“Our Lord is great, vast in power; his understanding is infinite.”

Psalms 147:5 CSB

Over the past few months my small group has been working its way through a book called Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. If you happen to get an opportunity to read this book, you should, but if you do-hold on! You will be challenged. The next few weeks my blogs will be tied to some of the truths that I have been thinking about from this study.

Thought for today: whatever God allows to happen in my life is for my good and his glory. God never agonizes over a decision or event. His ways are always best. Now, you may respond to that by saying, “Of course that is true; He is God.” But think about all of the events that have ever happened in your life. Some of them are painful; some of them are hard because of sin in your life or as the result of sin in someone else’s life and you are feeling the effect of that sin. God knew those events would happen; He was not and is not surprised by any of it. Not only is He not surprised, He allowed it. He did not cause it, but allowed it. Stop…think…be amazed. Now let this truth wash over you: no matter how horrible the event is God can and will redeem it for our good and His Glory. You can TRUST HIM.

Pastor Tim

by Pastor Tim

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,   I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20 CSB

Over the past month we have been looking at what it means to be “with God.” We realized that “with God” means getting to know His heart and mind, resting in Him, and learning to listen to Him. So, how can I be on mission for God and be “with God”? This is something that is difficult and simple at the same time. It is difficult because we tend to be results-driven people. That means that if I can create a checklist of what being on mission looks like, I will be able to complete the checklist and know I have succeeded. The problem with this approach is that is not how making disciples works. Making disciples happens in everyday life while on the journey of life. So how can this be done simply? First of all, let’s admit that very few things in life are truly simple. Let’s rephrase: how can this mission be accomplished while resting “with God”? Easier than you might think. Making disciples is not about what I do for someone, it is about who I introduce them to. Making disciples is me helping someone develop their own relationship with Jesus and then me getting out of the way. That means teaching them the importance of reading the Bible and praying themselves, the importance of them learning to be obedient to God and of them learning how to allow the Holy Spirit to lead them.

Being on mission is me being “with God” to the point that the Holy Spirit can use me to direct others to Himself. I am only a conduit by which others will meet Jesus.

Are you on mission?

by Pastor Tim

Over the last four weeks we have looked at: “Life from God”- God blesses what I do, “Life over God”- using the natural laws and principles to succeed, “Life under God” - keeping the commands and guidelines of the Bible to please God, and “Life for God” - serving God by doing ministry and staying on mission to gain favor with God. Not all the parts of each one of these ways of relating to God are bad, each has elements of truth in them. But over all, they lead me away from God, not closer to Him.

So this raises the question, how should I relate to God? Well, if you remember four weeks ago when we first started this discussion, we noted that God created mankind (Gen 1:26-27) in “his image and likeness” for relationship, to be with Him. How can I be with God? It is really quite simple, almost too simple for us (we tend to like complicated.) Remember in the gospel of Mark when Jesus said “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it”? That statement is the picture of the simplicity of “life with God.” Children come to us with an open heart trusting that we have their best interests in mind. They want to snuggle in and be safe, they want to ask questions and explore, they want to be silly and have fun. Most often they are not looking for anything big; they just want to be “with” you. That is what our relationship with God should be defined by, wanting to be “with” Him. Wanting to be close enough to Him to know Him and be known by Him. What’s most interesting about starting with knowing God, is that all the other parts of relating to God will just fall into place. The deeper I know him, the easier it is to serve him, and the more I will enjoy keeping his commands. The more I know Him the more I will yield to His will, and His presence will be enough to sustain me in loss and blessings.

Are you relating to God as a little child? Do you just want to be with Him?

(To explore this thought more read With by Skye Jethani)

by Pastor Tim

Last week we talked about living “life from God,” the motivation being the things we receive from God determining the depth of our relationship with God. We saw how deeply that limits our understanding of God.

This week we want to look at what happens when we define our relationship with God by what we do for Him. “Life for God” tends to look like me serving God, or some may say, being on mission. Serving and being on mission in and of themselves are not bad, it is when I serve Him in as many ways as I can and I use my gifts and abilities for the church and for other people hoping that if I do enough for God then He will be happy with me. I forget that, as God’s child, God is already happy with me. The struggle with this idea of relating to God is, how do I know when I have done enough? What is the end goal? What if I do all of these things and I am still not happy? Ultimately, I end up living life feeling that I can never do enough, that God is never really happy with me. I feel guilty because there is always more to do. Then when bad things happen, I become convinced that I somehow disappointed God and this is His way of showing me. We would never say we are working for acceptance in our relationship, but we are. We have completely forgotten Eph 2:8,9 that reminds us our relationship with God is a gift we can never pay for.

Remember at creation when God made mankind “in his likeness” his purpose in creation was that we would be “with” him. Not that we would “do things” for him.

Has your life with God been more about what you do for him than just being “with” him?

(To explore this thought more read With by Skye Jethani.)

by Pastor Tim

Last week we talked about living “life over God,” using the principles of the Bible to fix our lives the way we want. Once again we realized we were trying to control God.

This week we want to look at living “life from God.” This understanding of relating with God says that everything comes from God. God is a loving and gracious God who wants to give us wonderful gifts and blessings. We even have verses to support this idea: “Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of light,” James 1:17. While the statement is true, all good things do come from God and God does bless his children, He is not a vending machine. This thought becomes that if I draw near to God he has to provide good things for me. But what happens if he doesn’t? What happens if God does not want me to have nice things? What happens if God’s best for me is to walk through pain?

“Life from God” believes that I am the center of the world and God exists to make me happy. As long as God is providing then I don’t have to face the reality of who I am or the fears that I have. If bad things happen in my life it means that God is somehow letting me down and I need to figure out another way to be comforted.

The reality is that God's desire is to use all things, blessings and difficulties, to be “with us.” He wants all parts of my life to draw me into a closer and deeper relationship with Him. He wants me to rest in Him, not just receive “from Him.”

Have you been relating to God by what you get from Him?

(To explore this thought more read “With” by Skye Jethani.)

by Pastor Tim

Last week we talked about trying to relate to God by keeping commands and rules well enough that God had to bless us, and we saw that we were trying to control God. “Life over God” leads us to the same destination. If we try to live a “life over God” we try to take the natural laws of the world, the principles for leadership and development, and use those to live life. My thought process becomes, if all of these natural laws and principles are from God, then if I implement them He will bless me. I don’t really need Him, I just need to know what he knows. If I can learn enough about the Bible and what it teaches then I will be a success. I will have the wisdom I need and ultimately I will be able to control all of the outcomes (I control God). Of course, the problem with this thought process is that we have missed the point of the Bible. The Bible was not given to us by God to give us guidelines for living life and being successful, although some of those exist in the Bible. The Bible was given to us by God so that we can know Him, (John 5:39-40), so that we can be with God. “Life over God” is so tempting to us as Christ-followers because we get to determine how things work and when they happen. If I apply these few steps to my marriage, my children, my job, my knowledge base, or my finances then the outcome will be… So instead of relying on God and resting with God, I use what I know of him for my benefit and my glory.

God’s desire is to be with us, to relate to us, and for us to rely on and rest in Him.

Have you been trying to live life “over God” using the truths of the Word to get ahead in life, instead of using the Word to know Jesus?

(To explore this thought more read With by Skye Jethani.)

by Pastor Tim

Over the next four weeks I would like to help us unpack some different ways that we tend to try to relate to God. If you remember from my last blog I talked about how we were created to be “with God” and the fact that sin broke that perfect relationship with God, but because of God’s great love for us, he sent His Son, Jesus, to restore that broken relationship. If we accept Jesus as our sin payment our relationship “with God” is restored.

The problem that arises for us is that we are still hampered by a sin nature. That sin nature still wants to act in the same way Adam and Eve acted. We want to do things on our own, we want to use God instead of being “with God”. This desire leads us to do things to try to control God and our lives. One of the ways we do this is we begin to live “life under God”. What does this look like you ask? Well, we go to Church and read the Bible looking for rules and regulations that we can keep to please God, the idea being that if I am good enough at keeping the rules then God will have to bless me. My thought process becomes if I sacrifice enough and I am consistent enough in obeying the commands of God then the result will be success. Basically, I am saying my hard work can control God! That sounds crazy, right? Yet it is often how we live life. Remember God created us to “be with him”. In Matt 11, Jesus’ words to us are that He does not want to put “heavy burdens” on us, instead He desires to “give us rest”. He tells us to “be with Him” and “find rest.”

Let me finish with a question for you. Does your relationship with Jesus bring you rest, or are you living under the heavy burden of trying to do enough right that God has to notice you and bless you? Remember, He just wants to be “with you”.

( To explore this thought more read “With” by Skye Jethani)

Have you ever sat and thought about what your purpose is, why you were placed on this earth? Have you ever had one of those days when everything just seemed meaningless? I am sure you have. If you are like most people, you find it easier to ignore the thought and keep going than to stop and try to think through the meaning of life.

Let's take a few minutes today and think through why we are on this earth. In order to do that we need to go back to the beginning of everything (that means Genesis.) Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them;…vs 26 says, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” God created humankind “to be like us.” That phrase tells us a lot. If we were to go to John 1 we would find that the Godhead is and always was in perfect unity and in perfect relationship with one another. When God says that He desires that we are to be “like Him,” He is saying He desires us to be in perfect relationship with Him and each other. God's purpose in our creation was for us to be in a relationship with Him and to enjoy that relationship. He did not create us because He lacked anything; He created us simply for the joy of relationship. You and I were created to be with God.

The reason we struggle with an emptiness of purpose and belonging is found in Genesis 3:6-7. Adam and Eve sinned, and that sin was passed to all humans for all time, separating us from our perfect Creator and from a perfect fulfilling relationship. Now our being longs for that relationship to be restored so we can once again “be with God.” Wonderfully, Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived a perfect life, and died as payment for our sins so that if we repent and believe on Him, our relationship with God will be restored.

Have you repented and believed? If you are looking for purpose, meeting Jesus is your starting point!

(To explore this thought more read With by Skye Jethani.)

Pastor Tim

If you were at church with us a few years ago, you may have heard me use this phrase as part of my sermon, “Where you look is where you go.” Let me take a few moments to unpack what I had been thinking. “Where you look” is really about the things that concern you. This is about the the events, people, circumstances that you find rolling around in your head. You may not be able to do anything about them; they are probably beyond your control, but for some reason you keep “looking” at them. The struggle is the longer you look in that direction and the more these thoughts roll around in your head the more you are drawn toward them. The more you are drawn to them the more concerned and consumed you become with them. This progression most often leads us to anxiety and discontentment and eventually a jaded view of life.

So, I have to ask the question, what have you been looking at lately? What have the eyes of your heart and mind been focused on?

Maybe that question makes you start asking what your eyes should be focused on. Let me help you.

Hebrews 12:1b-2a

“…..Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.”

Try just looking at Christ each day this week. Try letting Christ become your only concern. I think if you do, you will be surprised the change you will see in your heart, your will, and your attitude.

-Pastor Tim

I know this doesn’t sound like a great title coming from a pastor, but it is a great thought. As a leader, each one of us has to be passionate enough about our mission that we are willing to fight for it; this is especially true as Christian leaders. We see it all the time in the business world, people are willing to fight for the growth of the company or for a better return on the dollar. What if that same level of passion drove you and your leadership in the mission God called you to? What if instead of quitting when things get a little hard or go a bit sideways, you were to stay and fight? I think this is really what God had in mind for us. I am reminded of the verses in Joshua when God tells Joshua multiple times, “Be strong and very courageous and continue obeying all that is written in the law…., so that you do not turn to the right or the left.” When we “pick a fight” we are telling ourselves and those around us that we are “all in.” We are not turning to avoid what is in front of us; we are going straight at it and we will not be distracted. We will continue doing all that we need to do to make sure we meet and exceed the goal.

Where do you need to pick a fight? Is it in your personal life? At work? Or with the team you are leading?

-Pastor Tim

I was reading through a leadership book the other day, and in the middle of what I was reading this thought hit me: “It is easier to maintain than redo.” It takes a great deal of hard work to accomplish much of anything in life. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about your spiritual life, schooling, managing your money, losing weight, getting in shape, stopping an addiction or planning for your future. Everything takes work, that is just the way it is, and it is the same for all of us. Once you have done the hard work, why not figure out how to stay there instead of allowing yourself to go back and have to start again? This is called maintenance. Don’t stop reading, I know this sounds boring and I know you aren’t going to like the next things I have to say. You are still reading so here it goes: figure out a few systems to help you consistently do the things that got you where you are. Like these few ideas: If you lost weight, switch your dinner sized plate to a lunch sized plate for every meal, and you will eat less. If you always eat seconds, stop. If having a budget got you out of debt, stay on the budget forever. If 15 minutes a day of exercise helped you get in shape, move to doing 30 min day. Whatever you did to get you where you are, keep doing it and add to your growth. Don’t go back. Redoing things is so discouraging. It wastes time, energy and resources. Make it your life’s ambition to build on what you already have; remember, “It is easier to maintain than redo.”

-Pastor Tim

We serve a God who is loving, merciful, just, holy, compassionate, all-powerful, and righteous!

But there are over 3 billion people in the world who are not even aware that He exists! These people with little or no access to the news of how awesome God is, or the salvation He offers through Christ are considered “unreached.” Christ-followers have the delightful responsibility to reach them and make Him known to them.

The Moss Brook missions team has accepted the challenge to do all we can to make the world aware of our great God and the forgiveness for sin available to us through Jesus.

Want to join us in this challenge? We meet every other Friday evening here at the church building. We study the scriptures, share reports of what God is doing in the world, and we pray. We keep in touch with Holly and with our friends in Brazil. If you have a heart for reaching out in love to share the Good News with others, especially those of another culture, come join us.

Some of us on the team have had experience working with folks in other countries. Some are experiencing working with immigrants from around the world here in our backyard in Lewiston, Maine, at the Root Cellar.

If this kind of outreach is something God is laying on your heart, check us out. If it is not for you, no problem. You are not committed to staying with us. But you might be surprised and deeply gratified to see how God can use you to help fulfill the Great Commission, here in Maine, or around the world.

-David Shaw