Living in faith, hope and Love

When you see another person, what are they worth?  How do you decide (which we all do)?

• When someone doesn’t meet our expectations, we can treat them as slightly less valuable.
• When we accomplish something (thru whatever means), we can begin to believe that we’re slightly more valuable.
• When we see someone who is caught in a cycle of (fill in the blank: addiction, relationship failure, lack of boundaries, cultural myths…) we start to move them down a notch on the value scale.
• When we encounter someone who hasn’t learned or remembered what we know, they drop in value in our minds.
• When we learn that the other person doesn’t think like we do, or vote like we do, we’re inclined to devalue them, and add value to those who do agree with us and vote with us.
• And whenever our value goes up in our minds, or the other person’s value goes down, we are flying in the face of the real value of each person.  Because the truth is, we have value because we’re created by God, and for God.  Call it BGFG.

So when you look in the mirror, remember that your value is beyond calculation… Before you ever do or say anything. Nothing you do or say will change that!

Likewise, when the next person enters your field of vision, regardless of how they look, love, act, talk, smell, or treat you, they also have value beyond calculation.  And remembering that will definitely change the way you treat them.  And quite likely change the world in the process!

BGFG.

What’s a human worth?  Well God thinks a human is worth dying for.  Do you agree with him?  –

Pastor Mark

If you’ve been around Seneca Creek this summer you’ve no doubt seen the signs of construction.  Dumpsters, danger signs, and debris are everywhere.  And imagine my surprise when I returned to the office after vacation! 

The entrance to our staff offices was completely gone.  The lovely glass wall was replaced by a temporary wall marked with blue tape.  Drab, dull, and just a bit confusing.
But all this disruption is necessary if we’re going to make way for something new, something better.  Before we can build a space for children and students we have to bring in the wrecking ball and take out the old structures.  Demolition precedes construction.

I’ve observed that God often brings his wrecking ball into our lives.  Not to make life miserable, but to make room for something new.  And in order to accomplish that, often the old has to go.

• The old habits that are woven into our life…yes some of them are truly addictions
• The old hobbies that compete for the place that rightly belongs to God
• The old ways of thinking that define who’s in and who’s out
• The old views of God that need to be discarded and replaced with the real Jesus
• The old values that are directed by self-centered thinking instead of other-centered.
• The old phrases and comments that we use to dismiss entire groups of people
• The old appetites for approval from someone other than God

When God’s wrecking ball smacks into old ways like these, we often complain, resist, or run for the door.  But in doing so we miss out on something new.  The prophet Isaiah records this profound statement:

See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.  (Isaiah 43:19)

The old ways are really nothing more than wilderness and wasteland, covered with a shiny veneer.  What new thing might God do in your life?  New hope, new relationships, new values, new habits, new joy, new peace.  It’s nothing short of a new life.  And that, after all, is what Jesus promises us in the first place.

The wrecking ball of God may not be such a bad thing after all.

Serving and growing together,
Pastor Mark

You can make it rain.  You don’t need to do a special dance or say a magic phrase.  Because you have a bucket. It’s called your life.  In your bucket are your gifts, your time, your heart, and your resources.
For two weeks this month I had the privilege of leading a team on a mission trip to Tanzania.  (Thank you to everyone who supported us with prayer and financial gifts.)  We left with full buckets.  For two weeks we turned them upside down. And we shook out every drop.  We held nothing back.  We left it all on the floor.  We made it rain.

In a place as needy as sub-Saharan Africa, our buckets could almost seem like a waste of time.  So little to offer when the problems are so big.  But for the hundreds and hundreds of men, women, and children we served, our buckets were a refreshing drink of much needed water.  And we left behind little pockets of green in a parched land.  We left patches of hope and health.

Look around you.  The world is parched.  Dying for life, and nourishment.  Your bucket is meant to be emptied.  To provide life.

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.  – Jesus (John 7:37-38)

You have a bucket.  You can make it rain right where you are.  If rivers of living water aren’t flowing out of your bucket, maybe it’s time to ask why not?

-Pastor Mark

Henry Brown of KasCon , our general contractor (left) and me.

Last week we received our building permit from the city of Gaithersburg.  With it, the construction teams have descended on our building this week and are hard at work.  But did you know that God has applied for another building permit?
Drive past 13 Firstfield this week and you’ll hear some very different sounds.  The sounds of construction crews hard at work.  Removing old walls, replacing a 10,000 square foot roof, and moving us forward in our mission of unleashing new ministry space for generations to come.  They’re working under a building permit issued by the city of Gaithersburg.  That permit says, “You’ve got a green light to come on in and do the work that is outlined in your documents.”

And while we as a church applied for (and received) that permit, there’s another building permit that’s more important.  It’s the one that God has submitted.  To you.

You see, God is in the building business.  Remodeling, if you will.

Jesus famously said, “I will build my church.”  (Matthew 16:18)

And his disciple, Peter, put it like this:

…you also…are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. 1 Peter 2:5

But God doesn’t barge into your life.  Rather, he submits an application…a request to build.  Complete with design specifications.  He has submitted a building permit application to you.  He’d like your permission to remove the old, rotting, decaying habits and thoughts and patterns and values.  And he’d like to re-make you into something new…into a new creation.  Someone who increasingly looks like the model – Jesus.

The student who is fully trained will be like their teacher. Luke 6:40

You’ve probably seen the building permit application recently.  It may look a lot like a passage of Scripture.  It may look a lot like a convicting message that keeps popping up in sermons, songs, and silent moments in your life.  And yes, it involves surrender to God and his will.

You alone have the authority to grant the building permit.  You have the authority to say, “Yes, you can come in and tear down that wall, replace that belief, install new relationships, hang new habits, and throw out old ones.”

The question is: Will you approve the building permit?  Will you give him the green light to come on in and do the work that is outlined in the document?  Will you let God re-make you into his design?

So that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Ephesians 4:12-13

-Pastor Mark

We’re half-way through the year.  Tonight is like a Half-New-Year’s-Eve.  Tomorrow starts a brand new half-year!  What did you resolve to do this year?

I get it. My resolutions didn’t all work out.  But the great news is that this isn’t December.  It’s the end of June!  There are still six months to re-calibrate and restart the year.  Even if you’ve given up on becoming the person you thought you wanted to be this year…God has NOT.  His desire is to restore you to the person he created you to be.

Isaiah 43:18-19

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

No, we don’t perceive it.  But we can learn how.  So tonight, pull out your January resolutions.  Figure out which ones you still care about.  Put them on your calendar, and then do something RADICAL tomorrow (and the rest of the year).

• When the alarm goes off
• When the noise of day invades your sleep
• When the demands on your time are queueing up before you even get up

In that moment, just have a short conversation with God.  Try something like this:

“Good morning, Heavenly Father.  Thank you for the gift of sleep last night.  And thank you for the gift of today.  Thank you that you’re bigger than any problems I’ll face today.  Help me discover what you have for me today.  Help me listen to your voice.  Help me reflect your grace and love into one person’s life today.”

Tomorrow is the going to be the beginning of the rest of your life.  Let God do a new thing.  Make 2016 the year you’ll never forget.

-Pastor Mark

P.S. One new thing you might want to try this summer is to help our PowerHouse ministry with their summer outreach project.  Here’s what Bob Attrill, our Children’s Ministry Director says:

“Our outreach for the summer in PowerHouse is, “Soles4Souls.” We are basically doing a shoe drive for the entire summer June 26th-Sept4th. Since 2006, Souls4Souls has collected and distributed around 26 million pairs of shoes to people in need. The shoes reach people in 127 countries around the globe and in all 50 states here in the U.S. My guess is most of us never really stop to think about what it would be like to not own a pair of shoes or at least own a pair that weren’t riddled with holes.

We are going to run with this in PowerHouse and ask kids to donate any gently used or new shoes they or anyone in their family may have. Can be shoes of any size or style. I’m guessing most of us have a pair or two that we don’t wear or are headed to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. I know I do.

So bring your gently used shoes anytime Sunday this summer and drop them off to help PowerHouse help Soles4Souls.

In all the madness taking place around our world these days, it’s possible to feel a bit hopeless.  And sometimes we can succumb to the belief that there’s nothing we can do that will make a difference.  But that’s not true at all.

You can actually infuse hope into this world, AND at the same time position yourself to receive blessings from God.  Here’s how.

Each summer at Seneca Creek we host a month-long food drive for local food pantries.  It’s a time when their donations drop off and their demand goes up.  Many families with food insecurity depend on free meals through the local schools.  But with school being out, that option is gone.  Can you imagine the feeling of going to the cupboard and realizing there’s not enough food for your family?  How difficult is that for any parent?  How discouraging?  How hopeless?

So for the entire month of June we’ve been collecting hundreds of pounds of food.  Actually, more like thousands of pounds.  And June is winding down.  If you’ve been meaning to participate, here’s your chance.  Stop by your local grocery store this week and pick up some of the items listed below.  Then bring them THIS Sunday morning and leave them at the collection table.  We’ll handle it from there.

Not only will you bring hope to families who are facing hopelessness, but you’ll find yourself being blessed by God.  Why do I say this?  Because it’s a principle spelled out clearly in the Bible.

The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.  (Proverbs 22:9)

Share your food with the poor, and God says you’ll be blessed.  It boomerangs right back into your lap. Not a bad return on investment!  It’s one of the simplest ways possible to ignite the H.O.P.E. of Christ in our world.  So join me and the rest of Seneca Creek by unleashing the power of H.O.P.E. this Sunday!

-Pastor Mark

It’s been a pretty rough week.  The news stories (here, here, here, etc.) are enough to cause even the most optimistic person to lose hope.  So what can we do?

• When tempers erupt…
• When violence destroys lives and families…
• When senseless tragedies lurk around every corner…
• When no one seems to know how to behave…
• When fear replaces security and confidence…

I hear people throwing up their hands in disbelief and disillusionment.  But there’s something we can do.  As the church, as followers of Jesus, we can use the power of HOPE to bring transformation to people, families, communities and more.

This isn’t pie-in-the-sky thinking.  It’s pragmatic and powerful actions that embody the heart of the gospel.  We’ve been exploring this in our weekend series, “The Power of HOPE.”  And just last weekend we spent time learning about how to engage with our world by living out one key component of the gospel.

We begin with a simple question.  It’s a question that’s at home in casual conversations among friends, and also with random strangers.  It’s a question that fits whether the mood is dark and somber or light and optimistic.  In those moments when you’re at a loss for words, this question is all the words you need.  It goes like this:

How may I serve you?

And it’s straight out of Jesus’ playbook.  (Mk 10:45)

So if you are discouraged or disheartened about what’s happening in your world, may I encourage you to start to change things.  Start to bring genuine HOPE into your situation.  Start to harness the power of the gospel to transform lives.  Don’t go to sleep at night until you’ve asked at least one person this question:  How may I serve you?

Then watch as God begins to do his work.  In you.  And through you.

One simple question.  Will you try it?

-Pastor Mark

Contractor Working on Building Plans — Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

Since many of you have asked, here’s the update.  The great news is that our contractor has applied for building permits, and we hope to have the Unleash project under construction by the end of June.  And thanks to hundreds of people at Seneca Creek, here’s where we stand as of now:

As of June 5, 2016 we had received $1,129,000 toward our Unleash goal of $1.3M.  That’s cause for celebration!  If you’ve been one of the 279 families or individuals who’ve given toward this project, THANK YOU!

As we shared last week, we believe God has provided us with the resources to finish this project, and to pay for it by the time construction is completed.  We’ve set a goal of 100 days.  And we’ve set a goal of getting 350 families/individuals involved in helping us get to the finish line of $1.3 million within those 100 days.

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.

1. You can pray. (see prayer links here)
2. You can help us with the initial packing party this Saturday, June 11th.  (there will be a couple more this summer).
3. You can prayerfully consider how you and/or your family could be part of the financial goal. Consider being part of 350 other Seneca Creek family members.  Here’s a suggestion of how that may people could accomplish such a big goal in just 100 days:

As of today, there are only 95 days left in our 100 Day Challenge!  During this entire 100 day challenge, we’ll provide timely information in the following areas:

• Construction progress
• Changes in where and when certain ministries are meeting during construction
• Opportunities of how we can roll up our sleeves and help, and
• How close we are to the $1.3M finish line!

For now, please consider how you would like to be part of this project.  Because it’s about all of us working together, with God’s direction, to accomplish what he has for us in the years to come.

-Pastor Mark

P.S. I often get asked during seasons like this about holding church “fundraisers,” like car washes, bake sales, flea markets, etc.  You’ve probably noticed that we don’t do those at Seneca Creek.  The reason is simple.  We believe that if God has called us as a local church to accomplish his purposes, then he has provided us with the necessary resources.

We will not ask the people of our city to pay for something that we as a church want to do.  We will not approach those who have no relationship to Seneca Creek, and possibly no relationship to God, with our hands out, looking for them to give us something.  Instead, we want to approach them with an offer to serve them, to be generous toward them.  We believe that’s how God treats us, and how we want to treat others.

I was preparing for a Bible study I lead with a small group of guys.  And the story of Jonathan, son of King Saul, jumped off the page at me.  It turns out that his dilemma was the one we all face every day.

Jonathan was the legitimate heir to the throne of his father, King Saul, the first king of Israel.  Except that Jonathan knew that God had someone else in mind.  And that someone else was young David, Jonathan’s combat buddy.  So Jon had a very tough decision.  He could pursue his own path, and become king himself.  Or he could acknowledge that God had someone else in mind to be king over Jonathan.  Don’t think for a moment that wasn’t a hard choice for Jonathan!  To have it all laid out in front of you, that’s a very appealing choice for any of us.  Power, wealth, status, fame, creature comforts, legacy, etc.

Jonathan chose to follow the king that God had anointed.  (NOTE: Check out Jonathan’s life in 1 Samuel 19 & 20)  And much later, God would anoint another king.  The name “Messiah” actually means, “anointed one.”  And the word “Christ” is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Messiah.”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah [or, Christ], the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 16:16-17)

Like Jonathan, we face a decision.  Will we pursue our own path, and be the king of our own lives?  It’s a very appealing option.  Power, wealth, status, fame, creature comforts, legacy…they all beckon our name.  Or will we choose to follow the anointed one?  Will we let Christ be king?  Will we submit to his direction, his plans, his purpose for our lives?

Don’t think it’s an easy choice.  And don’t think it’s a one-time choice.  We’re faced with that choice many times every day.

• How will we treat the unkind person?
• How will we speak when offended?
• How will we spend God’s money?
• How will we serve the undeserving?
• How will we care for the body we’ve been entrusted with?
• How will we use the power of our words?

In all these arenas and so many more, the king that was born in Bethlehem has given us clear instructions.  Will we follow the king?  Or will we exercise our royal option to anoint ourselves and be king of our own lives?

Pastor Mark

P.S. Join us this Sunday evening at 6:00 pm for our annual Seneca Creek Huddle.  We’ll celebrate God’s work over the last year and share what lies ahead in the coming months, including UNLEASH!

You could hear a pin drop last week at Seneca Creek.  We broke open the conversation by giving people permission to step out if it was too intense or painful.  I admitted that I’ve been the source of church wounds at times in the past 27 years.

Then we rolled up our sleeves and carefully explored ways to move toward healing.  Why?  Because if Jesus cares about anything, it’s about healing and restoring the broken places in our lives.  ESPECIALLY in the church, which is his bride.

I’ve heard too many horror stories of the wounds people carry around.  (I even reached out to a handful of people last week to make sure I understood some of the pain they carried from church wounds.)  Some of them are in the category of immoral, illegal, and inhumane.  Other wounds avoid those labels, but still bring a truckload of pain.  So if you, or someone you care about has an open church wound, my prayer for you is that you would find real healing in the power of the gospel.

If you missed last Sunday, check out the podcast here.  And if you were with us, but need to talk about your journey, please let us know.  If we can’t help you personally, we will do everything we can to connect you with someone who can.

Because when church wounds remain unhealed, everyone loses.  And Jesus’ perspective, to quote one author, is, “If you’re going to love me, you’re going to have to make nice with my bride.”

Let’s become a church where healing happens…even for the wounds we inadvertently inflict on one another.

– Pastor Mark