Category Archives: North Village Church

How good is good enough?

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8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

Verse 10 is teaching us if we stumble at just one point we are guilty of breaking all of the law because the law is the reflection of the character and holiness of God and if we are going to dwell in an eternal relationship with Him then we need to be perfect in character as well. We need to be holy.

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Prayer / Worship Night

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Last night we gathered as a church at our house to pray about personal transformation and city transformation. It is a transformation that only takes place through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and if we are going to even come close to see the church look different it will only happen through Jesus and through prayer.

Because of the amazing iPhone I was able to record some of the worship. It isn’t professional by any means but it is powerful to hear a gathering of people singing out worship and dependency upon Him.

Live Worship

2nd Austin Dog Fair

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This Saturday we are hosting our 2nd Austin Dog Fair! We are really excited. Sense its inception we have had people contact us all over the country (Denver, San Diego,, San Antonio, and Santa Fe) to host their own dog fair and we think pretty soon it will become an international explosion!

The first one was a blast and this time we have more vendors but we are doing less promotion to save costs so help us get the word out if you live in Austin.

What is communion? (part 3)

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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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August 23On 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.