Hope At 7 - June 24 - Rememberance

Hope At 7

Good evening everyone!

Hope you’ve had a great day! It was a beautiful rainy day out in the Shuswap. Wednesdays are generally our meeting day. A day of connecting with other pastors at SCC, in fact it was my last Elders meeting with the crew here at SCC. During my time here I’ve found it to be a real blessing having a collective of Pastors to work with. I’ve grown to really enjoy their insight and the love they have for the people that we minister to. Bob and I also spent a chunk of the day getting ready and thinking through the upcoming Sicamous Parade on Canada Day. Be looking out for more information on that in the coming days Sicamous.

Well tonight Bob is off. He’s at a council meeting and I’m with you. Its tough following off the coat tails of Pastor Paul Park who spoke last night. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to his talk on Hope At 7 from last night I would encourage you to go back and hear it.

Tonight I wanted to share with you some of the things that I’ve learned here and my most memorable moments from the last 2 years of being here in Sicamous and working at the church. Just what I think God has taught me and what I think I’ll be taking with me as we leave here for Bermuda in just about a week. I believe that God uses opportunities and moments in each of our lives to teach us, to mold us, to conform us as we go throughout our lives. And if we are a follower of Jesus the prayer is that we are being changed into being more and more like Jesus.

And in my time here in Sicamous I’ve learned a ton. Bob has been the best Pastor that I could have ever learned from and be encouraged by. And the first 2 things that I’ve learned from him I think will be crucial for anyone who believes in Jesus.

Bible and Prayer

The first is to be continually reading your bible and praying. Spending time with Jesus needs to be a regular rhythm in each of our lives. I’ve been encouraged daily by Bob in that regularly one of the first things that he mentions to me when I meet up with him in the morning was him mentioning his time in God’s word that morning. Not only that but he’d talk about his time praying for various people and situations that they are facing. How he spent time that morning bringing all of that before God asking for him to intervene and step into those situations and into those peoples stories.

I think that the reason why this stands out as so important to me is that if we truly believe that God is who he says he is and that Jesus died and rose again for us, for our sins, then we should desire to dive into his word and to get to know him more and more. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us, “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

And the cool thing is that I’ve been able to see this modelled on a regular basis by Bob. And also by many people in our church. As we’ve engaged in conversations over the last few years its been evident that God is at work in your hearts and that you get it … that the bible is life changing and will guide us in our ups and downs and lead us toward the best thing ever, which is God and his son Jesus.

People

The second thing is the importance of people. Of loving people, of sharing the good news to people, of being non-judgemental. This is another thing that I’ve learned from Bob. Now anyone who knows Bob knows that he is a people person. As I’ve grown to know Bob more I’ve seen and appreciated that this heart for people is huge. This desire to see people realize their need for Jesus and to move away from living a life without Jesus is incredible. It is in fact a deeply held love for people. Which again has been amazing to witness and to learn about.

What this really boils down too is what is described in the bible as the greatest commandment. We find it in Mark 12:29-31. Here Jesus was being pressed by the teachers of religious law to tell them which is the greatest commandment. What is the most important thing we are told to do by God. Jesus’ response was what I’ve seen modelled, he says, “29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’* 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’* No other commandment is greater than these.”

This deep love for people that I’ve noticed is driven through and is caused by a deep love for God. When we deeply love God, our love for people will simply be something that we naturally do. And through that we will see ourselves do things and say things to others that may cause them to think more about Jesus and their need for him.

And this desire for people has been made more aware to me during my time here.

Failure is ok. It might just be perceived failure.

Another thing that I’ve learned here is that failure is ok. And the fact that it is ok for us to try new things. Many of us are afraid of failing. Maybe we’ve been taught that failing is not ok. That you aren’t going to succeed if you fail.

What I’ve learned is that failure is ok. And in fact failure can be necessary for success. Let me explain that a bit with a little story.

During this last year I was tasked with being the Interim Youth Director at the Salmon Arm campus of SCC. And one of the ministries that I was responsible for was the Jr Youth Ministry. My very first youth night last September I organized this game with the youth called Coke and Candle. The object of that game is that the kids face off and they need to keep their candle lit while being the first to finish their coke. So it is this balance of drinking their coke and blowing out their opponents candle.

In my getting ready I grabbed a 750ml bottle of coke. Now for a kid in grade 5 that is a lot of coke to try to consume in a matter of minutes. I’m sure you can guess how the first round of this game ended. Yup with puke all over the church floor. And I’m feeling awful that I’ve set up this game where this kid loses his dinner in front of over 70 youth.

So in my mind failure. Like first day and I’ve botched this already. Puke on the floor and a kid who might be embarrassed. Well I come to find out that this kid is also in my small group. So as we were wrapping up the night I quickly had a chat with this kid and you know what in his mind it was the greatest thing ever. Not only that but he loved the night. And from the time we started the year until I took a step away after the church hired their Youth Pastor he was one of the most faithful kids in the small group and absolutely loved youth. And to top it all off this kid got baptized earlier this year.

In all of this I’ve learned that new things are good, even if they are a failure to you. And that is the thing they might be a failure in your mind. Like if you feel like you need to bring up the topic of Jesus to a friend and they don’t respond in a favourable way like you had maybe hoped. We don’t know exactly what is taking place in their mind and how they are actually responding to what you are saying to them. I think our job is to just do what we feel like where to do and let God take over. And I really believe we will see God do some incredible things through those moments.

And in that I think we just try new things that might scare us and intimidate us. Yes it might be a failure. But failure allows us to learn and grow. And we may not see the result during our time on earth. We just got to trust and be available. I love what the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 about weaknesses and failure, “9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Its the understanding that even in our weakest moments we remember God’s grace and mercy and that is sufficient for all of our needs. Cause when we do that we find strength in our weaknesses. Because when we are weak that draws us to rely on God. To rely on his strength.

Being available

The last thing that I’ve learned that I want to share tonight. There’s much more that I’ve learned but this is where I’ll cap it for tonight.

I’ve learned to be available. You’d be surprised to see how God shows up. What he reveals to you and how he speaks to you when you are simply available.

And this being available might just take us our of our comfort zones and put us in a place where we are vulnerable but it will also put us in a place where God can use us in some pretty cool ways.

Last summer I got the chance to spend a week at a Wilderness Camp with Sunnybrae. I can’t remember if I’ve shared this at Hope At 7 before but I’m a city boy at heart. I like controlled time in the wilderness. Like I enjoy going on a walk and then being able to get back in my car and retreating back into an air conditioned or heated place. When Bethany and I think about going on vacation I’m voting for a big city to explore.

So going out in the wilderness isn’t entirely my thing. But I went and you know what I had a blast. There were times where I would have done anything for the comfort of a proper washroom and a shower but it was an amazing experience. During this week I was able to see a part of BC that not many get to see. We hiked up a mountain and was able to be up past the alpine layer and it was incredible.

Being that high up and viewing God’s creation is just amazing. Not only that but I was able to bear through it all with some pretty awesome students and was able to share with them some simple truths from God’s word and was able to encourage them to take time and look at God’s creation around us.

And it was an amazing week. Through it all we got to build a bridge with a student that is out in Chase who came back for teen camp a few weeks later and is still plugged into and apart of the Youth Group out in Chase. An awesome bridge that was built through this.

I’m reminded in this what Paul says in 1 Corinthians and is the message I want to leave you with tonight as we end. Paul says this in verses 19 to 23 about his approach to sharing the Good News of Jesus.

“19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law,* I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.

22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.”

This is an excellent reminder to jump into life with people. Meet them where they are at. Take interest in what they are doing. When you do that you’d be surprised the relationships that are built and where God takes those relationships. And how he might bring more of those around us to a saving knowledge of Him.

I’ve had such an blessed time here in Sicamous and have learned a great many things. God has shown up and I hope that you’ve been encouraged tonight with just a few things that have been shown to me over the last few years.

Let’s pray together.