VISION & VALUES: Relationships

January 28, 2007
"Relationships Doing for Others"

•If our vision is to “share the love of Jesus…”
•Then, our actions MUST speak just as much, if not more than we do.
•Do your actions speak louder than words?
•They will know we are Christians by our love.
•We show our love FOR Jesus by our actions.
•Matthew 25:31-46
•Put other people before yourselves.
•Philippians 2:3-4
•We need to reflect Jesus.


JAMES 2:14-26
Dear brothers & sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone. Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, “Well, good-bye & God bless you; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.
Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” I say, “I can’t see your faith if you don’t have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds.”
Do you think it’s enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless?
Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did—by his actions. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.” He was even called “the friend of God.” So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
Rahab the prostitute is another example of this. She was made right with God by her actions—when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.
“Just as the body is dead without spirit, so faith is dead without good deeds.”

HOLY SPIRIT'S ROLE
•Organic ~ Gives us words: Matthew 10:20
•Relationship Doing ~ Our actions are the fruit of the Spirit’s transformation in our lives: Galatians 5:22-26
•Community
•Holy Spirit
•Answers
•Relationship Building
•Developers

VISION & VALUES: Organic

January 14, 2007
"Living the Organic Lifestyle"

DEFINING ORGANIC
Contains life.
Natural (no pesticides).
Organism vs. program.
Organisms are intentional.
VISION: “To share the love of Jesus…”
Go with life. Go where you’ve always gone. Go with purpose.

John 4
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way.5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.6 Jacob's well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink."8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. 9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.* She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?" 10 Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." 11 "But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?12 And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?" 13 Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." 15 "Please, sir," the woman said, "give me this water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water." 16 "Go and get your husband," Jesus told her. 17 "I don't have a husband," the woman replied. Jesus said, "You're right! You don't have a husband—18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!" 19 "Sir," the woman said, "you must be a prophet.20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim,* where our ancestors worshiped?" 21 Jesus replied, "Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.23 But the time is coming—indeed it's here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." 25 The woman said, "I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 26 Then Jesus told her, "I AM the Messiah!"

Jesus was ORGANIC.
“Had to go” (vs4).
Coffee shop (vs6).
Loved the unlovable.
Used his environment to start convo (v7-15).
Spoke the truth (v16-24).
Introduced Jesus (v26).

VISION & VALUES: "Beginnings"

January 7, 2007

"Beginnings"

We opened up our services Sunday with an extensive talk about Ezekiel 34:25-31, the past two years and how God has blessed us. We talked of our people increase, our contacts increase, our financial increase, our leadership increase. We talked of our need to meet up with God and move forward to more and better things. We, also, talked of how our conversation began in January of 2005 looking forward to January of 2007. THIS IS THE TIME, the month, the target of our blessing. This is the season we've been looking forward to for 2 years now. We brought us back to the beginning, so that we could move forward to the future. God is with us and it's time for us to partner with His planting, His vision and His love for our community!

MATTHEW 13:3-9
"Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn't have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand."

Where do we start?
•We are a church plant.
•Which means that we must “scatter the seed.”
•What is the vision of the Orchard church?
•“To share the love of Jesus…”

SHARE THE LOVE OF JESUS
•At the coffee shops.
•In living rooms.
•With families.
•Matthew 13:18-23
•Our job is to love as unconditionally as our humanity will allow us.

Season of the Miraculous PART III

December 31, 2006

Visitors from the East
Matthew 2:1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men* from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,2 "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose,* and we have come to worship him." 3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?" 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote:6 `And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities* of Judah,for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'*"

7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.8 Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!" 9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.


The Escape to Egypt
13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother,15 and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my Son out of Egypt."* 16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance.17 Herod's brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18 "A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning.Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead."

The Return to Nazareth
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.20 "Get up!" the angel said. "Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead." 21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee.23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: "He will be called a Nazarene."