Husbands, Love Your Wives

In January I am hosting a 4-week study to take an in-depth look at Ephesians 5:25-26.

I have found one of the greatest challenges in our spiritual lives as men is leading our wives spiritually (See 1 Peter 3:7.)  Notice the last line in verse 7 teaches us that our prayers will be hindered if we neglect to love our wives, lead them, pastor them, treat them with honor, and live with them in an understanding.

I can think of no greater response to that truth in Scripture than to gather with other men and challenge one another to step into that role in a practical way.

I know we are busy.  I know we have excuses.  I know we feel pulled in a 100 different directions.  But, don’t miss the opportunity to be spiritually sharpened and respond to the call of God’s Word on your life.

Here are the details:

January 21st (Tuesday, 7pm)
January 28th (Tuesday, 7pm)
February 4th (Tuesday, 7pm)
February 11th (Tuesday, 7pm)

Church Office:  8705 Shoal Creek Blvd #207

Put it in your calendar now!

Theology of Christmas Carols: Hark! The Herald Angel Sing

Throughout December North Village Church took some time to think critically about the Christmas songs we sing around the holidays.  These are often songs that we have heard so often, and been so commercialized that they have lost their meaning.  Below is a sample from, “Hark! The Herald Angel Sing.”

The word, “Hark” means to listen attentively.  Therefore, when we hear this song we need to ask ourselves, “Are we listening?”  It isn’t simply going through the motions of coming on a Sunday morning, reading Scripture, praying, and religious activity.  It isn’t simply going to work, parenting, and going through the holidays.  It isn’t simply going to Christmas parties, decorating the tree, and buying presents, but it is asking, “Am I listening to the message that is being herald by the angels as they sing, ‘Glory to the newborn king?”

13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

You can listen to the rest HERE.

Why Does God Allow Pain And Suffering?

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.

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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.

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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.

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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 →

Where do you find favor?

On Sunday mornings at North Village Church we have been studying through the book of Esther.  In Esther 5, we see two great examples of people chasing after favor in the life of Esther and Haman.  Specifically, in the life of Esther she is longing for favor from the King of Persia, she is putting her life at risk, and the text says, “She obtains favor.”

Can you imagine how scary it must have been for Esther in those moments?  She is risking her life.  She is longing for favor to present her case to save her people.  She dresses herself in the royal robes, and then she hears, “what is your request?  Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.”

Scripture teaches through faith alone in the God of Scripture (Father, Son, and Spirit) we are given a greater favor.  Esther’s favor is temporal.  It was based on her beauty, but God’s favor is eternal established in Christ’s work on the cross.  Esther’s favor was based on her effort, but God’s favor is based on grace, and unmerited.  Esther’s favor resulted in half of the kingdom, but God’s favor is greater and we are made son’s and daughter’s.

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Season of Planning

At North Village Church we are finishing up a season of planning.  It isn’t something that happens naturally, but I encourage all pastors to set aside time to work “in the ministry” and “on the ministry.”

By working “on the ministry” we focus on three areas:

  • Yearly Theme:  We look at the vision and values of our church and we begin to prayerfully consider what will be the focus of our church over the next year.  This process has been extremely helpful to shape our sermons, groups, and involvement in the community.
  • Month By Month:  We look at each month and we ask ourselves, “How are we taking steps this month to point our church family toward our “Yearly Theme.”  This process allows us to think through details, obstacles, and plan accordingly.
  • Financial Budget:  After we have spent months praying about what God wants to do in our church family we begin to see our financial budget coming together.  We work on this as elders, and then we submit our financial budget to people outside our church to receive feedback.  We have found this process extremely valuable.

In each of these steps we are prayerfully positioning ourselves in a place where we believe God has to show up for our church family to continue.  Sometimes I hear pastors neglect the discipline of planning because it might hinder the movement of the Holy Spirit.  We completely disagree.  We believe the Holy Spirit is moving in our planning and through our planning to maximize the movement of the Holy Spirit.

In the end, we hold all those plans with an open hand.  They aren’t our plans.  They are His plans, and we desperately need Him to show up so that we don’t look really stupid.

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.

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New Sunday Location: Norris Conference Center

NorrisAlthough 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.”

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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:

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