LIVING HOPE CHURCH
  • Home
  • Welcome & Directions
  • Bulletin & More
    • bulletin
    • Greetings from Pastor Bill
    • Pastor's Newsletter
    • Newsletter
  • WHAT WE BELIEVE
    • History
  • CONNECT
    • Kids Ministries
    • Youth Ministries
    • Women's Ministries
    • Men's Ministries
    • Global Outreach
    • Bible Studies
    • Worship Music
    • Testimonies
  • Get To Know Us
  • give

October 30th, 2021

10/30/2021

1 Comment

 
 I ask what God wants me to do for the church.
As promised in last month’s article, I want to continue with the theme of discipleship. The key feature of the process of being a disciple of Jesus is that the disciple (you and me) is becoming like Jesus. And that process is not complete this side of heaven. Romans says we are being conformed to His image (Rom. 8:29). Colossians says that we are being made complete in Christ (Col. 1:28). Peter indicates that we are to be growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus (2Pet. 3:18). John, that when we see Him, we will be as He is, but we are not there yet (1Jn. 3:2). We are in the throes of an amazing process that is moving us toward Christlikeness. In Second Corinthians, Paul describes it this way,
 
But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:18 NAS20
 
How do we, as a church, make that happen? I have gone through some first-rate discipleship programs, but I have observed over the years that it’s not the quality of the program that determines success. What determines whether a person will mature, becoming more and more like Jesus in this growth process rests entirely with the person who wants to be a disciple of Jesus.
 
Remember last month I said that discipleship is risky business? Let me elaborate. To embark on that process of becoming like Jesus, I must let go of myself. I exchange my identity, my mind, my heart, my will for the person of Christ. Up to this point, I have been making my own decisions, now I submit all of them to the will of God. Somebody else is making the decisions for my life and that “somebody” is Jesus! What I risk is that Jesus might lead me to go places and do things that I don’t want to or that I don’t understand. But that is   precisely the risk of becoming a disciple. Jesus said it this way,
 
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26 NASB 2020)
 
Deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Jesus. This takes me out of the realm of being a spectator of God’s work to being a full-on participant. Or to slightly modify the words of John F. Kennedy, I do not ask what the church can do for me, I ask what God wants me to do for the church.
 
Now, the truth is that when I make that commitment, I gain so much more than I give up! But what we gain is the subject of another article. In fact, what we gain in this discipleship process is pretty much the subject of every sermon and Bible study we do here at the church. Suffice it to say, to become a follower (disciple) of Jesus, I have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
 
We need to have discipleship programs that are user friendly and transferrable. And we already do have a couple of them. What we’re looking for are people who want to be like Jesus and are willing to commit their lives to be His disciple no matter what the cost. Next month I want to look more closely at the work of the disciple-maker.
 
In Christ our living hope,
Pastor Bill


1 Comment

October 08th, 2021

10/8/2021

0 Comments

 
​Discipleship is risky business: deny yourself, take up your cross, lose your life to gain it, leave (hate, Lk. 14:26) father & mother etc. Yet this is precisely the mission given to the universal church, and to our church by the Lord Jesus! Discipleship begins with some “easy” stuff: open the door, believe in and receive Jesus, take the water of life without cost, saved by the grace gift of God not of works. But once a person is born-again, she/he will never be the same. So, yes, discipleship is risky business, but in this case the statement is true, no risk, no reward.
 
Ideal discipleship takes place in the context of a loving fellowship of Believers with learners committed to learning and teachers committed to teaching. For the learners, they need to be teachable and obedient. For the teachers, they also need to be teachable, have a servant’s heart, and remain obedient. And when learning-teaching is taking place, there will be fruit bearing, both character fruit (Gal. 5:22-23) and ministry fruit (Jn. 15:16).
 
Discipleship training happens in both structured and unstructured environments. The      structured environment includes accountability relationships between the teacher and learner. These accountability relationships seem to work best one-on-one or in a small group. The   unstructured environment involves less direct accountability among the people to each other, but more accountability between the individual and the Lord. These unstructured events     include our Sunday and Thursday worship services, the weekly Bible studies, and virtually every time “two or more” are gathered in Jesus’ name.
 
My appeal in this article is to get us thinking about discipleship and where each of us is in our discipleship process. Since our ultimate goal is to become like Jesus (1Jn. 3:2), then our     primary identity here and now is to be a growing disciple of Jesus. Some have stopped with the easy stuff and never taken the next step. Some have taken that next step of life         dedication but have become complacent in their walk with God and witness for Jesus. And some have truly embraced the call to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus.
 
Next month I want to “dive a little deeper” and “stay down a little longer” on this process of being and making disciples. For now, I urge you to make it your goal today to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus. Take that next step in this work of becoming complete in Christ. And may God bless you richly as you follow our risen Lord!
 
In Christ our living hope,
Pastor Bill

 
0 Comments

October 05th, 2021

10/5/2021

0 Comments

 




​
 
0 Comments

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018

    RSS Feed


LIVING HOPE CHURCH 

Sunday Morning Service on Youtube 
Fellowship, Coffee & Snacks 10:00 am
Worship Service 10:30 am / Children's Church during Sermon/
        Youth Group during Sermon

Tuesday Ladies' Bible Study (Zoom) - 6 pm - 7:15 pm - contact janis@livinghopeyv.org
Pastor's Wednesday Bible Study (Zoom)  - 6:30 pm-contact pastorbill@livinghopeyv.org
ON BREAK  UNTIL JANUARY 2023 Wednesday Kingdom Man Bible Study - 6-8pm in Brownell Hall/ contact jrodriguez92284@gmail.com
Thursday Night Worship - 6:30 pm in the Worship Center Auditorium - contact pastoreric@livinghopeyv.org

2nd Saturday Men's Bible Study & Breakfast 8 am in the gym
                         Women's Brunch 10 am
in Brownell Hall    

contact

Office Hours
Mon-Fri 10am - 2pm
6804 Mohawk Trail
Yucca Valley, CA 92284
760 228 - 1747
carol@livinghopeyv.org
russ@livinghopeyv.org


We invite you to
stay in touch with us!

Visit us on
Facebook, Instagram, & youtube

  • Home
  • Welcome & Directions
  • Bulletin & More
    • bulletin
    • Greetings from Pastor Bill
    • Pastor's Newsletter
    • Newsletter
  • WHAT WE BELIEVE
    • History
  • CONNECT
    • Kids Ministries
    • Youth Ministries
    • Women's Ministries
    • Men's Ministries
    • Global Outreach
    • Bible Studies
    • Worship Music
    • Testimonies
  • Get To Know Us
  • give