BE STRONG!

I've always wanted to be strong. My heros growing up always were! He-Man, Hulk Hogan, Spider-Man... strong guys, for sure. Now that I am a lot older and a little more mature, I still want to be strong, but a different kind of strong. I want to be strong in the Lord. 

How about you? If I asked you how you want your Christian walk, how would you answer? Probably not something like, “I really don’t want to experience too much of the Holy Spirit at work in me. Just want to struggle with anxiety, temptation, and doubt the rest of my days here on the earth…” Of course not! You and I would say we want to be strong!

But then what if I asked, how is your walk? Are you walking strong? If you are, thank the Lord! If you are not, thank the Lord, because He has what you need!

There is a monumental task ahead of us at Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh. As the church is referred to as a body, each of us must be doing what the Holy Spirit empowers us to do. Our goal is not to squeak by, barely get the job done. We want to hit our launch strong. Each of us strong in the Lord, all of us strong in the Lord together. But how do I get strong?

God’s word has the answer! 2 Timothy 2:1 says, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus…”

This was written by the apostle Paul to young pastor Timothy. Timothy was to "be strong". The Greek verb endunamo[ma]o, which is stated as a present passive imperative, could be translated "keep on being empowered." Timothy was not to be strong in his own strength but in God's. He was to receive God's power and allow it to flow through him.

Feeling like you need strength? You can’t muster it up on your own, God is the source of strength! Jesus stated the same in John 15:5 when He said, “apart from me you can do nothing.”

It's the grace of God that empowers believers. What is grace? Grace is God giving to us what He requires from us. Let that sink in. God requires holiness from us. We don’t have it. So in His grace, through the finished work of Jesus Christ, He gives it to us! He requires righteousness, obedience, perfection… we don’t have it, so God gives it to us! And strength is the same. We are all weak, but the Lord wants us to be strong. So in His grace, He gives us strength.

It's God's grace that enables us to serve God. God's will is accomplished "'not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6). That's the kind of grace Paul spoke of here in 2 Timothy 2:1.

But Paul doesn’t leave it undefined. He illustrates what strength in the believer looks like using 4 pictures: the teacher, the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer (verses 2--6).

We are going to be looking at these 4 pictures over our next several Core Group meetings, and we would love to have you join us! We will be giving an update as to when and where these will be held in July, so be watching this site! You can also e-mail me at jmiller@harvestpittsburghnorth.org for more info. I would love to talk with you about the exciting things ahead.

Need strength? God has it all, and He gives it out! Join us! 

p.s. - by himself = not strong

Give to the Church? That's Hilarious!

The great thing about a church plant is we are starting with nothing! But the hard thing about a church plant is that we are starting with nothing.

It’s great to start with nothing!

We are going to set the culture from day 1, and we will never hear, “We can’t do it that way, we have always done it this way!” We have a clean slate! But by far the greatest thing about starting with nothing: We are going to see the Lord build things from the ground up. Where are the people going to come from? Where are we going to meet? How will, where will, what if…? The Lord is working these things out right now! This time next year, we will be looking back to where we sit today, fondly reminiscing, “Remember when we were wondering how this was going to happen and God made amazing provision?”

Let’s not think too far ahead… let’s enjoy where the Lord has us right now. And where He has us is in a position of faith. Thank you, Lord, for putting us in a position where we have to trust you! Thank you for putting us in a place where, if you don’t show up, we won’t succeed, because we cannot do this in our own power. The glory rightly goes to God, to whom it is due. 

It's hard to start with nothing!

No building, no bank account, no... people! It is hard to start with nothing! And one of the “obstacles” that stand before us is money. Obviously, starting a church plant requires some start up funds. How does God provide this? He provides it through His people. From provision for the tabernacle in Exodus to provision of the church in the New Testament and beyond, God’s people give to support the work of God.

So how should we give?

In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul talks about collecting an offering from the churches to take to the church in Jerusalem, which was in pretty severe need. This occasion prompted some great teaching about giving. Here are 4 things you and I need to keep in mind when we give.

1. Give generously (2 Corinthians 8:2).
   
   Here’s a little math from verse 2: Joy + Sacrifice = Generosity.
   
   I never met anyone who referred to themselves as a Scrooge: “I hate giving to worthy causes”. We would all like to be thought of as being generous. But generosity is measured by 2 things: joy AND sacrifice (or as the text says, giving out of poverty). You have to have both to fall into the generous category. If you joyfully give $10 when you are a multi-billionaire, that is very nice and appreciated but it isn’t technically generous. Or if you only make $20 a year and reluctantly give 10 of them, while grumbling and complaining about it, that’s not generous either! It’s joyfully and sacrificially giving! We are calling on you to be generous: giving sacrificially out of a joyful heart. How can you foster that attitude? Keep in mind you aren’t giving to an organization or a person or even a charity - you are giving to God. And when you know you are giving directly to Him, you can’t help but want to give and give joyfully!
    
2. Give according to your means (2 Corinthians 8:3, 12).
   
   Always of our own free will, and certainly at times beyond our means, but giving is according to your means. I would love to give 100 trillion dollars to the church. Believe it or not, I don’t even have half of that in my bank account. So what can I give? Well, like the commercial asks, “What‘s in your wallet?” I am not told to give according to Bill Gates’ means, or give what is in Lebron James’ wallet, or looting my neighbor’s house. I am told to give according to my means. How has God given to me? “The need is great, but all I can give is _______.” You be faithful to God with what He has entrusted to you, and by His grace, I will do the same.
    
3. Give according to the law of the harvest (2 Corinthians 9:6, 10).
   
   It doesn’t get any more straightforward than this. Sow a little, reap a little; sow a lot, reap a lot. This is true for the farmer, and this also works for the faithful giver. Proverbs 11:24 teaches the same. You will never out-give God. Ever.
    
4. Give hilariously (2 Corinthians 9:7).
   
   I hope when you started reading, and saw the subject was money, you didn’t roll your eyes and prepare for a guilt trip to give. The last thing I want to do is give a guilt trip, because “God loves a cheerful giver”. You make up your mind, you give generously according to your means… but it has to be given with joy. The Greek word for cheerful could also be translated hilarious. When I think of the word hilarious, several people come to mind. My wife is one of those people. She just says things sometimes that make me laugh and laugh. For days. And then a week later, I will remember it suddenly and laugh all over again! It is that kind of unrestrained joy that we are to make a part of our giving. This brings us back full circle to the joy in 2 Corinthians 8:2. It’s all God’s anyways, and we are giving back to Him what is His and He will use it to do His work and give us more to give back to Him to do more work and… the whole thing really is hilarious!

p.s. - a big fan of hilarity

A Life and Death Decision

Jesus Christ does not turn bad people into good people, He turns dead people into alive people.

The Bible tells us we are dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:1). Not just wrong in our sin, not just evil in our sin…dead. Our problem is so much deeper than being people who make mistakes. We are spiritually dead and separated from God. And leaving the earth in that state puts us in a place of being eternally separated from God.

The Bible uses other words to describe our condition.

Not only are we dead, we are weak, or helpless (Isaiah 64:6). We can’t even do anything about our condition. No doctor, no medicine, no surgery, no seminar, no religious activity can fix it. This flies in the face of everything we want to believe. We want to think that we have the ability to fix ourselves. Dead people can’t fix anything.

We are also ungodly, or lawbreakers (1 John 3:4). This is bigger than jaywalking or littering. This is violating the holy standard of a Holy God! “I am not that bad! I know people much worse than me.” God isn’t comparing you to them. He compares you to His standard, which is holy perfection.

We are also, by nature, God’s enemy (Romans 8:7). Let that one sink in! I wouldn’t want my neighbor to be my enemy, he could do some harm. I wouldn’t want a Navy Seal to be my enemy, he could do even more harm! But the Almighty God of the universe…! That is the last thing I would want, but by nature, we are enemies of God!

And this is what makes the Gospel of Jesus Christ so glorious. Through Jesus Christ and Him alone, God turned all this around.

Read Romans 5:6-11, notice I highlighted the words I just mentioned, and I also highlighted what we have become through Christ.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We were helpless, but God provided the power in Christ, and in Him we are strong (Colossians 1:11).

We were sinners, but God provided the substitute in Christ, and in Him we are righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).

We were God’s enemy, but He provided restoration in Christ, and in Him we are friends of God (James 2:23).

We were dead, but God provided life through Christ (Romans 6:5).

What side of the cross are you on? Have you cried out to God for the restoration that He offers freely through Christ, believing in what Jesus accomplished through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead?

Do you want to remain a dead, helpless, sinning enemy of God, or become an alive, strong, righteous friend of God?

A choice must be made. It is literally a matter of life and death.

God Has a Goal for You

You have some goals for your life?

I always have. I had some personal goals in my life as a young man, and being a pastor was never one of them. But when I came to Christ at age 20, my goals all died. My singular goal became to tell everyone about the awesome grace of God, out of gratitude for what He has done through Christ. But that is not even God’s ultimate goal for me.

Then when we had children, we had some goals for them! I thought my kids were going to play for the Steelers, Penguins, and/or Pirates, while becoming the greatest evangelists in history. But that is not even God’s ultimate goal for them. I don’t even know if God is a Penguins fan, but I know He isn’t a Flyers fan. (Just kidding, my Philadelphia brothers!)

What are your goals? Land the dream job? Have the perfect house and the perfect average 2.5 kids, with the perfect dog? Is it just living a happy and quiet life? All good things, but that’s not even God’s ultimate goal for you.

God has a goal for you. And it may not be exactly what you think it is.

God has made it clear in His Word what His goal is for every follower of Christ. Romans 8:29 says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

This is known as sanctification. When Christ is living in you, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, He is changing you. Just as a baby, new physical life, grows and matures, the believer, new spiritual life, grows and matures. 

But it's not a process of "getting more of Christ". We are made perfect in Him. It is discovering who we are in Him, and as a result, we get less of us!

It is as if you come to God as a hunk of marble, and He lovingly takes out His hammer and chisel and is chipping off every part of you that does not look like His Son. The image is already in there, but the Lord loves us too much to let us remain as we were when He found us!

This process can be painful, and sometimes it is during the most painful circumstances of life that God is doing the most work in us.

Whatever you are going through today, God has a goal, a purpose. Sometimes we want to throw our hands up and say, ”Why?!” The answer is always the same. God is working on you to make you the person he wants you to be - conformed into the image of His Son. That’s why the previous verse (Romans 8:28) says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

It’s all going to be good, because His purpose is glorious: to be conformed into the image of His Son!

p.s. - Getting “chiseled” isn’t about an abdominal exercise program.