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Father's Day Message Notes

Father’s Day Message Notes

Jason Haymaker, Speaker

Ephesians 5:15-17

- Make the most of every opportunity- don’t act thoughtlessly

 - The question isn’t: will they remember me: but, will they want to?
        - We will be unforgettable: either positive or negative
        - We remember phrases: your fat, stupid, can’t do anything right...

- If phrases we know are negative, we need new phrases
        - Positive phrases-
            "I like who you’re becoming"
            "You're special and you matter to your daddy"
        "I think God can do it"

4 phrases

1) I Love You

            - love languages    
            - kids need irrational love from us- moves beyond a quota
             - communicate they are treasured, not just tolerated

2) I’m Sorry

            - Fathers don’t exasperate your children
            - take them by the hand and lead them
            - meekness is strength under control
            - weakness is being passive and getting pushed around

3) I believe in you

            - more about the person than the production
            - okay to fail- we all will

Jason and his dad-

 "my dad and I could have gone to 5 below, bought squirt guns, and charged hell together"

 Jesus knew that Peter was going to fail- looked at him, believed in him

4) I’m praying for you

            - tell what your prayer is- example- to Jason's kids
                    - "that Jesus will be fresh to you"
            - we’ve got to have vision for our kids

 

Monday Morning Quarterback

Look back at Sunday's experiences...

- Nate Adams absolutely crushed it on lights this weekend.  Not only did he nail his cues and timing, but he creatively made same color-combos that accented color stories in new backgrounds.  Without us asking him- he took it to the next level within the scheme he knew we were looking for.  LOVE it.

- One of our new female vocalists, Jessica Centorbi- did a fantastic job.  Great voice- she had great stage presence already.  

- Pastor Marty Dent is a stud.  Some people, you just know they are being authentic.  It's who they are.  When you take risk and step out in faith- your faith is strong because of who it's in.  He validates- not others who shoot down our dreams.

- On that- I remember the night I was ordained- a former Pastor approached me afterward, and "complimented" me with this: "Well, I never thought you'd make it as a Pastor.  But I guess I take that back now."  Like Marty said- "don't kill what makes others come alive.  Don't assault another's calling."

- Marty talking about: "passing up excellent opportunities with security for risky ones that provide freedom in life."  Great advice.  

- God opposes the proud, gives grace to the humble.  Here's a highly qualified leader serving...in the ladies restroom... and me having fun at his expense...  

- Heard great things about the audio mix.  Loud and full yet people can "hear themselves singing."  The low end of the keys shakes me on the stage- YES.  I heard you can hear every member of the band.  YES.

- Great having my wonderful friends, Mark and Susan Taylor and family with us.  You won't find better people than them.  At lunch, Eli kept talking about the children's experience, thing after thing.  Eli: "I like your church."  That's a win for our City Kids.

- I heard the concentration from the production team was great.  They were focused the whole time- no cell phones or distractions- and you could tell the difference.  They did a great job.

 

This:

Skeptical, Week 4- Hell

Skeptical Series, Week 4- Hell/Redemption

Speaker- Jason Haymaker

Notes on Jason's Message:

There are 50 references to "hell" in the New Testament.

If you believe in hell as an actual location, place of real torment, only 30% of people believe in this.

Mark Twain- "I'll take heaven for the climate, hell for the company."  Huh.

"Universalism" - belief that God will, one day, save everyone.

Jesus taught it as a real, actual physical location.  He used the term "Gehenna," a town dump just outside of Jerusalem to illustrate it.  A literal place of unquenchable fire.

Hell is also a place of utter darkness.  It's a place that never ends.  It is for eternity.

And yes, there will be people in it.

Why does hell exist?  

The Bible speaks of the revolt that happened in heaven before the world was created- Lucifer (satan) wanted to be God- so God cast him out of heaven along with the angels that were deceived.

But, this location that was prepared for satan and the fallen angels- the Bible speaks of people that do not believe going there, too.  "Fiery lake of burning sulfur."

Not about being a "good" person, going there or not.

It's about believing in Jesus.

You might live from the "Oprah category" that a loving God wouldn't do that.  You might live from a legalistic standpoint of "you're gonna get yours."

God does not send any person to hell.  But we will condemn ourselves to that horrible place if we reject God.

Why did God even give us the chance to not believe?

If we're going to have a choice with free will, then... we do have a choice.

If free will is removed, so is love, devotions, worship, commitment, honor, creativity, and the longing to be in heaven.

In God's permissive will, He has given us choice.  You can choose Him or not choose Him.  We are fully responsible for our choices.

C.S. Lewis- "Sin is man saying to God- 'Go away and leave me alone.'  Hell is God saying to man 'okay, you can have your wish.'"

God is sovereign.  Underneath that, His permissive will gives us choice- that doesn't mess with that sovereignty.

God ordained evil and the fall to show His glory and to redeem us.

The Bible, over and over again, teaches us that God is Holy- not one imperfection in His conduct or nature- He cannot co-exist with sin- so God, in His perfect love, exists also in perfect justice.

God presented Jesus as a sacrifice as an atonement- demonstrating His justice- and demonstrating His love.

"I came to earth so you can be completely justified, and can miss out on hell."

Jesus didn't come to condemn the world, but to save it.

Whoever believes in Him is not condemned!  

My friend- trust in Jesus!  Let Him save your life!

Weekend Review, 04.09-10.11

Skeptical Series, Week 3- Sexuality

Speaker: Jason Haymaker

Sexuality is a God-created thing- it’s beautiful.  It’s good.

It’s created for marriage. 

Being sexually immoral = sex outside of what God created it for.

Sex outside of marriage = wrong.

The context of sex in Scripture is in the framework of marriage.

Can I live with someone before getting married?  According to Scripture, it is not right.

In our church right now, there are 2 families that realized the right thing to do and did it the right way- they would tell you it's worth it.  They moved out and got married quickly.  Do the right thing- it's better!

With that said-

We as adults need to remember what its like for young people these days...

Don’t excuse sin- but don’t have a critical spirit of them- parents and mentors, walk through doors with them.

Teens and singles are going to struggle with masturbation- Dads- go home to your sons and stand beside them, fight battle with them.  Your sons need your vision for them.

 Marty- "help students to see it as battle to be fought rather than war to be lost."

 One of the best days ever- when Caleb turned 13, the ceremony that was held where Jason, the grandfathers, and men in Caleb's life spoke into his life- we will stand and fight with you!

Based on Scripture, homosexuality is wrong.  There is no evidence of being “born that way” in Scripture.  If you have urges, we believe they can be overcome.  If you struggle with that- we will not throw stones at you while we hold to our convictions- we will walk through doors with you and love you the whole time!  You are welcome here with us!

However- homosexuality falls into the same camp of sins as living together before marriage, sex outside of marriage, etc.

Church- don’t you judge with prejudice.  LOVE people who struggle with this, just as Christ and others loved you with whatever you struggled with.

The world sees us as judgmental, angry, and hateful.  May that not be true of Western Reserve.

Fruit of the Spirit- we've replaced:

Love – hate

Patience - judgment

Peace – picket lines

 Jesus didn’t take His cross and picket with it, He laid on it and died for those sinners… which include you, by the way.

People would like Jesus- He’d talk with them, not shout at them-

This church will not beat you up for a redeemed past.

Pursuing Truth Together

Series: Tattooed: What Marks Us

Speaker: Jason Haymaker

Me Too: Pursuing Truth Together

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"God did not create man because he was lonely.  God exists in community with Himself (Trinity), and created man as extension of Himself."

Isn't it interesting how Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with everything... and to love one another- those dots are connected.

The early church shared EVERYTHING.  Sacrifice was a daily affair.  Coincidence that "much grace was upon them all?"  (Acts 4)

Acts 4:34- "there were no needy persons among them."

What are you willing to sacrifice so this would be true about us today?

"Authentic community is real (not fake) life together."

"The love of God in part is not just between you and God, but in part is also to be shown to you and I."

Love needs to be defined holistically.  Up and out.

"Sacrifice: the seeking of another's good at one's own cost."

"If you seek to love biblically, it will cost you."

Biblical love will cause you to be self-less, and love sacrificially.

Don't talk about loving God with everything if you won't walk that line with others.

God uses Biblical community to reach people.

We've become good at superficial community.

Most people are turned off by the Church's community, rather than invited in.  That should tell you something.

90% of ministry is showing up.

Biblical community is sacrificing something we're doing to have a "me too" relationship.

Every handshake, every dollar given, every conversation- is an opportunity to have an impact on others for Jesus.

Western Reserve has just been through a season of consolidation.  I think we're about to transition into the greatest season of growth we've ever seen.  Let's do things now to get ready.

Tattooed- The Passionate Life

Tattooed Series, The Passionate Life

Speaker: Jason Haymaker

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Churches tend to drift from the things that make them who they are, in order to make things more pleasant for themselves.

Check out Revelation 3, the letter to the church in Sardis- "I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead."

"The church that is alive is guided by the Spirit and passionately reflects Him."

"What breaks God's heart?" = Passionate Reflection, The Passionate Life

"God's heart breaks for the spiritually disconnected." - Luke 19

Acts 1- He will be the one empowering, you will be the one doing it.  You'll be the witnesses.

"We have no idea of our potential until we attempt what we can't attain without Jesus."

"The church needs to be driven by 2 questions: (1) Does it bother you people who are spiritually disconnected from the Father will spend eternity in hell if they die that way? (2) What is a soul worth?"

50% of Americans have no church home.  There are 98,000 people within 5 miles of Western Reserve's driveway.  Every year 4,000 churches in America close, with 1,000 opening.  Every year 2.7 million members fall into inactivity.

"In order to win more, we must risk all."

"The United States now ranks #3, behind China and India, in amount of people that don't know Jesus.  We're quickly becoming an unreached people group."

"The church becomes effective only when the Spirit of God is released among us and we reflect Christ our Savior.  In order to win more, we have to risk all."

"People need a place where the rungs of acceptance are so low that anyone with an interest can come here and find a friend."

"Did you do all that you could to help the spiritually disconnected become wholehearted followers of Jesus?" 

Did you ask: "What is a soul worth?"

On that note, what do you do with this: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

If we have truth without action, we will become the church or Sardis, and apathy will kill us.

Nancy Beech, staff at Willow Creek- "every 5 seconds in this world, a child dies of hunger-related disease."

What is a soul worth?

Tattooed- Let's Get Branded

Tattooed Series, Week 1

Speaker: Jason Haymaker

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This week kicked off our Tattooed Series- talking about our core values, the things that brand us- the things we want to be known by.

Today we discussed Biblical Authority~

One of the big things we believe in and stand by, is Revelation (not the book "Revelation)- how God has communicated to us.  We only know about God what God has communicated about Himself.  

Here's the Revelation shake-down: Revelation that is General or Special.

General is the things we know about God that are evidently seen.  For example, looking at nature.  God is not in nature (pantheism) but He created it, and we can know something about God by seeing what He did, and is doing.

Special revelation includes things that are done via individuals- such as God speaking to prophets, God leading you by His Spirit, etc.

This also includes Scripture

What marks that it's authoritative:

1. Consistency

Written over thousands of years, three continents, (Europe, Africa, Asia)- the space and time which goes between those pages, yet there is unbelievable accuracy of events that happened after they were foretold.

2. God wrote the Bible

We believe that God inspired Scripture- human writings yet God by His Spirit led those writers.  We believe that the Holy Spirit speaks outside of Scripture to us as well, but never in contradiction to it.  2 Timothy 3 says that Scripture is God-breathed- what this means is that God inspired these words through select writers (which was not just one guy- see Book of Mormon, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which make no mistake is not Christian).  Divine inspiration includes verbal and plenary inspiration- both the exact words, and all, the whole of Scripture is God-inspired.

3. We Believe the Bible is Complete

Who determined what books should be in the Bible? The Hebrews accepted the 39 OT books as Scripture.  Jesus repeatedly (in NT) quotes the Old Testament.  Jesus showed that respect to the Old Testament.  The scribes literally translated one letter at a time.  The early church accepted the NT- and we believe that the "canon," which is the measurement, the standard that is Scripture, is closed.  No more should be added to it- God speaks to us still, but it's not Scripture.  Scripture is the standard that everything is tested against.  Also, it's important to understand that the Church "canonizing" Scripture was endorsing and accepting what was there, not developing.

On a personal note- I loved seeing Jason engage 2 Timothy 3 the right way.  So few do- it's not a proof that Scripture is inerrant- just because Josh says Josh is awesome doesn't prove anything.  The only people that think: "oh, of course the Bible is true.  2 Timothy 3" are people that have been in the church too long, and forget how to think secularly.  No one in our seats that is not a Christian is going to fall for that "proof."  However, 2 Timothy is Scripture, and needs to be engaged.  It does help us understand how inspiration works and where it is useful.  2 thumbs up.

People have real questions about the accuracy and authority of Scripture- seeing testimony like Jason has discussed is sound thinking.  As an academic myself, I believe in the authority of Scripture.  I can't prove it.  I believe it.  My belief about inerrancy Scripture is tied to my belief in an inerrant God.  God doesn't lie, He doesn't get things wrong- and I believe that God wrote Scripture.  If I believe this, I can trust the authority of Scripture to shape my thoughts and my life.

Jacked: Destination

Jacked Series, Week 4        Notes from: Jason Haymaker

Our lives are headed somewhere.  Could it be toward... settling?

Matt 5: Blessed are those... (Happy, or fulfilled, "Jacked")

4 Different Indicators of pursuing the Jacked Life:

1. Grace Motivates You
         Blessed are the poor in spirit... meaning, those who get that they need a Savior, needing grace.

  Regardless of how much time I spend in church, read my Bible, what I attend- I am not good enough to make it in to heaven.  You don't deserve heaven, no matter what the body of work of your Christian life has been.  You're saved by grace when you believe- grace is something we are given that we do not deserve. 

  Jesus came to earth to pay the penalty for our sins- its by His grace that we have opportunity to know Him, to be saved.  My friends... we need saved.  A recent study said that 86% of evangelical Christians said that you go to heaven if you're "good enough."  It's not a reward; it's a gift.

"Poor in Spirit" means that you know you need Jesus and you are set free by Him.  

2. Sin Frustrates You

  Question for us as a Church: "What if we're supposed to walk in the church and not feel good?  What if times because of authentic spiritual conviction you don't feel right?  What if we're supposed to be frustrated with our sin?"  People living the "Jacked" life are people of conviction.  Not necessarily of guilt, but being broken and to mourn that the sin that you and I give ourselves to.  The church was never intended to be a place where we come and pretend like everything is ok.  We traded authentic brokenness for inauthentic fake behavior.

  "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."  - Blessed are the people whose heart breaks for their sin.

"We're most honest over beer and wings and the Lizard."  Could we be like that?

"The church needs to be a place where it's okay to not be okay."

3. You Long for Growth

You'll do anything to see more people trust Him.  People that are living the Jacked life is that we are constantly growing.  Healthy things grow.  People will surrender things because they just want to see the Kingdom advanced.  "They're being authentically transformed, not hypocritically informed."

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Meekness = strength under control.

You can back it up- but you don't always need to.  Secure.  It's about we, not me.  I don't have to be in control, I don't have to win the conversation.

What are you doing to actively serve the body of Christ?

Also- grown up people feed themselves.  Don't look to someone else to "feed you."

"Some of you need to exchange your bib for a fork and start to feed yourself."

4. You Are Generous

People that live the Jacked life love to give.  Freely receive, freely to give.

There are some that felt the sting of the economy's struggles more than others in the last few years.  However- is it because things are genuinely difficult...

Or is it because a few years back your god died?

Where are treasure is, there are heart is also.  

You can't live the Jacked life without giving generously to God... and you also need to be generous with others.

On a personal note (Josh)- years ago I delivered pizzas for a side job.  Every time I drove up to a place where there was a car in the driveway with a religious bumper sticker, or some kind of religious figurine in the garden or a scripture plaque on their house... I was like, "oh great... won't get a good tip here."  I'm telling you, Christians most of the time are the worst tippers.  That should never be- should be the opposite.  If you count out exact change for tip, or it's anything less than 15-18%, even for just one person- please don't tell them you're a Christian.

Your Life is headed somewhere.  Don't settle.

What more does God have in mind for you as an individual?

What more does God have in mind for Western Reserve as a church?