Southwood Lutheran Church

Wisdom and Finance

Listen to Pastor Greg's Message

Sermon Text: Luke 12:22–34

Enough* Series Introduction

Where are you financially? Are you in a looming financial crisis? Are bills piling up? Do you have major debt on credit cards? Do you feel like you are on a treadmill and something is going to break…either the treadmill or your wallet? OR, are you doing well? If so, what are you doing with what you have been given? Do you waste your money? Do you ever wonder “where it all went?”

In this sermon series we want to look at these issues that deal with our money.  Many of the issues of money aren’t about money itself.  Money is just a tool.  The issue of money is really an issue of what is in our heart…what we value…who we love.

Finding our purpose:

Many of us don’t have our purpose figured out so we buy into our culture’s definition which is: “To consume. To have more.” On the contrary, this is what the Bible teaches us about our purpose:

• We were created to love God and others
• We were created to care for our families
• We were created to glorify God through our actions
• We were created to build God’s kingdom and do God’s will
• We were created to seek justice and serve others in their need
• We were created to follow Jesus

Our money and possessions should align with our purpose!
A Biblical Plan for Wise Financial Management—10/10/80 

• 10% to God
• 10% for the future
• 80% to live on

Six financial planning principles (Enough p. 43)

1. Pay your tithe and offering first (give God his share off the top—not your leftovers)
2. Create a budget and track your expenses
3. Simplify your lifestyle (live below your means)
4. Establish an emergency fund
5. Pay off your credit cards and use cash/debit cards for purchases and use credit wisely
6. Practice long-term savings and investment habits

Prayer of Contentment

Lord, help me be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don’t need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.  AMEN

*This sermon series is based on the book Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity by Adam Hamilton

Blessed to be a Blessing

Listen to Pastor Sara's Message

Sermon Based on: Matthew 5:1-12

Would you call yourself a saint?

• Saint (hagios)
• • Greek: holy, sacred, dedicated to God
  • English: a person of great holiness or virtue
• Blessed (makairos)
• • Greek: being fortunate or happy because of circumstances
  • English: to consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy

Who does Paul call saints?

• 1 Corinthians 1:2 - To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.  (nrsv)
• Ephesians 1:1 -To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.  (niv)
• Philippians 1:1 - To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.  (nrsv)

The Beatitudes
(Matthew 5) describe the life of the Saint

• The first four bring comfort to those who are longing, hurting, or hoping
• The second five promise to bless those who actively seek mercy and peace

“The people who learn what it is like to receive the blessing, persons who travel the way of faith experiencing the ways of grace in all kinds of weather and over every kind of terrain, become good at blessing.”  —Eugene Peterson

Remembering the Saints:

• Who are the saints (living or dead) in your life?
• How do they bless you?
• How have they inspired you to bless others?
• How is your life different because of their lives?
• How are you a saint in the life of someone else?

Reformation and Repentance

Listen to Chip's Message online

Message based on: Psalm 46:1–11

Today is Reformation Sunday.
Reformation Sunday marks a very important historical event in the life of the Lutheran church, but it is also important to remember that reformation is always happening.

On October 31, 1517 a German Catholic Monk named Martin Luther challenged the teaching of the Catholic church with a document entitled “The 95 Theses.” After much study, prayer, and confession Luther wrote this and subsequent documents that called the church to turn back to God through Bible Study. Luther translated the entire Bible into German so that the average person could read and interpret it for themselves. Before Luther’s translation, the Bible was only available in Latin for the priests and educated professors to read and study. This began a reform of the Catholic Church that eventually led to a Protestant church and then many dominations of churches that all bear the name “Christian.”

But the Reformation continues today. We believe that the church is always under reform and that we are constantly called to a sound study of Scripture and a “turning back” to God for guidance in our lives and in the life of the church. The first of Luther’s 95 theses says: “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ willed that the whole life of believers should be one of repentance.” As Christians we must continually repent and return to God. The heart of the reformation is repentance.

Repentance is not the same as confession.
Confession is simply acknowledging sin, but repentance is turning from it towards God. Literally means to change mind or change direction.

2 Chronicles 7:14 - “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (niv)

Repentance is both a one-time event and an on-going process.

• God gives us a new heart and new nature upon our regeneration and we repent once for salvation.
• But we are also called to continually repent throughout our lives as we sin and struggle to follow Jesus.
• Revelation 2:4-5

Repentance is at the heart of the Gospel
Repenting well means that we experience the tension between our will and God’s, either through the Holy Spirit convicting us or reading Scripture or both, and we choose to turn toward God and not inward.

Repentance is proof that we are following Jesus.

For Further Study:

• Read and reflect on the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-31
• Meditate on Romans 2:4 and what is means following Romans 1. What does it mean?
• Ask God to reveal areas of your life where you need to repent. Where are you feeling tension between your will and God’s? What does repentance in that area look like for you?
• Log on to itunes and search for The Village Church Podcast—Sermon Audio and listen to the sermon “The Path (part 2): A Continuing Ethic”.

Serve From Your Heart

Listen to Pastor Sara's Message

Text based on: Mark 10:35–45

Anyone can be great because anyone can serve.
—Martin Luther King Jr.

Biblical Context:  Jesus leads a group of fearful followers, including his twelve disciples, to Jerusalem.  For the third time Jesus tells them what to expect:  He will be mocked, spit on, beaten, and killed; three days later he will rise.  Mark 10:35-45 is the disciple’s response.

What does the disciples’ response tell us?

• The truth about the world:  We are told to do better, reach farther, get to the top—we want to be the best and we would prefer not to suffer to get there.
• The greater truth about the Gospel:  Having been saved by Jesus, we are freed from the tyranny of striving to do whatever it takes to get to the top.  Our request then changes: “Ask not what Jesus can do for you, ask what you can do for Jesus.”

How Do we Become Better Servants?
One way is by making sure that the motivation for our service is love. Eighteenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Secker said, “God has three sorts of servants in the world: some are slaves, and serve Him from fear; others are hirelings, and serve for wages; and the last are sons [and daughters], who serve because they love.”

Questions for Reflection
Have you come to a place where you can put your name in this verse?  “_______________ is not here to be served, but to serve.”

If you cannot confidently put your name in that verse, consider asking yourself the following questions and then praying through these scripture passages:

• Do I believe God has called me to focus on serving others?  (Mark 10:43-44; John 13:1-17)
• Do I believe he has equipped me for service? (Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 12)
• Do I have a vision for what it would look like to live beyond myself?  (Acts 2:42-47; Romans 15:1-13; Philippians 2:5-11)

Living Beyond Yourself: Following Jesus

Listen to Pastor Greg's Message

Matthew 16:21-25

To follow Jesus you must…

• “Give up your selfish ambition” (self-centeredness)
• “Take up your cross” (Accept God’s plan for your life)
• “And follow me” (live like Jesus—“the way, the truth and the life”)

Being a Follower of Christ is the greatest adventure of all time.
In the market place, it is reputation and money.  In Christ’s work, when you are doing God’s program, there is a distinct possibility that something super natural is going to happen.  God is going to cross your path and do something and you will miss it if you are not connected to God.

Being a Follower of Christ changes the goal of life.
Instead of safety, Jesus calls us not to play it safe but to change the world—to build his kingdom.  Instead of playing defense, we are accepting Jesus’ invitation to play offense and score some points for God in this world.  His kingdom will advance and not even the gates of hell will have power over it.

Being a Follower of Christ changes our mindset.
Many present the gospel as a way to avoid hell.  When that is done, people just kind of hang out until heaven.  However, Jesus teaches us that when we know our salvation through his cross, we can then be a part of his redemptive actions in the world. 
We like to talk about being saved from something…Jesus challenges us to think about it in this way…what are we saved for? We are saved to build the “kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.”

Living Beyond Yourself: Be Transformed

Listen to Pastor Greg's Message

Based on text: Romans 12:1-2

“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” Romans 12:1

• Living sacrifice…Submitting ourselves to God’s will, not our own desires.
• Holy and pleasing…Aligning our thoughts and behaviors with God.

“Do not be conformed to this world” Romans 12:2

• Conform…The word conform (syschematizo in the Greek) means to “conform oneself (mind and character) to another’s pattern. 

“Be transformed by the renewing of your minds” Romans 12:2

•  Transform… (metamorphoo in the Greek) literally means to change into another form…to transfigure, to undergo a complete change. 
•  Renewing of your mind…The word renew (anakainosis in the Greek) means: to have a total renovation.
• Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things that are true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Philippians 4:8 

Summing it Up:

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, and develops well-formed maturity in you.  Romans 12:1-2 MSG

Fixing Our Head Problems:

• Fill your minds with the Word of God.
• Put on positive qualities and attitudes.
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide, counsel and help you change.

Beyond One Sunday

We celebrated Global Mission Sunday this past week.  But Global Mission goes far beyond one Sunday and three worship services per year.  Already in the four days that have passed between Global Mission Sunday and today, great things have been happening to change lives in God's kingdom!

• Pastor Moshi, the Pastor In Charge at Uswaa in Tanzania received the prayer requests from Southwood's people and was eager to have his congregation begin praying for Southwood. He said:

To us here at Uswaa are fine. I received the list of prayer requests. Thanks so much for share with us the prayers we will do on our side.  As Christians we have an opportunity to go before him and cry for help. Thanks so much. WE WILL PRAY.

• Michelle is writing on her blog this week about how she's praying for her AIDs orphans, Neema and Kantate in a new way.  Check out Southwood's Global Missions page to learn more about taking a Global Missions trip or sponsoring an AIDs orphan.  From that link you can also watch the Global Mission's video we showed in church this past Sunday.
• This week we are sending money to Uroki Secondary School in Tanzania so that Uswaa students can participate in a 90 day intensive course in English to prepare them for acceptance exams to Secondary School.
• On Saturday 60 people from Southwood will work at Kids Against Hunger for our Southwood Serves day.  They will work for two hours and package over 10,000 meals that will be shipped around the world.

If you'd like to dig deeper into how you might get involved in Community and Global missions check out the book The Hole In Our Gospel, by Richard Sterns.  This is an incredible book that both gives a picture of the reality of need in the world and gives us real ways that we as individuals and churches can be involved in spreading hope.

Mission Sunday

Listen to Pastor Greg's Message

Text based on: Matthew 25:31-46 (NLT)

“I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” Matthew 25:40 (NLT)

Matthew 25 contains 3 parables about Jesus’ second coming. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus is making a connection between the final judgment and whether or not we have served to meet the needs of the “least of these” in our midst. Jesus says that when we serve the “least of these,” we are serving him! He even goes as far to say that if we ignore the “least of these” amongst us, our hearts are not with him and our salvation is in question.

Some Facts about Poverty

• 40% of the world’s population make less than $2 a day (2.6 billion people).
• 15% of the world’s population make less than $1 a day (1 billion people).
• 4.5% of the world’s population make $105 a day (0.3 billion people).
• The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for just 5 percent of global income.  The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of the world’s income.
• The top 20% of the world’s population consumes 86% of the world’s goods.
• Some 350-400 million children are hungry.
• About 1 in 7 worldwide (854 million people) do not have enough food to sustain them.
• Approximately 25,000 people die each day of hunger or its related causes, about 9 million people per year.

Serving the Least of these has had an impact!

• Life expectancy in developing nations increased from 46 years in 1960 to 66.1 in 2005.
• Preventable child deaths have fallen 50% since 1960.
• The percentage of people with access to clean water in developing countries went from 35% in 1975 to 80% in 2007.
• Polio has been almost eradicated from the globe.
• Adult literacy has risen from 43 to 77 percent since 1970.

Next Steps

• Pray for the “least of these” in our midst.
• Get involved: Give your time and money to community and global missions work.
• Change your lifestyle; live more simply and generously so others may have basic needs met.

How is Your Marriage?

• Headed for destruction?
• Trying to survive?
• Okay but living like singles?
• Partner is a joy?

Listen Pastor Michael's Message

Text based on: Ephesians 5:21-33

How does marriage break down?
Psychologist Dr. Howard Markman at University of Denver and Dr. Clifford Notarius of Catholic University of America say love and commitment are not enough. Handling conflict is the single most important predictor. A sure way to collapse a marriage are:

• One partner (often the male) withdraws from a conflict.
• Can a conflict be kept from escalating? Will it stop before it gets ugly?
• Does the partner hurl insults? (One verbal jab counteracts 20 positive acts of kindness.)

What can you do about handling conflict?

• Arrange uninterrupted time.
• Use a special stick or object. Only the holder gets to speak and make a point.
• When the point is made the stick goes to the partner. They must say only what they heard.
• Pass the stick back to the original speaker to determine if they feel heard.
• If not, retry telling the point. If so, pass the stick to the partner for their turn to make a point.
• After their point is made they pass the stick to first check to see if they were heard.
• The process continues until both feel heard and a resolution is found.

Edward A. Dreyfus, Ph.D, Clinical Psychologist suggests using this Native American device, the truth stick.

Going further?

• At least one weekly meeting scheduled for the couple to focus on their relationship.
• Maintain and keep a date night as your first priority.
• Want to learn and practice better communication skills? Sign up for Southwood’s Lutheran Marriage Encounter on February 12–14 2010. Contact Dayle & Terri Mautz at 402-540-8508 or dtmautz@yahoo.com

I Forgive You

My sister caught her son, my 3 year old nephew, having a "pretend" conversation with me on his toy phone the other night.  She overheard him telling me to "shut-up."  I'm glad it was a pretend conversation, because I don't know what I would have done to warrant that kind of response.  After this, he and my sister had a very real conversation about this unfortunate word choice and soon he was making a second pretend call to Aunt Sara to say "I'm sorry." 

Certainly, if I had been there I would have followed with an "I forgive you."  But I'm sure that in the land of make-believe he heard those important words, and I"m sure in that moment they were very real to him.

Its been an interesting week of "I'm sorry's" in the National news.  A congressman, a tennis player, and a hip-hop artist are all making pleas to the public for forgiveness.  I saw Serena Williams' insulting behavior happening live.  I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing.  I thought to myself: She's a role model, she has no business acting like that.

My brother sent me this article today from The New York Times, "Teaching Children to Apologize" - he and his wife are raising a three year old as well - so I'm sure in the search for practical advice, the title of this one caught his eyes.  I especially love the last paragraph:

In other words, you can clean up spilled milk — not by crying over it, but by sincerely wanting to do something about it. The lessons of apology are really lessons about empathy — truly understanding that your words and actions have the power to insult and wound. It is a vital lesson, and I suppose we should be grateful to all the boorish politicians, potty-mouthed tennis players and inappropriate musicians for providing an opportunity to teach.

It all comes back to compassion.  It seems to be an American trait to want to point the blame at someone else.  But if we do that, an "I'm sorry" or an "I forgive you" is never even possible.  As adults, one of the best things we can do for children is to admit we are wrong sometimes and ask for forgiveness.  This shows far more compassion and grace than proving we were right in the first place ever could.

Here are some wise words about using words wisely from Proverbs 15:

• 1 A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.
  
• 4 Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim.
  
• 8 God can't stand pious poses, but he delights in genuine prayers.
  
• 12 Know-it-alls don't like being told what to do; they avoid the company of wise men and women. 18 Hot tempers start fights; a calm, cool spirit keeps the peace.
  
• 23 Congenial conversation—what a pleasure! The right word at the right time—beautiful!
  
• 25 God smashes the pretensions of the arrogant; he stands with those who have no standing.

What conversations are you having with your kids about mistakes?  Forgiveness?  or saying "I'm sorry"?

Pastor Sara