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A Heart To Give

17 Wednesday Nov 2021

Posted by in Challenge, Christian Habits, Church Planting, Decisions For Christ, mission, purpose driven, seven church, Worship

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Oftentimes, pastors are reluctant to talk about giving because of the way culture has taught us to think about money. Culture talks about giving in manipulative, coercive, and guilt-laying ways. But as many of you know, at Skyline we don’t shy away from hard topics. We’re dedicated to teaching the relevance of Scripture in truth and love.

What does the Bible have to say about giving?

So then, what does the Bible have to say about giving? Let’s throw out the sales pitches and talk simply about what the Bible says about giving and how we view your gifts at Skyline Church. 

Perhaps one of the most popular verses known in the Christian faith is John 3:16. “God so love the world that He gave…” God GAVE His one and only Son for YOU and for me. There has been no greater act of giving than when Jesus went to the cross for all of mankind. And did you know the words “give, gave, and giving” are used over 1,500 times in the Bible? Giving is mentioned more than faith! If we leave out talking about giving we have left out a HUGE portion of the Bible.

Do you know why it is mentioned so often in the Bible? Because you can say you have faith all you want, but if you don’t give, you’re not growing in faith. It’s that simple. Skyline wants to produce followers of Christ that are growing in faith seven days a week. Growing people change. That includes how you view your finances. 2 Corinthians 8:7 is just one verse that teaches us that eventually our faith will be stretched in the area of giving, “But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”

A Heart To Give

Giving is always an opportunity. God wants us to grow in giving because that means we’re growing in faith. I remember meeting a visitor at Seven Church (now Skyline Lakeside) years ago that approached me after one of our services. He shared how he went to church three times throughout the year at three different churches, and every time the church was talking about giving. He was fuming and he accused churches of always talking about money. And now he was at our church and guess what we were talking about? Giving. I looked him right in the eye and said, “I think God is trying to tell you something.”

If you get frustrated when a church talks about giving, that’s a tell-tale sign that God is trying to work on that area of your life. And I’ll tell you the same thing I told that man … don’t give. Maybe that’s the first time you heard a pastor tell you not to give but I mean it. God is more interested in your heart than your money. Giving with a reluctant or resentful heart is someone who is giving in vain (2 Corinthians 9:7). God doesn’t want your money if He doesn’t have your life. 
Maybe you’ve been excelling in the knowledge of Scripture, serving, and doing all the “Christian things” you think you ought to like 2 Corinthians 8:7 talks about. But there’s going to come a time where God is going to stretch you in the grace of giving because giving reveals where your heart is. Giving allows us to express appreciation for what He has done in the past. It also allows us to check our heart and our priorities in the present, but most of all, giving allows us to grow in faith in the future. 

Why I Give

Giving allows me to evaluate my priorities and motivations. By nature, we have a tendency to make things all about ourselves. Think of the self-centered man in Luke 12. The wealthy man wondered what he should do with all his excess wealth. He decided that he should figure out how to hold on to more of it. So, he tore down his barns to build bigger ones. He kept all his wealth to himself, only to pass away and never spend the earnings he stored up on Earth. 
I remember the first time this idea of “giving” hit me. I heard a message from David Jeremiah at Shadow Mountain Community Church, and he challenged me. He said if you want to know where your heart is look at your checkbook. Sure enough, he was right. God owns everything. We’re called to be good stewards of all that He has put in our lives… And my spending was all about my interests, not God, not the church, not any kind of generosity. I had to decide if I was willing to live with a heart that only thought of myself.

My wife and I are giving to the 101010 Campaign and making a commitment like we’ve never done before because we want to grow in our faith!  And I know, he who gives little, gets little (2 Corinthians 9:6). This is no small aspiration for us as a church and it requires no small act of giving on our part. But we WANT to GROW in faith as a church!

10/10/10 Campaign

Skyline’s goal of the 101010 Campaign is to see more and more people give their lives to Christ. Truly, we want to light up the scoreboard in Heaven. We want more and more souls to one day call Heaven home. We have an incredible opportunity in front of us.

My goal is to influence as many people as I can to experience Jesus. You have 8-15 people in your Oikos (relational network) right now who don’t know Christ, but they will within the next 10 years! That’s what it’s all about. A church of our size is committed to being a model church in our community. That means stewarding your giving well, devoting ourselves to growth, and teaching the relevance of Scripture. I have no business telling you how much you should give, but I do believe in teaching you about sacrificial giving. Whether you give $5, $500, or 5 Million,  I want to encourage you to ask God what you should do. If you’re wrestling through how to steward your finances, I want to invite you to watch your 10/10/10 series on the idea of giving on the Skyline YouTube page. 

With all of us ALL IN, we will absolutely be able to light up the scoreboard in Heaven!!

UPDATE: SKYLINE, SEVEN, MULTISITE AND BABIES!

03 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by in Church, Church Leadership, Church Planting, mission

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A MINISTRY UPDATE: ONE CHURCH, THREE LOCATIONS AND BABIES EVERYWHERE!

It is with great excitement, anticipation, and a tremendous sense of responsibility that I have accepted the role of Sr. Pastor at Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego. I will remain the Sr. Pastor of Seven San Diego Church as well. You may wonder how. On September 9 we announced that we were growing and expanding and that Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego was considering making me Sr. Pastor, which included Seven San Diego Church as part of this plan. In other words, while I’ll technically be Sr. Pastor of two churches the reality is we will have the same vision, mission, values, and outreach focus at both churches. So, we will become ONE church over time. It will take time to transition and for everyone to catch the vision but over time we will see the vision come to fruition. You can see that announcement by clicking this link. The announcement begins at the 32:00 minute mark of the video.

Seven Church Vision Announcement

In that announcement I mentioned that we would become one church in two locations pending a vote of the Skyline congregation on September 30 for me to become their Sr. Pastor.  However, it is actually going to be one church in three locations as I did not mention the fact that Skyline has a church in Clifton/Clyde Kansas that is a satellite campus. So, one church in three locations is actually what is happening. Skyline is an incredible church with incredible people that have such a great heart for the Lord and their community that I believe it is a great fit with the hearts of the people of Seven San Diego Church. This gives us greater reach to make a difference in more areas of East County San Diego, Kansas, and beyond. We are excited and thrilled with the response from Seven church and the response of Skyline church because you are all such a Kingdom minded group of people. We truly believe we are better together.

Skyline voted after all three of their services this last Sunday September 30 and the vote was extremely positive and affirmative which means we can begin to move forward in our one church in three locations expansion. If you would like to see the Sunday September 23 message when I spoke at Skyline and talked about this you can see the video by clicking this link.  Skyline Church Vision Message

What this means is beginning Sunday November 18 we will begin our journey together as one church in three locations. You may have questions about this transition. In my message at both Seven and Skyline I address frequently asked questions about this process and what it may look like in the future. If you have any other questions please feel free to call the office at 619-977-9277 or send us an email at info@sevensdchurch.comwe would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Children’s Ministry Growth

The children’s facility expansion is happening right now. Our growing kids ministry at Seven San Diego Church has needed more space, especially in our nursery. Well, by this Sunday, October 7 you will see that the Nursery has exponentially expanded! It is such a great thing to see more and more babies and kids coming to Seven!

Thank you for inviting your Oikos. We truly believe what we say a lot around here “An Invite Can Change a Life.” We’re seeing more lives changed every week…keep inviting!

God Bless you,

Jeremy

Pray.com

04 Friday Nov 2022

Posted by in Church Planting, mission, Resources & Articles, vision

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Last month, I partnered with a new platform to reach more people for Christ. Over 13 million trusted users worldwide access Pray.com regularly in search of biblical content. For a limited time, we’re able to offer our church family premium access (normally a $96/year value) on their app. Click here for free premium access. 

You may be wondering if you need “Premium” access to see my content? No. Users across the globe can listen to all of my messages for FREE! However, with your premium access, you’ll be granted permission to listen to ALL of Pray’s original content from Christian leaders and Christian athletes like Drew Brees as well as authors and other Bible teachers and so much more from other incredible leaders in the industry.

Pray’s easy application is similar to Spotify or RightNow Media. You’ll enjoy the interface with ease. Make sure to follow my profile page to get notified when I release content like our Faith and Culture podcast or a new sermon series.

I’ve been in full-time ministry for over 24 years and my passion for equipping others to reach the lost continues to fuel me every day. Pray Radio is one more way to help people find and follow Jesus seven days a week! I’m excited to see what God has in store in this new partnership with Pray.com. 

Public School Disaster

12 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by in Church Leadership, purpose driven

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Our Answer: Skyline Christian Academy
Why are we starting a Christian Academy at Skyline Church? 

Because we want to help people. 

The reason behind everything we do at Skyline Church is to help people find and follow Jesus seven days a week. One of the biggest areas of need in our community is in our education system. We want to raise kids that can stand up for their faith, their country, and know what is right and what is wrong. Yes, we believe in absolute truth. We believe God created them male and female. We believe that He has a plan for boys to become men and grow into their masculinity and a plan for girls to become women and grow into their femininity. We believe in the Constitution of the United States of America and we’re tired of people in political office trampling on it and indoctrinating our students against it. The insane ideas coming from politicians today didn’t just start happening. Where did they get these radicals ideas? These ideas were taught in the public school system and especially in our secular colleges and universities.

You’ve probably seen it on the news or know of people who have taken their kids out of the public school system. Enough is enough. What is going on in the public school system today is nothing less than indoctrination. In my recent blog, School Options, I shared how our public school system has been failing parents. This is what we get when we turn to our government for education–third graders celebrating Drag Queen Day and kids of all ages being exposed again and again to perverted sexualization. The curriculum has devolved into an anti-God, anti-Church, anti-male and female, anti-american, anti-human being system and most certainly an antinomianism system. It’s socialism indoctrination to say the least. 

Roll Call

Public school students are in need of a place they can go where the politicization of the LBGTQ agenda and the far left radical agenda is absent. Children need an education where indoctrination isn’t embedded into the curriculum. 

We know there are many public school teachers who are fighting the good fight. We have public school teachers at Skyline Church who are being light in the darkness of the public school system. Thank you for what you do! You are on the front lines. We need more people to fight for our next generation like you are and we want you to know we are praying for you! Every student matters to God and every student matters to us. 

Let’s Take That Hill

Skyline Church is taking a step forward in creating an academy that your kids will love.  At Skyline Christian Academy we are for both you and your kids. We’ll come alongside you and help teach them who God has called them to be and so much more. We have a robust curriculum for your children that will teach them about our country, founding fathers, the constitution, and most importantly Jesus. These subjects used to be a staple in the public school system but have been substituted for the sexualized and politicized curriculum they are fed today. The public school system is confusing our kids and even destroying them. We want to show kids and teens that Christ has a plan and purpose for their life. Skyline Christian Academy is ready to stand together with families and build up our kids to walk strongly in the plan God has for their life. 

All In 

We cannot sit on the sidelines and not take action in our community. Starting an academy is not easy, but it is worth it. If you’re a parent and you know it’s time to pull your kids out of the public school system, Skyline Christian Academy might be the place for you. If you’re interested, let us know and we’ll give you all the information you need to help make a decision. 

You Can Still Respond

26 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by in Baptism, Decisions For Christ, Holiday

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You can still respond to God’s call. If you were at church on Easter Sunday and felt a nudge on your heart, but you ignored it … don’t keep ignoring it! Hebrews 3:8 warns us against hardening our hearts towards Christ. It was a very special Easter Sunday as 148 people went public with their faith in Christ and were baptized! If something resonated with you, lean into it. Maybe you didn’t feel ready to get baptized just yet, but you left church with questions. That’s a great place to start! After all, Easter is about a relationship, not a religion. 

Baptism Response Story
Every Story Matters To God

After Jesus rose from the dead He went around Jerusalem and Galilee and traveled around other areas and was seen by thousands … at one time 500 people saw him and they had to be saying, “He’s baaaaccck!” My point is you may have missed that opportunity to respond on Easter Sunday, but He’s still ready to receive you today. Just like Jesus gave Doubting Thomas the evidence he needed after the resurrection, He will give you what you need if you ask.

Easter

Everything about Christianity hinges on what we celebrated on Easter Sunday. Christ died so that my relationship, and your relationship with God could be restored. What you believe about God is the most important thing in life. Your belief determines how you deal with your past, where you’ll go in the future, and how you live today. 

Respond

Once upon a time, I stood up in front of a group of people and said “I do” to my wife. Those two words have changed the trajectory of my life. I’ve been working out the implications of what “I do” means for 24 years!  I didn’t know everything about marriage when I said those words and it’s the same thing with Christ. You don’t have to know everything right now. Maybe you’re still processing, wrestling, doubting, wondering, and questioning if this whole “Jesus thing” is for you. Just because you didn’t respond immediately doesn’t mean Christianity isn’t for you. Take it one step at a time. But just know, you can come with your questions, your doubts, your discouragements and everything else. Over time, those questions will be answered, your doubts will be dealt with and your discouragements will be gone. 

Get Rooted

To be rooted in Christ, we must understand that Christ wants a relationship with us, not a religion. Every one of us (including the person who invited you to church) has rejected that relationship at some point. We all, in our own way, reject Christ from time to time. We’ve all opted to do our own thing, our own way and too often decide to be the god of our own life. Unfortunately, just like when we break man’s laws, we pay man’s penalties … when you break God’s laws, you pay God’s penalties. Either you have to pay for it or someone else does. Thank God Jesus said He would pay the penalty for you and me. Not only is that worth celebrating, that’s worth a response!! That’s at least worth investigating. It’s worth another visit to Skyline Church next Sunday.

See, I am absolutely convinced that if someone is presented the opportunity to know the real Jesus, what He offers, not the Jesus we’ve been presented in the media or the Jesus we learned about from a misinformed friend or relative, but the actual Jesus, NOBODY WOULD TURN HIM DOWN. The free gift He offers is just too good to pass up.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the deal you get when you accept Jesus’ free gift: Every sin past, present, and future paid for, my future home in Heaven secured, and purpose and energy to live today! 

Next Step

Our goal at Skyline Church is to help people find and follow Jesus seven days a week. We don’t do it perfectly but we take it one step at a time. As a matter of fact we’re starting a brand new series this Sunday, May 1 where we will be digging in and understanding the 9 characteristics God wants to see in our lives. Those characteristics don’t all happen at once. As a matter of fact, it’s all about progress not perfection. I hope you’ll lean into God this week and join us for church on Sunday. I want to encourage you, don’t ignore His nudge on your heart. My prayer for you is from Ephesians 3:18-19. “May you be able to feel and understand … how long, how wide, how deep, and how high (God’s) love really is; and to experience this for yourselves.”