Category Archives: grow

Prescription for Change

09 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by in comfort, grow, Uncategorized

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Did you know that in a typical year about 2,000 self-help books come out on the market? Advertisers know that everybody is interested in change. The thing about self-help books and even many of the self-help podcasts out there, is that they tell you to stop doing this and start doing that, which is usually good advice, but the problem is they don’t give you the power to change.

We all have areas that we wish we could change but we’ve just been unable to do it. It may be sexual desires, drinking, spending, eating, or our moodiness to name a few. You name it, and we’ve probably tried to change it. So, why do we do what we don’t want to do? It’s an old question that the Apostle Paul asked in the book of Romans. Today, we’re going address that question by looking at three things:

  1. The Problem: Why we do what we don’t want to do
  2. God’s Promise: Getting a true understanding to overcome the problem
  3. The Prescription (Hey, I’m a Doctor, I can do that): The HOW to live in God’s promises

Join me in Romans 7:15-25: Paul writes,

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”

 Let’s talk brass tacks … 

  1. The Problem is that we have a sinful nature in us. What does that mean exactly? It means there’s a civil war going on in us, a war of our flesh against our spirit (Matthew 26:41). This war draws us into a cycle of starting off with good intentions, but then we fail, which leads to guilt. And then it repeats … good intentions, failure, guilt. 
  2. God’s Promise is in John 8:32 , “… the truth will set you free.” The secret to personal change is not “will power.” It’s not a pill, a new year’s resolution, a vow, it’s not even something you say or do. Personal freedom is achieved through knowledge. It’s something you know! When you know the truth, the lies you’ve come to believe are exposed and you can break free from the problems that have held you back from the change you’re looking for. 
  3. When the Prescription is taken, we can live in God’s promise and purpose for our life. Here’s the prescription, take A,B,C,D every time you want to change something about yourself.

A: Acknowledge the root of the problem. 
B: Believe Jesus can change you. 
C: Confess your struggle to another person. 
D: Dedicate yourself completely to Jesus.

Each of these steps are very important. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Acknowledge the sin today. But don’t lose yourself in a cycle of good intentions, failure, and guilt. Believe that Jesus can change you. Romans 7:24-25 says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Now, I understand, this next step can be hard, but we’re not meant to do life alone. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). When you completely dedicate yourself to Jesus Christ, you’ll experience the one and only God that keeps His promises.  

You DO have the power to change through Jesus Christ. And you can start TODAY!

ABC’s for Loyalty

02 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by in Church, comfort, grow, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

What a week! 

I’m on the road just outside San Francisco at a gathering of pastors for Convoy of Hope. This incredible ministry serves our local community and the poorest of the poor all around the world. I’m out here to learn more about them and looking into how we can partner with them in the near future. Stay tuned for more information on that!

I’m also thrilled to be with our Executive Team meeting with a group of great people in the city of Pacifica (near San Francisco) as we discuss our next campus “Skyline Pacifica.” You’ll be hearing more about that soon!

Today, I want to talk about “loyalty.” When conflict begins to heat up between those who are relationally close, it can be increasingly difficult to solve the problem. If a problem continues to go unsolved, the person you’re close to can begin to feel like an enemy.

If you’re not currently at odds, just make sure you’ve got these tools of loyalty ready to go because it’s never IF you have conflict, it’s always WHEN you have conflict, you’ll want to be prepared with these habits. 
It may seem impossible to affirm a loved one with loyalty during strenuous times, but today I want to encourage you with an easy way to remember practical keys to make this possible in your life. Use the ABC’s to remember 3 ways to affirm loyalty during conflict.

  1. Accept them! Part of loyalty is accepting each others differences. Acceptance doesn’t mean that you approve of everything they do, but it means that your love for them is not dependent upon them changing.
  2. Before you seek to be understood, seek to understand. It’s easy to all the sudden start focusing on the problem and to forget the value of the relationship. Pretty soon you start seeing yourselves as enemies. Remember, they’re NOT the enemy!
  3. Cloth yourself in Compassion. Colossians 3:12, reminds us that there’s an act of putting on compassion. Compassion is really defined as love IN action. 

Implement these habits of loyalty and when the fires of conflict begin to heat up, you’ll be able extinguish the flames before you get burned.

Controlling Your Tongue

24 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by in grow, patience, Uncategorized

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Shut up! Is that too harsh? I think it might be appropriate for some of the stuff that flows so freely across the thumbs of the most prolific social media “influencers” and shock jocks across our nation.

Our words can bite, can’t they? James 3:2 says that “if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.” Look closely at what he says … it starts with our mouths (or our thumbs as we type away on our phones)! From there, we can begin to grow and mature in EVERY way. What we say steers the direction of our lives.  We tend to move in the direction of our words. 

Let me be clear here. I’m not talking about the few buddies that you’ve known for a while and you joke around with each other from time to time. Some of that is the spice of life (unless the heart behind it is wrong). But today, I want to talk about this steering wheel of life … the tongue.
Here’s the deal, the average American will have 30 conversations per day.  In one year, you could fill 53 books that are 1,000 pages long. You’re going to spend 1/5 of your life talking!!

If you want to know where you’re headed, look at some of the recent conversations you’ve had with others and think about the self-talk you’ve had with yourself. Our words can both damage and destroy our life because that’s what has hold of life’s steering wheel. If you’re always putting yourself down you need to stop listening to yourself and start preaching to yourself the positive messages and words of affirmation that God has for you.

James 3:5-6 explains the power of our words. “The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark. And the tongue is a flame of fire.” Your words will reveal what is really in your heart. And even a seemingly small careless word can start a fire that becomes a raging argument inferno.

Not too long ago in 2018, California experienced its worst fire season in history. Nearly two million acres were burned across our great state. It started in February, and the last fire was put out in November. You know how it started? One spark!

Some of the arguments you’ve gotten into were caused by one spark. Only you can control the sparks that come out of your mouth. Careless words can destroy an entire life. Don’t become a verbal arsonist. If you don’t work on it, it’s going to ruin all you have!

I imagine that many of you have mastered the problem of cussing, but perhaps you haven’t mastered the problem of cutting others down. In James 3:10, James talks about how out of the same mouth come both praises and curses. This shouldn’t be the case. I want to challenge you today, to really focus on taming your tongue. What are your words revealing about you?

A good question to ask yourself is what is the source of the things that come out of your mouth? At the end of the day, as Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks…” Luke 6:45. The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. Sometimes people will say, “I don’t know why I said that, that’s not like me.” Actually, it’s exactly like you, because it has been bubbling up inside you for a long time. If a loose tongue is a problem for you the reality is your heart is not healthy.

You need to deal with the heart issue. Get to the root of the problem and root it out. Is it anger, bitterness, envy, hurt, or anything else? Whatever it might be it will not get better until you have a change of heart. Thankfully, God specializes in heart transplants, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” Ezekiel 36:26. Give your heart to Jesus Christ and watch him take the reins of your tongue and steer it toward peace.

Are You Wrestling?

27 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by in Church, comfort, Exercise, grow, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Who are you wrestling with in your life? Your spouse, your kids, an in-law, a neighbor? Or maybe you’re wrestling with your finances, a car, your job, or even your health. One thing for sure is we’re all wrestling with the restrictions and affects of this quarantine right now. 

IT’S. NOT. EASY.
 
If you’re in a wrestling match right now … congratulations!! If you’re encountering a conflict in your life, the problem is likely deeper than you realize. YOU my friend, are wrestling with God. Let’s take a look at Genesis 25 and 32. 

Genesis 25: Here we find a man’s life that can be described in one word … conflict. To give you some background, Jacob was born fighting with his twin brother, Esau, literally came out of the womb “grasping the heel of his brother” vs 25:21-26.  Later, Jacob tricked his brother out of his inheritance (vs 29-34). To say Esau was not happy with Jacob would be an understatement. But it wasn’t long before Jacob got a taste of his own medicine! He was tricked by a man named Laban. 

After working for Laban the agreed upon seven years to marry his daughter, Rachel, Jacob was told it would cost him another seven years of labor to gain the blessing of marrying Rachel. Talk about a long engagement! After 14 years, it was time to part ways from Laban, and Jacob planned to sneak his new family out of town. The only problem was, Jacob had no where to go except back to his hometown where another problem awaited, his brother Esau.

Genesis 32:  When Esau heard that his brother was coming home, it wasn’t water under the bridge. Esau sent an army of 400 men to face Jacob.  Like many of us, Jacob was stuck between a rock and a hard place. His options were slim and none and he was facing the consequences of a lifetime of bad choices. Jacob was terrified(Genesis 32:7). And he finally surrendered and prayed to the Lord (Genesis 32:9-11).

The problems you’re facing with your spouse, career, appearance, you name it …  is only a mere symptom of a greater conflict in your life. The Bible tells us that Jacob spent the next night, literally, wrestling with God. How many of us know who is going to win that match? Like Jacob, you and I know that we’re going to wear out before God does. But did you know that God actually wants to wrestle with you? Wrestling is a contact sport. It doesn’t bother God to wrestle with you, to hear your complaints and your anger and your needs. Why? Because it means that you’re up close to Him. Your relationship is finally getting personal. For you it may sound like shouting … WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING?! Why are you doing this God?! When will this end?! etc. etc… And that’s okay! God blesses those who realize their need for Him (Matthew 5:3).

Jacob may have surrendered by turning to God, but he wasn’t ready to change his ways. He and God wrestled ALL night. Maybe you’re in the same boat. Maybe you’re open to having a conversation with God, but are you willing to let Him call the shots? Jacob and God wrestled to the point where God says it’s time to call it. It’s a momentous turning point for Jacob. Is he going to change his ways or not? To which Jacob responds, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Can you imagine?! Listen to the incredible passion Jacob displays here. He’s literally clinging to the Lord and refusing to let go until he get’s what he needs. He’s like a kid holding on to their dad’s ankle as the dad walks down the hall. And God does bless him and leaves him a little reminder to carry with him the rest of his life. From that all night wrestling match with God, Jacob was left with a permanent limp. A reminder that he could not run from his problems any longer. Instead of running, he needed to rely on God. 

If you’ve been a Christian very long, I can bet you have a specific limp. No, it may not be a literal walking limp, but the limp I’m referring to is a reminder that God left with you to keep you humble and to keep you reliant on Him. You came through that all night wrestling match, but you’ll never be the same, and you thank God for that. 

Though these are difficult times, it’s a great time to dig deeper in your relationship with the Lord. “Consider it all joy… when you encounter various trials”(James 1:2). Hold on until God blesses you! Ask hard questions! Wrestle it out! Seek first the Kingdom of God because I promise that, “He who began a good work in you will carry it out to completion,” (Philippians 1:6).

How Can Faith in God Help Anxiety

22 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in comfort, emergency room, grow, Uncategorized

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Last Thursday, I had the privilege of joining Mike Slater live on AM600 KOGO. The main question that we discussed was, “How Can Faith In God Help Anxiety?” At Skyline Church, we’ve experienced a heightened community response due to COVID19. It seems that now more than ever, people are asking God legitimate questions. People are realizing that they aren’t in control as much as they thought and that can lead to anxiety. It’s in moments like 9/11, or in this case, a worldwide pandemic, where people storm churches in search of answers (of course now they’re not storming physically, but they are storming the churches by watching online). Sadly, as was the case of 9/11 as soon as they arrived they began to remember why they left the church in the first place. Whether it’s the way the message was conveyed or the lack of a welcoming atmosphere by the “churchy” people. That’s why our slogan at Skyline Church is: No perfect people allowed! We know there are always going to be hypocrites, to which we say, “Welcome!” Regardless of who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done, “You matter to God and you matter to us.” Our heart is to help people. 

In some cases, events like 9/11 or COVID don’t always help someone’s spiritual walk. We have to be wise about how we convey “the church” because the message of God has not changed. However, we do have to change our methods to address a changing culture. And I believe that problems present opportunities. Church doesn’t look like it did 50 years ago, especially with services moving online. God’s desire that no (person) should perish (2 Peter 3:9) is finally widely available in an unthreatening space … your living room. 

People in our community are facing real problems with real anxiety. This is why we’ve set out to read through the book of Philippians in a daily 3-5 minute devotional that you can watch called, Today Matters. In this book we learn how to experience joy regardless of the circumstances, because the Apostle Paul is in a Roman jail as he writes to the Philippian church, yet he’s conveying a positive message. He has A LOT of problems, you want an example of someone who should be full of anxiety, it would be the Apostle Paul, yet he’s talking about how much he loves the people and how much joy he has AND he lists why he has that joy!  

Even though we are in the middle of a difficult time, there are some advantages. One of the advantages is helping our community get back to the foundational habits of our faith. These habits that we’re developing during this time are going to carry us forward whenever we return to “normal” whatever that new normal looks like. All of our habits are broken right now. Let’s make some new ones or get back to some good ones! It’s easy to binge on Netflix, Ben and Jerry’s and not exercise, and we begin to develop poor habits. But God has a different plan for you and me in this season. 

In the midst of uncertainty and anxiety, it’s natural for us to lose our joy. But I want to suggest something so elementary that you might laugh at its simplicity. Obviously there’s a lot of negativity swirling out there and we’re conditioned to complain. But the reality is that you have to be grateful to have joy. You don’t know anyone who is ungrateful and happy. The two go together. Gratitude is the key to joy! And this is why Paul could have joy even in Jail. So as easy as it sounds, I want to encourage you to write down things you’re grateful for. As many as you can! Take as much time as you want or need; 5, 10, 50 minutes. It’s a simple and old school practice but it works! No one wants to be around a sour puss Christian. If you’re a Christian, the Bible tells us to “Be Joyful Always.” So if that’s the case then inform your face! I’m not talking “pollyanna” (fake) joy, I’m talking about regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what’s temporary, take up joy by being grateful. 

You may have heard that the Bible says, “do not fear” or “fear not,” 365 times. That’s one verse on overcoming your anxiety everyday of the year! In my blog last week, we talked about the alternative to worry. Worrying is thinking a negative thought over and over again. Let me say this again, if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. I want to encourage you to choose one of the thousands of promises in the Bible and think on that verse over and over instead of that negative thought. As you do that, you’ll notice your anxiety subsiding. The Bible says it doesn’t make sense to worry. Worry weighs us down (Proverbs 12:25). 

There are few practices with a greater return. Why hesitate? It’s so elementary but we shrug it off. Like the Apostle Paul, start writing down what you’re thankful for. You may not be in a Roman jail, but it probably feels a bit like jail being confined like we are. Here’s a suggestion on how to begin: It may start as simply as food, breath, shelter, toilet paper, etc … But remember how simplistic Jesus was compared to the Pharisees. It’s not about the complexity of the Gospel that gives us joy, it’s about the simplicity of it. In order to do this, we just need to snap out of it! Don’t sleep walk through life. Turn off Netflix, write down some things you’re grateful for, and open your Bible to a promise you can cling to. I promise that these habits will change your life for the better. You will feel joy coming in and anxiety going out.

God bless, 

Jeremy

We hope to see you this Sunday as we continue to do church differently online. You can join us for our new sermon series at SkylineChurch.org at 9AM, 10:30AM, 3PM, and 5PM.