Author: Believers Church

June 17, 2020 Believers Church

By Pastor Tim Dodson

For those of you that are Covenant Members here at Believers Church, you probably know firsthand about the blessings as well as the burden of committing to a Christ-modeled-love for your brethren. It doesn’t take long to experience both the joy and the pain, both the relief and the weight of that commitment. This is the scriptural Christ-modeled-living within the dynamic of the church which scripture tells us in the “bride of Christ.” Certainly, there is a measure of safety within the church family, for therein the biblical community rules are adhered to, and the dynamics of honesty, transparency, and communion are ‘front and center’ to prevent the behaviors and interactions that are so readily found in the world…things done in back alleys and in the shadows. By practicing that honesty and openness we seek to embrace the warning and truth of Luke 12:3:  “Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.”

However, we understand that many people do not want their secrets to “go public” and thus will stay out of the Covenant Community and that there will be others within the community who will make a break for it when their sins are on the verge of “going public.” The history of the church as well as this church specifically is full of “runners.”  John 3:19-21 “And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

In the Covenant Agreement that is signed with the church body and witnessed by God Himself is the following clause:

 “I will make an appointment with two or more church elders and my service position leader(s) prior to departure (from my Covenant Relationship). I understand that emails, texts, or phone calls are not sufficient to fulfill such. I also herein acknowledge the magnitude of this commitment…that it is a promise before this church body and God Himself so that if I should break this covenant in any unrighteous manner I would, therefore, stand in sin against God and my brothers and sisters in this church. Our hope upon departure will be that you seek another church with which you can carry out your biblical responsibilities as a believer.”

Why would such a practice be promised and required?

In the day in which we live, the absence of truth, integrity and faithfulness is starkly absent in the secular world. Lying is so rampant that it is today simply an acceptable social dynamic. But such should not be…must not be so in the church of God. We are called to “be holy, as Christ is holy.” And in the “Things that God Hates” list of Proverbs 6 we clearly find the lowly and quiet practice of lying.

When someone decides to leave the Covenant Community it invariably means they are leaving the church. Now that situation of course would elicit all sorts of questions within those who remain, the greatest of those being… “where does that leave me then in my standing with this individual?” Yes indeed, and that is why the clause was established! You see, we want to continue to have a brother/sister relationship with people whether they go to this church or not. But unless there is honest dialogue and Christ-centered accounting of our lives, how will we know the truth concerning that individual? Certainly, the Bible is full of warnings concerning attempted relationships with people who say they are Christian but are in fact not. So, as a member of the church who is remaining, how do I know where I stand with this person?

Because of this ambiguity, we applied 1 John 3:10 to our Covenant Agreement:   “So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.” Because we know that lying is a sin…a “not-living-righteously”…and loving other believers naturally requires truth and faithfulness, we simply promise to be accountable to our actions and to not act “in the dark.”  If someone refuses to come in and fulfill the promise of accountability and truth, we can easily then see that they are not living righteously…and not loving their brothers. For to not do so is simply lying, and I cannot lie to a brother and honestly BE his brother! Furthermore, the “icing” in this is the purposeful and continual stance on that matter. Meaning they did not just “make a momentary mistake” but are rather holding onto that sin indefinitely. Thus remaining in the practice of sin they prove that they are not of God at all. Therefore “not of God” …then easily “not a brother,” but rather a false confession and a deceitful individual. And not someone I can continue to have a relationship with according to scripture. 

It used to be quite hard to ascertain where we were stood with such individuals and often their deceit caused even greater pain and anguish later. This was a problem until we presented the opportunity for these individuals to prove their righteousness as well as the opportunity for them to effectively “hang themselves.” This we deserve and are righteous in asking. Both the Bible and the Covenant agreement provides for such! No passive judgment call then has to be made on our part, but rather we simply adhere to the manifest that they present.

While such situations are always uncomfortable and often even painful. This is what we are called to when it comes to the care of and the participation in our church community. We are the “bride of Christ.”  We must always remember that God expects the church to be kept pure. The apostle Paul said, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:27)

June 16, 2020 Believers Church

From the Book “Disciples are Made, Not Born”
by Walter Henrichsen

When Jesus Christ voluntarily gave His life on the cross some 2,000 years ago, He did not die for a cause. He died for people. During His ministry on earth He “ordained 12, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach” (Mark 3:14). Just before His death on Calvary, Jesus prayed for His men (see John 17). Over 40 times in that prayer, He made reference to His 12 disciples.

During His brief ministry on earth, Jesus had the world on His heart, but He saw the world through the eyes of His men. Prior to His ascension, He gave to these men what is commonly referred to as the Great Commission. As recorded in Matthew 28:19, Jesus charged them to take the Gospel through the world by making disciples.

Jesus had world vision. He expected His men to have world vision. Jesus expected them to see the world through the disciples that they would produce, just as He had seen the world through the 12 men He had raised up. His vision of reaching the world through the use of multiplying disciples is not found in an obscure passage in the Bible—it is a theme that pulsates from page to page.

It was obviously the thing that was on the Apostle Paul’s heart as he wrote his “Last Will and Testament” to his son in the faith, Timothy.  Let’s briefly analyze 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

“Thou” indicates the importance of the individual. At Jesus’ meeting with Peter, He said, according to John 1:42, “Thou art Simon . . . thou shalt be called Cephas.” (You are Simon, you will become a rock.) When Jesus saw Peter, He did not see him as he was but as he would someday be. There is tremendous potential in the life of one man.

Thou…me indicates the importance of personal relationships, of mutual confidence and trust built up through years of laboring together. When Paul wrote from prison to the church at Philippi, he said that because he was unable to visit them, he would send Timothy, his son in the faith. In essence what he said was, “When Timothy arrives, it will be as though I myself were present.”

Many years earlier Paul had seen the potential in this young man from Asia Minor and decided to invest his life in him.

Commit suggests transmitting something from one person to another. It indicates the deposit of a sacred trust. Paul is saying to Timothy, “You are my disciple. This is the relationship that exists between you and me.   Now transmit this as a disciple-maker to other disciples.” When we invest in the lives of other people, we transmit not only what we know, but more importantly what   we are. Each of us becomes like the people with whom we associate. I am sure that if we could meet Paul and Timothy, we would find them similar in many respects.

Later Paul wrote to him, “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions” (2 Tim. 3:10-11). This gives a synopsis of what was committed to Timothy by Paul and what in turn was  to he committed by  Timothy to faithful men.

Faithful men—discipling stands or falls with these two little words. Solomon, that wise king of ancient Israel, said, “Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness; but a faithful man who can find?” (Prov. 20:6) Faithful men and women have always been in short supply. God still seeks them out. “For the eyes of  the Lord  run  to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him”   (2 Chron. 16:9).

Teach others also—this is where the discipling process begins to pick up a head of steam. We are now in the fourth generation. We began with Paul, then Timothy, then faithful men, and finally, others also. Teaching others cannot be done solely through a classroom situation. It entails the imparting of a life—the same in-depth transmission that occurred between Paul and Timothy.

This is a multiplicative process. While the faithful men are teaching others also, Timothy is in the process of raising up more faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Implementing this vision of multiplying disciples constitutes the only way Christ’s commission can ever ultimately be fulfilled. Other ministries and approaches can augment it but never replace it.

Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, used to say, “Activity is no substitute for production. Production is no substitute for reproduction.” Whatever ministry we are engaged in, it ought to be reproductive.

We have already pointed out that the key to this disciple-making ministry is faithful men and women.  What are the qualifications for a faithful person? What qualities of godliness must be characteristic of his life? Let’s mentally digest a few essential traits of the person who wants to qualify as “a faithful man.”

1. He has adopted as his objective in life the same objective God sets forth in the Scriptures.

Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). Rarely did the Lord Jesus ask people to seek something, but here He suggests we seek two things (which are to become the two-fold objective of every believer): His kingdom and His righteousness.

Notice that Jesus does not say to seek money or a wife or a dozen other things that could easily occupy our attention. Rather, He is saying that if we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, He will assume responsibility for meeting every other need in our life.

A friend of mine is a lawyer in a prestigious law firm. Year after year he had the highest earnings in the firm, but his colleagues would not make him a senior partner. The reason was that all these men gave their lives, their time, and their energy to the firm. But because my friend was a Christian, he did not feel that the practice of law rated that high on his priority list. He was a superb lawyer and did a good a job—as the financial records indicated. But his objective was Matthew 6:33. Being a lawyer was a means to an end, not an end in itself. I believe it was because of his commitment that God entrusted him with so much success.

Whatever your vocation is, it must never be your life objective; for your vocation, no matter how noble it may be, is, in the final analysis, temporal. The Scriptures teach us that we are to give our lives to the eternal and not to the temporal. A faithful man is a man who has chosen eternal objectives for his life.

2. He is willing to pay any price to have the will of God fulfilled in his life.

This is a crucial issue. After instructing Timothy to commit to faithful people the things that Timothy had learned from him, Paul goes on to say, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Tim. 2:3-4). Having committed himself to God’s objective, the faithful man steadfastly resists the temptation to become ensnared in the world’s glittering attractions.

Let me ask you: Is there anything between you and God? Are there any little pet sins that you have been unwilling to confess and forsake? Any areas that you have not put under His control? How about your finances? The question is not how much money do you have in the bank, but rather who has the power to draw on your account? Do all of your financial assets belong to Jesus Christ? Do you know what it means to give sacrificially? And by that I mean to give what you know from a human perspective you cannot afford.

How about “things”?  Do your possessions play an inordinate role in your life? Paul says, “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction, whose God  is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who  mind earthly things” (Phil. 3.18-19). The Bible says that people “who mind earthly things” are enemies of the cross of Christ.

All that you hold dear to yourself—your family, your health, your dreams, your aspirations and goals—must be held with an open hand. If you desire to fulfill God’s will for your life irrespective of the price, the sum total of all that makes up you must belong to Jesus Christ. He must be free to do with you and take from you as He pleases.  You need not open your hand to God with a sense of fear, for God loves you with a perfect love and has your best interest at heart. But having said that, the faithful person is one who is willing to pay any price to have the will of God accomplished in his life.

3. He has a love for the Word of God.

The prophet Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, 0 Lord God of hosts” (Jer. 15:16). Do you have an insatiable appetite for the Word of God?  Do you crave it like you crave food? Are you in submission to the authority of the Word of God? Or do you pick and choose what you believe and obey?

A carpenter whom I have known for years averages 10 hours each week in Bible study. This man has never gone to college or Bible school. He is not a learned scholar, but for him the Scriptures have a place of priority. I believe it was St. Jerome who said that the Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for theologians to swim in without ever touching the bottom.

One day I was in the office of a surgeon. In the course of his training, he had to master the contents of scores of books. If he were to operate on me or one of my family, I would certainly want it that way! As I thought about this, it occurred to me that as Christ’s disciples we really only have one Book we must master—the Scriptures. Yet, when I talk to people about investing five hours each week in Bible study and memorizing a couple of verses a week, they look at me as though some monstrous demand is being made on them.

What is your Scripture intake?  Do you have a regular Bible reading program?  Are you systematically studying the Scriptures? Is your craving for the Bible so great that it is impossible to satisfy?

4. He has a servant heart.

Jesus once reminded His disciples that non- Christians enjoy being served and exercising authority over others. In contrast to this He said, “But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief   among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:26-28).

The motto of the British Royal Military Academy is “Serve to Lead.” This is the same truth Jesus was seeking to communicate to His disciples when He washed their feet (see John 13). If, as their Lord, He washed their feet, they ought to be willing to do the same for others.

A person may try to recruit others to help him accomplish his vision. The disciple-maker, however, seeks to invest his life in another to help that person accomplish his own vision.

5. He puts no confidence in the flesh.

The Scriptures emphasize this principle often. Paul said, “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9). Again he said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18).

Worldliness and having confidence in the flesh are very closely related, for worldliness can ‘be defined as living as though you have no need for God.” For example, to leave for work in the morning without first spending time with the Lord to me indicates having a tremendous amount of confidence in oneself. It is equivalent to saying, “I can run my life today without an absolute dependence on God.”

One of the ways of determining exactly how much confidence you have in the flesh is to take an inventory of the number of times you come into your own conversation. How often do you talk about how great you are and the things you have done?

6. He does not have an independent spirit.

There is a great deal of talk today about “doing your own thing.” In this antiauthoritarian society in which we live, the attitude is, “Don’t let people tell you what to do.”  Accomplishing the work of God, however, is a team effort. It is done in concert with like-minded brothers and sisters in the faith. There is no room in the life of the disciple for a loner’s attitude—the kind of attitude that says, “If it is not done my way, then I’m not going to do it at all.”

A young man once told me, “I will listen to what God has to say to me, but I will not learn from other people.” To have such an attitude is to live in self-deception. People are often God’s instruments to communicate to other people.  God is looking for faithful people who are willing to subjugate their own ideas for the sake of the team.

7. He has a love for people.

The Apostle John said, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” ( 1 John 4: 10). To be godly is to be God-like. To be like God is to love people, because God loves people.

I remember reading a Peanuts cartoon in which Charlie Brown said, “I love the world. I think the world is wonderful. It’s people I can’t stand.” Yet, people are the reason Jesus invaded human history. He came to redeem people. That is what the Gospel is all about. The disciple is one who is involved in the lives of people. The faithful person has a love for people.

8. He does not allow himself to become trapped in bitterness.

The writer of Hebrews warns us to be watchful “lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled”   (Heb. 12:15).  The context of this verse is the giving and receiving of rebuke. Many a person has become bitter because someone pointed out a fault in his life. He takes the attitude, “Huh, who does he think he is, telling me about my sins? Why doesn’t he take the beam out of his own eye before he takes the little speck of sawdust out of mine?

As a young Christian, I remember hearing someone preach on this verse, and I jotted in the margin of my Bible next to it, “Bitterness comes as a result of real or supposed ill-treatment—it doesn’t really matter which.” Somebody may really wrong you, or you can just think that somebody wronged you. In either case, if you are not careful, it can cause you to become bitter.

A wise, old saint once said, “I will never allow another person to ruin my life by making me hate him.”

The root of bitterness can come through a competitive spirit, a breakdown in communications between you and fellow Christians, or feeling that you have gotten a raw deal.  I believe more disciples become ineffective in the Christian life because of a root of bitterness than because of any other sin. Faithful Christians guard their hearts well in this critical area.

9.  He has learned to discipline his life.

One of the most motivating passages of Scripture that I know was penned by the Apostle Paul. “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air; but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have  preached to others, I myself should be a  castaway ( 1 Cor. 9:24-27).

One day I sat down and meditated on what would be the most horrible thing that could happen to me as a Christian. The conclusion to which I came was that when I die, God would take me aside and say to me, “Henrichsen, let Me show you what your life could have been like if only you had done what I asked, if only you had been faithful to Me, if only you had disciplined your life and made it really count, as I wanted you to.”

Have you learned to discipline yourself? Have you learned to say no to temptation? Maybe there is a habit that you have been unable to conquer. You know that the Spirit of God would like you to get victory, but you have done nothing about it, having rationalized that, “If God wants me to give up this habit, then He will have to give me the power to do it.” Although this is true, it is avoiding the issue, because God has already given you the power. It has been made available to you through the Holy Spirit. All you need to do is appropriate it and such appropriation requires discipline. Never blame God for your failure to do what you know is right.

It is the evening that you have set aside for Bible study, but you discover that one of your favorite programs is on television. So you rationalize by saying you will do the study some other time. Not only does the Bible study not get done, but you also stay up so late that night that you are unable to get up the next morning in time to fellowship alone with the Lord before going to work.

It is not the one or two isolated times of compromise that will make the difference. The problem is that once you make an exception, it is so easy to do it again, and again, and again. You sow a thought and reap an act. You sow an act and reap a habit. You sow a habit, and you reap an eternity. It is evident that one does not become a “faithful person” by being a week-end Christian. The faithful person is one who has applied the Scriptures to every area of his life. The life of discipleship is a life of discipline—the two words come from the same root. A disciple is a disciplined person. Such a life is not easy, but God never promised us it would be. That it is not easy is clearly seen by the fact that there are so few faithful people around today.  

The gold medal goes to the athlete who has worked hard, who has learned how to discipline himself, who has learned to say no to the myriad distractions that cross a person’s life, who has a clear-cut objective and has resolved in his soul to stay with it until he accomplishes it. This is the kind of person God uses.

June 15, 2020 Believers Church

The last couple of weeks have been a reunion of sorts. After more than two months of not being able to gather as a church, we are able to have services again. Church looks different than it ever has, but even with the changes, it is good to be back together. With social distancing requirements, face masks, no group singing, and no fellowship in the coffeehouse after service, it is clear that things have not returned to the regular routine. But that is okay.

It is nice to be back together and somewhat have church as usual. But there is a danger of the church getting into too much of a routine. This current situation may just be helping to prevent that. It is easy to allow your Christianity and church involvement to slip into autopilot which requires little thought, little seeking good for direction, and little reliance on the Holy Spirit. If nothing else the last few months have served to prevent us from following our regularly scheduled program.

A Message to the Church

Sundays we have been continuing through the book of Revelation. It’s the last book of the New Testament that we have to go through verse by verse as a church. We are currently going through the letters written to the seven different churches in chapters two and three. These are letters written to churches with a message directly from Jesus. Each church is different, some with strengths they are commended for and some with sins that they are called to repent from. There is much to learn from the examples in scripture. No doubt there is a message that Jesus is “sending” to us as well. Please pray that we would hear what He is saying. That we wound be encouraged where he is encouraging, and repent where he points out our sins and weaknesses.

Sheep Among Wolves

At this week’s Wednesday gathering, we watched “Sheep Among Wolves” a video about the persecuted church in the Middle East. It was an inspiring night where we were left checking our own lives and commitment. Christians over there are spending their lives for the sake of God’s kingdom. Realizing that provides a wake-up call to ensure that we are not wasting ours. It’s incredible to see the hardships and persecution that are likely beyond our full comprehension and yet see the commitment and love that these believers have for Christ. One of the men in the video was at a near loss of words trying to explain that Jesus is worth any cost. Intentionally this video leaves us questioning what we are doing with our lives. Christ is worthy of no lesser commitment. He deserves no lesser love and sacrifice sacrifice here in the relative comfort of the west.

We continue to work on things around the church. Regulations are making it easier for people to get to church so we decided we would to. We completely redid the stairs going down into the coffeehouse and also repaired the steps leading to the sanctuary. We also are continuing to upgrade our technology to more effectively get our Bible teaching into the community. There seems to be no end to the amount of wires we need to pull from one end of the church to the other.

Things aren’t normal. But is normal really the goal or expectancy for a Christian filled with the Holy Spirit and under the direction of an almighty God? Please pray that as a church we would be directed by God, learning the lessons that He has for us, and going out applying them in our lives.

June 12, 2020 Believers Church

Since the Central Desk is closed at the present time, the Believers Bookstore is available to the public 9:00 am to 4:30 pm Tuesday through Friday. Also, look for the sign near the front door.

You may come in and browse books but it will not be staffed. You may make purchases during the above hours by taking your selected book to the outdoor coffeehouse kiosk at the side of the building, where you may pay for the book only. The coffeehouse does not take orders nor are they knowledgeable of what books are available.

You may email the bookstore with questions and inquiries about books or ebooks that we have available. We will get back to you as soon as possible to assist you with your reading needs. You may also place special orders for books that you don’t see on the shelves if we are able to assist you in that.

Please contact the BOOKSTORE via email only.

Contact info: bookstore@jfbelievers.com

All prices are suggested donation

June 10, 2020 Believers Church

In the days before anybody kept tabs on social distances, my wife and I crammed our family into a gymnasium with several hundred strangers just for fun. It was a Saturday, and volunteers from the University were hosting a “track meet” of sorts for children of all ages. Our kids like to run, we like our kids, it all made sense.

The Ones I Call My Own

Nora, being in the “3-year old and under” bracket ran first, while I ran alongside. I paid little attention to whether she ran faster or slower than the other kids, because that wasn’t the point. I just enjoyed my time with her. Not sure why, but I was proud of her. Something endearing about trotting next to your daughter while she does her best to keep up.      

It’s important for a child to recognize that their dad actually likes being their father

Ira was different. I didn’t need to run with him because he didn’t need the same kind of coaching. He already knows which direction to run, and he knows what it means to stay in his lane. Even still, I was there at every turn, cheering for him, reminding him to pace himself, just glad to be a part of this kid’s life. I like being a dad.

Enjoying Fatherhood

We’re told that God loves us as a father loves his own children, but, if you’re like me, that’s sometimes a difficult concept to grasp. I sure enjoy being my children’s father, but does God really like being mine? I’m well-versed enough to know that I’m His son, but I want to feel like it too. I think it’s important for a child to recognize that their dad actually likes being their father, not just theoretically or doctrinally, but experientially.

As a child of God, I treasure those moments where His love for me is unmistakable. That Saturday at the gym was one of those times, although the lesson didn’t start until after my kids had crossed the finish line.

The One I’d Never Met

We were on our way out when the middle-schoolers took to the track. Among them was a cocky young man who was ready to show the world just how fast he was. The gun snapped, and off he went like a cheetah. Half a lap later, he was well ahead of everyone else, including the pace-setter. There was no mistaking the youthful arrogance of this character, but having run a race or two myself, I knew what the future held for a guy like him. He was about to hit a wall he didn’t know existed, and somebody needed to be there to help him through it.

The boy was losing speed fast. The pace-setter easily regained the lead with the rest of the pack just behind. One by one, from the fastest to the slowest, every single contestant passed him by. Dead last, red in the face, and barely able to breath, he was physically beat and emotionally humiliated.

I noticed that his father had given full attention to his Smartphone, and it crushed me to imagine my own children in this kids track-shoes. All alone and already defeated, without a dad to trot next to them. Looking at him only made me think of my own son. It was heart-breaking. I simply couldn’t bear it, so I hustled to the edge of the track and walked alongside the boy I’d never met. “Don’t give up” I said, with the best fatherly tone I could muster, “Whatever you do, never give up”.  

Loved Like a Son

I watched him all the way around the last lap to make sure that he would finish the race. And when he did, I walked right out on to the track just to congratulate him. He lost the race by a mile, but I felt like he just won the Olympics. As strange as it was, I was proud of that kid. It was all I could do to stop myself from hugging him. For a moment, he became like a son to me. There’s no way to explain why I felt like I did about that boy, other than that I have kids of my own, and I was able to love him because I already love them.

Loved By Our Father

God’s love for us is easy to overlook. We’re so busy running around all the time trying to keep up with each other, we pay little attention to what’s right in front of us. But don’t miss it…

There’s a mysterious Father standing alongside the track you’re running on, who counts you as His own. For some strange reason, you’ve caught His attention, and He loves you, even though you might not feel like it. He’s shouting encouragement at you, even if you can’t hear it. He doesn’t care how well you do in relation to others, He just doesn’t want you to give up. His heart yearns to see you finish well, even if you come in dead last on the track. And when you cross that finish line, He’s going to be right there to congratulate you.  

There’s no other way to explain it than that He already has a Son of His own…and He loves that Boy. Always has, always will. When He looks at you, He thinks of Him, and that’s how His affections for us can be as strong as they are. Take it from me, God likes being a Dad.

Only some of you might be fathers, but all of us are children…loved by One who truly enjoys watching you run this race.  

Happy Father’s Day kids.

June 4, 2020 Believers Church

Recommended Media | JUNE 2020

In the new series: “Good News”, Pastor Mark takes on questions gathered from listeners. The opening sermon seeks to answer “How God Will Fix the World He Made”. This sermon tackles these specific questions:

  • What is life on earth supposed to be like?
  • What went wrong on the earth?
  • What happens to people who die before Jesus returns?
  • How will God repair the world?
  • What will the new heaven and new earth be like?

The good news of what’s on the other side of this life gets us through this life.
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

For more sermons in this series, visit Mark Driscoll’s sermons page.