Sunday’s Comin

Thank you On September 1st, Bill and Joann will be back from sabbatical. I have truly missed their presence here as I'm sure you have also.  This Sunday's sermon will be the last one I will give this summer. I hope that the Colossians series has encouraged and challenged you. Thank you for the love and support you have given to me and my family. We are so appreciative of you. It has been a blessing to serve you through preaching, and in many ways I feel more connected to you; I hope you feel the same. What's next? I am looking forward to focusing on my area of ministry here at Grace.  I have many projects on my "to do" list that I am looking forward to working on, such as: improving church communications, continuing to lead the staff team in a unified purpose, and leadership development through intentional discipleship.

This Sunday This Sunday we will look at Colossians 4:2-9. The topic is praying for an open door to share Christ. Paul's desire to get out of jail wasn't just so he would experience common, everyday freedom. It was so he might preach the gospel. A lot of times when I pray, I am praying that I will be released from a circumstance and the prayer pretty much stops there. Do you see the difference? We are to look for opportunities to share the Gospel and if there's a closed door, PRAY! Pray that God might open the door and that you would have an opportunity to boldly share Christ. Colossians 4:2-9 (New American Standard Bible): Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have alsobeen imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. As to all my affairs, Tychicus, ourbeloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he mayencourage your hearts; and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

I appologize for the delay in sending Wednesday Check-in out. Our servers were down. I appreciate your patience.- Thank you

I'm having one of those days! You know the kind of day which is filled with long meetings, intense and sometimes emotional discussions, and tons of paper work. And it doesn't help that Wednesdays are usually my long day anyway. Some Wednesdays I start my first meeting at 6:30 AM and end work between 9 or 10 PM.

I know you know about these kinds of work days. We all have them some time or another. I haven't found a scripture that states we are immune to rough days; they will come from time to time.

We may not have control over our days, but we do have control over our reactions to hard day.
Sunday we were reminded that God is concerned about how we treat others in the work place. Sometimes we are tempted to allow stressful days to cause us to treat co-workers harshly. Resist the temptation! God calls us to extend love, and compassion to others at all times.

As employees we need to be very careful that a stressful work environment doesn't cause us to have an "I don't care" attitude. We care! We care because we are working as unto God and not man. Employers be careful also; never allow your frustrations to cause you to treat those who work for you unjustly, remembering that God is boss over you.

The work place is a great mission field, whether employee or employer, let the light of Christ shine through you.

Will Dungee

Sunday's Comin': Grace at Work

God is not only concerned about how we are treated by others; He is also concerned about how we treat other people. The work place is a great mission field and how we work and respond to others is a powerful means of witnessing. So, in the work place, what kind of worker or boss are you?

In Colossians 3:22-4:1 Paul continues his teaching on relationships by calling our attention to the Boss - Worker relationship. These relationships have the ability to be filled with manipulation and deceit, but we have learned we are to live differently as believers. We live unto Christ, submitted to His principals.

So Paul challenges the Christian worker to give his best service and to do it as unto God and not the boss. And to the believer in authority, Paul reminds him to treat those under him with justice and fairness, remembering that God is in authority over him.

Join us this Sunday as we talk about Grace at Work.
Will Dungee

Wednesday Check-In

Below is an excerpt from John Piper’s Sermon, Fathers Who Give Hope, preached June 15, 1986.

1. "Lest They Become Discouraged"

Let's go to the text and begin with the last phrase of Colossians 3:21, "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged."

The goal of a good father is to rear children who are not discouraged. The word implies losing heart, being listless, spiritless, disinterested, moody, sullen, with a kind of blank resignation toward life. Don't be the kind of father who rears that kind of person. Instead develop a style of fatherhood that produces the opposite of discouragement.

The Opposite of Discouragement

Now what is that? I would sum it up in three characteristics.

1. The opposite of being discouraged is being hopeful.
2. The opposite of being discouraged is being happy.
3. The opposite of being discouraged is being confident and courageous.

So I would say that the negative form of verse 21 really implies a positive command as well. It says, "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged." But it means not only avoid one kind of fatherhood; it also means pursue another kind, namely, the kind of fatherhood which gives hope instead of discouragement; and gives happiness instead of discouragement; and gives confidence and courage.

Distinctly Christian Teaching

If we stopped right here, we would not have said anything distinctly Christian. There is not one parent in ten thousand who thinks that the aim of parenthood should be to discourage children. But the apostle Paul would be distressed if all I did were to use his words here simply to express some everyday common sense, or some natural wisdom. He was not inspired by the Holy Spirit to confirm the insights of Dr. Spock. He was inspired to teach parents things that no natural eye has seen and no natural ear has heard (1 Corinthians 2:9–13).

Here is what I mean. Paul's teaching makes it clear that when he says we should be fathers who give hope instead of discouragement, he means hope in GOD, not hope in money or hope in popularity or hope in education or hope in a spouse or hope in professional success. If you had asked Paul, or Jesus, "What kind of freedom from discouragement do you want our children to have?" he would not have said, "I want your children to be freed from discouragement by being filled with hope that they will become wealthy . . . or well-known, or intellectual, or married, or successful." We know that is not what he means. He means, be the kind of fathers who do not discourage your children but rather fill them with hope in God.

Happiness That Kills and Happiness in God

And when we consider happiness as the opposite of discouragement, Paul would not be content if a father simply made his child feel good by giving him whatever he wanted. There is a happiness that kills. To some kinds of happiness the Scripture says, "Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection" (James 4:9). There is a happiness that has nothing to do with God, and therefore has no value in the sight of God. It comes from the creation alone and not from the Creator. That isn't what Paul wants fathers to put in the place of discouragement.

But there is another joy that comes to expression, for example, in Psalm 4:7–8,

Thou hast put more joy in my heart

than they have when their grain and wine abound.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

for thou alone, O lord, makest me dwell in safety.

Fathers, don't discourage your children, but fill them with joy in God! Teach them early on—and show them earlier yet—that through many sufferings they must enter the kingdom (Acts 14:22), but that they can rejoice in sufferings, knowing that "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope"—IN GOD (Romans 5:3–4). Don't discourage them. Make them happy in God by helping them to hope in God.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Sunday's Comin': Family Matters part 2

Colossians 3:18-21
Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.
Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

This is a passage of scripture which has caused much controversy and arguments among Christians. This and other passages like it have become war zones in the battle of the sexes.

I believe that much of the discord surrounding Colossians 3:18-21 is motivated by how we view Paul's statements. I am concerned that we are focusing and demanding our family members to respond to us based on these scriptures to the point that we become blinded to our own disobedience.

Examples:

1. A husband who feels that his wife won't submit might withhold love and become harsh and abrasive towards her.

2. A child who feels that her parents are unreasonably strict might decide to disobey them.

3. A wife who is fed up with her husbands reckless and hurtful speech might decide to withhold respect for him.

The problem with these responses is that they are not the responses that God calls us to give. God simply says wives submit, husbands love, fathers don't provoke, and children obey.

But it is difficult to do those things when we are spending our time demanding other family members to live that way first.

I am not suggesting that we are not to hold others accountable. I am saying that regardless of how others live (even in the family), we are to submit to Christ's way.

Join us Sunday as we take the spot light off our family members and place it on ourselves...ouch and praise God :)

Will

Wednesday Check-in

On Sunday, I’d just finished preaching and was in the hall greeting people when a dear friend stopped me, looked me in the eyes, and said, “Will, I hate you.” I knew he that he was joking and that the message had convicted him. I simply smiled and said, “I hate me too”. After all, it had convicted me also.

So where do we go from here? How do we move from a self-centered purpose in the home to a Christ-centered one? Purposefully meditating… thinking about the word of God helps us to change our self-focus to one that looks to and exalts Christ.

I want to challenge you this week to read and purposefully think about Colossians 3:12-17 throughout each day. The word of God is powerful in bringing about transformation in our lives.

Colossians 3:12-17 (NASB95)
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Have a great week,

Will