I’d normally being doing some kind of book review here on Monday’s, but I’ve had very little time to read this last week with school and such. So, I’m just gonna post some cliff notes from the sermon on Sunday. Tony Morgan calls this “Perryisms” after head pastor Perry Noble. So maybe I’ll these “Richardisms” after pastor Richard Webb at Lutheran Church of Hope. 

• The best teachers aren’t just well prepared, they really care about people learning, and then live it out themselves. 
• Luke 7:22 – “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard…” Jesus lets his actions speak for him. 
• Disciple = someone who learns by modeling and imitating the master. 
• In the feeding of the 5 thousand Jesus says “you feed them” to the disciples. Jesus takes our limited resources and blows them out of proportion. 
• He then gives us even more back – there were 12 baskets of food leftover. 
• If we focus ourselves outwards we become healthy, and vice versa. 
• Paraphrase “If anyone wants to follow me [Jesus], you must stop focusing on yourself.” 
• When we focus on others our life gets bigger. Self-preservation is not Jesus’ goal. He spends himself. 
• Why are we stuck in a bad economy? People have focused on themselves and on hoarding “stuff”. 
• If you really want to live, dive into the mission of Jesus. 
• Jesus wants to instill a passion for people into his disciples. 
• Relationship with Jesus is one where He gives us a bunch of power tools [aka Holy Spirit] to change the world. And in the process, we change too. 

Bottom line: What kind of mission do you want to live? Yours? Or Jesus‘? 

Think about it.

[Disclaimer: these are thoughts I took from a sermon by Mike Householder in Des Moines.]

Why is this such a sticky topic? 

Is it Biblical? Or is it created by our society? 

“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” 1 Timothy 2:11-12

“Women should remain silent in churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 

Seems kinda clear doesn’t it? Or maybe, just play along, these are two singular passages in which Paul is addressing a specific church in which women [new Christians to be specific] were acting up in Church. We use that passage in Corinthians as an example of women not being in leadership, but then if we’re going to take it literally for today, why do we allow women to even speak during church? Isn’t that clear too?

There are examples of women in leadership positions throughout the entire Bible. In the Old Testament Miriam and Debra are prophets. To clarify, a prophet simply means somebody who speaks the Word of God. Isn’t that exactly what a pastor does? Paul writes that Phoebe was a deacon at the end of Romans. There are countless examples that I’m sure you guys aren’t interested in, but take my word for it that there are many, many more examples of women in leadership. [If you dont want to take my word for it, that's perfectly okay, and please let me know. I'll show you.] 

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ.” Galatians 3:28 

Are we seriously going to exclude 50% of the population [many times in churches it's more than that] from being in a spot of leadership? 

Think about it.

Pastor Mike Householder spoke this morning at Lutheran Church of Hope here in Des Moines about the true Church, and what that actually means. It was awesome, and here my thoughts on what he said. 

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ”But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Peter, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.”               [Matthew 16:13-19] 

The Church, the family of Jesus Christ, is built on the rock of Peter’s faith. Peter himself is not the rock necessarily, but it’s his faith. The other disciples are afraid to admit that Jesus is the Messiah, but Peter steps out and tells Jesus he is indeed the One. It is on that display of faith that Jesus constructs his family. This passage also tells us that Hell and Satan cannot overcome the church. The Bible tells us that Satan has dominion over the Earth, and it’s my belief that any one person on their own will cannot defeat him and his temptation, but as the church, with God on our side, he cannot enter our gates.

Now, it needs to be clarified that the Church is not just a building. It’s so much more than that. The church is all the people in the world who share Christ in their hearts. This means that wherever you go, the church goes. We are always representing our Savior, no matter where we are or what we’re doing. Who we serve, the church is serving. On the flip side of that, and more powerfully in my opinion, who we ignore, the church is ignoring.

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” [2 Corinthians 5:20] 

The church is God’s vessel for reaching the world. For reaching the hurting. We can’t do it on our own as individuals. As a group of servants though, as a family, we can reach the whole world. Do you really believe that? 

Do you see church as someplace you go on Sunday mornings, or do you see it as a lifestyle? A lifestyle of servanthood. A lifestyle of learning and growing. Be the church. 

Think about it. 

P.S. See Acts 2 for more detail about what church is, and I may do on a post on that in the future.