people who couldn’t make it in life. A cosmic kill-joy. A list of rules and there was nothing about Jesus that created any curiosity or interests. My only exposure to Jesus or church were the people who came on television and asked me to put my hand on the TV screen and they would say that tingly sensation you feel is the Holy Spirit. I remembered thinking, “That’s just static from the TV!”

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Two Types of People

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As a kid my grandfather would always tell me there are two types of people, those who are given money and those who earn it. That has always stuck with me since I was kid….not the money part but the two types of people. I personally think there are two types of people, those who enjoy NASCAR and those who don’t get it. I would be the person who doesn’t get it!

In Luke 15 Jesus walks through this story of a family that has two brothers that represent two types of people. One is the risk taker and one is the responsible one. The risk taker has offended his father by seeking after his inheritance entirely too early. The responsible has offended his father by not wanting to join the rest of the family.

I personally grew up in a family of risk takers. I was raised in Dallas where my mom and dad met, married, and divorced before I was 5. My mom raised my brother and I, my father was an alcoholic, and as a result I grew up really fast, really skeptical, really independent.

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35 Day Spiritual Journey Prayer Guide

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Throughout the spiritual journey we have been praying through a partnership in the gospel. Sometimes we might think our partnership in the gospel ends when we meet Jesus for the first time, but really it is just beginning. We are meeting this Sunday to enter into a time of prayer and reflection as we head into our last week.

Gospel
1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Take a moment to reflect on your salvation and pray through your gratitude of what Jesus accomplished at the cross.

Isaiah 53: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

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Day 25, Spiritual Journey

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Are We Listening?

God communicated with His people in the Old and New Testaments through dreams, prophets, angels, and an audible voice. But what must He do to make us listen? God offers His Word to communicate His will and allows the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts. God also sends others to bless and direct us. Even in our disappointments, God communicates that our failure today can be made a success tomorrow (Romans 8:28).

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Developing Elders

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What are elders? Sounds kind of creepy, but in scripture they are described as men who take the spiritual leadership of the local church. Throughout history leadership has been abused and neglected and as a result people have mixed emotions towards leadership, however, when it is looked at through a biblical lens it can be really powerful. As of now we are working through a document on discovering the role of an elder. It is a simple document that walks through their description in 1 Timothy 3.

Here is a list of some of the topics we are going through:

How to Stay Strong Spiritually
How to Lead Our Families
How to Lead Incarnationally
Biblical Passages on Eldering
Working With Other Elders
Guarding Our Doctrine & Vision
Confronting Sin In The Body (Church Discipline)
Reproducing Leaders

September 13

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On September 13 we are going to start meeting weekly as a church. We are really excited! Jesus has been so good to us to gather a group of people who desire to see more than just a church we can attend on Sunday. Our hope is that he will continue to gather people to himself to see more of him and reflect him to this city / community.

Lucy Read School Supplies

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Lucy Read is the only pre-K school in AISD and offers public education to low income families in north central Austin. Unfortunately, Lucy Read doesn’t receive additional funding from Title I (the largest federally funded education program) and greatly appreciates any donation.

Our goal is to have a school supply drive for the month of September. You can make donations by dropping them off at Lucy Read on Sunday mornings at 10am or you can click here to make a financial donation to Lucy Read for school supplies or otherwise.

Come on! What else are you going to do with that $5.00. Buy coffee at Starbucks! It will be gone in 10 minutes and this will be a small step to help little children get a better education!

Day 9, Spiritual Journey

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Our church is going through a spiritual journey for the next 35 days and the theme is “Partnership” from Philippians when the Apostle Paul admonishes them for their partnership in the gospel. This week our focus is on prayer.

Have you ever felt like asking God why you should pray? What is the point? Does it make a difference? When life seems unbearable, when emotionally we feel empty, and the future doesn’t look so bright; how could prayer help our situation? It is in prayer that we find a hope and a solution for every problem we face:

• Prayer readjusts the focus of our hearts and minds. In times of crisis, it is natural to focus on the darkness of the prevailing situation. But prayer moves us to look to a source of help that will never fail us. When we focus our minds on Christ and His ability to move mightily in our situation, our hearts will cease to be anxious. Peace will reign.

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Trailer Packing

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This is our trailer for when we set up church on Sunday mornings. We met today to have a packing party and we pulled it all out and packed it all again. We shuffled the boxes around and tried to identify what goes where and hopefully we will be able to keep it organized.

The hardest part is when we break everything down on Sunday morning and new people want to help us pack up and clean up. Which is awesome, but usually things just get thrown into a random box and overtime we are back to chaos. However, now we have lists, better labels, pictures, and specific tasks.

In the end it really isn’t that much and for only having a 12′ trailer we have a lot of extra space.

3rd Preview Gathering

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On Sunday we gathered for our 3rd preview. Starting a new church is a little like going on a blind date because you are still learning each other, learning about yourself, and people are learning about you. Which kind of creates those awkward moments, but we just embraced them and had fun.

In September we will start meeting weekly and we are really excited. For us our weekly gathering on Sunday isn’t our focus. It is important and we want to do it well but it isn’t our focus. We hope it becomes a gathering for people to come together, be encouraged, and then work together to meet physical and spiritual needs in the community. Our next focus is a supplies drive for Lucy Read.