The Rock Blog

God Is Not the God I Want Him to Be

Greetings Rock Church Family!

If you haven't heard already, this is my (Laura Lowery) last week as the Administrator of The Rock Church.  One of my favorite parts of serving our church family in this capacity has been writing the weekly blog post and I would be a big, fat liar if I said I wasn't going to miss it.  That being the case, I hope that you will indulge my divergence from the usual sermon recap and read on and let me share my mind with you.

I think this year has been the most difficult of my life so far, and from the conversations that I've shared with many of you, I know I'm not the only one.  Albert Einstein said that, "Adversity introduces a man to himself" and I agree, but this year has taught me that adversity, while it did not introduce me to God, has helped me learn more about Him, and I'm starting to think that He's not the God I want Him to be.

That He is not who I want Him to be, is probably very, very good.  I don't want to be uncomfortable or sad or afraid.  I don't want my faith tested, I don't want to be uncertain about my future and I don't want to suffer.  I don't want my circumstances to force me to grow and learn and mature.  I don't want to experience pain so that I can comfort others in the same way that God has comforted me (2 Corinthians 1:3-7.)  I don't want to learn to experience trials with joy so that I can understand more about the unchanging nature of God (James 1:2-18.)  I don't want to immerse myself in humility and trust God to lift me up (James 4:1-10.)  I think God knows all this, and I think that the things that I want and don't want are not His main consideration.

I think He wants me to trust Him to do what He views as good (as opposed to what I view as good) and I think He wants me to to finally let His love be the one thing that makes me feel worthwhile and complete (Romans 8:26-39.)  I think ultimately, that is what He wants for all of us and that He is much more concerned with giving us the chance to internalize those beliefs, than He is with being the God that we want Him to be. 

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you these last few years.  Thanks for doing life with me and letting me work for our church without pretending to be a perfect person.  Thanks for being my family.

Much love (but definitely no hugs... I don't like hugging!),

Laura : )

Grace on Purpose (Part 3)

This Sunday, our Rock Church Family continued their discussion of the practical ramifications that God's grace should have on our lives.  Pastor Scott discussed specifically, three roles in our community that grace might provoke us to fill: (1) Host, (2) Protector, and (3) Advocate.

The Bible teaches that when we accept God's gift of grace through the redemptive sacrifice that Christ made when He was crucified, that the Holy Spirit will live in us (Romans 8:1-17) and produce changes in the way we live our lives on a daily basis (Galatians 5:16-26.)  Additionally, we are promised that God will provide us with the ability to enact the new behaviors that a life lived in obedience to Christ will require of us (1 Corinthians 12:1-11.) 

Whatever role you find God preparing you to fill, whether it be as a host, protector, advocate, or something else - rest assured that God does have a role for you to fill (Ephesians 2:1-10.)  Take a moment to really take that thought in, *God* has a role for *me* to fill.  If I really believe that, really believe that God has identified a part for me to play in His plan to show every person how much He loves them - what does that change in the way I look at my life?  How does that change the things I plan to do today?  Does it change the way I look at my loved ones, or my enemies?  Is my day suddenly filled with opportunities instead of obstacles?  Does it make a huge difference in my outlook or is it just a pleasant notion to nod and smile at briefly before I get back to real life?  Will I, or will I not, actively pursue the purpose that God has for me? 

Grace on Purpose (Part 2)

Do you feel like God is distant?  Do you struggle to maintain your belief that there is not only a God, but that that same God loves you like you are His own child  (1 John 3:1-2)?  Is it frustrating for you that you feel like you can't see what He's doing in some of the painful situations you are dealing with?  You're not alone.

Consider, however, the relationships that you have with other people whom you profess to love.  If you approach a loved one only when you want something from them, or only as a part of a regular weekly meeting (that you are often mentally checked out of), would you expect to maintain a strong connection with that person?  What if you blamed that same person for everything rotten thing that anyone else had ever done to you?  Do you think that would increase your sense of closeness to your loved one?  Do you think that your behavior would give you a better understanding of that person?  Of course not!  So why then, when we approach God that way, do we expect a different outcome?

Scott Fenton's lesson at our Sunday Morning Gathering yesterday communicated that our response to God's grace should be "simple obedience" to the tasks He gives us (much like the response of Ananias in Acts 9:1-19) but we will find ourselves: (1) Unable to understand what He wants us to do when our connection with God suffers, and (2) Unwilling to obey His requests when we don't trust that He loves us and has our best interests at heart (Romans 8:26-39.)  We can believe that God loves us or we can believe that God, if He does exist, is apathetic with regard to our personal well being - but we can't believe both.  Beyond that, we can't respond appropriately until we commit to one belief or the other.

Looking For More?

Rock Church Family Homework: If you have decided on an act of "simple obedience", send Scott an email - he'd love to hear about it!

Grace on Purpose (Part Two): Listen Here

Grace On Purpose

Before the Apostle Paul began his ministry to the early church and wrote a great deal of the New Testament, he was known as Saul of Tarsus.  Where the Apostle Paul dedicated his life to meeting the needs of the early church and endured imprisonment and persecution in order to further the cause of Christ, Saul of Tarsus approved of the execution of Christ's followers and spent his days going from "house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison." (Acts 8:1-3)

 Everything changed for Saul the day that he had a personal encounter with God.  He changed from a man bent on exterminating a group of people for their spiritual beliefs to a man who spent his life expounding on themes such as God's love, God's grace, and God's mercy. 

God's mercy and love was evidenced to Paul on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-31), and His grace was extended to Paul, and to each of us, when Christ nailed the record of our sins to the cross (Colossians 2:13-15.)  When we accept the gift of God's grace, it should radically change our lives.  We hope you agree that our response to God's graciousness should be evident in our actions (Romans 6), and in the way we look at ourselves and other people (2 Corinthians 1:4.)  We also hope you'll make time to join us over the next few weeks as we discuss some of the ways we can translate that belief into action!

Everyone is invited to join us this Sunday as our Rock Church Family consider God's grace as well as our response to God's graciousness!  We meet every Sunday morning at Meadowdale High School (6002 168th St SW, in Lynnwood.) Dress is casual, the coffee is tasty, and you are always welcome!

Life Together (Part Three)

Your Rock Church Blog typically uses the New Living Translation of the Bible, however, check out how "The Message" interprets James 2:14-20:

Suppose you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? ...  Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

When we don't allow God's love to be evidenced through us to other people, we fail to complete the mission that Christ gave to His followers.  (Matthew 25:31-46 | John 13:34-35 | 1 John 4:7-21)  When we only invest our lives in activities and in people that will bring us the most personal gain, we evidence either apathy or misunderstanding with regard to some of the most clear instructions that God has given us for living. (Luke 6:27-49)

Every day, each of us chooses to share God's love with the people who surround us, or not.  We see opportunities to build others up or tear them down.  We can take the time to show a genuine interest in what someone has to say or we can glaze over and mumble the occasional, "uh-huh."  We can choose to help someone with a mundane chore, or turn up the TV so we don't have to hear them clanking around in the garage.  We can act like it matters to us that James 4:17 says: "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.", or we can just say that it matters.  We can live a life spent demonstrating God's incredible love to other people, or we can spend most of our time ensuring that our own needs and wants are met.  Every day, we choose the life we will live.  Consider what steps you might take to sharing God's love with one other person today and choosing to live today as evidence of God's love for us!

Life Together (Part Three): Listen Here