Netcast 2011 Recap and Short Video.

Watch Netcast's 2 Minute Video: "Join the MOVEment" http://vimeo.com/33835926

It has been an amazing 1st year for Netcast, much more amazing than anyone anticipated. Since January, we have had over 700 people come through our doors on a Sunday morning. Currently we have over 100 people in 8 Community Groups meeting across the North Shore. The Netcast Senior Staff is currently a team of 3 full-time employees (raising their own funds) and 5 part-time volunteers. Within this first year we've seen dozens and dozens of people come to faith in Jesus and we have baptized over 20 people since September. Most unexpectedly, is the influence that our AV and Technology ministry is having. Every weekend, there are people watching our services live on the internet and our website has seen about 8000 hits from every state and 6 continents. Our videos have been played / downloaded or embedded into other sites over 26,000 times. Our influence is growing far and fast.

Like any movement, it is often so tempting to become comfortable and complacent by living in the "What God did." rather than remembering "What God still wants to do." Because of that, In the video above, I wanted to communicate our vision as we move to a new facility in 2012. Please share the video with everyone you know and spread the word. My heart is that we continue to stay focused on Gods mission to invade Greater Boston with the Gospel.

Beth and I are still about 20% short of goal for our fundraising for 2012. Please consider supporting us. Some of you inquired about an End of The Year Gift. You can give online at http://netcastchurch.org/#/give-online or send any checks to "Netcast Church" 15 1/2 Pierce Ave. Beverly MA 01915

We have been so blessed by your partnership and love you more than you know.

Matt

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Matt Chewning
Netcast Church - Lead Pastor
netcastchurch.org matt@netcastchurch.org

Why I am Honoring the Netcast Senior Staff tonight….

Church Planting is one of the hardest things anyone will ever do. That doesn't just go for the Lead Pastor but also for his wife, family and the others that have come along side of them to be a part of seeing Jesus' church take root and grow. The planning, the hours, the late night phone calls, the innumerable amount of emails, team building and counseling; all of it is both a great joy and absolutely exhausting. Often times people have no idea what it actually takes to put together what we see in our Sunday Services and Community Groups every week.

So, tonight Beth and I are taking out the Senior Staff and their wives, to honor them and love on them. The Senior Staff are the 7 men who meet every Thursday morning at 6:00am for staff meeting and also have an oversight role within Netcast with people under them. Personally, it was a struggle to limit the night to just them because there have been so many faithful servants within Netcast over the past year. The majority of the money that we will use to do this will be from my personal donor funds where I draw our family income. It is our way of saying "Thank You" to them.

Why am I writing this?

In the evangelical world, there is often a this false view of how church staff should be treated. Typically pastors and church staff are extremely underpaid and incredibly over-worked; all with little appreciation and almost no honor from those they serve. I am excited that Netcast is not like that at all and the culture being created at Netcast is one of great appreciation and honor.

That said, on occasion the bitter person will rise up and try to create chaos or dis-unity within an organization by making leaders feel guilty for honoring and spoiling those who have been faithfully serving. This is especially true within the Local Church and other Non-Profit organizations. Sometimes these people will even try to use a verse out of context to prove their point. That type of attitude will never be tolerated at Netcast as we will always seek to love and honor those as we see fit. Just like in the corporate setting where everybody likes to be appreciated and noticed the church is no different.

So, tonight Beth and I look forward to honoring the following people by blessing them with a fun night in the city. Feel free to join Beth and I in being an encouragement to them.

Dan Savlon: Netcast Administration

Dan Byrd: Pastor of Community and Multiplication

Steve Shomo: Director of Netcast Audio/Video

Andrew Siems: Director of Facilities and Setup/Teardown

Josh Sturgeon: Netcast Worship Leader

Rob Mansfield: Netcast Treasure

BUT GOD…..

How does God change the human heart? This is a question that I often wondered as it was so clear that my life had been transformed in September of 2000.

Ephesians 2:1-10 offers what I believe to be the clearest picture of the Good News of Jesus. It points us to the activator of our faith and the means in which the heart is transformed.

1(A) And you were(B) dead in the trespasses and sins 2(C) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following(D) the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in(E) the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in(F) the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and(G) were by nature(H) children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

There are two people in the world that exist today.

1. Those who “Were” dead in their trespasses.

2. Those who “Are” dead in their trespasses.

The scriptures teach us that outside of Christ we are absolutely dead to our sins and trespasses. There are two characteristics that come with being physically dead; you are unresponsive to everything and those who are dead are subject to corruption or corrosion. The body deteriorates over time, until dust has returned to dust. The same is true spiritually; when the bible speaks of us being spiritually dead, it is simply saying that there is nothing that we could do to lovingly respond to God and over time we continually are getting more self-centered and more corrupt. Now, if the story stopped there, it would be a bad day; but it doesn't.

In two words everything changes, in two words we see how someone who is dead, becomes alive; in two words we see how someone who is unresponsive to everything and full of corruption; finds life.

BUT GOD......

4But[b] God

Not, BUT I pulled up my bootstraps and began to take things serious. Not, BUT I grew up and matured. Not, BUT I got married and she got me on the right track. Not, BUT I started to do good things for people. Not, BUT I had kids and started to raise them in the church. Simply……BUT GOD!!!

being(I) rich in mercy,(J) because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even(K) when we were dead in our trespasses,(L) made us alive together with Christ—(M) by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and(N) seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable(O) riches of his grace in(P) kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For(Q) by grace you have been saved(R) through faith. And this is(S) not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works,(V) so that no one may boast.

We are dead in our transgressions and sins: BUT GOD. We are unresponsive and becoming more and more corrupt: BUT GOD. Our best efforts result in failures and mistakes: BUT GOD. We are controlled by the world around us, by evil spiritual forces, by our inner drives and desires: BUT GOD. We deserve eternal judgment: BUT GOD. God being rich in love and mercy, sent Christ to pay the penalty for our sin and provide a way for us to live life to the full. Finally, we are alive, finally we have the ability to experience the world and life in the way in which God originally intended it.

Why? Why would God do this? Why did God change me? Of all the people in the world, why did he choose me?

For(W) we are his workmanship,(X) created in Christ Jesus(Y) for good works,(Z) which God prepared beforehand,(AA) that we should walk in them.

In a believe that is so beautifully saturated in grace, it is hard at times to see the importance of works. Do our works so anything in the process of justification? Absolutely not.

However, Good works are key to the believer in Christ because it does two things.

1. It gives a means of purpose in our lives because that is why we were created. We have been created to do good, so now that we have been transformed, we see our purpose as doing good.

2. Our good works, are also our assurance of salvation. We are saved fully by grace through faith, but our assurance of God's supernatural saving grace is in our works. James says very clearly that faith without works is dead. Therefore, we are called to not have false assurance of God's saving grace in our life, but instead look internally and honestly evaluate our works to see if we are truly in the faith.

True Faith will produce Good Fruit.

All of that said, the most important day of our life is the day that we will stand before Jesus, our knees will fail us and we will bow before him. And the only thing we will be able to say is......”I was dead....But God.”

Risky Business…Peter walks on water.

Matthew 4:22-32

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." 28And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." 29He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Great Risk Takers of the Bible:

There is a great legacy of risk-takers in the bible. Esther broke the royal law to save her people and said, "If I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:16). Shadrach and his boys refused to bow down to the king's idol and said, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us . . . But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods" (Daniel 3:16-18). And when the Holy Spirit told Paul that in every city imprisonment and afflictions await him, he said, "I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course" (Acts 20:24). David, as he hears the giant Goliath cursing our God, says “suit me up, give me a sling, this dude is going down!!”

In these examples and the many others we see in the scriptures, we see that in order to see great and miraculous things of the Lord, it takes great risk on our part.

Four questions to ask about taking a risk.

1. What is God speaking to you? (vs28)

And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." 29He said, "Come."

There are all sorts of ways that we hear the voice of the Lord. It can be through a stirring in our hearts, it can be through our desires, it can be hearing His voice, it can be through the council of others in our lives. There are all sorts of ways we can hear him. The questions is not whether He's speaking, its rather, are we listening to him?

I remember getting this idea in my head about moving to plant this church. Crazy. It started with this small desire as I sat in church on Sunday ad thought to myself, “I could do this one day.” then it became a literal dream that I started to have. Then Beth confirmed it and said that it was something that she felt God might be calling us to do, then it was my pastor affirming it then it was donors. Before long, it was undeniable that this is what God was calling us to do.

What risky thing is God calling you to do?

• New business venture.

• Ask her to marry you.

• Have a baby.

• Start a ministry.

• Ask her on a date.

• Be baptized.

….and its not always fun things, it could be disciplines that God is calling you to.

• Get into a community group; be vulnerable.

• Expose past hurts so that you can begin to heal.

• Take a sabbath. Give a Tithe. Serve.

• Break up with him.

• Move out of your girls house until you're ready to marry her

I always hear the...but, “I don't know how I'll.....” Example..”How are we gonna plant a church?”

“you be obedient with the what, God will be faithful with the how.”

What is God speaking to you?

2. Are you scared?

27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

Now fear is not an action, it's a feeling. It's literally not possible to control your feelings, but you can control the actions that the feelings lead you into. For example: If right now a spider fell on my head, That would scare the life out of me. And I wouldn't be able to control that feeling of fear, but I could control how I reacted to that fear.

In my mind, fear is what makes the ride worth it.

Think of a Roller Coaster. The scariest ones always have the longest lines. Because its worth it. You ever been on a roller coaster? For me the scariest ones are the old wooden ones. The ones that click as you go up. The ones that you look at and the wood is all rotting and there's bolts missing. It has the pause at the top so you can look down before it lets you go. You got the weird 15 year old kid with a tie-die shirt, star wars hat and braces on. But the reason we ride them is because it is scary.

Fear is your emotions telling you that if you don't do this, you're gonna miss out. Any typically every God ordained legacy is established when someone overcomes a fear at some level.

What are you most afraid of? Answer that question, and you may be on your way to seeing God move in a huge way in your life.

3. Would you rather sink or sit?

So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me."

Peter typically gets a bad rap:

• Denied Christ 3 times before after he promised that he'd never do it.

• Cut a dude ear off when they arrested Jesus and Jesus had to heal the guy.

• Paul had to call him out for being a racist.

• And in this case, he gets out of the boat and sinks.......But the dude got out of the boat.

It is so easy to criticize the guy who tried to walk on water when your sitting in a boat.

When all is said and done, I believe that the greatest regrets will not be things that we did and failed at, but rather the God ordained things that we failed to attempt to do. A famous German author wrote: “ Hell begins the day God grants you the vision off all the things you could have done, would have done, and should have done; if you didn't let fear stop you.”

• Would you rather live in total bondage because your too afraid to get help?
• Would you rather live in seclusion because your too afraid to be vulnerable?
• Would you rather miss a miracle because your too afraid to get out of the boat?

4. What do you have to lose?

31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him

Peter is a human being. Now, what in the world would posses a human being to stand on the edge of a boat, look down and think to himself “I can walk on that.” Not only that, but it says that it was windy and waves were crashing into the boat. For all intensive purposes, for Peter to even consider taking his legs, lifting them over the ledge and attempting to walk on water, is insane. I honestly don't think I'd do it. I was just on the Norwegian Cruise-line and it was during a hurricane. And I'm telling you now, I wouldn't have done it. And I can promise you that Peter was scared to death. But he didn't let his fear stop him from trying. In the end, what did he have to lose?

The Gospel:

Here is what's so amazing about the gospel. Through Jesus's perfect life in which he walked with perfect obedience to God the father, then his un-just wrath absorbing death on the cross where all of our sin was poured out onto him on the cross and he was punished for our iniquities, then his physical resurrection claiming victory over satan sin and death. We have then what's called the great exchange. In where those who trust in Christ get Christ's perfect life. Because of that, the bible calls us, Children of God, Born again Believers, in which we are sealed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Adopted into God's family. We are heirs to the King.

Now, as heirs to the King; this is the Kings promise to us.

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

For the followers of Jesus the final risk is gone. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). "Neither death nor life . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 3:38-39). "Some of you they will put to death. . . . But not a hair of your head will perish" (Luke 21:16, 18). "Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live" (John 11:25).

This is my TRUTH…….

You and I are sinners in rebellion against the God who has created us. We cant help but worship ourself, others and mundane stuff. When we look in the mirror, and are honest with ourselves, we know in our hearts that there must be more. That said, we hate the idea of submission to a God, if there is one. We'd rather be in charge of our own life than live in bondage against the ways of a higher power.

The easy thing to do is to make up our own God who submits to us and does what we want him to do. A God who fits into our lifestyle, our pleasures and would never question our behavior or direction. It's not our fault for believing this. We've been trained to believe it by our families who abandoned us, our churches who mis-repressented this God by living joyless, hypocritical lives and our western culture which tells us to be independent and selfish.

By God's grace, we have seen that through Jesus, modeling a sinless perfect life in full pursuit of this God and full submission of this God, lives with an authority and joy that we deeply desire yet cannot obtain by will-power. He then dies the death that we know we deserve for being selfish, wicked hearted liars, cheaters, thieves and deceivers. Jesus dies for us, in our place and physically rises from the dead, telling the world and proving to the world that he is who he said he was…God in the flesh.

Through a pursuit and love towards Him, we can find Love, Peace, Passion, Purpose and Joy in submission to this loving and Holy God who has our upmost pleasure in mind when he commands us in any way…..this is my truth.

Tazer Gun…best story I have ever read!!!

Pocket Tazer Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife. A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Tazer for their anniversary submitted this:

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer.

The effects of the Tazer were supposed to be short lived, with no long term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety...??

WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home... I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button.. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button and pressed it against a metal surface at the same time, I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs.

AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, right?

There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target.

I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and then thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised.

Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and Tazer in another.

The directions said that: a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant;

a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; and

a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.
Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference (loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries); pretty cute really, and thinking to myself, 'no possible way!'

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best.

I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side so as to say, 'Don't do it stupid,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny lil ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it.

I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and...

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. WHAT THE... !!!

I'm pretty sure Hulk Hogan ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs! The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.

Note:
If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a Tazer,
one note of caution:

There is NO such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor!
A three second burst would be considered conservative!

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape.

• My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace.
• The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was.
• My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching.
• My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs.
• I had no control over the drooling.
• Apparently I had crapped in my shorts, but was too numb to know for sure, and my sense of smell was gone.
• I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head, which I believe came from my hair.

I'm still looking for my testicles and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!

PS: My wife can't stop laughing about my experience, loved the gift and now regularly threatens me with it!

If you think education is difficult, try being stupid!!!!

Encounter: Love Expressed - Body Language

There is a movement within evangelicalism right now that I personally believe to be a good movement, that God is worshipped in all things. Its a very biblical movement that simply says that in all we do we aught to worship God.

We don’t just worship God through Song, but there are other means in which we worship Jesus.

• Giving is a means of worship.

• Studying God's word is a means of worship.

• Working unto the Lord and providing for your family is worship.

• Prayer is a means of worship.

• Taking Communion is a means of worship.

Really, according to Romans 12, anything that is a sacrifice unto Jesus is considered a means of worship.

If worship is everything, worship is nothing.

CS Lewis makes the argument in Mere Christianity, that if Truth is everything, than truth is nothing. Basically stating, if all truth is true, than no truth is true. The same goes for worship, if worship is everything, than worship is really nothing.

Worship is......Love Expressed

Expression of Love matters, and the way people receive that expressed love is different.

My wife Beth likes Quality Time, Back Rub, Talk on the phone. Personally, those things don't matter very much to me. I like to be served. That's my love language. Along the same line, you cant express love to people in ways that they don’t receive it. Love isn’t about you, its about them.

In the scriptures, we actually see certain ways that God likes to have love expressed to him. And often times you see that Posture matters as we express that love to him through song.

Lets take a look at how this is played out in the scriptures.

Context:

The original Hebrew language is very pictorial. What I mean by that is there may be 5 different words in Hebrew that we only can translate to one word. For example; the word Love in the Bible has 4 different words to describe it because there are different types of love. Personally I love basketball, calzones, my church, my wife, my kids, my friends, and Jesus. However, I love all of those things differently. Well, the Hebrew has specific words for those types of love.

The same is true for the word “Praise”. Praise has a variety of meaning in the scriptures, and how we translate to the word praise, the Scriptures have many different words for it in the Original Hebrew Language. Lets look at 5 Hebrew words that Gods uses when describing how He desires for us to worship and express our love to him. As we study these words, lets take a strong look at how our Posture before him matters.

• Hallal: (Ha-lel) To praise, to make a show or rave about, to glory in or boast upon, to be clamorously foolish about you adoration of God

Psalm 22:23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him, and fear him, all you offspring of Israel!

Psalm 44:8 In God we boast all day long, and praise your name forever. Selah

Psalm 63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips.

• Barak: (Ba-rock)to kneel or bow, to give reverence to God as an act of adoration, implies a continual conscious giving place to God, to be attuned to him and his presence

Psalm 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him, and bless his name.

Psalm 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

• Todah: (Tow-dah) an extension of the hand, avowal, adoration, a choir of worshipers, confession, sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving

Psalm 50:14 Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.

Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

• Zamar: (Za-mar) to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument i.e. play upon it, to make music accompanied by the voice or other parts of the body, to celebrate in song and music, to make noise.

Psalm 144:9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to you...

• Guwl: (Gool) to spin around, to be physically under the influence of any violent emotion.

Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Psalm 35:9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; It shall rejoice in his salvation.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

These words are good examples that should challenge us all. In these words we see that God desires a specific posture when we express our love towards him. He desires to have a good balance of acting foolish before him, yet reverent as we recognize who we are in light of who he is. We see that he desires for us to join in making a noise to him, whether it be with our voices, our feet, our hands or instruments. The band is there to lead us into worship, not to put on a worship show for us. God desires for us to raise our arms to him. This shows a number of things. It demonstrates surrender, excitement, and even the express of a child lifting their arms to their daddy in an effort to be lifted up.

In all, we simply see that posture matters to Jesus as we gather for corporate worship.

Our argument against this....

There is a temptation to say: “ We'll I don't do that. I don't express my love to Jesus like that.”

We'll quite frankly, its not about you, its about how Jesus likes to be loved and worshiped. If all we do is make worship about how we like to express it, than worship is about us.........And Worship is about Him, not us!!

I have had many people push back on physical expression during worship an say, "That's not me." I agree. Personally, I am a white American with little to no rhythm. When I think about my culture, it is safe to say that typically white westerners aren't the type you typically think of getting all excited about Jesus with dancing and singing. That's not my culture. That said, we have to ask the question…..do we want to be cultural or biblical. Surely we should be able to look at the scriptures and allow what it says to bump up against our culture. Isn't that the point?

At Netcast, it is my hear that we grow to become a biblical church, not a cultural church.

Why is this important?

Because he is watching…….look at these two verses.

John 4:23 (NIV) Jesus speaking....Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV) For the eyes of the LORD range to and fro the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

My encouragement to Netcast is this…..If Jesus is going to and fro the earth in an effort to seek worshippers who worship Him by (Spirit) the power and enabling of the Holy Spirit, and (Truth) in the manner and posture in which he enjoys and delights in; than LET HIM FIND US!!

Are those the only ways God enjoys to be worshipped? No, absolutely not. But they are a part of it.

This sermon is called "Body Language" and can be found at http://www.netcastchurch.org/#/audio-video

Netcast Update (Lots of people; Lots of stories)

Yesterday, we celebrated being 9 months old and we did it by seeing 6 people come to faith in Jesus and baptizing 7 people in front of an attendance of 257 gathered for worship. Honestly, I have no idea how we were able to get that many people into the YMCA but it happened and it was beautiful.

We are seeing people put their faith in Jesus every weekend. However, far beyond all of the numerical excitement are the stories of what Jesus is doing in the lives of the people at Netcast. Our church is living intentionally on mission and the stories we hear throughout the week are amazing. Currently we have 7 Netcast Community Groups up and running and are looking to be in a larger space at the beginning of 2012. Our staff has grown to 3 full-time people who are fundraising their own support, with 3 other volunteer staff members.

One of my close friends, Park Thomas, who I've been sharing the gospel with for the past 10 months got saved on September 4th at Netcast. He was baptized this weekend and I would encourage you to take 5 minutes and watch his Baptism Video at http://vimeo.com/30603631. This is a glimpse of what is going on here in Greater Boston.

Please pray for me as I begin fundraising for 2012. Netcast has begun to pay a portion of my salary each month but I am still in need of raising about $40,000 for the 2nd year. This will help with my salary and expenses that come with moving to a new facility. With all of the people and ministry needs, its been hard to dedicate time to the fundraising portion of the church. It typically takes 5 years for a new church to be financially self-sustaining. That said, I praise God for this awesome opportunity and how you have partnered with us in it.

Thank you for your prayers and love towards us. We love you more than you know.

Matt

More Netcast baptism videos at http://vimeo.com/netcastchurch/videos

Matt Chewning
Netcast Church - Lead Pastor
netcastchurch.org matt@netcastchurch.org

Party after the Baptism Service this Sunday.

Spread the word…….Join us for another Baptism Service on Sunday.

This weekend we will be baptizing 7 more people and celebrating all the amazing things that Jesus is doing in the lives of people at Netcast. One of those people being baptized this weekend is Libby Pepin. Her family owns The Clam Bake in Ipswich, MA.

On Sunday after the Baptism service, her family has invited the entire church out for a free Incredible Clam Bake Lunch. All we have to do is show up and the Pepin's will provide everything. If the weather permits, there will also be a bunch of outdoor lawn games for everyone. It's only about a 15 minute drive from church.

This is an awesome blessing, so lets take advantage of it. The address is:
354 Linebrook Rd
Ipswich, MA

Beyond that, lets pack the house out again. This is an awesome opportunity to get your friends, family and neighbors in front of some powerful testimonies of God's saving and changing power through Jesus Christ and the cross.

See you Sunday.

Pastor Matt

Worship is Warfare; Fight the Battle.

The more I read CS Lewis (aka Jack) the more I am beginning to love the man. In his book The Screwtape Letters, he drops this line:

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them” - CS Lewis.

On one hand, there are a group of people that think there is a demon under every pillow.

Example:

• Forgetting your keys and locking yourself out was the Key Demon. (Your an idiot)

• Running over a nail on the way to bible study and getting a flat was the Nail Demon.

• Your internet isn't working is the Web Demon. (Or Comcast sucks)

The other extreme is that Spiritual Warfare doesnt exist at all.

Examples:

• Everything is a chemical imbalance, depression, bad health caused by poor eating or lack of exercise.

• The answer to everything is either good psychiatric counseling, prescription drugs, governmental reform or proper education

Lets look at how this spiritual battle began and The Story of Satan.

Satan's Beauty and Role:

Ezekiel 28:12-14

Thus says the Lord GOD:
"You were the signet of perfection,(D) full of wisdom and(E) perfect in beauty.
13You were in(F) Eden, the garden of God;
(G) every precious stone was your covering,
(H) sardius, topaz, and diamond,
 beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire,[b](I) emerald, and carbuncle;
 and crafted in gold were your settings
 and your engravings.[c]
On the day that you were created they were prepared.
14You were an anointed(J) guardian cherub.
 I placed you;[d] you were on(K) the holy mountain of God;
 in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.

Satan's Sin in heaven:

Isaiah 14:12-14

12"How(A) you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
 you who laid the nations low!
13You said in your heart,
'I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;[a]
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
 I will make myself like the Most High.'

War in Heaven:

Revelation 12:7-9

7Now war arose in heaven,(A) Michael and(B) his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9And(C) the great dragon was thrown down,(D) that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan,(E) the deceiver of the whole world—(F) he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

What does Satan now do on earth?

1 Peter 5:8

8Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

In Job and Jude (which we'll see later) we see that God has given Satan limitations and boundaries while he exists on earth. He cannot just do anything he wants.

Satan's first victims and God's plan of redemption:

Genesis 3:15

15I will put enmity between you and the woman,
 and between your offspring[a] and(A) her offspring;
(B) he shall bruise your head,
 and you shall bruise his heel."

Satan's plan to overthrow God's plan.

Since the beginning, it has always been Satan's plan to overthrow God. Knowing that the only way to stop the Messiah from being born, this is what the angles did to overstep their boundaries and attempt the messiah from being born of the woman.

Genesis 6:1-4

1When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3Then the LORD said,(A) "My Spirit shall not abide in[a] man forever,(B) for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." 4The Nephilim[b] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

God ends Satan's plan again.

After the Demonic angles overstepped their boundaries and God gets the last word and deals with them properly.

Jude 1:6

6And(A) the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

God brings the flood and starts over with Noah:

Genesis 8 and 9

Jesus enters the scene.

John the baptist comes as prophesied in Isaiah saying: Prepare the way of the Lord. In other-words, we've been waiting for years for God to send his son and he's here. After Jesus is born to Mary an Joseph, you see Satan again trying to distort Gods plan by leading Herod to kill every child 2 and under in Egypt. God in his providence, again overcomes Satan's plan by sending Joseph and Mary along with baby Jesus to safety.

Jesus then grows us, lives the life we should have lived. No sin, blameless, perfect and holy. He fulfills everything that God has for him and never falls to any of the temptations that Satan throws at him.

Death of Jesus and a quick visit.

1 Peter 3:18-20

18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

I love how we see Jesus going to visit those demons who tried to stop Him in Genesis. In my opinion, I think Jesus went down there to talk some major trash.

So, what does this mean for us?

Colossians 2:13-15

13(A) And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God(B) made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by(C) canceling(D) the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15(E) He disarmed the rulers and authorities[a] and(F) put them to open shame, by(G) triumphing over them in him.[b

Let me explain it like this....Because we are sinners, everyone alive has bought into demonic lies and choose to align themselves with Satan in his war against God. It started with Adam and Eve, and continues with us. Most of us think of demonic activity as things like Palm Readers or movies like The Exorcism, but that is not what we see in the scriptures. We see in the scriptures that as we buy into holding anything up to the place of God (Materialism, False Religions, Jobs, our Families, etc) That is demonic in nature. We also see in scripture that anytime we begin to deviate from what we know to be the will of God (when God says left, but we go right), that is also demonic in nature. We see that when Peter tells Jesus not to go to the cross, and Jesus replies by saying, “Get behind me Satan.”

Everyone in humans history is guilty of this at some level. The only exception is Jesus Christ who resisted every temptation (Luke 4:1-13) and remains continually sinless (Hebrews 4:15). Because of this, Jesus alone can and will defeat Satan, liberate us from slavery to the worship of false gods, and usher us into a freedom that continues forever with Him. This was made possible by Jesus dying in our place for our sins to defeat our Enemy and liberate us into new life.

Hebrews says it like this…..

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

If Satan has been defeated, how is there still a fight?

Example: On August 6^th 1945, about 3 ½ years after attack on Pearl Harbor, the US dropped the first Atomic Bomb onto Japan which threw havoc among the japanese as they continued to rage war during World War 2. Three days later, on August 9^th, the US dropped the second Atomic Bomb on Japan which later that day led the Emperor to declare a state of surrender of all military forces.

Although the war was officially over and Japan surrendered on August 9^th, it wasn't until September 12^th that the last Japanese Military Division got word to surrender. Between August 9^th and September 12^th, the fighting was just as fierce, violent and deadly as it always was. It wasn’t until 1947 that America released the last POW back to Japan. So, you see that although the war was already won, fighting still went on.

The same is true for us. Though Jesus has won the victory for us, the victory has not been fully enforced yet. Although the war has been won, battles are going to continue.

• Revelation 12:11-12: And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"

Satan knows that he doesn't have much time left and that he has lost. However, in his remaining time, he still attempts to distort God's plan by pestering God people.

How do we fight that fight?

It starts with a recognition that “We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory.”

• 1 John 4:4

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for(A) he who is in you is greater than(B) he who is in the world.

• 1 John 5:4-5

For(A) everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes(C) that Jesus is the Son of God?

• James 4:7

7Submit yourselves therefore to God.(A) Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I believe that the way that we fight from victory is through the praise of His name. Specifically through corporate praise where two or more are gathered together.

Here are 3 examples of this…..

Joshua 6 you see the walls of Jericho come down after the priests play trumpets, march around in worship for 7 days and shout to the Lord. When they do, the walls come down.

2 Chronicles 20:17, 20-23 You see that the leader appoints people to worship before the battle and when the battle begins, God destroys everyone.

Acts 16:16-26 Paul and Silas are arrested, flogged and thrown in jail. At the sound of them singing hymns and praising God, 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.

• Worship is celebrating the win before we actually see the victory come to pass.

• By doing this we show faith. And.....Faith is our avenue in pleasing God. Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.”

A few questions to think about….

• What if we viewed our worship as battle; how would your corporate worship through song look different?

• Knowing that our corporate worship through song is warfare; how might that change our preparation, our volume, or even our posture?