INHERITANCE

Have you ever gotten an inheritance? Last fall at Annual Conference I talked about how when my grandpa Hotrum passed away I got an inheritance and became a multi-hundredaire. How much more amazing is the inheritance we receive from the Lord? The Bible says that it is a "priceless inheritance." 

Peter, the friend of Jesus, is seen all through the gospels and in the book of Acts. Yet, his two epistles are tucked away toward the end of the New Testament. Peter was as close to Jesus when he was here on earth as you can get. Peter wrote:

1 Peter 1:3-4 "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance..."

When Peter says that God raised Jesus from the dead we know it's true. Peter was an eyewitness to the empty tomb and the risen Lord. Jesus is more than a nice idea and a good teacher, but he is the risen Lord. As a result we have a great expectation. This is called hope. We have hope in this life and hope for the life to come. Peter also says we have a priceless inheritance. Jesus fed thousands of people, he performed miracles, but he didn't leave Peter and the early church with a multimillion-shekel endowment. Jesus told Peter that he would be with them, and that was good enough. Peter was full of hope, focusing on the priceless inheritance we receive from Jesus. We get forgiveness of sin, peace in the midst of trouble, guidance from the Holy Spirit. All this and Heaven too. 

On my desk I have a pocket watch that doesn't work. My uncle Ken gave it to me a couple years ago. He said his grandpa (my great-grandpa) had given it to him over 40 years ago and Ken said that maybe I should hang on to it for a while. My great-grandpa Cleveland did not leave an inheritance of money to the family, but he did leave an inheritance of moral and godly character. He is the one who helped my dad through college and seminary. He is the one who we knew was praying for us. Are we passing on to the next generations part of the inheritance that we have received from the Lord? 

Church on Fire

Last week I watched online the livestream of a fire in downtown Portland. The building was a church that had been empty for several years. Before that it was a Korean church. Before that it was Portland First Evangelical Church. This once grand structure had been sitting empty and ignored for the past several years. That is until January 3rd when it was set on fire. 

I know and enjoy the history of the Pacific Conference, so I was sad to see the building burn. Especially since this was my family's church when I was a child. My dad was the youth pastor there while he was in college and seminary. However, it was even more sad to me that a place that once was the home of dynamic preaching and ministry had become an abandoned building that no longer was the site of a move of God, but a place of emptiness. People didn't care about this building until it caught on fire. There were plenty of firetrucks, firefighters, and camera crews. It made national news as people came just to watch the church on fire. 

There is a quote that is attributed to John Wesley. “Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.” So the question for us is, are we a people of passion? Do we have a passion for focusing on Jesus? Do we have a passion for following God's Word? Do we have a fiery passion for fulfilling the Great Commission? In Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist spoke of Jesus saying that he would baptize people in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Nobody cares about a church that is empty and does not have the fire of the Holy Spirit. Churches led by pastors who are on fire for the Lord and have believers on fire with a passion for following Jesus are an irresistible attraction. Just as people came to watch a church on fire in downtown Portland, they will come to watch a church that is on fire for the Lord. Do we have that passion? If not, are you asking God to renew your passion? 

Superintendent Brian

REPORTS

 

Last week between Christmas and New Years there were a lot of programs where they took the week off and basically showed the highlights from the previous year. The past few years I would put together a little video with a bunch of pictures of what we had done the previous year. Pretty soon the conference office will be "encouraging" pastors to fill out some reports that we need here at the office. I know those end of the year reports aren't the most fun a person can have, but they are significant. The end of the year report for churches we ask a few questions. They are good to stop and take stock of the state of the church for the past year as we look forward to a new year. 

In the Bible, in the book of Joshua, there is the story of the crossing of the Jordan River. Joshua and the Israelites left Egypt, wandered in the wilderness, and are now entering the Promised Land. Just as God performed a miracle and the previous generation walked through the Red Sea on dry ground, God performed a miracle and this generation walked across the Jordan River on dry ground. During this process, the Lord instructed Joshua to have guys get some rocks from the river and set them up on the bank. Joshua 4:7 "...These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever." For years after this event people would take their grandchildren to look at these stones and tell the next generation about the miracle God had done for them. 

So, as we begin a new year and we're doing the end of the year reports, filling out the paperwork, and doing our taxes, think about the miracles God did for us this past year. Maybe we don't have a pile of rocks to look at, but we can look back at this past year. There were blessings that came from the Lord. There were difficulties where the Lord was with us in the midst of our struggles. As we look back on the year and the changes in life, we recognize God's presence and God's provision, and just know that it is not all about us, but it is also to be a testimony to those who are not yet Christians. Joshua said at the end of chapter 4, "He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever." 

The Lord's hand is powerful. May we fear the Lord our God this coming year.