Keep Pointing in Cedar Falls

For Togetherness

Pastor John talked this weekend about how we are rescued from aloneness for togetherness. It was a great reminder, and a great challenge, of a couple things. On a spiritual level, we are rescued from our aloneness by Jesus. The only way we can be filled up is by our relationship with Him. On another level, we are rescued from our aloneness when we invest in relationships with those around who help to spur us on towards Christ. We need to be in relationships with others so that we can grow to be more like Christ. Maybe it's a small group. Maybe it's a mentoring relationship. Maybe it's taking a relationship you have with a Christian and intentionally changing it into a relationship that involves accountability and prayer. At PLC, we really believe that being connected into some sort of a small group or mentoring relationship is one of the most important things you can do for your walk with God. 

As I thought about this message, I was reminded of a book I recently read called "Invitation to a Journey". In the book, one of the things that it says is that when we walk with God we are transformed to become more like Christ "for the sake of others". Not for my own sake, but so that others can come to know Christ, or come to know him more intimately. That was honestly a little new for me. I think I knew it at one level, but at another level I always saw my walk with God as something I did for my own sake. The point of my walk is not to eventually be displayed in a trophy case in heaven as evidence of grace. It's not to make me happier and have a better life. It's to make a difference in the lives of those around me. 

What relationship steps do you need to take in this season, not just for your sake, but for the sake of those you are in a relationship with as well? If you think a mentoring relationship is your next step you can sign up to connect with a mentor here. If a small group seems like a better fit you can sign up to join one here. 

How much do you look like your Dad?

I am going to go on record and say that I don't think you can really tell which parent a baby looks like. I know that this is basically a variation of talking about the weather, and is essentially used as a filler when you aren't sure what else to talk about. Still...I don't think you can tell.  Granted, there are exceptions to this, but in the vast majority of cases that six week old baby looks just as much like dad as they do mom. Unless mom has the blondest hair you've ever seen and dad is really dark complected, I dare to say you aren't the exception. Talk to me when the baby is six months or a year old and I might believe you, but not at six weeks.

As proof, I offer the countless times one of our three kids has been said to look "Just like Gabe," only to have someone walk up to me five minutes later and they say "Wow, they look just like their mom!" I will admit, I have been sucked into this game a time or two, but I do my best to avoid it when I can.

So why am I talking about this? I was on my way to the Child Dedication parent meeting on Monday night and started thinking about these things. Then I realized how much this parallels to our walk with God. You see, when someone first makes a commitment to follow Jesus, you can't really tell who they look like. As they age in their faith, it becomes easier (or at least it should become easier) to see that they are looking more and more like Jesus. This is probably where the parallels stop. If my kid grows up to not look exactly like me or my wife Erin, it's not a big deal.

As a Christian "grows up" if they don't start looking more and more like Christ, that is a big deal. Too often, as Christians, we stop growing in our likeness to Christ. For some, it stops shortly after they make the decision to follow Christ. For many, they start looking more like Christ, but stall out as a "toddler". For others, they grow to a mature Christ-likeness and then stop. None of these options are acceptable, and I am willing to bet that none of us are exempt. At some point, we all have stopped growing for a season.   

This is the question I am trying to answer for myself, and you should be too...in what ways do I need to change to become more like Christ? Once you answer that, then you can start to figure out what your next step might be. Maybe we need to get a Bible reading plan (or maybe we need to start using the one we started). Maybe we need a mentor. Maybe we need a small group. There are lots of ways for us to take steps, what's your next step? 

Crazy

Kind of a dumb name for a blog post, but honestly it's the only thing I can think of to describe the past 36 hours and what the next seven days are looking like. As I sit here with my six year old daughter during a short pause in the craziness, I'm reminded of a lot of things I'm thankful for.

• A great family. Specifically right now, my daughter is cracking me up as she draws radios and people dancing on old PLC bulletins I grabbed to use as scratch paper. Even as she draws on her paper, she does it with the most hilarious non verbals I have ever seen. 
• A great staff. I love that when things get crazy, I know my team has everything under control.
• Great volunteers. It was so cool to watch a couple hundred volunteers help serve at PLC this weekend and then see dozens more sign up to start serving. I can't wait to see how God is going to continue to work in our lives as we not only make a difference in our church, but in the community around us. 
• There's more...but my guess is you don't care all that much :) 

So even in the craziness, I'm glad I took a minute to hit the pause button.

Here are a couple of quick notes. There are lots of cool things going on right now. 

• Classes are starting next week. We've got dozens of people signed up for Starting Point, Financial Peace University, Urban Compassion and Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage.  
• Child Dedication is this weekend.
• Campus Connection is happening in between services on Sunday.
• Baptisms are after services on Sunday.
• Backstage Pass in Kidventure this weekend. If you have kids in Kidventure, make sure to check out one of the services in Kidventure to learn more about what takes place up there each week. We have an amazing team of staff and volunteers who invest in your kids each and every weekend!

Have a great week!

One for One

If you missed this weekend, make sure to check out the message online. That statement is always true, so I hesitate to even say it, but it is even more true this time. Pastor John talked about the one thing we as a church are challenged to do this year, be invitational. It's part of our DNA.  You've heard it before. You can't talk with Pastor John for more than a couple minutes without seeing that he bleeds the invitational value as much as anyone you've ever met. Sometimes that makes it easy to brush it off and say, "I'm just not wired that way. I'll leave the inviting up to him and others like him." The message this weekend made it clear, that's not an option.

Here are some things that hit me as I listened (paraphrased I'm sure): 

• If we really believe that those who reject Jesus go to hell, do we have any choice but to tell others about him? Like Penn from Penn and Teller once said; if you believe that, how much do you have to hate someone in order to NOT tell them about Jesus?
• Found people, find people. As a matter of fact, if you are found, it's because some other found person found you. That's a lot of found!
• If you are found and have no interest in finding lost people, something is wrong. Either you aren't really found, or you have let other things take precedence. Either way, it's not good.

As we wrapped the service up with worship, I walked away thinking the lyrics from the song Hosanna sums it all up, "Break my heart for what breaks yours." 

So the question we are all left with is, does my heart break for the same things that break God's heart?  If the asnwer is no, I need to deal with my heart. If the answer is yes, then my actions better line up with my words. How would you answer that question? What do you need to do about it?

Classes

Classes at PLC are one of the ways that we can help equip you to grow closer to God while discussing a specific topic for a short period of time. This semester we are offering Financial Peace University, Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage, and Starting Point at the Cedar Falls campus, as well as Urban Compassion at our Waterloo campus.

Financial Peace University (FPU) has consistently been one of the most popular classes we offer. More than 150 PLC families have attended FPU with amazing results. On average, these families paid off $5,300 in debt and saved $2,700 in just the first 90 days! Sign up and get on the way to the freedom that comes from handling your money well.

Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage takes a humorous and Biblical look at many different aspects of your marriage. It's like having a date night four weeks in a row, except you have to work on your marriage and talk a little, not just watch a movie!

Starting Point is the perfect class if you have questions about God. This class will help you learn about the Bible, Christianity, and your place in the story God has been writing. It's a conversation, not a lecture, so come ready to discuss.

Urban Compassion is designed to help us take steps to crossing some of the racial and economic lines that divide us. You'll start with talking and discussion, and end by putting some of that into practice.

You can visit the Classes page on our website to get more info or sign up for a class. Remember, if money for a babysitter is keeping you from taking one of these classes (or signing up for a group), make sure to check out You Pick, We Pay. You find the babysitter, we'll reimburse you based on the time and number of kids that are being watched.

Next Steps

January is here, and that means a lot of ministries will be starting up again. Beginning next week, theRiver (college), The Grove (women), Café Mom (Mothers of Preschoolers), FX (children), theRock (middle school), and theRoad (high school) will all be up and running.

Also, this is the time of year when lots of other groups and classes will be continuing, restarting or launching for singles, couples, men and women. Now is the time to jump back in or sign up for the first time. All the information on our classes is on our website. You can search for and sign up for a small group here. If you have questions feel free to contact me with the email link on the left hand side of the blog. 

Here are a couple other things happening this month:

• Campus Connection: Great opportunity to learn about who we are, what we do, and why we do it if you are newer to PLC. Come meet John Church and myself in the Family Room between services on Sunday, January 8. 
• Membership Class: If you would like to become a Member of Prairie Lakes Church, or want to learn more about what being a Member means, come to this class on Tuesday, January 17.
• Child Dedication: We don't baptize our babies around here, but we do dedicate them. If you want  to be part of the dedication on Saturday, January 28, sign up to come to the parent orientation meeting on Monday, January 23.
• Baptism: If you are ready to take this step in your walk, our next baptism is on Sunday, January 29 at UNI. 

Use the links above to check out your next step!

Necessary Endings and New Rhythms

It's that time of year again where everything is thinking about New Years Resolutions! This past weekend Pastor Chris talked about a different angle on that...the need to end things that need ending. If you missed it, check out the message here. Whether you caught the message or not, take a look at the sermon based curriculum and spend some time asking God what things you need to put an end to in order to make room for the things you need to start. 

Over the past couple weeks I have been reminded of Pastor John's message from last January on Rhythms. Now is a great time to pull that back out. Here's a link to some helpful tips and an assessment on how you are doing in your rhythms (Bible, Prayer, Relationships, Generosity, and Physical). After you spend some time asking God what you need to put an end to, ask God what rhythms you need to improve and then get going on it.

One caution though: let's not let the physical rhythm be the only one we focus on in 2012. The scale and the fit of my jeans makes it easy to assess the state of my physical rhythms, but it also makes it way too easy to overlook the state of some of my other rhythms. The conversations I've had with friends and the posts I've seen on Facebook confirm my suspicions that I'm not the only one who finds the physical rhythm easy to assess and to focus on. Let's take some time to ask God what other areas of our lives we need to get into a better rhythm on.