May 24, 2010 – I Love My Church, Part 1

A church to me is a place where we come together and be a part of community – a community in which they celebrate what God did through them throughout the week as they went about living their lives as the church.  It is a celebration.

A church to me is a place where you can come together and connect with people who are like you and who aren’t exactly like you but all are on the same journey of discovering what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  It is a place to be inspired.

Its a place to be equipped on how to live as a disciple and on how to be the church.  It is a place to get tools for living a victorious, abundant, life in Christ.

And finally, a church is a place where you can find your place in God’s House in service.  Service is a huge part of living this Christian life and the church is at its best when it gives itself away.  That means serving your church community inside His House and serving outside your community by being His hands and feet is a part of church life.

At Elevate we strive to rethink church into a place that is all of these ideas combine.  A place where church is different – church life is exciting and life giving.  That is what this series of messages and blogs are about.  Rethink church, fall in love with the church, fall in love with the local church, fall in love with your church, fall in love with Elevate Church.

In John 1:45 Phillip said to Nathaniel about Jesus, “You just have to come and see Him.”  In other words come and have a visit to see for yourself.   For a good, life giving church that is what it is all about.  You just have to come and give it chance and check it out for yourself.

The church is the body of Christ and it is the closest anyone is ever going to come in contact with Jesus himself in 2010.  Honestly, that puts a little pressure on the local church.  That is why the church should be functioning the way it should be – attractive, and infectious, and life giving, and fun and exciting, and contagious because that is the kind of person Jesus was when he was on this earth.  People were drawn to him, they met him and they wanted to be around him.  That is how church should be.

What made Phillip leave his life for a season like Jesus asked and follow him.  There was something about Jesus that was attractive.  The church community, the church you love should have that attraction.  When u fall in love with your church inviting someone, bringing them along with you should be normal – it should be like Phillip, “You got to just come and see I cant convince you, I cant argue my case for you – you just have to come and see for yourself.  I love my church.”

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

May 17, 2010 – Finances, Part 3

Our money is such an important part of our lives.  Not that money itself is soooo important but it touches life in so many ways; our peace of mind, our faith, our family, our marriages.  Its our provision, our blessing  - it governs many times our desires and our passions – it impacts our purpose our destiny.  Wars have been fought for it / people have died over it – money, money, money.  I mean I guess that is why the Bible has so much to say on the matter.

It is a pretty important topic to discuss and understand – understand the wisdom God’s word has for our lives in regards to money.

So here are some principles found in Dave Ramsey’s Life. Hope. Money Series:

God is an owner of everything we have and He has placed things into  our hands – time, talents and treasures.  But He has given it to us because He owns it all (Ps. 24:1).  Once you understand that it changes the perspective about going into debt because it isn’t yours – It changes the way you budget because you are planning to use His money – It changes the way you give.  We are stewards, which means we are managers of what God has given to us – we are just managers.

Giving a tithe is an instruction from the owner of everything – why, because He wants us to be Christlike and Christ is a giver.  Jn. 3:16 He gave His one and only Son for you.  When we aren’t givers – when we don’t think outside of ourselves we aren’t operating in the way we were created.  Four thoughts on tithing:

1. It changes who we are

2. It is a reminder us of ownership

3. Giving is an act of worship (2 Cor. 2:9)

4. Giving is spiritual warfare (Mal. 3:11)

The tithe is what you give to the local church and giving an offering is giving everywhere else in Jesus’ name.  When you learn to live on a budget and you know you can save you will become givers.

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

May 10, 2010 – Finances, Part 2

This week we are going to talk about being good stewards of what God brings into our lives.  God is a blessing God and you are blessed – whether you feel it or not.  To keep your perspective you and I live better than most of the world even in these tough economic times.  You and I have to know that we serve a good God – one who wants to bless you and He doesn’t care so much about your money, He cares about you.  He has a plan and a purpose for your life but he will not give to you all that He wants to give to you until you are ready for it – otherwise it wont be a blessing but a burden.  Something that is meant to bless you He will withhold so that it cannot harm you.  Prov. 10:22 says, The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.  Think about that for a moment.

That is why we need to study what the Bible says about our finances.  It is our responsibility to learn, and expand our capacity to receive all that God wants for our lives and that is why this series is so important.  God wants to bless and prosper and we want to receive all that God has for us.

Here are some more principles from Dave Ramsey in his Life. Money. Hope Series:

Prov. 22:7 – the borrower is slave to the lender

1. You have to get gazelle intensity and RUN out of debt!

2. Debt Snowball – attack the smallest amount and debt first to start some behavior modification.

Steps to get out of debt:

1. Save Money ($1,000)

2. Quit borrowing more money (no matter what happens I will not borrow)

3. Prayer really works

4. Sell something

5. Take a part-time job

To get more information on all of these points sign up for Elevate’s Financial Peace University or find a class near you by going to www.daveramsey.com

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

May 3, 2010 – Finances, Part 1

Jesus said if you listen to my words and do them you will be like the wise man who builds his house on the rock.  When we build our houses upon the rock when difficult times come we will be able to withstand them and not just survive but thrive in them.  That is true in every area of our live but it also applies to what the Bible has to say about our finances.  You may be surprised by the fact that the Bible has more to say on the topic of finances than any other.  God has principles and timeless wisdom that if we listen and apply we will have a strong foundation upon the rock on which to build our lives.

Flip on the news today and it is filled with people stressed and in fear and worried about their finances – but we as believers can have complete peace even in these difficult times if we listen and apply God’s word to our lives in regards to our finances.

So here are some thoughts from Dave Ramsey in his series Life.Money.Hope.

Five Basics to Biblical Finance:

1. Get out of DEBT! (Prov. 22:7)

2. Act your WAGE!  Live on less than you make

3. Get on a BUDGET! Have a plan (Lk. 14:20)

4. SAVE and invest! Save for an emergency, to pay cash for things and save to invest (Prov. 21:20)

5. GIVE! (Mal. 3:10)

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

April 26, 2010 – Worship, Part 4

We were made to worship…we are made by God for God.  Like Jesus explained to the Woman at the well we are to worship in spirit and in truth.  Worship isn’t a place or just an action it is a lifestyle.

We all know how easy it is to worship God when the feeling is there.

We all know that when we get a revelation of who God is or what He has done in our lives that worship automatically flows out of us.  Its easy to worship then – we are worshipful beings, but if we all now know that we are to worship God with our lives – all the time, in spirit and in truth, for who he is and what he has done what do we do when the feeling isn’t there?  What are we to do when we are hurt or in pain?  When the answer hasn’t come yet?  We all know that dry times come in our spiritual journey – what do we do when he feels far away from us?  When we are confused or worried or stressed?  When we are in the valley – how are we to worship

Ps. 88 says this…1 O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night.  2 Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry. 3 For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. 4 I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left. 5 They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave.  I am forgotten, cut off from your care.  6 You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.  7 Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me.  8 You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them.  I am in a trap with no way of escape.  9 My eyes are blinded by my tears.  Each day I beg for your help, O LORD;  I lift my hands to you for mercy… 13 O LORD, I cry out to you.

How are we to live a life of worship when life sometimes brings us to these places – the valley.  Three things I want you to do to be successful at living a life of worship in every season, including the valley.

#1 – Reach out

Reach out to the Lord? Yes, of course but the first thing that you and I should do when walking through a dark time in our lives is to reach out to someone else.  To find someone else who may be going through a valley and help them through it.  Now we can sit and wait for God to deliver and He will because He is faithful but the whole time God is looking for you to live worship.  The best way to do that is to look for the pain and hurt all around us.  When we get our eyes off of us and our circumstances and reach out to others our freedom comes.  Your freedom is found in bringing other people freedom.

#2 Look up

Ps. 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help

It is important to point out what the Psalmist is really saying – he is looking up because he knows that is where his hope is coming.  There is faith in lifting up his eyes – there is anticipation and expectancy.  I am looking to those hills because that is where the cavalry will arrive, where my reinforcements are coming.  Like Peter while he was walking on water with Jesus as long as his eyes were fixed on Him he was ok – it was when he looked at what he was doing (the storm, the waves, the water, his circumstances) that he got into trouble.  In fixing our eyes on him – 2 things happen – One, he stays big on our display screen and two looking up does is it brings you peace.

Is. 26:3 – You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is focused on you because he trusts in you

#3 – Praise anyway

The children of Israel on more than one occasion where instructed to bring praise to God before the victory even came.  Now that takes some faith.  I mean sometimes, like Jericho, it was the strategy to victory – to bring praise before the answer was ever there.  That is looking to the hills with expectancy.  Begin thanking God for deliverance, the answer, the victory before it arrives.

Reach out, look up, praise anyway,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

April 19, 2010 – Worship, Part 3

Today as we delve deeper into our understanding of worship and again it starts with the notion that we were created to worship.  When Jesus was talking to the Woman at the well in Samaria the topic of worship came up.  Worshipping when and how and where.  Jesus answered her in Jn. 4 saying that we are to worship God in spirit and in truth that it is so much more than a place or a time or a method.  That is what our discussion is today in regards to worship.

I Cor. 6:19 tell us that we are now the temple and God’s spirit lives on the inside of us.  The temple is us and when we gather together in corporate worship it is like a nuclear worship experience with many temples coming together in worship.  It’s not in a ceremony, or a place and time or even a method but bringing His spirit that is on the inside of us together worshiping in spirit.  And we are fueled by the truth of who He is and what He has done for us in our lives.  Now that is powerful – that is what coming together and worshiping as temples is all about.  The fusion power of worship – that is exciting and it’s alive and it’s powerful.

When you add that understanding to what Jesus was telling the Woman at the well to what it says in Col. 3:17 that whatever you do in word or action – do it as unto the Lord, now we are getting a much bigger picture to what worship truly is. That its not a specific place nor is it a specific action – in whatever you do and where ever you are.

So it be at home – it be in church – it can be while we sing songs – it can be while you are pumping your gas or at the grocery story  or at work or in your car, etc.  You are God’s temple.  His spirit is on the inside of you and when you have the perspective of doing everything as unto the Lord He is glorified.  Value is placed on Him – He is worshiped and worship turns into not a place or an action but a lifestyle.

There is a beautiful word in the Hebrew language and that word is avodah.  Avodah is the Hebrew word for worship.  What is interesting about this word is that avodah not only means worship in Hebrew but it also means to work.  Think of it work and worship meaning the same thing.  The Jews understood what Paul was talking about when he wrote this admonishment to the Colossian church – that whatever you say or do, do it as worship unto the Lord.

As you go to the well to get water in the morning worship Him that you are free and the fulfillment that comes in Him that your thirst can be satisfied.  That He is what you are looking for in life and your life has purpose and meaning again.  As you are plowing the ground that you will plant worship Him for the provision of land and seed and the good health and skill He has given you to work.  All of the goodness that He has given to you worship Him for that.  In the quiet times in the morning while you are drinking your coffee worship Him for the blessings in your life.  In the difficult times of life / in the valleys worship Him for the deliverance to come and for His faithfulness.  On the job or at home while you are raising and instructing your kids worship Him for the blessing of family that He has given you.  Value Him, bring glory to Him, worship Him by putting Him first.  In whatever you do in your words or your actions bring glory to God.

Worship Him in spirit and in truth,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

April 12, 2010 – Worship, Part 2

You were made to worship – you are a worshiper.  That is not a faith statement it is a fact – you are a worshiper.  Some worship God but everybody worships – everybody worships something – all people worship.  We were created to worship – to bring glory to God but if you don’t bring glory to God you will exchange bringing glory to him, the creator, to something else, the created.

A good definition of worship is our response to what we value most.  Worship is saying this person, this thing is what matters most to me so if you want to know what you worship look at what you value the most in your life.

Everybody on earth and everybody throughout time were created by God for God.  Jn. 1:3 says God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  Everybody and everything we see was created by God and then in Eph. 1:5 it says that we are to live for God and the praise and glory of him – for his glory.  That your purpose here in this life is not just to figure out your own path, your own desires, your own achievements in the time you have here you are to bring God glory with your life.  That is your purpose.

So if you were created as a worship and your purpose in life is to worship God alone with your life.  Here are some reasons why we are to worship him and only him.

1 – He is the only one worthy

Rev. 4:11 You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory & honor & power; For You created all things, & by Your will they exist & were created.

2 – All of the good in our life, all of it is good beyond our doing

Rom. 2:4 says that it is the goodness of God leads you to repentance

3 – We worship because all misguided worship in our lives leads to pain

Sometimes we think that pain comes into our lives through failure – breaking and sinning against the 10 commandments brings about pain – but pain doesn’t come into our lives by just choosing negative things but also comes by choosing positive things over valuing God.  By worshipping something that is created versus the creator.  There are a lot of good things that if we value above God and they will bring pain into our lives because as we pursue them and value them and worship them at the end of that trail we will find out that they truly are just a substitute.  Something cheaper than the real thing that we pursued and it only left the void, the emptiness when true satisfaction only comes when we place value where value is due the most.  When we worship with our lives only that which can satisfy – the one who is the only one worthy of it.

Worship is just a response to what we value the most and everything that we do should point to the one who deserves all of our worship.  Our lives are to express worship to the one who has saved us and who has blessed us and to the one who is worthy of our praise.

Lets worship God together with our lives,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

April 5, 2010 – Easter

So many people celebrate Easter as the life of Jesus not really recognizing that it is about his resurrection.  I never really met someone who didn’t have respect for who Jesus was and his teachings, but to some that is where they want to keep Jesus because it is a little intellectually insulting to believe that someone dead and buried actually rose from the dead 3 days later.  And if that did happen then maybe he really was more than just in the good teacher or prophet but who he really said he was.  That is why the resurrection is central to the gospel message  – the resurrection is central to the good news

In fact Paul said in I Cor. 15 that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead than his preaching and the preaching of the other apostles and the faith of the church in Corinth was useless.  That if they didn’t believe in a resurrected Jesus than all of them were wasting their time – stop preaching, pack it all up and disband now.

The resurrection is so central to the gospel message and anyone who peered into that tomb as a skeptic came away convinced of the resurrection and the good news of the gospel.  What is the good news – what is the good news of the resurrection?

• The good news of the resurrection for you and for me is that Jesus proved by rising again that he was the Messiah

o      He had to – Jesus made too many claims to be the Messiah not to rise again.  He fulfilled every prophecy given.

• The good news of the resurrection for you and for me is that Jesus conquered death – that resurrection is ours

o      The good news is that he is in the business of taking the dead, the decay, the pain and hurt, the sickness and disease, the failures of not living up to potential, the disappointments of shattered dreams and making all things new again

• The good news of the resurrection for you and for me is that when Jesus said on that cross, “It is finished” it is done

o      The good news of the resurrection is God’s grace not what we do but what he did and completed

• The good news of the resurrection is that the creator, out of love for his creation, came here to win us back

o      That the same power that raised Christ from the dead, that resurrection power, is ours, now, today in this life and the life to come

That is the good news of the gospel message the resurrection message.

He is risen – He is risen indeed!

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

March 29, 2010 – Worship, Part 1

This week starts for many of us the week of Passion.  Palm Sunday was the day that Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey.  At the time of Palm Sunday all of the miracles and all of the teaching had already taken place – Jesus was a local celebrity.  To the masses in the city I am sure that after 3 years of him performing countless miracles and giving so many memorable sermons – most people knew something about him.  The populous probably had some sort of opinion of Jesus – prophet? miracle worker? rabbi? crazy person? military leader? celebrity? messiah?  Whatever the masses thought in Matt. 21:9 they cheered when Jesus entered the city, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!”

Hosanna meaning – save us, save us now.  They were worshiping Jesus asking him to save them, but from what?  It depended on what you thought of him.  Save me from my sickness, save us from the Roman occupiers – kick em out, some did believe – save us from our sin – turn Israel back to God like the prophets of old and maybe even they could have known – save all of mankind that is why we worship you.  They all worshipped Jesus for who they thought he was that day.  So to me Palm Sunday is all about worship – worshipping God, praising him.  And like the people who where actually there on Palm Sunday, worshipping God all depends on what you know of him.

Why do you worship?  Do you worship him because you have this revelation that God sent his son as a sacrifice to pay for something that you couldn’t pay - That he did that out of love – so that you could have a relationship with him?  Do you worship because you know you owed him something and he took it away and gave you something beautiful in return?  Maybe for some – you do know that he saved you.  Maybe you had no hope, no purpose, a hole in your life but you found him and he found you and now there is joy and peace and purpose in your life.  Now you have something to sing about.

We should get the why right but the rest of this series we are going to be talking about the what.  What is worship?  It’s a place, an event – “I am going to go to worship on Sunday.”  Is it 3 songs before a message.  Is it a verb or is it a noun, both or neither.

I Cor. 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  Everything we do should be done in a attitude of worship. So it is not a place or just a song but your life was made for worship – that is why you were created to bring glory to God.  Your whole life, your actions, your interactions and everything you do brings glory to God – it should point toward God and who he is.  To make him famous, to make him look better in and through your life.

So live your life as an act of worship this week,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

March 22, 2010 – Favor, Part 6

It has been great these last few weeks to be talking about favor at Elevate and in my blog.  Growing in favor both with God and with man but today we wrap up the topic talking about the why.  Why favor – what is the purpose in God’s favor.  In everything that He give us there is purpose, His purpose.  The talents and giftings He has given us – they are His.  The resources, the time, our life, each breath He has given – they are His.  The favor that He shows us or is shown to us by others – is from Him and it is His for his purpose.  There is purpose in the favor we receive – God’s purpose.  As we pursue God’s favor on our lives and learn how to grow in favor we have to realize that God’s favor and blessing is not just for you it is for His purpose and others as well.

God is not only looking to bless you but what he can get through you.  The quickest way to stop up blessing and favor coming into your life is missing the opportunity to use it to bless others.  Everything God brings into your life including Him showing us favor we need to be quick to ask, “God what is your purpose behind this?”  What are you wanting to do through me now that this door has opened in front of me – now that this promotion, this platform has been given to me – now that this influential relationship has been made – now that this provision has come into my life?  What are you up to because I know that it is a blessing to me but help me get my eyes off of me and onto those around me?

Last week we talked about God’s favor often times coming through the relationships we have or are yet to have – people we don’t even know yet but flip it around for a second and ask what if I am supposed to be someone’s answer to a prayer?  What if you hold the keys to someone getting the break through they’ve been looking for and praying about in their life?

When we focus on growing in God’s favor like we have been it can very quickly and easily become about us but turn it around and realize that when it comes make the first thing we wonder about – what is God’s purpose in this – what does He want to do through me – how can I be an answer to someone’s prayer – how can I be used by God through this blessing He has brought into my life.  How wonderful if God’s Kingdom acted more like that – if we were attentive to other people’s needs the moment blessing comes into our lives.

Remember we are blessed to be a blessing,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler