Recently, I had the privelage and opportunity to address the members of Clarity Church in Minnesota. I am super grateful. And I want to share that video with you. I have included the transcript below it.
Intro: Good morning. I thank you for the privilege and honor of speaking today.
I have been up here a few times and I normally have a pattern I like to follow. I like spoilers, in this context, I like to give you a heads-up on what I will be talking about. I’ll do that quickly this morning.
We’ll start with a prayer, then I will summarize where we are so far with a little flair and commentary, and then continue to read the verses for today with a lot more commentary. From there I am going to do things a little differently from my regular process. While I am going to explain a specific pattern in scripture, I’m going to try to focus on being a storyteller as opposed to a lecturer. This is an experiment for me, so thank you for your patience this morning, and please do give me feedback afterward. Let’s jump in and hopefully, this turns out ok.
Pray: Father, you are a good father, a perfect father. You tell us you have great plans for each of us and remind us that you have our best interests in mind. Lord this morning, I pray that you use my small words and stories to put your love, grace, sovereignty, and greatness on display. I pray that through our time today, you use these words to move others to seek after you and follow where you lead. Bless our time together. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus – And god’s people said: Amen
Summary: Today we are reading from Matthew 3.
If you have a Bible or can reach one in the seat in front of you, let’s turn to Mathew 3. I will read from Holeman’s Christian Standard version, so your copy might be slightly different looking.
Scripture Reading: Read Matthew 3:1-12
Quick pause.
John, known as the Baptist, was fully “on mission”. John’s mission was to prepare the people for the arrival of the Messiah. He knew this arrival would be soon because the Messiah was his cousin. (Luke 1:5-24, 39-41)
Let’s continue.
Read Matthew 3:13-17
This is the section I want to focus on today. I hope that in this short discussion of the verses I can point out the primary pattern I want us to recognize when God is moving in our lives. Then I will follow up with a few stories from our life (Debbie and I) that hopefully can shed more light on this pattern.
Patterns: The first thing to observe, is that John was absolutely what I would call, “all in”. John had forsaken material possessions and was focused on traveling the country calling people out on their hypocritical religious practices. He was preaching, accepting confession of sins, and baptizing the masses in preparation for the start of Jesus’s ministry. Even with all his conviction and commitment, there is one thing for us to remember:
Even John questioned God’s plan. Additionally, this isn’t the only time this happened. You can read in Matthew 11 how John questioned the path of Jesus’s ministry. John sent disciples to question Jesus’s actions as he expected the Messiah to be a Conquering King, and Jesus had to correct him then too.
For comparison’s sake, let’s look at this in a cause-effect relationship. In the slide, I put “John’s Action”. So, we clearly need “God’s Response”.
So what was God’s response? Patient Correction… Generally, correction comes in a couple of flavors. One is a presentation of facts or truth that overrides one’s current behavior. Something like, “If you put your finger in a light socket, you will be electrocuted”. Jesus does this in the second instance of questioning where Jesus gently corrects John by means of pointing to prophetic actions as the compassionate Redeeming King as told in scripture. (Deamons cast out, dead raised, sick healed …) (Matt 11:1-6).
However, correction also comes in the form of “Gentle Coercion”. This is when we need to be convinced to try a better way or to do something at all, sometimes without explanation. This is what Jesus does when he tells John at the beginning of v 15, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
John’s Response? The end of v.15 says, “Then he allowed Him to be baptized.” That means John, in his still unconfident state, took a step in faith to baptize Jesus. He didn’t have all the answers, but he humbled himself to take in the wisdom Jesus spoke.
Not only does God respond to this step in faith, but he responds in a big way, right?
God’s response to this action was an unquestionable confirmation of His approval. The sky actually opens up and the Spirit of God descends from heaven unto Jesus. Additionally, a voice from heaven acknowledges Jesus as the Son of God.
I will say I have no memory of ever having this level of divine confirmation, but I have had clear confirmations in my own life.
I could give many more detailed accounts from scripture where this pattern is repeated. This includes Elijah after confronting the profits of Ba’al as he runs from the mad Queen. (1 Kings 18-19)
Or King David who MASSIVELY screws up in his adulterous and murderous relationship with Bathsheba. Yet God provides a way back to Himself through David’s repentance and submission to God. (2 Sam 11-12)
Instead, I want to share with you a story or two from our life together (that is Debbie and I), that may provide a more tangible example of this pattern.
STORY TIME:
As some of you may know, we hosted an exchange student in our home for multiple years. It might surprise you that this was not an easy decision for us.
Preston, our son, was attending a Christian school in Plymouth. The school had a surge of exchange student applications, but they didn’t have enough host families. As a returning family, we were contacted by the staff to consider hosting a student.
We saw this as an opportunity to serve, but this was not an easy decision for us. We already had a family staying with us. We prayed about it and discussed it with the other family members. But we weren’t quick to move in faith. After all, we were already “on mission”. Right?
Plus, could afford to welcome another person into our home?
I had been recently laid off and was starting a new consulting company. To help with tuition expenses, I was serving at the school performing occasional IT functions like network maintenance and server updates.
One day, while onsite, I was pulled aside by leadership at the school. We briefly talked about host families, and I was informed that student’s expenses were covered with a stipend from the exchange program. Can you say Gentle Coercion? This alleviated some of my worries, but we continued to pray about it. After some discussion with the guests staying with us, we all decided that it was time for our guests to prepare to move on.
From that point on, it all moved quickly. We accepted the request to serve, and the program sent over a counselor for a home inspection and to educate us on the process. A few weeks before our student arrived our guest family was able to move into a place of their own. We met the student and his parents. And got to know them the week they arrived.
Confirmation for us was a little on the nose. When we bought our house, it was a gift box of fluorescent Crayola colors on our walls. We painted the most offensive of colors. However, the room our student would possess was still a very electrifying florescent green. Debbie and I talked about the décor in the room. We made sure there were neutral colors on the furniture and curtains. But to help our student feel more at home and in control of his surroundings, we left the walls as they were. When we first met, we told him and his family that he could choose whatever color he wanted, and we would paint the room for him.
On the day he finally came to live with us, he walked into his room. We reiterated the offer and told him we could paint it that weekend. But he had a puzzled look on his face and told us he wanted to keep it the way it was. We thought he didn’t want to put us through any trouble. So, we again insisted that he could choose any color he wanted. His response was our confirmation. He said to us, “But I want to keep it like this. It’s the same as my room back home.”
… God always has a plan. Our indecisive decision not to paint the room when we bought the house and then our decision to let him choose the color, were all intricate details in God’s plan to show this young man the love of God.
Some of you know our student as Shuanghe, who goes by Bryan. And as a permanent member of our family, he will be coming “home” from college to spend Thanksgiving with us.
Application: As you might have already figured out, this pattern I’ve been talking about, as with John’s story and with our experience with Shuanghe, it didn’t start with us. God had already put His plans into action. He started by creating opportunities for us to come along for the ride and be part of His plan.
So, our response then, must be to:
- choose to see the opportunity and to take action.
John chose to see the opportunity and act on it. He dedicated his life to the plan of preparing the way for the Messiah and set forth without understanding all the details of the plan. Being all in and on fire for Jesus does not mean we are confident in the details of the plan. Sometimes it doesn’t even mean we are prepared for the action. We start where we can start. God will provide the rest as a response to taking steps in faith.
Just as John was open to correction by Jesus, we must be too. Sometimes that correction is inspiration drawn from books or scripture, but many times it comes from others who are on the same journey we are. They may have insight or ideas that stick with us and prompt us to make better decisions in our personal mission fields.
- Be open to God’s correction. Take steps in Faith / Put faith into action.
Both in John’s case and in our own, we recognized the opportunity but only saw challenges to our actions. It was through God’s correction and persuasion that we eventually moved into action. Remember, we must act.
James wrote “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-26) In James 2 he rebukes those who claim to have faith in Christ but don’t show it through their actions.
Additionally, in my experience, without action you don’t receive confirmation of a decision.
- Patiently await confirmation of God’s plans.
John the Baptist received immediate confirmation of his faithful action to baptize Jesus. The heavens opened up and the Voice of God affirmed Jesus as the Messiah. For us it was the expression of “welcome home” for our new family member. At that point, we knew God was in the details.
There is a final addendum to this pattern that we don’t always recognize. That is the Eventual Revelation of God’s plans. We see this in those home improvement shows all the time. They call it the “Great Reveal”. (move that truck!!!) The Eventual Revelation (not to be confused with the last book of the Bible…) is the chance to see the plan unfold; Not the whole thing, but we get a glimpse of how far in the future the Lord connects the dots. Or more accurately how far in the past God had been connecting the dots. Let me give you a more recent example.
My final story has a much longer history than we have time for today. This story began many decades ago, years before we ever considered coming to Minnesota. I’m actually cramming together multiple events and there are so many details we don’t have for so; I am going to give my best impression of Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride: “Let me sum up.”
I have a good friend, one of my closest friends on the planet. I have known him since I was in my late teens. He is one of the few people who have known me through every phase of my life and has witnessed my very messy, broken walk with Jesus. All of this is through the worldview of a non-believer. For a time, he and I were partners in a consulting company. While it was my company on paper, we ran it like a partnership. It was an arrangement born out of our friendship and our mutual love for technology. He was a mentor and 20 (or so) years my senior and had been in the trade long before I was.
Through his previous works, he owned a specific IP (intellectual property). It had potential but it wasn’t well-known or in demand. Our company was recognized as the gatekeeper for this IP. Because of this, I’d regularly receive solicitations by email and phone from companies that wanted to acquire it. Unfortunately, the offers were always insultingly low. So, I, as the goalkeeper always threw them directly into the trash.
It was around the end of the last major recession, after the real-estate bubble crash. I was losing everything in the market crash and I was about to start over. The only thing I still possessed was a struggling business. This is another story that I won’t get to tell today, but the result was my “prodigal” return to the family of God. During this time, my friend and I were struggling to make ends meet.
One day, I received an inquiry from a small non-profit organization wanting access to the IP. I honestly thought, “Non-profit, no real money here”. I wanted to throw this message away as I had hundreds of others. But for some reason, the spirit of God tugged on my heart to hear them out. So, I replied to them that I would pass on their information, and I did.
Through what my friend calls “coincidences” or the universe aligning, and I call answers to prayer, my friend ends up with a long-term lease for use of the IP. This provided just enough income to support his household so that he could semi-retire and focus more on family and taking care of his health.
That was the first confirmation. But we are not done.
A few years later, our small non-profit friends were acquired by a much larger company. Through many super-secret legal exchanges, the IP was outright purchased by the new company. While I can’t disclose details, I can say that my friend was able to easily, fully retire very comfortably. For us, that was another answer to prayers for Him and his family. I had been worried when we moved that, as they aged, they may not be taken care of well.
Like before the pattern is still here. Responding to a prompting from the Spirit led to confirmation through answers to big prayers.
But this is not the end of the tale.
My friend now with proper means to do so, takes his family on a “real” vacation. They travel and are gone from their home for multiple weeks. While away, a water line breaks and floods the entire house. Upon their return, the insurance company calls it a total loss. Again, blessings on blessings, they were able to buy a new home relatively quickly and have a new place to live.
You know Debbie and I are at that age where we have been worried about our parents as they age. My mother had already been struggling with health issues and then last year after returning from a family visit Debbie’s mom experienced a health crisis. Having just returned from California, we couldn’t afford to go back and support the family, and it just made the things we were worried about too real, but still so impossible. If you aren’t familiar with housing costs in California, our mortgage in Minnesota (for a 4-bedroom home) is about half of what I would have to pay in RENT (for a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment) over there. So, we have been praying and waiting to see God move, all while asking friends and family to pray with us.
I know, this is like the longest shaggy dog story ever. I promise we are close…
Last month, Debbie and I went back to visit our parents. We are still hoping to find a way to support them. I had been trying to convince them to move to a less expensive state so we could be closer and provide support. And that is still pushing a boulder uphill. But the last few days we are there, I get to reconnect with my friend. We try to do this at least once every time I am back there. We had decided to have lunch together, and he told me to come by the “new” house. After arriving, he says he needs to run an errand before lunch. I found out that he still owned the old house, and it had been under construction all this time. So, on the way to lunch, we stopped by the old house to approve the latest repair hit-lit before construction can be signed-off. And for me, it’s weird. It was a new version of the old home I had been to many times before.
Finally done, we head off to lunch. As we wrapped up before we left the restaurant, my friend offered us a deal we simply couldn’t refuse. He wants us to take over the house, making mortgage payments to him at a very generous rate, just a little over what we pay on our mortgage. This house that I have been visiting for over three decades is less than a mile from my mom and dad’s house and across town from Debbie’s parents. How’s that for Confirmation and Revelation?
Here’s the punchline.
God always has a plan. It’s up to us to join Him by stepping into the plan.
This is not something we could have done on our own at this stage in our lives. I had pulled myself out of the very competitive and stress-filled corporate consulting world due to my own health concerns. While reducing my medical bills greatly, it has also cut my income in half. We are finishing putting our son through college, and there are various other financial challenges. It just wasn’t possible.
God is clearly moving. He has continued to answer prayer after prayer. And as he has done so, Debbie and I are now being carried into this next phase of our life together.
In coming to Minnesota, in joining Clarity, in welcoming and caring for those who were not yet a part of the family of God and making them a part of OUR family, God made the impossible, possible. All because we have taken steps in faith and prayed for “clarity” on how to make the next step. We’ve got many more steps to take, and I expect we have a lot more faith we need to act upon. However, there is still much to do here, and I want to share some of that with you.
But before I do…
**Resources: There are a few books I recommend that speak on the topic of “choosing to see” God’s plan in action and taking steps in faith. I don’t have time to cover them, however, you can download my notes from the Clarity Community resources. If you are not a part of a community, please join one and you will get access to these resources. *** See the end of the transcript for resorce list.
Opportunities:
Let’s talk about opportunities. We, as a church family, have new opportunities available to us right now. God has shown us a new glimpse of His plan and we have an opportunity to step into this plan.
We have been generously offered the use of ministry space. With this space we have a launch site and home for new ministry opportunities.
I’ve seen a need for a Men’s ministry, a Teen ministry, Women’s ministry, and possibly a Young Family ministry.
I don’t see these as optional. It’s not a “we COULD” situation.
- We need to engage in gospel driven discussion and learning. On topics like what it means to be a biblical Man or Woman in today’s world.
- We need to be having discussions on what it should look like to exercise appropriate levels of Responsibility Authority and Leadership in our families, communities, workplaces and beyond.
- We need to be training up disciple makers so that WE are prepared to go into the world and step into God’s already moving plan.
Additionally, the time to start this is NOW.
- Phil has already introduced us to the idea of a Relaunch / Reset for our ministry efforts
- New visitors need a place to plug in.
- This needs to be already figured out and already in motion.
- And finally, I don’t have much time, which is a heavy burden on my heart. Because I have seen the need for these ministries in the communities that Clarity members come from.
So here is the ask. I need help. I am going to put as much effort as I can in the next few months to launch a Men’s group at this new site. It is what I have been drawn to for the last 15 years. But again, I am on a timetable, so I need men who want to step up and join God’s plan to grow as disciples.
Additionally, it has been on my heart to create a Teen ministry for over a year now. It’s for the sake of our teens, but not just for them. This ministry can become a landing place for the large numbers of teens that Phil already has engaged with through his service to Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Bibles and Breakfast events. Some of these kids don’t have a church home, and without our own Teen ministry, there are extra steps on the ladder, making it harder for them to engage with us.
Third, and I know it comes as a shocker to you all, but I am not a woman. So, I need our women to step up and partner with us to lead our Women’s efforts, and to figure out what that is going to look like.
Finally, something that I am not sure there is an interest in, but I feel there is a need for is a Young Family ministry. We definitely have them.
Hey, new parents, figuring it all out, the is hard. Let us know how we can support you. Biblically speaking, we OLDER families are called help raise up the younger ones. There is enough life experience and bible wisdom available here that we should engage in. From finances and setting good boundaries, to how to put you infants on a schedule… We have lots of experience in what has worked and what hasn’t. We have done this before… Experienced parents, this is who we are called to be. As an aside: Need a date night? There are many of us who completely LOVE your kids to pieces…
There is an opportunity here, and I am inviting you as God’s family, to step into God’s plan with Clarity. Please, join us…
Let’s pray…
**Resource List:
There are three books I always come back to that have forever changed my perspective on walking in line with God’s purposes.
- The first is Mary Beth Chapman’s “Choosing to See”. The theme of this book is how can we actively seek God in the events of both the minor and the major plot points of our lives. Meaning, do we ascribe things to coincidence and chance or do we see divine appointments and “kisses from Jesus”?I think this book, set the foundation for the way I interpret the events in our life.
- The second book is Rosaria Champagne Butterfield’s (what a name, right?) “The Gospel Comes with a House Key”. The theme of this book is twofold. One is the reality that everything we have is on loan from God. The other is the recognition of Jesus’s pattern of inviting others into his everyday sometimes messy life, which changed the life of the invited forever. This is how we try to live in our home, which has been a shared home for many others such as our exchange student. Jesus invited non-believers, to become friends, who became family and then followers on mission.
- The third is a more recent reading. It’s Greg Finke’s “Joining Jesus on His Mission”. The big takeaway for me is that Jesus is ALREADY working. He is already moving His people. We need to find those people and join what Jesus is doing in the world.
These books have not changed my core beliefs in the veracity of scripture, the identity of Jesus, or the triune nature of God. But they have absolutely changed how I respond to those beliefs. They have also changed how Debbie and I react to these patterns that God has already modeled for us through the life of Jesus.
May Jesus have His way with your day
He is Founder and consultant for Tek Management,
Founder of the Men’s Leadership site: CalebStrong.org,
Co-Founder of the online Bible study app: BibleCounts
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