Rural Pastors Training
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Rockaway was booming place. As I said before senior class trips were in Rockaway, Honeymooners and vacationers came to Rockaway. Our town is currently a town of 841 people but there was a time that so many cars were in town and the way it is situated on the lake there is only one road in and one that goes out. A car caught on fire on main street and everyone had to sit and watch the car burn to the ground because so many cars where there that the fire trucks could not get to it.
How many have heard of Silver Dollar City? Silver Dollar City is an amusement park in Branson, MO. The owners of Silver Dollar City bought Dollywood before Dollywood ever was and then they partnered with Dolly Parton to create Dollywood.
1958 They completed Table Rock Dam. The water from the Dam comes off the bottom of Table Rock lake at 900 feet deep. This made Taneycomo to cold to swim in. The water in Lake Taneycomo is 63 degrees year round.
The resorts in town continued to survive in the early 60s because they built their own swimming pools. In 1965 there was a riot.
The riot consisted of a group of drunk college students. Rockaway Beach had one police officer and one jail cell. They had to load up 12-15 college students and take them to the County jail. This story got out to the news stations in Springfield and it went down as the riot of 1965.
The resorts did not want to be known for riots so they stopped booking college students and families did not want to come to a riot town. 1965 was when the downturn really started to speed up.
Fast forward to 2005. There was a statewide ballet vote to allow riverboat gambling in Rockaway Beach. Also in 2005, Bridge of Faith Community Church was planted in Rockaway Beach.
Imagine with me for a second. You have been fighting for this town for a long time and you are not a believer and God and the church is far from your mind. You own property in town and you are tired of fighting. The hope of an “economic engine” in a casino is coming to town. You begin to pour a lot of time, energy, finances and resources in to bringing this casino to your town. You believe this will be the savior for your property values and community.
At the same time a church is planted and you believe the rumors that the only reason a church was planted in town was to stop the casino.
The casino fails and the church is still there and now your neighbor. How would you feel about the church?
I am sure you can guess but the town was not happy that we were there. We have been accused of stealing all the property in town, being a cult and trying to take over. One lady told me at a city council meeting that we the church took all the fun out of the town.
My wife Amy and I found Bridge of Faith in 2006. I served under the planting pastor for one year and then was called to pastor July of 2007 at 24 years old.
I was one year out of College from College of the Ozarks and had a degree in Philosophy and Religion. The Lord laid on our hearts
5 And whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me.
We at Bridge of Faith believe that if you welcome children in the name of Jesus that we welcome Christ himself into our church.
Every Wednesday night we go within a 5 mile radius of our church and pick kids up. The kids get a hot meal and then Bible study.
We believe that through Jesus we can transform generations that transform communities.
Last Wednesday night, we ran two vans and two 72 passenger buses and brought in over 80 kids under the age of 18.
We fed 200 people a hot meal last Wednesday night and then taught Bible study. Out of the 200 about 120 were under the age of 18.
So why do we do all this?
Economics: The science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities
Commodities: a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee
Message #1 Worship
1 Kings 18
It has often been said that nonprofits thrive when the economy and government fails.
There is no doubt that these two are true for us where we live. We have experienced this first hand here in Rockaway Beach.
The economy (or the production, distribution, and consumption of raw material or product) has failed in Rockaway Beach. We have very little production, distribution and consumption in our community.
We can view this as failure and feel sorry for ourselves, do nothing, or see it as an opportunity.
We at Bridge of Faith view this failure as an opportunity to institute a new way of economics that leads people to Jesus.
I believe God has called Bridge of Faith for such a time as this, so as we strive to implement a new kind of economics we must look to the Word of God for what Biblical economics looks like. What does the Bible have to say about the science that deals with the productions, distribution, and consumption of raw material or product?
You may ask the question what does any of this have to do with the Gospel?
I’m glad you asked… I believe we serve a God that wants to redeem and restore all things to himself. Including the Economy of Rockaway Beach
In 1 Kings 18...
You have Elijah and the Prophets of Baal
Baal
Was said to appoint the season of rains
Clouds were thought to be his entourage
Lightening was his weapon and thought to be his invention
The windows of Baal’s palace were thought to correspond with the clouds in which the rain would pour through. When the clouds would open up it was as if the Baal’s palace windows were opening to bring rain
Asherah
She who treads on the Sea
She is the partner of Baal
Scripture tells us there was a famine. The production, distribution, and consumption of products had dried up. There was nothing to produce, distribute or consume. The lack of rain was affecting the economics and everyone was facing the consequences from it.
Worship is key when it comes to Biblical economics. Israel worshipped Baal because they thought it Baal could make the crops grow and keep the cows from getting sick. God used Elijah to dry up the economics in this chapter to show that it was God who has authority over water and it is God who makes the crops grow and provide for the birds of the air.
33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.”
34 Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time.
35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.
36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things.
37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back.”
38 Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!”
In Rockaway the people had placed their hope in illegal drug activity and a casino.
When I first started here, I heard a quote that if your church was to ever leave your community would they know that you were gone. We set out at Bridge of Faith to ensure that if we were to leave this community that they would beg us to come back.
Our economic activity must be anchored in a commitment to worship and trust God alone.
It is God who provides, it is God who gives, It is God who sustains we must trust him and strive to place a Biblical economic system in place and the first step is to worship God not Baal to provide.
Message #2 Work and Good Jobs
Psalm 19 says that God reveals Himself to the world by His work. Thus, work reveals something about the one doing the work. It exposes underlying character, motivations, skills, abilities, and personality traits. Jesus echoed this principle in.
I will never forget our first set of interns here at Bridge of Faith. We would tell these local kids to clean the bathroom and they would say huh...
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.
In 1 Corinthians 10:31 we read that whatever we do should be to His glory. The term glorify means “to give an accurate representation.” Therefore, work done by Christians should give the world an accurate picture of God in righteousness, faithfulness, and excellence.
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.
Work it or cultivate it means to improve it or foster growth. A piece of our work should be to always improve it or foster growth. We should be constantly striving to improve or foster our work no matter what we do.
To watch over or maintain means to preserve from failure or keep from decline.
Jobs should be acknowledged as ministries, and workplaces should be considered as mission fields.
Gleaning Laws
9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10 You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident; I am Yahweh your God.
This law instructed the Israelite small business owners to take less profits and to create jobs for the poor.
Let’s talk about two things here.
1. Land owner
a. He could take all of his profits and glean the very edge of the field to the point that nothing is left. This law requires the land owner to leave a portion of his profit in order to create a job for the poor. The key is that a portion of the profit is used to create “jobs” for the poor and not just a free hand out
2. The Poor
a. Must come and collect the edges for themselves. The law does not say to glean the edges and give a portion to the poor but this creates a job for the poor. The poor must go out and glean the edge of the field. The land owner takes less benefit from the company in order to provide for the poor.
What is our response as the church?
If we are to use this principle when it comes to assisting those in needs, then the church must think of ways to create jobs for those in need. The church’s sacrificial efforts for the poor should consistently revolve around creating opportunities for work.
The downward spin of one way giving or free handouts…
Giving devolves from gratitude to expectation to entitlement. Lupton, Robert D. (2011-10-11). Toxic Charity: How the Church Hurts Those They Help and How to Reverse It (p. 34). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Work is the normal and appropriate way for people to provide for themselves
Wages for working
14 “Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or one of the foreigners residing within a town in your land.
15 You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.
Prophets declare judgment on those who oppress through poor wages
5 “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts.
13 Woe for the one who builds his palace through unrighteousness, his upper rooms through injustice, who makes his fellow man serve without pay and will not give him his wages,
4 Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
5 You have lived luxuriously on the land and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.
Conclusion:
· Work is good
· In Kingdom Economics we are not to glean the edges of the field but produce work for the poor among us
· Church assistance should revolve around creating work for those in need
· Work is the normal and appropriate way for people to provide for themselves
· Wages for work should provide for the workers basic needs
We have seen lives transformed through work. We have seen mental illness improve because of work, we have seen health improve because of work.
Message #3 Creation Care
If God has called us to work, then what are we to work?
13 I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say: Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!
The Bible calls creation itself to respond in worship, and both Isaiah and Revelation reveal that the entire goal of creation is a resurrected creation in which all creation worships and glorifies the Creator. And indeed, the creation groans in its present suffering as it waits for this final resurrection, a resurrection which is bound up with the resurrection of the children of God.
We are not to abuse Gods resources. We must take a sabbath rest.
It is his land and it is his produce
Happiness is found in contentment
Caring for other creatures
God's Glory revealed in nature
Christians must ground their economic activity in a commitment to honor the land and other living creatures as gifts to be cared for and stewarded, recognizing creation’s fundamental role in glorifying God in the new heavens and new earth, and embracing economic practices that avoid harming creation and pursue the flourishing of creation.
We have a major problem in our community and its the lake. The lake needs to be dredged out and understanding our role in creation care makes us want a seat at the table. I have also been praying that the fishing in our community grows abundantly. I pray people will catch record fish and that God is glorified through this.
Message #4 Community
21 “So the slave came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’
This is a subject I wrestle with more than any others. I desire a community that looks and acts Biblically, but what we often find is community that looks and acts like us. We like to associate with people who are like us.
Isaiah 61:1 instructs us
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;
In God’s economy, Christians must focus our economic activity on a commitment to honor relationships with all God’s people, and to seek the flourishing of all God’s people as a priority greater than individual financial success or accumulation.
We must care about others around us in God’s economics. This care is often complex and takes more time than simply giving things to people in need.
(You can shoot plates when you get home)
We must strive to eliminate class distinctions in the economy of God. May our churches be as diverse as the scriptures we read. In our community, kids and adults are daily faced with the lack of resources. May we at the very least put some effort in to making the church reflect the Kingdom.
Message #5 Equality
Leviticus 25
Theologically
· The Land is the Lord's
· We are stewards of the Land
· He set me free
Socially
· God desires to break the bondage of generational sin and poverty. This is a reset to help with breaking this cycle.
· It is not the desire of God that generations continue to experience the sin of previous generations. GOD DESIRES TO RESTORE! (preach/expound)
We seek to transform generations that transform communities.
Economically
· God wants to restore
· God cares about poverty and creates laws that bring us to a place that God desires. God restores opportunities for families to make a living and providing for themselves.
Tom Adams and Cheryl Lamb story
You are taking our land and not paying taxes on it
Cheryl Lamb story
Jim Harriger swearing in Monday night
Bethany story
Raven Story