Tag: discipleship (Page 19 of 23)

Thankful?

November 25, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I’ll be honest, there was a point in this mess of 2020 that I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to find anything to be thankful for when Thanksgiving rolled around. I don’t have to remind you what all has happened this year. It’s been really close to awful at times. From illness to financial struggles, from relational issues to political divides this year seems to have brought everything all at once and thrown it at us!

But what happens when we flip the script on the year a bit? I mean think about it. I’m one of those people who believe that everything happens for a reason. Everything from not getting the closest parking spot to losing your job all happen for a reason. Having our normal routines totally thrown out of whack, while completely ridiculous and challenging, likely had a reason too. Our job as we approach Thanksgiving is to try to figure out what that reason might be.

I know that some of you are celebrating Thanksgiving away from family and it really doesn’t feel much like the holiday that you’re used to. But what can you do to keep that spirit of the season alive? Here are a few ideas that you can try to keep that thankful heart beating.

Send personal letters to loved ones instead of those preprinted cards.
Take more pictures of the times you do get to spend with friends and family.
Use social media to be social instead of bashing those who think different.
Use FaceTime to stay in touch with people you can’t see this year.
Launch a Zoom Thanksgiving feast and showcase your favorite Thanksgiving food.
Do a Drive-by visit to family you can’t see this year.
Be intentional about saying thank you for just about everything.
Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone. Make a significant impact in someone’s life that will change their world.

Thanksgiving is about attitude and heart not about life circumstances. When our heart and our attitude are in the right place, even the most challenging of 2020’s dealings won’t derail us too far.

From my family to yours have a wonderful, happy and blessed Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for each and every one of you.

The Final Four

November 17, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

How To Stop Your Family Life Becoming A Battle Ground — NOT SO SMUG NOW

I’m pretty sure there are times in all of our lives when we get something so engrained into our minds that it’s hard to see it differently. Well this week I had a bit of an Aha moment. The lightbulb really went on for me when I was looking at some things I’ve seen a million times before. So why didn’t I get this one until now?

If you’ve ever heard of these things in the Bible called the 10 Commandments, then I would venture to guess that you’ve probably fallen into the same mindset when you think about them. But I’d like to stretch your mind a little, and help you see them from a little different angle.

Well, this week we were looking at the four remaining commandments in our series when it dawned on me. These all have a similar focus. Admittedly, their topics are not related at all but when you lay them side by side they really all deal with contentment.

Contentment is a tricky monster. It’s so easy to fall into the comparison game. But the danger of comparison is that we lose contentment. Take a few minutes and listen to this week’s message to where you fall on the contentment scale.

Are You Ready?

November 13, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

In our midweek assemblies at church, we’re digging through the messages found in the gospel account for that Sunday. So this week we took a deeper dive into Matthew 25. It’s the parable of the wise and foolish wedding attendants.

The story is about 10 bridesmaids who were all excited about the wedding that was to happen. In the frenzy of getting ready, half of them really showed how prepared they were while the other half showed a complete lack of understanding of how this whole night was going to go.

I explain in greater detail in the audio attached below but the gist is simple. Five of them had lamps with extra oil to help them navigate from the bride’s home to the groom’s home where the wedding party was to take place. The other five didn’t have enough oil, so they would not have made it all the way without some kind of trouble.

The five unprepared ones, the ones the Bible calls foolish, then tried to borrow oil from the wise ones. At face value it seems to be a reasonable request. But what they failed to understand is that when you take away from the one who has to give to the one doesn’t have then no one has enough. And essentially the system brings all into a deeper state of want. And it’s all because they weren’t prepared.

So the message Jesus teaches here is to be ready. Be ready for His return all the time. Not just some day off in the distance when he might come back, but today, now, in this moment. Are you ready?

But how do you get ready? For that one, you’ll have to give the following a listen.

Is This Significant?

November 11, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Pisces: misunderstood genius! | Neon signs, Neon words, Neon quotes

What a year 2020 has become! I don’t know if anyone could have predicted the dumpster fire that this year has turned out to be. It sure doesn’t seem like anything is as it should be right now. But is any of this significant?

Over the past few days I’ve been looking back on what all has occurred throughout this monumental and earth shifting year. One thing that seems to keep coming back over and over again in my mind is one of the restrictions that many of our cities and states have implemented. Heck even the CDC has said this.

If you remember back to April and May of this year perhaps you’ll recall that we were all told to limit our gatherings to no more than 10 people. I think the reasoning was to limit the potential for spread of Covid and to make it easier to track back who all you’ve been with recently. At least that’s what I have understood from it all, and I didn’t think twice about it.

But recently I’ve heard a few different references to the number 10 and how it applies to the church and it’s got me thinking…is this significant? Is there a misunderstood genius behind all of this?

Now I’m not going to go all numerology on you or anything like that but let’s look at the history of the number 10 and why it might be significant here. In the Bible and in ancient Jewish tradition, the people were to come together to establish a synagogue or gathering of worshippers in a localized place. Well, enter what might be the significant part…

You had to have a minimum of, yep you guessed it, 10 people to constitute a synagogue. So what in the world might this mean?

Some might say that this is some demonic force trying to prevent God’s people from gathering in a mass numbers. While this could be? I’m not really sure that I buy that one. I don’t buy it because we’re still able to meet, albeit virtually but we’re still able to gather in many informal settings and the word is still able to be preached. Could the Devil be up to something? Of course he is! When isn’t he? But I think there might be another, and potentially more transforming thing happening here.

The ten mandate is still the case for some people. Much of the country has excluded places of worship from this mandate, but it does still apply in various locations to this day. But the number limitation holds for gatherings of people for many other purposes too. Enter the conspiracy theory portion of this post – don’t worry this is a positive conspiracy theory if that’s such a thing?

What if God was in control all along? Yeah I know he is but stick with me here. What if God was taking this whole pandemic craziness thing and using it as a way to allow some of our churches to stay within the guidelines while still doing, being and even growing the church?

Think about it – you can’t come to the church either because it’s not allowed based on this rule or because you’re just not comfortable in groups that large. But are you able and willing to be in a smaller group with a more controlled atmosphere? Could you gather and form your own grouping of say 10 people?

Ten doesn’t seem like that many, but God even said that for the sake of 10 faithful he would have delivered all of Sodom and Gomorrah. Whoa there’s that number again!

Could God be up to something? Are you unable to get back in your in-person worship space due to restrictions or comfort level? Are you willing to be one of 10? I think this is massively significant and something we need to be taking full advantage of in this weird and wild ride we call 2020. Want to be a group of 10…hit me up and we’ll see how we can resource you.

Who would have thought that something as simple as the number 10 could actually help?

Ok friends those are today’s random ramblings.

Good vs. Evil

November 3, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

What a battle it is out there! Things seem to be getting crazy in our world and things are spiraling faster and faster out of control. We’re in the midst of some of the most challenging times in our lives. What’s going on in life right now is the most foundational battle ever known to man. It’s the battle of good against evil.

But hold on! This battle may not be exactly what you think. The battle of good vs evil isn’t about one man against another or one party against another. It’s truly the battle of ultimate good facing off against ultimate evil.

I recently heard author, Jon Gordon, speak about one of his books. He was talking about this battle of good and evil referring to it through the lenses of what he called the 5 D’s. These five D’s are foundational to understanding who the real enemy is in life.

Doubt

At the outset, most conflict is brought on because some level of doubt is brought into view. We doubt if we’re loved. We doubt if we’re good enough. We doubt if they have our best intentions at heart. We doubt if what we have is good enough. Doubt is looking at what we don’t have instead of seeing everything we do have.

Distortion

When we start to doubt that what we have is enough it begins to distort the truth. We begin to believe the lies that these doubts bring up in our mind. They act like fog, preventing us from seeing what’s right in front of us with any clarity at all. We’re so overcome by the doubt factor that truth is distorted. But it doesn’t end there.

Discouragement

Beyond distortion sits the enemy of discouragement. When doubt settles in and prevents us from seeing reality as it stands in front of us, then we easily get discouraged. When we can’t see the clear path ahead of us we get disheartened and discouraged. You see none of this has to do with the people around us or the events happening to us. It’s really about vision and how we see things.

Distraction

When discouragement takes root in our lives, we lose focus altogether. Our attention moves to other things that are mundane at best and destructive at worst. We tend to major in the minors so to speak as discouragement gives birth to distraction. As we continue to battle against the enemy of doubt, we quickly lose all footing and slide off course into an unhealthy spiral distracting us from what’s important.

Division

Finally, when we’ve run the course of doubt, distortion, discouragement and distraction the final step is division. The ultimate goal of any war is division. The enemy wants to break down the unified front we have to problems. We’re living in a world that has become so fragmented that unity has all but left.

You see the problem isn’t the people around us. The problem is doubt. The enemy has brought doubt into our lives over so many things. But your friend with a different viewpoint on life is not your enemy. The president for whom you did not vote is not the enemy. The party with which you’re not affiliated is not the enemy. The enemy is the darkness of doubt that spirals all of this out of control causing so much chaos and fear and division.

Stay strong my friends. Hold each other close. Value friendship. Cherish differences. Be civil in disagreement. Most of all speak truth and focus on the things you do have instead of the things you lack.

What Is The Truth?

October 29, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

There’s one thing I really have a hard time with and that’s hearing someone tell something that’s not true. I don’t care if it’s a big lie or a little white lie, a lie is a lie is a lie and that is just not cool. So for me the idea of truth is pretty important. I grew up as a child with the understanding that a half truth is still a half lie so tell all of the truth all of the time.

Truth in our world, however seems to be in short supply in general. Everyone seems to think they can come up with their own idea of truth. People seem to have a hard time dealing with the concept of absolute truth. But if you absolutely deny absolute truth, then you’ve made an absolute claim about something you believe to be absolutely true. You see there’s no such thing as a lack of absolute truth. The question is, what is the basis for absolute truth?

As we look at truth, it’s easy to think that truth is found in a word or a book or a concept. But throughout the Bible, we find that truth is not found in a book. It’s found in a relationship. Jesus is the truth. The relationship that we have with Jesus comes through worship, bible study, devotion time, prayer, fasting and any other of the spiritual disciplines. Find a way to come close to Christ and rest in the truth of the relationship that he has begun with you.

Church With No Walls

October 26, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

What would it look like if the church lost its walls? What would it look like if there was no boundary holding the church back? What woudl happen if one day God just knocked down our walls of fear and separation and released us into the world? Well…welcome to 2020!

The current reality of the church is that we have become a church with no walls! God took our love for building and comfort for meeting spaces and brought that to an abrupt end. I don’t need to remind anyone about all of the disruption to normal life this year has brought. But what if God is up to something?

When we were no longer able to go through our regular Sunday morning routines, we felt a little discombobulated. When being face to face with our church friends was no longer possible, we were thrown off and didn’t know what to do. When we no longer were allowed to be in our buildings or see our friends’ faces, we lost a little hope. But what if God was making us into a church with no walls?

The start of the church in Acts looked a lot like what we’re seeing right now. Well minus masks and distance and technology. But I hope you get the point. The church didn’t have buildings or meeting spaces. They didn’t have set times of day to meet. They were fluid. They were flexible. They were everywhere, because they had a realization that we’ve forgotten.

God built his church to be a church with no walls. How are you going to live as part of a church with no walls? What will that look like for your time of worship? How will your fellowship look different?

Don’t Skip This Step

October 21, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

person climbing concrete stairs — Photo by Clique Images on Unsplash

I’m going to admit that this post is very much directed at churches, pastors, and other leaders in church-topia. But if you’re not in one of those roles, I’d love for you to still read and hold those of us who are in these roles accountable. Because what we’re doing isn’t enough. I recently heard someone say we’re perfectly positioned to get what we’re currently getting. Or put another way we’ll keep getting what we’ve always gotten if we keep doing what we’ve always done.

So what needs to change?

As church people and church leaders we have big dreams for an Acts 2:47 kind of moment. That’s the moment when God added to their number daily those who were being saved. I mean who wouldn’t want that for the church they serve or even the church they attend!

I’ve been a pastor for over 18 years now and in every church I’ve ever served, we always wanted to reach more people so the kingdom of God would grow. We celebrated baptisms and new member classes. We would hold big welcome events when we brought in a new group of people to the church.

But when we weren’t seeing an increase in numbers we started to wonder what was wrong. What are we missing? Why isn’t God bringing them to us anymore? Why did attendance shrink? Why aren’t new people coming anymore?

This problem is only getting more vivid as we move through this post Covid reality. Churches are shrinking. Less than 75% of church members on average are returning to in person worship. Those who are staying home are saying it’s getting harder and harder to stay connected digitally because the digital time feels like the in person time just without the person connection.

And so many of our churches are pushing to go back to normal. It’s so easy to want to go back to regular in person worship. We want our coffee hour and our fellowship meals. We want to gather the way we used to between services and catch up on what’s going on in life. We want our Sundays back for crying out loud.

But we can’t have our Acts 2:47 moments without living in verse 46 first! Verse 46 is easily overlooked. We love verse 42 where we read how they devoted themselves to breaking of bread, fellowship, prayers and teaching. We expect God will add to our numbers daily in mass quantities. But what did they do with the fellowship, bread, prayers and teaching? Did they do it on Sundays? Did they keep it tucked away for an hour long expression of service and devotion one day a week? Here’s what Acts 2:47 says:

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

Do you see it? Day by day! They saw something that we have forgotten. Church is not an hour on Sunday. It’s not a building we go to on the weekend. It’s who we are. It’s the people with whom we surround ourselves.

Do you day by day with Jesus and those in your community of faith? Do you day by day in the promise of the temple? Do you day by day around the breaking of bread?

It’s really not as hard as we’ve made it out to be. There are so many ways to day by day! You don’t have to spend hours a day. You don’t have to be a bible scholar. You don’t have to host a small group or be at church 24/7! Two of my favorite ways to day by day are the S.O.A.P plan and the 5x5x5 plan. I’ll explain the 5x5x5 plan more in a future post but the gist is five minutes a day in the bible, do one of five simple tasks with the verses (highlight, memorize, etc), and do it five days a week.

These are just a couple ways that we can day by day with God and one another. I’ll unpack a few more options in the weeks to come. But for now start where you are and lean into God a little more today and soon you’ll be in a day by day situation too.

Respect Goes Both Ways

October 20, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

What a crazy world this has turned out to be! Nothing is as it seems. It’s for sure not how it used to be. From the pandemic to the swelling political climate and from the racial divide to the quest for normalcy we’re in a time when everyone is on high alert. And hardly anyone has the tolerance for anything other than their own opinion.

I don’t like to post things on social media. As a matter of fact I don’t do a whole lot on my social feeds at all anymore. The daily Bible verse, a few blog post pushes to my feeds, and the occasional picture of a fire in the fire pit is all you get from my social networks these days. And yes that’s intentional.

Just because we have something to say doesn’t mean it always has to be said. But what’s more is that when someone says something that’s different than your way of approaching life, it does not make them the enemy.

Respect goes both ways. Share on X

We’ve grown weary of the demands on our time throughout this unpredictable year. Introverts are handling the isolation better than extroverts, but they’re having their own set of issues. Just when we think that we’re handling one problem fairly well another one smacks us in the face out of nowhere.

The message below is an excerpt from Sunday’s service. We talked about honor and respect. We looked at what it means to value those with differences of opinion.

Take a few minutes. Put your emotions to the side. Listen to what it means to love your neighbor through a challenging time.

Flip the Curve

October 2, 2020 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Imagine for a moment one scenario with two potential outcomes. The scenario is simple you face a challenge. You get caught off guard. You’re thrown off track. Something comes out of no where and completely derails all of your plans. All of your momentum is halted. You come to what feels like a dead stop in an instant.

Sound familiar? I think we’ve all kind of lived this very scenario in our own ways. Graduations were canceled. Spring athletes never had their chance to perform their talents for family, friends and scouts. Summer activities were canceled. Businesses were closed. Churches stopped meeting in person. Family gatherings were stifled. Nearly everything we knew ground to a painful, screeching halt.

And if we’re being honest things aren’t really all that much better. The very thing that brought this calamity upon us is still with us. Fear is being handed out like it was candy to a group of children on halloween. The situation seems so bleak. Business are closing their doors. Churches are being split over how they handle the regulations. Families and friends are divided over where they stand on the issues facing our country.

When our situation is this dire there are two natural outcomes: crash and burn or pivot and soar. The rest of this post will address the issue as it pertains to churches but is really applicable to all scenarios.

In a recent article in Outreach Magazine, it’s been estimated that nearly 1 in 5 churches will likely close their doors within 18 months of the pandemic. This is awful to even think about. But how can we prevent this from being our reality in whatever field we find ourselves in?

If we keep doing the same things we’ve always done, we’ll get the same results we’ve grown to accept or even worse.

So to change the tide we need to pivot. The idea of pivoting in basketball is to keep one foot in place while moving the rest of your body in different directions to determine which way will benefit the team most.

Right now we’re in a situation that demands a pivot. The curve is trending downward. We’ve grown accustomed to being an organization that is all about Sunday morning. Gather together is the goal. Meeting is the mission. But what happens if we pivot our thinking?

The mission of the church never was to just gather and meet. Jesus said to make disciples. The mission of the church if we’re following the command of Jesus should be to go, baptize, teach. It’s all about growing the family of God.

If we don’t pivot our thinking we’re going to ride the plane right into the ground. But if we can keep one foot firmly rooted in the promises of God in scripture, then pivot our methods to see where He might be leading us we’ll be able to soar in ways we never thought imaginable.

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll look at a few things we can do to pivot our thinking and approach our current situation not as a series of challenges but as opportunities that God has placed before us to help us soar.

As we end this post consider where you’ve been and what direction you’re headed now. Then evaluate why your church or organization really exists. That information will be helpful as we move forward next week.

Tag: discipleship (Page 19 of 23)

Thankful?

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The Final Four

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Are You Ready?

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Is This Significant?

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