The Chewning's Journey towards a Church Plant in Greater Boston.

2012 is going to be a great year (Netcast Video)

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

Netcast turns 1 this weekend. I want to personally thank you for your partnership with us this year. Whether you partnered financially, prayerfully or just visited one of our events; it was amazing to have you be a part of our first year.

In 2012, we are expecting ever greater things. We are moving to a new building with a ton of seats and parking. Also, we have greatly enhanced our Kids Church so that our children get to sing and learn in a more strategic and fun way. Also, we are expanding our community groups with the addition of a group in Marblehead and a few more additions in 2012.

We'd love for you to join us as we celebrate our next endeavor on February 5th. Watch this 2 minute video to learn more http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xdRare0OiI

Lastly, on February 4th we will have a pre Re:Launch gathering in the new building. We would love for you to join us if you are in town. We are making it mandatory for all Netcast Volunteers but we are encouraging everyone to join us. Details are at http://chewningjourney.blogspot.com/2012/01/huge-announcement-for-our-move-feb-4th.html

Thanks again for your love and support in 2011.
Matt
matt@netcastchurch.org

HUGE Announcement for our MOVE. (Feb 4th)

2012-01-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

Netcast...

This weekend we celebrate being exactly 1 year old. Happy Birthday. I am still in awe of all that Christ has done in only 12 months.

Saturday February 4th, the day before our Re:Launch in Briscoe Middle School, we are inviting everyone out to visit the new space. Obviously, we cannot make this a mandatory gathering since we can't force anyone to do anything. However, we want to strongly urge everyone to join us. If you are serving at Netcast in any capacity, it is vital that you are here for this.

This will be a time for us to see the new space, learn our new responsibilities, dream and pray together. There will be some minor work for all of us to contribute to as we do our best to get the space ready for our launch on the 5th.

Below are the specific times for you to arrive if you are on a Ministry Team.

Set-up and Tear-down:
Arrive at 10:00am. At this time you will be trained on all the different setup components at the new location. All setup should be done within 1 – 1 ½ hours.

Children's Ministry:
Arrive at 11:30am. This will be your time to look at the new childrens space (which is going to be awesome.) You will also get acclimated to the new processes and our new Netcast Kids Service.

Worship an AV Team:
Arrive at 11:30am. At this time we will do a basic sound check, pray together and get a feel for the new acoustics and sound. Wrehave huge plans for this ministry in 2012.

Welcome Team:
Arrive at 11:30am. You will need to see where the new lobby area is, the process for first time guests, the new gifts we have for visitors, refreshments, etc. This ministry is probably the most vital team as we move. People make a decision about coming back before they ever hear the music or sermon. You are our first impression and vital to the growth and retention to the church.

Everyone else:
We would encourage everyone else to come out and join us at 12:30pm for lunch and a quick devotional. After lunch we may spend an hour together just wiping down chairs with some cleaner, organizing the storage space and some other minor cleanup.

Childcare will be provided. Please email me and let me know that you will be bring your children so that we have enough childcare workers.

Watch and Join the Movement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xdRare0OiI

Address: 7 Sohier Rd. Beverly, MA 01915

Pastor Matt
matt@netcastchurch.org

Taking the Kingdom by storm.

2012-01-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

There is no question about it that the Kingdom of God has been under attack from the day it began. Nations have tried to outlaw it, churches have misrepresented it, science has tried to disprove it and persecution has tried to scare it. Yet, the Kingdom of God continues to this day. In Matthew 11, Jesus says that the violent men and women are the ones who take the Kingdom and advance it. He doesn't say that the gentle in Spirit take it, he doesn't say the the smart people take it, he doesn't say the great debaters of our day will take it. He specifically says the "violent" take it by force. Then in a previous chapter, Jesus tells us that as we take the kingdom, to be as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove. That is confusing because those are two opposite characteristics.

Nonetheless, we are called to be wise, innocent, violent and forceful as we live our lives as ferocious men who God has entrusted with the responsibility of advancing his Kingdom.

It's not the size that matters; its how you use it.

2012-01-05T07:20:00.000-08:00

^{Matthew 4:23-25
23} ^(AK)And he went throughout all Galilee, ^(AL)teaching in their synagogues and ^(AM)proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and ^(AN)healing every disease and every affliction among the people. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all ^(AO)Syria, and ^(AP)they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and ^(AQ)pains, ^(AR)those oppressed by demons,^(AS)epileptics, and ^(AT)paralytics, and he healed them. ²⁵ ^(AU)And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the ^(AV)Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Everywhere I turn there is a blogger, pastor or critic who feels the need to bash churches that are large or growing faster than usual. Typically pride is somewhere at the root of the matter, but more than that it seems there is a movement arguing that fast growing churches or large churches are somehow a sell-out, shallow or so seeker sensitive that the gospel is not central. To be honest, there was a point in time where I began to consider if these accusations were true.

Something that is very interesting is the size and speed of which Jesus' ministry took off. From the scriptures, it seems that almost within days, Jesus was probably ministering to thousands of people. Everywhere he went, great crowds followed him. It seems that he was a man who was highly liked, wildly gifted, deeply respected and incredibly controversial. This caused a huge stir among the people in the community; both ordinary people as well as the political and religious leaders of that day.

So, is that bad? Is it wrong to have a large following? Is it wrong to be likes, gifted, respected or maybe controversial? To take it ever further; Is it wrong to "desire" a large following? I don't think so. In my humble opinion; it doesn't seem that Jesus was too concerned with how large or small his following was, as much as he was concerned with what he did with his followers. Jesus had a great following, yet that following never moved him away from viciously calling people to repentance, obedience and mission.

The same is true today. There is nothing wrong with wanting to maximize your influence or grow a large church or have a great following. As long as we commit to keeping the gospel central, the mission clear, and bringing glory to the Son of the Living God; having a large influence is a beautiful gift from the Father. If He grants you great influence, find joy in that; and if He doesn't, praise His beautiful name. At the end of the day, it's not the size of our influence that matters; its how we use it.

Netcast 2011 Recap and Short Video.

2011-12-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

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

------------------------------------

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

Why I am Honoring the Netcast Senior Staff tonight….

2011-12-16T07:18:00.001-08:00

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…..

2011-12-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

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.

Those who “Were” dead in their trespasses.
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.

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.
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.

2011-11-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

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.

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?

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.

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?

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…….

2011-11-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2011-10-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

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)

2011-10-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-10-18T13:32:00.001-07:00

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.

2011-10-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

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?

In-House Date Nights (List of Ideas.)

2011-10-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

From time to time Beth and I love to do in-house date nights. They're cheaper and you're forced to be creative. Here's a list that I found and love. Of course we haven't done all of these, but we have tried many of them and in time will try them all.

Here are 30 date night ideas that you can do at home after the little ones are tucked into bed and SOUND ASLEEP.

1. Have dinner in the backyard, patio, or your front lawn.

2. Re-watch a classic movie. We love old chick-flicks. Serendipity, Date Night, Never been kissed.

3. Don’t cook and get your favorite take out from different restaurants.

4. Have a theme night. You must dress, eat dinner, and watch a movie with the same theme. Think ‘Western’ and dress like a cowgirl, eat bar-b-que, and watch Tombstone. Think ‘French’ and put on a black and white top, make French onion soup, and watch Amelie. It could be anything!

5. Put a blanket down and picnic in front of the TV.

6. Make a special dessert to indulge in. We like Chewning's Cheesecake.

7. Take a shower and get dressed up to go out, but stay in. Men, act like a waiter.

8. Snuggle on the couch and watch a movie. Netflix queue!

9. Try to beat your all time record. YEAH, I said it!! Ours is double digits.

10. Ladies, Wear your old bikini that you would never wear in public again. Your husband will love you in it. Fellas, put on your bathing suit.

11. Break out the board games or cards. Skipbo is our favorite. Play it so that the loser has to spoil the winner.

12. Wives, wear your favorite lingerie under your normal clothes. Better yet wear none underneath. Nothing wrong with that.

13. Sit outside and read together.

14. Have a candlelit dinner in the dining room you rarely use.

15. Make a 90's mix CD or playlist to enjoy throughout the evening.

16. Dance! Make room for our own private dance floor and have fun. Don’t worry, no one is watching you dance like an idiot. for those who are feet challenged, use Wii dancing.

17. Write out an invitation card to your date requesting their presence at the VIP Lounge of your private nightclub. Turn the bedroom into a nightclub.

18. Splurge on delicious fruit and chocolate. Fondu mix is a regular for us.

19. Make out during the DVD men.

20. Give each other a back rub. 5 on 5 off.

21. Share your favorite dating memory with each other over dinner.

22. Set out candles around the room. (I know this is an old idea, but it is really nice to do once in a while.)

23. Dress as a character from a movie and you pick the character for each other (Star Wars anyone?)

24. Work out together. Set up a circuit in the garage or in the back yard with a jump rope, dumbbells, push-up, and sit-up stations.

25. Cook together and try a new recipe for dinner.

26. Go to bed early together and just talk, make fun of each-other, roast each-other, then have makeup sex.

27. Play video games together. We love Jack n Daxter, Mario, Zelda, Sonic, we've mastered all of those.

28. Watch a sports game and eat stadium food like nachos and hot dogs and wings.

29. Set up a pair of chairs and stick your feet in the kiddie pool.

30. Make breakfast in bed for dinner and watch TV.

Do you have date nights at home? What do you do?

My Journal. (Netcast Church in the Story of God)

2011-10-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

1 Chronicles 16:11-13

¹¹⁽^A⁾ Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
¹²⁽^B⁾ Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
⁽^C⁾ his miracles and the judgments he uttered,

We see in this passage that one of the ways we seek His presence is through remembering what He's done and is currently doing. Below, what I would like to do is walk us though the Story of God and how we fit into it. It all starts with creation, then the fall occurs and we are now currently wrapped in the movement of God redeeming all things to Himself. Believe it or not, were are a part for that story. Here is how we fit in…….

Genesis 1 and 2: Creation

God creates everything for his glory. So everything that is created is created so that we would experience it, enjoy it and it would lead us to worship and the praise of his name.

Food: Tastes should lead to worship.

Wine: Taste and relaxation should lead us to worship.

Sex: God created sex, nerve endings and climax should create worship of God.

Relationships: Emotional connections and community should lead to worship.

Marriage: Oneness should paint the picture between man and God and lead to worship.

Genesis 3: The Fall

Satan comes to Eve and tells her the great lie that all of us are tempted with even to this day. “God doesn’t want you to eat of this tree because if you do, you’ll become like God.”

Sin comes in and distorts everything.

Food: Is now indifferent or gluttony.

Wine: Is now indifferent or drunkenness.

Sex: Is now indifferent, casual or lust.

Relationships: Are now very surface and shallow or idolatry.

Marriage: Becomes either war or savior. War where 2 people are fighting for headship. Savior where we are looking for our spouse to bring total fulfillment.

Genesis 3:15 God says to Satan “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 8 and 9 God kills everyone and starts over with Noah.

Genesis 15:5 God says to Abraham “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[^d^] be.”

God gives the Law: not so that we can obey all of it but rather to show us that we cannot. And because we cannot obey it all, God creates a sacrificial system in which a Goat, Lamb or some other animal would be sacrificed by a priest for the forgiveness of sins.

God gives the prophets To tell us that there will be a Messsiah, The Christ,

John the Baptist comes on the scene telling us to prepare the way of the lord and then

Jesus comes. He lives with 12 disciples, he lives the life that we can not live, dies the death that we aught to die, “God mad him who knew no sin, to be sin, so that we may become the righteousness of God.” The great exchange.

Rises from the dead, and drops this line: The great commission. Matthew 28:18-20

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (AND THEY DO)

Acts 2 The Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost and Peter preaches the first Christian sermon and 3000 people were swept into the Kingdom.

Acts 9 Saul becomes Paul in this incredible conversion and begins to travel and plant churches everywhere he goes.

Acts 10 God saves the first Gentiles and there s a board meeting to deside if God is allowed to save the Gentiles.

Acts 15 We see the first Church split, by the sovereignty of God, Paul and Barnabas Separate and go different ways spreading the gospel.

By Acts 28 and approx 70AD the gospel has spread from that little upper room to Jerusalem, Ephesus, Corinth, Athens, Thessalonica, most of Europe and parts of Spain.

In 189 The bishop of Alexandria sends the first missionary to India to risk his life and preach the gospel.

By 306 Christianity is established in Britain and has spread to Asia.

In 312, the Roman Emperor Constantine claimed to have had a conversion experience. About 70 years later, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Bishops were given places of honor in the government, and by the year 400, the terms “Roman” and “Christian” were virtually synonymous.

In the 5^th century St. Patrick was sent as a missionary from Britian to bring the gospel to the barbarians of Northern Ireland and Scotland. Within a few years, Christanity has become the official religion of the Celtic Irish and we celebrate that today in March on St Patricks day by wearing green and getting smashed.

In 829 Saint Ansgar introduced Christianity to Sweden.

In 1154 Sweden's King Eric introduces Christianity to Finland

In the fifteenth century, through the leadership of Godly men like Martin Luther, history saw the Bible translated and printed in most of Europe's major languages. For the first time in the history of Christianity it became available to large numbers of readers. As a result many Christians discovered that masses, confession, and other central features of their religion were not mentioned in the Bible at all.

In 1630 King Charles began to persecute the Reformed Christians. As a result, tens of thousands of them fled to New England from 1630 to 1640, founding Boston and its surrounding towns, and eventually the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. In order to assure themselves a reliable supply of ministers, one of the first things the Puritans did was to establish Harvard College in 1636.

In the late nineteenth century Millions of rural Americans began to move to the cities to get manufacturing jobs. Among them were many Methodists, who were shocked by how lax Methodism had become in the cities. To protect their children against the sins of liquor and dancing these people formed the Church of the Nazarene.

In 1900 Eastern Nazarene College was established as a holiness college in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1900, it was relocated to Quincy Massachusetts in 1919.

In 1960’s a group of Godly Men in Greensboro NC decided to plant a church in the outskirts of the city, called Daystar Christian Fellowship.

In September of 2000, an unbelieving no-body who had never met a Christian, Matt Chewning, enrolls at Eastern Nazarene College to play basketball, only to find Christ, a wonderful wife, and feel a call to ministry.

In 2001, Allen Holmes, becomes the pastor of Daystar Christian Fellowship and comes up with the slogan “Whatever it takes to make Christ followers everywhere.” Their mission was to invest in the coming up generation.

MY JOURNAL…...

On October 9^th 2007, After serving as a part time youth pastor, I wrote this in my journal while at a conference in Atlanta. “I told Beth about these dreams I am having in Greater Boston, before I told her, I asked her this question, “If God were to send us to plant a church, where would it be? She quickly said Greater Boston.” Is God trying to tell me something? Is he calling us to move and plant a church in Boston? That is crazy,

In 2008 After a long assessment process with Acts 29, a young man named Stephen Wagoner in Winston Salem, NC becomes the church planter of 1.21 Church.

On December 2, 2008 (My Birthday) Mimi (my mother-inlaw) gives me a journal and tells me that she feels that the Lord is calling her to move to Boston, but she’s not going unless she gets $50,000 to get out of debt.

On December 15^th, 2008 Just 13 days later Steve got a phone call from a distant relative. One of his aunts died and has left them $75,000 which after taxes is a little more than $50,000. Boston, here we come.

On December 20, 2008 Beth and I got a phone-call from our neighbors that they had something to drop off. They gave us $2500 and said that God had put it on their heart to give us that money for the church plant in Boston. This is Netcast's first check.

August 11^th 2009 I walked into work today and started my day doing a devotion. God clearly told me to quit my job. I called Beth and my mentors. They all helped me confirm that this was the call of God.

August 19^th 2009 I gave my resignation.

On September 12, 2009 I wrote, “I was ordained today at Daystar Christian Fellowship.” I cant believe this is really happening.

September 14^th 2010 Its my first day as a church planter / fundraiser and Intern at 1.21 Church in Winston Salem, NC. I am in the office and have no idea what I am supposed to be doing. I guess I’ll read my bible and pray.

January 10^th 2010 Raised $50,000 so far. God is so gracious.

June 7^th 2010 Met this dude Joey Columba online who runs the entire North Shore facebook pages. Seems like a great guy.

June 19^th 2010 Tool a trip to the North Shore to look at the different areas and pray about where God wants us to plant. Beth and I fought the entire trip. Experiencing major spiritual warfare.

August 9^th 2010 Took a 2^nd trip to the North Shore. Experienced MAJOR spiritual warfare. Beth questioned our call and there is only 1 house available in the area we are looking to plant. It’s a terrible house in Beverly. We committed to live there but only if the owner cleans the house and changes the carpet.

August 12^th 2010 Got an email from a dude named Dan Savlon. He came across our website. I’ll meet with him when we move. I wonder is he’s a cool dude.

August 15^th 2010 Got a text from Kevin Minix today about one of his youth kids going to Gordon to play Basketball. That is insane. His name is Luke Hamilton

September 1^st 2010 Moved to Beverly. The house is under construction and its gonna be great when it is done. Praise God. He is so good.

September 7^th 2010 Went to Gordon to meet Luke Hamilton. Met Luke, he’s alright. But….Shaun Roach came up to me. I haven’t seen him in like 10 years. He used to be a pudgy kid, now he’s a skinny baller. What the heck is God doing?

September 9^th 2010 Met this guy Josh Sturgeon today for coffee. Awesome man of God. I have no idea why the Lord has put us together. He is a worship leader and a basketball player. Well. He says he's a basketball player. I didn’t even know God made those kinds of people. Also, while having coffee we met this girl Kristin Oliver who said she was looking for a new church.

September 21^st 2010 The North Shore Magazine is interviewing me for a featured story on Netcast. I tried to tell them that we're not that special.

October 10^th 2010 We had our first Vision Party today and 31 people showed up. The highlight of the night is that some random girl, Brooke, showed up because she saw something about us online. She left saying that “she's in.” We'll see about that.

October 23^rd 2010 Dan Savlon has committed to the team and Erica Sturgeon wrote a blog about how God has called her and Josh to be apart of Netcast. The team is growing much faster than we ever thought.

October 24^th2010 I love my college students. Just took some kid, Sam, out to coffee and he grilled me for an hour to make sure that I don't water the gospel down. Who is this guy?

November 1^st 2010 We are going to start meeting together in the morning to pray about possible looking to launch a service.

November 21^st 2010 As a team, we served Thanksgiving dinner to over 30 people at the YMCA. I love my core team. They are incredible. Also, the YMCA has given me keys to the building.

November 23^rd 2010 The magazine article is out and a dude at the YMCA stopped me and said, “you’re that guy in that article.” It freaked me out.

December 12, 2010 40 people gather in my house for the last Netcast Church meeting of 2010. God is building his church.

December 18^th, 2010 Got an email from a guy named Eric Keifer. They're in. Looks like we'll have a youth group. They have 8 kids.

January 11, 2011 We are feeling spiritually attacked. A scary man is sending us weird letters, Jacob is having night terrors and weird things are happening in the house. To Christ be all glory as I know that the enemy has already been defeated.

January 23^rd, 2011 We launched the church today. 120 people joined us for worship for our opening Service. I told people that “Heaven was gonna be a city, and if they don't like the city, they can go hell.” Will anyone come back next week?

January 30, 2011 People came back. The house was full again. This is crazy. And people tithed.

February 2011 We did a 2 week sex series with Q&A. Not sure if I'll ever do that again. We had all the questions on the screen and I kid you not, the words “anal and toys” were up there. Either this church is gonna blow up quick or die fast.

March 2011 Community Groups started this week and Dan Byrd, my college pastor, brought a missions team from his church in Florida. We put on a movie night for the community and had a ton of families join us.

April 2011 Had an easter egg hunt in the rain and 400 people came out to it. Gave away about $1000 worth of gifts to the community. I love how we are becoming a church not just in the city, but for the city.

May 2011 Dan Byrd called me today weeping over the phone. God is moving in his heart to have a different type of ministry. He's asking questions about Beverly and it seems that God is laying on his heart to be more of a part of what God is doing at Netcast.

August 2011 It was a very stressful but productive summer. We continued to grow all summer long with people from our community. I have actually begun to see gray hair in the crowd. Praying that God continues to bring more mature believers as we prepare for our college students to come back.

September 1 2011 Dan and Tara Byrd have officially moved. This is crazy. They will be responsible in helping oversee all of our community groups and multiplication. In order to really change this region, we need to start to plant churches and other campuses.

September 4, 2011 We broke the 200 mark today. Preached my heart out about the healing power of Jesus. God saved a friend of mine in the service.

September 11, 2011 Today is a huge day for me and Netcast. I celebrated being a christian for 11 years and baptized 9 people in front of a crowd of about 215 people. Probably the most powerful service I have ever been a part of. God is saving people every week it seems. Looking forward to the Encounter Series.

Why am I sharing this? Because thousands of years ago in Genesis 15, God told Abraham that he was going to raise up a nation for himself that will outnumber the stars. Then in the gospels Jesus says, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not stop it.” And that’s exactly what he is doing and this is what we are wrapped up in.

It is important to remember this because at times life is hard, pain is real, suffering will occur and forgetting is easy. We are called to remember what we are involved in; The Story of God.

So, what is our Response?

In the passage below, it is clear that our remembering should lead us to worship.

1 Chronicles 16:8-34

8 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 9Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! 10Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! 12 Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, 13O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! 14He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 15Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 16the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 17which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob, as an everlasting covenant to Israel, 18saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance." 19When you were few in number, and of little account, and sojourners in it, 20wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, 21he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, 22saying, "Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!" 23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. 24Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. 25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods. 26For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 27Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. 28Ascribe to the LORD, O clans of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!  29Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; 30tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!" 32 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! 33Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. 34Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Encounter - Recognition and Response. (Isaiah 6)

2011-09-26T06:06:00.000-07:00

We live in a day and age and a culture that worships the trivial. I pastor a church in one of the greatest metropolitan areas on the face of the earth, that often worships the trivial. If i'm honest, I myself at times, worship the trivial. I at times get more excited about some of the lamest things on earth, than I do about the incredible majesty and glory and brilliance of our God.

People literally told me when I moved here, not to tell people that I am a Yankee's fan or Netcast would never get off the ground. I thought they were kidding, but they we're serious.

The football season has started and churches all around Boston will begin to align their service times, community group meetings, bible studies around when the Pats play. There will be more people who purchase a Tom Brady jersey or Ochocinco jersey than attend an Evangelical Church this season in Greater Boston.

My desire as a pastor.

I want to lead a people who's emotions and affections are far more brought to life at the mere thought of God's glory, than a silly sport where 25 year olds try and get a ball across a goal-line or over the green monster. I want to lead a church who's passion for the presence of God, far outweighs our passion for a comfortable seat in church enough space to gather, playing the right worship song for you, having the right job, getting a good education, or chasing the next girl.

I want to lead a people who see the Holiness of God and are absolutely desperate for His presence in their lives.

In Isaiah 6, we see three things, that I think sum up how encounters should lead to worship.

Recognition of who God is: Do you know who you're messing with?
Recognition of who we are: We think we're a big deal. Do you know who you are, in light of who he is.
Response: Encounters should always lead to some sort of action.

1In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

King Uzziah:

Ultimately known as one of the greatest kings of Judah.
He took the throne at the young age of 16.
Was king for 52 years.
God was pleased early on. 2 Chronicles says “he did good in the sight of the Lord.”
As he got older and more powerful, he became proud and was unfaithful to the Lord.
Got leprosy and died at age 67.

So, in the year that Uzziah died of leprosy, Isaiah has this vision of the Lord. I think that the timing of the vision is almost symbolic. Its almost like the Lord is saying to Isaiah, “Kings will come and go, but look at me. I am alive. I always was, and always will be. I am the King of Kings.” I am the one "Who was, and is, and is to come." - Revelations 4

2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" 4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

I think that in an effort to make God seem more approachable, modern evangelicalism, tends to un-intentionally dumb him down a bit. We tend to get a little too casual in our approach of who He is. Saying things like, God's my friend or Jesus is my homie, at times, if we're not careful can remove the necessary reverence that we should have as we approach his throne.

Seraphim:

Fiery angelic being. Literally, a blazing angel.
A massive being. Maybe the largest living being that we would ever see.
A 6 winged being unlike anything we can imagine.
A being that could absolutely crush you and I in an instance.

…...wont even show his feet to God, let alone dare look at Him. Instead, it does nothing but continually fly around in absolute praise and worship of God. And their song of choice is simply Holy, Holy, Holy. (There are no other words to describe him.)

How do we approach this God?

Shame on us if in this church ever gets to the place where our worship of Jesus becomes casual. If you have seen Him for who he truly is; if he has saved you from your sin; How can we not lift our arms and our voices, and get excited about singing His great name?

As Isaiah realized who was before Him, The King, King Jesus, this is what he said......

5"Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

Woe is me!! aka.....Just kill me. I don't even deserve to live. In light of God's holiness, Isaiah saw very clearly his own sinfulness. Not only his sin, but he was even broken over the sin all around him. The second Isaiah saw the all powerful, all knowing, Holy God, he understood his weakness, his smallness, in light of God's power and might. He saw that he was nothing compared to God.

God's Power.

We walk around thinking we're hot stuff, arguing with God, running our mouths, waving our fists in his face, talking about how life isn't fair, if we were God, we'd do things different....and we're nothing in comparison to Him. He could destroy us in a millisecond, and if He did, he'd still be Holy and Righteous in doing so.

I was reminded of Gods power this week as I read of the King of Assyria in 2 Kings.

2 Kings 19:9-20; 32-35

So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰"Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Do not let your God^(B) in whom you trust deceive you by promising that^(C) Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? ¹²^(D) Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed,^(E) Gozan,^(F) Haran, Rezeph, and the people of^(G) Eden who were in Telassar? ¹³^(H) Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'"

¹⁴Hezekiah received^(I) the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. ¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: "O LORD, the God of Israel,^(J) enthroned above the cherubim,^(K)you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶^(L) Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear;^(M) open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent^(N) to mock the living God. ¹⁷Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands ¹⁸and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods,^(O) but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. ¹⁹So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand,^(P) that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that^(Q) you, O LORD, are God alone."

³²"Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or^(A) cast up a siege mound against it. ³³^(B) By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. ³⁴^(C) For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake^(D)and for the sake of my servant David."

³⁵And that night^(E) the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

“You do not mess with our God.” Jesus says in Luke 10:18 “I saw satan fall like Lightning from Heaven.” It wasn't a fight.

Look at God's heart towards the repentant person.

6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."

Isaiah's sin was atoned for.

Atonement is a theological word that simply means to “Make Amend” or “To make right, what has been made wrong.” As Christians, we believe that men and women are regenerated, redeemed, reconciled to God, justified, forgiven, adopted; by God's atoning work through the sacrificial and substitutional death of Jesus Christ

.....Not religious dedication or trying to be better than your idiot neighbor Bill.

The idea that our Lord died a helpless martyr is nowhere taught in the Bible. Jesus himself said on multiple occasions that “it is necessary for the Son of Man to be beaten and killed.” Christ became incarnate in order that He should die for human sin. It was always the plan.

8And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

Look at Isaiah's Response:

Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

I love how quickly Isaiah submitted; There was no:

Lets talk this over at Starbucks.
Let me put to gether a strategic plan.
Let me change my major or get to seminary.
There was no, let me sleep on it.

He simply said.......”Here I am! Send me.” Encounters always lead to Action.

Isaiah 43:1 “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you, by name, you are mine.”

At the end of the day, I don't know you. I don't know your story, I don't know your calling. However, there is one thing that I do know. If you are a beliver is Christ, you are Called. You are called to GO. To take this message to the nations. Starting on your block, moving to your neighborhood, then to your city, then your region, then your nation and then to the glode. But GOING always starts in your backyard. You are a missionary wherever you are sitting and reading this. I dont know what your part is in this, but you do have a part. Play your part well. For His glory and for his fame.

May God bless you as you GO!

Free College Lunch on Sunday @ Netcast

2011-09-17T07:17:00.001-07:00

This Sunday after service we will be serving lunch to all of the college students. If you are a college student, this is a great way to get some of your friends to Netcast. If you are not a college student, this is a great way to serve. There will be some extra setup after service and it would be great to be around to love on these students.

At Netcast, I am always calling our students to honor those who have gone before them by serving. One thing about Netcast is that if you are a student, Netcast is not a place where you can come and feel comfortable being complacent. Over the past year, I have been blow away at the work and service that our students have put in. This Sunday is a simple way that we can give back to them and show them how much they are loved.

www.netcastchurch.org

10:30am - 12:00am

245 Cabot St. Beverly, MA

Downtown Beverly YMCA

To: Those who were with us from the beginning.

2011-09-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

As I was praying this morning, you guys came to mind. I know that most of you often keep up with what's going on through my emails, but wanted to write a brief personal email. At Netcast, we are currently experiencing something that is absolutely unheard of, especially out here in Boston. I get emails everyday about people getting saved or lives being changed as passion arises in peoples hearts. The church is the fastest growing church in New England yet there is much more excitement in whats going on within the spiritual growth of our people, than the numerical growth of the church.

You need to know how thankful we are for your continued support and prayer. You were one of the first people to believe in us and God has blessed your faithfulness well beyond any of us could imagine. 4 years ago this was a dream and it is now a reality. This week there were 215 people in attendance as we had our first baptism service and baptized 9 people.

I have attached 2 videos from this past week that I would love for you to watch. My desire is that these videos will bless, move, and inspire you as they have encouraged me. "The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace." Colossians 1:6

Part 1 "Testimony" http://www.vimeo.com/29061731
part 2 "Celebration" http://www.vimeo.com/29052162

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

Baptism 9/11/2011 Netcast Church

2011-09-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

This past week has marked a historic week in the life at Netcast. We had our first baptism service and it was just incredible. What an awesome celebration of what God is doing in the lives of the people in our church. For all 9 people who we baptized on Sunday, we did a small 4 minute video of their story. These stories are a must see.

Please go to http://www.vimeo.com/netcastchurch/videos

Thank you, to all of those who have supported this ministry. It is these stories that you have given to. These lives have been eternally changes because of your prayers and resources.

I love you more than you can know.

Matt

Netcast Church (One Year Later) Absolutely Incredible.

2011-09-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

As I am sitting down to write this, I am staring at a blank screen in awe of what Christ is doing. Four years ago, Beth (my wife) and I began to feel the call to move back to Greater Boston to plant Netcast Church. After years of prep, assessments and the approval from those in leadership over us, we moved from Greensboro, North Carolina back to the least reached region in the United States and set out on the journey that God called us into. We had little money, no team, no church planting experience and four children; yet a holy discontentment of the current church culture in Greater Boston, which includes a movement away from things like the gospel, sound theology, conservative doctrine, biblical community and evangelicalism in general.

Here we are one year later and we're wrapped up in something we couldn't imagine in our wildest dreams. Things are moving at a pace much faster than we could have expected and in a region where the majority of church plants never get off the ground. Christ is building his church right before our eyes. Joe Souza, who is our regional SBC director, recently informed me that Netcast is the fastest growing church in New England. This month we are preparing to have nearly 200 people in our gathering on Sundays and on September 11^th we will be baptizing around 10 people. In August we had 7 community groups going and are looking to add to that this month. Just this week, Dan Byrd (my pastor in college) and his family moved to Beverly to serve Netcast as our Minister of Gospel Communities. This will give us a staff of 5 people already. Three of the Five are raising their own support to work as Netcast employees.

Besides that, our Video / Audio ministry is growing just as fast. Just yesterday, Netcast had 81 people either listen or watch one of our sermons online. Netcast is reaching areas of the world that we never could have imagined.

Look at the email I just got:

Nubawi Nute made a comment on one of your posts. Not knowing that name or face. messaged her to ask if she went to Netcast. She lives in Thailand and loves listening to the Sunday messages you preach on the internet. She works with Burmese children sold into prostitution over the border in Thailand as a missionary. We're becoming friends. She said if she ever came to the US, she'd love to be a member of a church like Netcast! Love it! - Sharon Staples

I simply wanted to write to you and Thank You for your faithfulness to us. Without you guys, we would have never been able to see any of this happen. The fruit that Netcast is seeing today is simply due to the seeds that you planted. You are a jewel in the Kingdom of God. Words cannot express my gratitude and love for you.

Please continue to pray for us. With all the excitement and growth, comes its own set of responsibilities and issues. We have run out of space, we are having a hard time putting systems together to identify and grow leaders, I am stressed to the max (spent some time in the hospital with heart palpitations), time management has been difficult and our resources are very limited. Currently our church is made up of mostly young adults, college students and about 10 couples in their 50's. Basically, we're young, broke and have a lot of maturing to do. However, the gospel is true, we are seeking to spread it daily, God is saving people and disciples are being made.

Until all have heard of his Glory and Fame,

Matt

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

Netcast's Labor Day Party....Be There!!!

2011-08-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Netcast's LABOR DAY FUN!

This coming Monday, September 5th, The Kiefer's have opened up their beautiful home for the entire church to enjoy. This will be a wonderful time of community and hanging out. Not to mention throwing a football around in their huge backyard and zip-lining in the woods for the kids.

EVERYONE IS INVITED and feel free to bring friends.

All you have to bring is your own meat to grill, and a side or dessert to share. The Kiefer's will provide all paper goods, potato salad, watermelon, and drinks. College Students, Netcast will provide Hot Dogs for you, so you don't have to worry about trying to find lunch money for that day. We got you covered.

Also- if you have picnic chairs or a picnic blanket- bring that for outside!

Address: 42 Centre St. Danvers, MA

Time: 4:30 til' whenever!

Date: Monday 9/5

Completely optional side note: :) The Byrd family is moving to Beverly this Thursday to head up all of our Community Groups and we figured we could "welcome" them to our family. Jen Kiefer will have a table set up for notes of encouragement, gift cards, etc... We are so excited to have Dan and Tara and their family coming to join Netcast and helping to proclaim the good news to the North Shore.

Those being Baptized in 2 weeks.

2011-08-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

I am going to be spending much time in prayer for those being baptized over the next 2 weeks. This week, Josh Sturgeon reminded me that baptism is a major confession of faith and there is profound spiritual impact that occurs.

The enemy will try likely try to steal, discourage, and harass these people. But he won't prevail, because God's purposes are greater. Remember that the enemy is the father of all lies and will do anything to discourage them from this wonderful moment. He will try to make them feel unworthy and unclean.

Remember that on the cross Christ claimed victory over Satan, Sin and Death. They are holy, blameless, spotless, and wonderful through the cross and I am excited for this new beginning in their lives. There is no guilt, shame, or condemnation because of things in your past. Only a bright future ahead.

Matt

Netcast Church will NOT have Service Tomorrow.

2011-08-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

Due to the fact that the there is currently a State of Emergency in MA and major Hurricane warnings, we will not be having church tomorrow morning. The Leadership at Netcast feels that it is best to not risk trying to have a church service when it could be a possible danger to those wanting to come. To add to that, it is very possible that tomorrow at 10:00am, the YMCA forces us to not be able to meet, as well as a potential power outage.

Enjoy Jesus in your home tomorrow and stay safe. We look forward to having an awesome service on September 4^th. It will be a great Sunday to invite your friends as we will be talking about how Jesus has the ability to Awaken our Hearts. Lets pack out the building for the Glory of God and the sake of the Gospel.

Until all have heard,

Pastor Matt

Recap and The Resurrection (Last Blog from 1st Corinthians)

2011-08-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Recap and The Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:12-26

Acts 18

Corinth is a city very much like Greater Boston. Intellectual, Sexual, Spiritual, Relational and Rich. Paul, not your typical pastor. He's brash, impatient and can take a beating.

Chapter 1: We saw that Paul touched on some key theological truths. (1 Corinthians 1:1-9)

Sanctified: Slowly Growing us into his image.
Called to be Saints Together: You are called into a family.
God has given you grace: The church should be known as a place of grace.
Guiltless: You're blameless, perfect, holy, righteous, sinless. We aught to walk without shame.
Called: You didn't wake up one day and choose to believe this, God called you.

Chapter 1: We need to fight for Unity within the church. (1 Corinthians1:10)

In the church we typically see two types of people who bring dis-unity.

Refs: A referee is someone who is at the game, doesn’t play, but runs around calling fouls on everyone. In the church, the refs are the ones who are constantly complaining about everything but don’t do anything.
Wolves: A wolf is someone who comes into the church seeking to kill what God is doing, typically by trying to gain a following and bringing in false doctrine. The shepherd is not called to show grace and mercy to wolves; but instead in order to protect the sheep, we kill wolves.

Chapter 1: The Christian message is foolish. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Imagine that some dude from the backwoods of Ipswich comes to the door. “I’m here to tell you about God." A 15yr old virgin from Salem, gave birth to God in a tent. He grew up, never went to college, never owned a own home, and was poor. He worked for North Shore Cabinetry until he was 30. He recently fed everybody at a Pats game with a BigMac and fries. He turned water into Sam Adams so his friends could get krunked at a wedding. He kept saying he was God, so we beat him and finally killed him. Three days later, he came back from the dead. If you believe in him, you’ll find purpose for your life and escape hell.

Thats the Christian Message:

We believe some weird stuff. God (Namely, Jesus Christ) was born of a virgin. Worked as a carpenter, Lived sinless, absolutely no flaw in him at all, fed 5000 people with a fish and bread, turned water into wine. That he died for every offense ever committed by those who believe, That 3 days later, after being beaten within an inch of his life, nailed to a cross and having a spear thrusted through his heart sack, after being wrapped in 100 lbs of cloth, he came back to life. Signifying and proving to the world that he is exactly who he said he was…the Son of God, the Messiah, The Chosen one, God in the Flesh. And then tells 12 dudes to go and tell that story, and they do.

Today, 2/3 of the total population in the world, (about 2 billion people) believe that message and will worship him together on Sunday. Not because those people are wise, but because thousands of years ago God Abraham that he was going to build up a nation for himself, And that’s exactly what He’s doing.

Chapter 2: The Christian message is Not intellectual, but one of power. (1 Corinthians 2:2-5)

We're not going to use lofty speech or seem more intellectual than we actually are. Personally, I'm not that bright. I went to public school in NJ. I am a yankee's fan. I cant be smart.
We believe in Jesus because he's come to us in power, not because we've figured it out.

Chapter 3: Its time to Grow up. (1 Corinthians 3:1)

Paul is here telling the Corinthians that they are acting like babies. Get out of the kiddie pool. You're 28 years old doing back strokes in a yellow pool. Grow up. These christians have been in the game for years and are still acting like a baby.
Stop asking people to feed you and feed yourself. Children cant feel themselves. You're an adult.

Chapter 4: We had to redefine the pastors role? (1 Corinthians 4:1)

The Pastors role is not to serve you.
The Pastors role is to serve Christ and be a steward of his word.

Chapter 5: Sometimes Judging is the loving thing to do. (1 Corinthians 5:3-5)

The guy is having sex with his mother and the Corinthian church thinks their cute. Although Jesus says not to cast eternal judgements, Paul says that at times, for the purpose of ones soul, we need to judge. He goes as far as to say to hand this man over to Satan.

Chapter 6: Families will Fight. (1 Corinthians 6:1)

The bible calls us as believers in Christ; Family and one of the main characteristics of family is that we fight together. (Siblings, Marriages, etc.). As Christians we are to seek to work out our differences within the church.

Chapter 6 and 7: Avoid Bad Sex. Have Good Sex. (1 Corinthians 6:13, 18; 7:2-5)

Single people were doing it like rabbits and the married people werent doing it at all. In these chapters, Paul is explaining that the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for God. He is encouraging the married people to pursue good and healthy physical intimacy and encouraging the single people to withstand from sexually relations until you are fully committed in every other area, aka marriage.

Chapter 7: Marriage and Divorce. (1 Corinthians 7:10-11)

The Purpose of Marriage: The purpose of marriage is to Glorify God by show the world of His eternal, unending, unchanging love to those who are His. This is why he makes marriage an eternal, unending and unchanging covenant. Because that is in his nature.

Chapter 7: Singleness is a Gift. (1 Corinthians 7:32-34)

A lot of people look at their single years as a waste. They want to find that someone to spend the rest of their life with. Paul is telling the church to take advantage of their singleness. You will not be single forever, so use your singleness to do things for the Kingdom that you will struggle to do when you are no longer single. Pursue God without distractions. Go on missions trips. Give generously to the Kingdom. Your singleness is a gift, use it to the glory of Christ.

Chapter 8: The Conscience

Pastors often elevate conscience issues to the place of doctrine. When they do that, its legalism. Things like Tattoos, Piercings, Alcohol, Music Style, Cigerettes, Political Party, and being organic; are all conscience issues. Is we at Netcast ever start to elevate our conscience to doctrine, we have failed you.

Chapter 9: Paying your pastor. (1 Corinthians 9:3-7)

As uncomfortable as it was for me to teach these verses, I did. The majority of Pastors live in poverty. Actually, the running joke among ministry leaders is that when you agree to the calling of pastor ministry, you are agreeing to be poor. This is wrong according to Paul. He outlines reasons why it is wrong and compels us to take care our our pastors financial needs.

Chapter 10: Idolatry Defined, Exposed and Fought (1 Corinthians 10:14)

Idolatry is anything more important to you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. And idol is something that we want so badly that we will sin if we don’t get it or sin in order to obtain it. Its anything that you seek to give you what only God can give you. Idolatry is building your life and meaning on anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sleep, Sexual Pleasure, Intimacy, Work, Money, TV, Food, Isolation, a spouse, a Boyfriend / Girlfriend, a Sport, Exercise, Hobbies, Internet, Video Games, Drugs, Alcohol, and even things such as your Church and Ministry.

Here's how you know what you idols are....

What do you daydream about? What thoughts occupy your mind?
How do you spend your money?
What is your most uncontrollable emotion?
Where do you run for security when you are overwhelmed?
What is the one thing, that if you had it, it’d complete you?
Are you more broken when people reject you or when they reject Jesus?

Chapter 11: Distractions in Worship.

Dress in a way that wont cause distractions.
Don't be the Tambourine Dude or the Flag Lady or the Cotton Eye Joe Dancer.
Be careful that your Children are not a distraction.
Prepare your hearts before you get to church.

Chapter 12: Started to look at Spiritual Gifts, One Body with Many Parts

Balanced Philosophy: Missional Living vs Attractive Sunday Service.
Balanced Approach: Making Converts vs Making Disciples.
Balanced Theology: Reformed vs Armenian
Balanced Doctrine: (Spiritual Gifts)

Chapter 13: Love: The Mark of Maturity.

The corinthian church was measuring maturity by the gifts of the Spirit. Spiritual gifts are not the correct measure of ones maturity. Love is the mark. Love is a choice, not a feeling. Love is choosing to act a certain way. Then Paul outlines some of the choices that love leads us to make.
Read (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

Chapter 14: Spiritual Gifts are given to build up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:12, 26)

Paul outlines the purpose of spiritual gifts. The main reason that God gives us gifts is so that we would be a blessing and encouragement to the Kingdom of God. Are we using our gifts to build up the Kingdom of God? Are we simply trying to use our gifts to draw attention to ourself and our glory?

Chapter 15

One of the major themes today in modern culture, is the idea that all religions lead to virtually the same things. I was recently told that“Every religion is designed as simply a crutch to help human flourishing during hard times; and ultimately all religions teach the same things, which is, having faith in a God or Higher Power and a dedication to being good.”

There are some truths to that. The majority of the major religions in the world, teach that if you have enough faith and dedication to a specific religion or even a specific cause, than God will accept you. Even Christianity says things like, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. So, there is within Christianity, the belief that faith and dedication is important.

To take it even further, as I have studied other religions over the years, I have realized that the practicality of how Christianity is played out in the lives of Christians is similar to most other religions. - Prayer - Worship - Dedication - Love - Generosity - Morality

What makes Christianity different?

“Why Christianity?” I mean our of all of the religions in the world, why am I committed to Christianity?

One answer: The Resurrection.

Never in human history is there documented that a man, claimed to be God, was killed for it and then rose from death. There is only one single, isolated event in all of documented human history that you can see, from an intellectual perspective, this happening. And that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This was the primary message of the disciples: (Not morality, dedication, or religion)

Peter (Acts 2:22-24; 32) (Acts 4:8-12)
After Paul was converted his main message was, I was wrong, Jesus has risen.

Personally

I have come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted on the minds of human beings--or it is the most remarkable fact in all of human history. Thats exactly what Paul is saying in these verses. If Christ has not been raised from the dead, that we should be most pitied among all people. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19)

Why would we be, of all of the people in the world, the most pitied?

Think of the time, money, and energy that would be wasted in life if the resurrection is not true. Think of the redicilious amounts of times that we would have with-held temporary pleasures only to find out that there is no reward. Think about the endless sufferings that would be absolutely meaningless, if the resurrection is not true.

Paul is right.

Why on earth would we believe in the resurrection?

Here are some of the facts relevant to the resurrection: Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish prophet who claimed to be the Christ prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures, was arrested, was judged a political criminal, and was crucified. Three days after His death and burial, some women who went to His tomb found the body gone. In subsequent weeks, His disciples claimed that God had raised Him from the dead and that He appeared to them various times before ascending into heaven. From that foundation, Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and has continued to exert great influence down through the centuries.

What does the resurrection mean for me?

The resurrection of Jesus robs sin of its ultimate power over your life. Sins ultimate power is death. Every single sin you can fight, but you cannot fight death. You can fight sexual sin, you can fight pride, you can fight lying, stealing, idolatry, etc.

No matter how young you try to stay, no matter how much exercise you do, no matter how organic you are, no matter how much plastic surgery you get, no matter how consistent you are with your doctor appointments, no matter how much you avoid Twinkies, burgers, pork, high-fructose corn syrup, cigarettes, STD's. The reality of your life and of my life is that we may prolong the process, but ultimately we will die.

It might be cancer, a heart attack, a car accident, murder, suicide, a stroke, or just simply old age. But Romans 3 and our experience is clear. Sin always leads to death. “The penalty of sin is death." And the resurrection absolutely proves that although you will die, sin does not have to be victorious over you when you die.

This is why Paul can say what he says in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?”56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Love: The mark of maturity. (A Balanced MInistry)

2011-08-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

When Beth and I started to plan and dream about Netcast, one of the things that continued to stick out was this idea of being a balanced ministry. Many ministries lean heavily in one particular way and un-intentionally neglect something in the mix.

For example:

Balanced Philosophy: Missional Living vs Attractive Sunday Service.

At Netcast want to raise up people who don't just come to church on Sunday to be entertained but to leave on Sunday to be on mission. We think that in order to be a healthy church we need to have equal emphasis on living in community and on mission together as we have on putting together an awesome Sunday product.

Balanced Approach: Making Converts vs Making Disciples.

At Netcast we don’t want to be solely about Evangelism and seeing people converted, but have equal emphasis on seeing believers grow into more knowledgable and committed disciples of Christ.

Balanced Theology: Reformed vs Armenian

Although I am definitely bent towards reformed theology, we have some very faithful people in leadership positions who are bent Armenian. We find it most important that we believe both truths when it comes to these extremes. Yes, God is totally in control of everything in the universe and absolutely sovereign. And...Yes, God absolutely gives us free will to make our own decisions and holds us eternally responsible for those decisions. We agree that there are unknowns in how this works out but feel that having a balances view is most biblical.

Balanced Doctrine: (Spiritual Gifts)

As Netcast pursues a balanced ministry, it is vital that we have balance in our views in the Spiritual gifts. Here are 4 of the most common views when it comes to the Spiritual Gifts.

Types of Positions:

Cessationism: This doctrine teaches that the certain miraculous gifts of the Spirit have ceased to exist after the foundation of the early church. So gifts such as tongues, prophecy and healing are no longer given to members of the Body of Christ.

Pentecostalism: This is a theology within Evangelicalism that puts a special emphasis on experiencing God the Holy Spirit through a baptism of the Holy Spirit which typically leads to the speaking in tongues.

Charismainiac: This is my definition of movements within Christianity that has no boundaries or biblical bias for the gifts of the Spirit. Just about anything goes. The Shake and Bake, The Tap and fall, The Bark, The hick-up, The Chicken Chirp, the meow and the isle runners.

Charismatic: Charismatic Christianity is a Christian Doctrine that maintains that modern-day believers experience miracles, prophecy, tongues, and other spiritual gifts described in the scriptures.

At Netcast, I would define us as Charismatic Christians with a Conservitive theology. As of 2006, Charismatic Christians numbered at least 500 million people, a quarter of the world's 2 billion Christians. This means that charismatics are the second largest branch of Christianity after the Catholic Church.

LOVE: The Mark of Maturity:

The corinthian church was measuring maturity by the gifts of the Spirit. And we also do this. We look at those who are Good Teachers, Generous, Strong Leader, have the gift of Tongues or Discernment or Serving; and we say.....They are mature. But the bible says that maturity is measured by your ability to love.

That is exactly what vs.1-3 is saying.

1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

The mark of maturity is the ability to love, to love the unlovely, the selfish, the distasteful, the ungrateful, and to not let that change your attitude or your actions toward them but to keep on working fully for their best interests.

[4] Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love is a choice not a feeling. As much as I love and adore my wife and as much as my wife loves me, we do not always have the warm and fuzzy's about each other. Love is choosing to react in a certain way. As the great writer Gary Chapman would say; "Love is a Verb."

Patience is Love choosing to wait and not lording your timeframe on others.

Kindness is Love choosing to react gently when it seems more natural to react harshly.

Not having envy is Love choosing to be content with what God has given you and happy for what God has given others.

Not boasting is Love choosing to be quite about ones self and avoiding the temptation to always tell people how great you are.

Not being arrogant is Love choosing righteousness over being right. In my marriage, there are times where I have to choose to be wrong even though I am right for the sake of Love.

Not insisting on your own way is Love choosing to be selfless.

Not being irritable or resentful is Love choosing to forgive and relating to others as if they never committed an offensive against you, even though they have brought hardship or suffering or pain to your life.

That wasn't I was taught growing up.

Most of us were taught that Love is about compromise. You do for me and I do you for. Lets meet somewhere in the middle. But thats not what the scriptures teach us. The bible says that love is about death.

This is what Jesus says in John 13:9-13

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

The most tangible way that you can show love to someone is to literally choose to die to your own desires, your own wants, your own feelings, your emotions. To die to your self.

But, is it even possible to love like that?

Jesus is our example: Jesus lived a Spirit led and empowered life. Jesus emptied himself of certain attributes that he obtained while in all of his glory in heaven so that he, like us, would have to rely fully on the Holy Spirit. He was not superman, he was the God man who was led by the spirit. This is why Hebrews says that we have a high priest who can sympathize with us.

Philippians 2:5-7

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  7 "but made himself nothing", taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness.

In the same exact way that Jesus emptied himself and walked with a supernatural empowerment by the leading Holy Spirit, so are we to do the same. And one of the greatest things that the Holy Spirit leads us into is the ability to choose to love.

All of that being said, Non-christians cannot love in a selfless way. It is a fruit of the Spirit of God.

Galatians 5:22-26

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.

Your NAME in the place of LOVE

Matt is patient and kind; Matt does not envy or boast; Matt is not arrogant or rude. Matt does not insist on its own way; Matt is not irritable or resentful; Matt does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Matt bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Now ask those closest, how those statements resonate with them?

Here Paul drives the point home.

[11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

How do Children....

Speak: Children want things their way. They say things like. "No, Mine, Gimmie."

Think: Children think that the world revolves around them.

Reason: Children are never satisfied with what they have and rarely content.

Children love selfishly. Mature believers in Jesus, love selflessly. Because that's what Jesus did, and thats what the Holy Spirit empowers Jesus's people to do.

On my way back.....

2011-08-02T20:58:00.001-07:00

I am writing this email to you while on the way home from NC.

I want to first stop and say Thank You to everyone at Netcast. This week you have allowed me to go to North Carolina and spend a week investing in about 150 teenagers. In doing so, we saw some amazing things over the past week. First, there were about 15 teenagers who became Christians this week; Praise God. Beyond that, I was able to see both young people and adults take some very healthy steps towards freedom from some major brokenness. There were 6 people who confided in me that they were recently sexually abused and another ministry leader opened up to be about infidelity in his marriage. Although this all breaks my heart, I am humbled that God is entrusting us with these moments to help.

Pertaining to the fundraising, we have much to be excited about. I had 2 conversations with churches who are very close to making a commitment to being a financial partner of Netcast. Another meeting that I went to, the family wrote a check to Netcast on the spot. Praise God.

At this point, I am itching to get home. I will be preaching at SoulFest in NH on August 5th at 10:40am. Pray for me. That said, I miss you all terribly and cannot wait to see you on Sunday. We have been blessed to get such great teachings from Steve and Josh, but I'm not gonna like; am so excited to get back into my pulpit. HaHa.

I love you all more than you know. Thank you for allowing me to serve you as your pastor. It is a great honor.

Matt

Hebrews 13:1-6

2011-07-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 13:1-16

¹Let brotherly love continue. ² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. ³ Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body....For he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." ⁶So we can confidently say,

"The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?"

I can remember times in my life where the Lord was impressing things upon my heart in such a clear way that I was sure it was Him. Some more recent events have been times where I was to say something to someone or confront someone's sin, do something for my wife, or even just to evangelize the lost. One thing that I have noticed is that in all of those moments, obedience, is not my natural response. My natural response has recently been to retreat and neglect what God was leading me into.

Knowing the state of the heart and the effects of sin on mankind, I know that I am not alone in my journey. Following the Lord and being obedient to what he calls us into is not natural or easy. My heart is constantly warring against what I know is right and good.

In the first 6 verses of this text we are given 5 commands.

Love your brother.
Show hospitality.
Remember Christians who are mistreated and imprisoned for their faith.
Honor your marriage sexually. Good sex inside marriage, NO sex outside of it.
Be content with what you have.

Now, if we are honest. This list is not natural. Often times, it is so easy for me to not show brotherly love or get annoyed to open my home to others. Living in the safety of America, it is a rare occurrence that I think of other Christians who have it hard because of their faith. Having a sweet and God honoring marriage bed is something that my wife and I need to work on, and being content in what I have is something I am constantly having to guard for.

Then in verse 5 and 6, God gives us a way to help with our obedience.

One of the reasons that this is so difficult for me is simply because I do not always sense His presence. In those moments where I am sensing His presence and there is a natural awareness that He is near, obedience becomes very easy. But what about when it feels like Christ has departed from me an has left me astray? Arent there those moments where we feel lonely? David is the perfect example of this. He is constantly makeing comments like "Oh, Lord. Where are you? Why have you forsaken me? Why have you departed your presence.?"

In those moments, I have realized that I must trust the scriptures. I have to remember that verse 5 and 6 are true. For he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." ⁶So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. He is our helper in our time of need. In those moments where I am faced with the hard reality to be obedient, I must remember that the Lord is my helper in the ever-present time of need. I need not be obedient on my own, there is help and power granted to me by the Holy Spirit who dwells in my soul. I shall not fear anything, especially man. What can man ever do to me? Besides that, it is for my greatest joy to be obedient to Christ. He never leads me in directions that will destroy my joy, rather he is constantly leading me into an opportunity for a greater eternal joy. My soul and standing is secure in Christ and Christ alone. To him be all glory, honor and praise. Forever.

The next 2 weeks at Netcast Church

2011-07-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

For the next two weeks, I will be traveling from MA to NC to be a camp pastor at a missions camp as well as doing some fundraising for our second year in ministry. For those of you who don't know, we have unexpectedly lost about $36k of funding for our 2nd year at Netcast. This was not due to anything other than the mere fact that one of our major donors has money tied up in other projects overseas and we got cut from the budget. We praise Christ for this family who played a major part in financially helping Netcast get where we are today.

As we have talked about many times, one of the most exciting things about what is going on at Netcast is our diversity and how God is growing our church faster than we ever expected. Because of that, we have been graced with some Godly men and women who are serving along with us.

Since I will be away, I am so excited for Steve Shomo to be preaching this week. For those who don't know, we are very blessed to have Steve with us. He comes to Netcast with over 25 years of senior pastoral ministry. He most recently was the lead pastor of a church in Warwick NY and saw it thrive in his years there. Steve will be continuing our study through the book of 1 Corinthians and you wont want to miss it. The following week, Josh will be bringing the preached word to us. (I'll be watching live online)

Please pray for me and my family during this trip. I will be preaching about 13 times while away and have many meetings about financial support. Your prayers are coveted. I love you more than you know.

Until all have heard!

Your Pastor,
Matt

Distractions in the Church World.

2011-07-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

Distractions in Public Worship.

As we were studying 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 as a church, we noticed that the Lord really desires for us to be free of distractions as we gather corporately for worship. In this case, because of the way some of the women were dressing and behaving in the corporate gathering for worship, they were drawing peoples attention towards themselves and away from Christ.

Here are some ways that you can eliminate distractions while gathering for worship on Sundays.

1. Dress in a way that wont cause distractions.

Dress in such a way that does not draw attention to yourself, but limits distractions. I have been in churches where the girl in front of me has a belly shirt and her underwear is sticking out. Its a distraction. I have been in churches where the pastor is dressed to the nines and has gold all over his body. It's a distraction. Dress to eliminate yourself. This was the main issue of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. The point of worship is to point people to Jesus, not yourself.

2. Don't be the Tambourine Dude or the Flag Lady or the Cotton Eye Joe Dancer.

I'll never forget going to a buddies church and having to pass the flag lady to get in. If you bring a flag to church at Netcast, I will kick you out. If you feel its necessary to play a tambourine during worship, try out for the team so we can cut you and tell you NO because you are never on beat, you suck and you are distracting. And if you feel the urge to do the cotton eye joe dance moves in the front of the room during worship, you can do it. Just be prepared to be the first person to ever be dragged out of Netcast. The goal of worship is to point people to Jesus, not yourself.

3. Be careful that your Children are not a distraction.

The reason why we at Netcast do Children's Ministry downstairs and have people scheduled to teach your kids the scriptures downstairs is because I am a parent. The last church that I went to used to have the children sit with you in worship. So, I spend most of my time watching kids and trying to keep them quiet that I myself was distracted and most of the people around me are distracted. The point of worship is to point people to Jesus, not yourself or your kids.

4. Prepare your hearts before you get here.

Spend time in the morning doing things that will point your heart towards the gospel. Some things I do is, read some of the psalms, listen to worship music, or even just journal.
Pray with your spouse before you get to the gathered service.
Get to the church on time, and do your best to not be a distraction to others as you arrive late. Remember there is always grace with this, however it is helpful

5. Engage when you are here. (You have the grace to do it.)

Be attentive. If you are simply coming to church on Sunday in order to fulfill your religious duty, you have missed it. Things like being on facebook, texting, twitter, writing notes to the person next to you, etc. All of these things are a distraction during the gathered service. Pursue Christ by staying attentive to him during the preached word and worship through singing.
Uphold a posture of worship. Don't be afraid to do things like Lift your hands, sing aloud, rock your body, smile, pray. Your body language should match your emotions. I know many people in my reformed camp disagree with this, but I do think that evaluating posture, is also a good heart check.

6. Watch distractions outside of “Sunday”. (Worship in all areas of life.)

1 Peter 5:8 “The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour you. Resist him.”
Guard who gets your attention. Its not enough to just not cheat on your spouse. Guard your heart. Think through who are the people in your life who are getting your attention but shouldn't be.
Pursue an organized life. Things like schedule, bed time, dinner schedule, Grocery Shopping, keeping a neat home. All of these things help you with time management in your house. Many people claim to not do things like prayer, bible study, community, etc because they don't have time. Organize your life so that you have time.
Watch your debt. Create financial margin in your life to worship through giving if God calls you to. Often times, having bad debt is a distraction in your life and eliminates your ability to give when God calls you to give.
Remember the Gospel. Lastly, the most important thing we can do to eliminate distractions in our life is to continue to remind ourselves of the gospel. Preach it to yourself, live life with people who will remind you of it and look for it in the scriptures. Remembrance is an art and one that we aught to look to master. It is so easy to forget what Christ has done on our behalf and look to rely on our own ability to become reconciled to God. Remembering Christ and the gospel will propel us into worship.

I need to repent to some of you....

2011-07-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Because of some things that I said on Sunday in my sermon, I feel that I need to repent. As we studied through 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, we covered a lot of context and I neglected to mention some things. The message is here http://www.vimeo.com/26268083

What was happening in the Corinthian Church is that the women had found a new freedom in Christ which was a good thing. However, that new freedom began to lead these women into finding their identity in their freedom. The way that this was beginning to play out, was that the women did not dress in a way that was honoring to their husbands and were causing distractions as the church was gathering to worship through singing and preaching. Paul instructs the church in Corinth not to use their spiritual freedom to deviate from the social norms of their day because this would create a distraction in worship.

To my embarrassment, I never addressed the issue of “Identity” in my sermon. In forgetting to do so, I may have said some things that were offensive and degrading to you. For that I repent and will seek to explain the issue of “Identity” now.

As believers in Christ, we are to find our “Identity” in Christ and Christ alone. Our culture would tell us that a women's value is found in how she dress, how she looks, how much she weighs and even how willing she is sexually. In Christ, none of that is true. As women who have been purchased and bought by Jesus, your identity is found solely in Christ. So, as God's people we view things such as beauty and sexuality much different than mainstream culture. God is much more concerned with the heart than he is with the outward appearance of someone.

My fear is that the women (and men) at Netcast will do the same as the women in Corinth; and that is seek to find their hope in something outward. To do so is idolatry, and I would seek to spare you of that. The temptation will be for us to succumb to what the culture calls sexy or beautiful and forget what scripture says is sexy and beautiful. To trust in the cultural view is a shallow puddle and constantly changing, but to trust in Christ is a deep fountain and eternal. Thus, we at Netcast find our queues from the Word of God.

So Ladies....For those in Christ, you are incredibly beautiful, both on the inside and the outside. You have been uniquely designed by the Lord and are wonderfully made (Psalm 139). Not because culture says so, but because Christ says so. Not because of your height and weight, but because of your heart. Not because of what you wear, but because you are clothed in the blood of Christ. Praise his name.

I love you more than you can know.

Pastor Matt

Changing Location of my Cookout!!!

2011-07-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Since it's raining, we have moved tonights "get together" to The Keifers house. Because they're freaking AWESOME!!!! Everything is the same except the location. They have a bigger house and more room for the 15 kids that are expected to come if it rains.

Please swing through. We cant wait to all hang out. Their address is below.

42 Centre St.

Danvers MA 01915

Call my cell if you get lost 336-362-5662

Pass this along to anyone who you know is coming. Its last minute so we'll have to work together.

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

Conversation with a Skeptic.

2011-07-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

Since beginning to plant Netcast, I often find myself dialoging with skeptics about Christianity. Here is one. Start from the bottom and work your way up.

John Doe,

Hey man. OK, let me start by saying that I am glad that you shot me an email and decided to chat through some of these things. The questions that you asked are great questions and ones that I have given some thought to in the past. I am encouraged that you seem to sincerely be searching for answers and not just trying to be combative like many people do.

Before I start to answer your questions, I have to lay some groundwork. To start, we have to understand what Christianity is. Many people think that it is a belief system, moral code, modeling Jesus, religious duties, being good to your neighbor, etc. Although some of that is is true, it is not the essence if the Christian message, but rather the fruit of a person who's heart has been transformed by the gospel (good news) of Christ.

Gospel is one of those words that Christians often use, but rarely define. Unless we establish what we’re talking about when we say, “gospel,” I'm not really doing much good by throwing it around. At best you'll have a vague idea what I'm talking about. At worst, I can potentially lead you astray from God and truth.

Beyond religion and irreligion, there is “The Gospel”. Irreligion operates on the premise: I will be my own god, and find acceptance through my own means. Religion operates on the premise: I will obey God, and find acceptance through these means. The gospel, however, operates on the premise: I constantly fail to obey God the way that I should, but because of what Jesus has done, he has accepted me anyway. Now, as a grateful response, I will seek to obey him. This is radically different than being religious or irreligious.

The gospel teaches us that because of Christ’s work on the cross and on our behalf, we are accepted by God and considered righteous. Because this depends on Jesus, and not ourselves, we are utterly secure. There is no way for us to mess it up or lose it: Jesus has done it all. Therefore religion is out. There is no place for earning anything. There is no place for moral superiority or pride.

Also, before I get to the questions, I have to address one thing that you mentioned. I never denied the existence of God (a universal energy) and the great example that Jesus has provided to us, BUT unfortunately many religious groups do not preach the real teachings of Christianity and instead they focus on the same mambo jumbo that I used to hear every Sunday when I was a kid.

In this you mention that many religious groups do not preach the real teachings of Christianity. So, in that I want to ask, what you feel the real teachings of Christianity are?

Also, you mentioned the great example that Jesus provided us. If by that you mean, “Love your neighbor.” I can assure you that there have been many before Christ and after Christ who have modeled that for us. To take that a little further, if Christ was just a simple model for us, then the man was simply crazy. His mom claimed to be a virgin when she conceived him (yeah right); He said things like, eat my flesh and drink my blood, he claimed to be a part of creating the world, he literally whipped religious leaders out of the temples, he did magic/miracles and ultimately claimed to be God and was murdered for it. So, to simply say he was a good model, is a stretch. He modeled “crazy” if anything. If anyone today said the things that he said and did the things that he did we would throw him in a Loonie house. In essence, Christ's fame and his ability to literally alter all of history and humanity, was not because of his example, but because of his death, burial and resurrection. If, and I say “IF” because you have to determine if you believe this or not. If Jesus really lived without any error, was murdered for claiming to be God, and then rose from the dead 3 days later, then he isn't just our example, but he must be exactly who he claimed to be. God!! Wild, I know. But thats what I believe. I just don't believe that experientially but also intellectually. My mind has looked at the claims, weighed it against the evidence and this is the conclusion that I have come to.

OK.....That was probably a lot to take in and probably raises a lot more questions. But we needed to start somewhere.

We all born sinners: It is hard for me to believe that a new born baby, the purest creature among all is a sinner, that the baby is impure. That is a contradictory idea by nature and also by the main definition of God which for me is love.

OK. I want to start with your main definition of God. Love!! To start, I think that we may be finding some common ground with that because the only historical document that we can get that definition from is the bible. 1 John 4:8 says “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” In the ancient Greek world and even in modern day religion, there isn't a God who loved humanity on the sole bases of his character. It was always, “do X” and you will receive love. Or “don't do Y” and you will receive love. That is the one thing that makes Christianity totally different than any other religion known to man. Christians do not have to do anything, but only rely on Christ who has done it for them. This is called “grace”.

So, the next thing that we have to do is define the word sinner and get on the same page. I fear that you probably are taking your definition from your guilt ridden background. Since we are talking about Christianity and the bible is the sole means of understanding evangelicalism, how does the bible define sin? Sin is any thought, motive or deed that does not bring glory to God. So, any selfish thought, motive or deed is sin. If you and I are honest, every one of our motives are tainted by selfishness. Think about it, have you ever tried to do anything good with a single pure good motive? Give to the poor, rub your wife's back, etc...Even the best and most moral things that I do almost always puff me up and bring pride, which again is the root of all sin. Genesis 8:21 says “the intentions of mans heart is evil from his youth.” You and I are dad's. I have 4 kids and I think that we can agree that our kids are born with selfish desires. They hit when they don't get what they want, even though they have never seen me or my wife hit. They scream when they don't get their way, even though they have never seen us act that way. So, I think that both our experiences and the scriptures would testify to the truth that we are born sinners.

Now, that wasn't always the case. The scriptures also tell us that God created us perfect with no flaws and it wasn't until we (Adam and Eve) choose to sin, that sin fractured everything. Thus, the sin nature is now passed to all of us through the lineage.

OK, since that is a lot to take in for now. Lets start there. Pertaining to the life of Jesus, really the only thing that we have documented is his early life and later ministry. There is a large gap of years there. I do not know why that is the case. I honestly couldn't tell you. That said, if you look at the totality of the bible it serves one purpose from beginning to end. To tell the world that God will redeem the brokenness that sin has caused. From beginning to end it is pointing us to Christ as the one who will pay for the cost of sin. So everything that was written before Christ was to point us forward to the coming of Christ, and everything written after Christ, is point us back to what Christ has done by paying for our sin on the cross. So, from beginning to end it is all about what happened at the cross. Not to say that the missing parts of Christ's life are not necessary, personally I would love to learn what happened during those years. But, in the end, he probably was a kid who ran around and had fun, was tempted like we are tempted, yet he did not fall like we fall. He was probably a little rough around the edges with his dad being a carpenter. From his adult life and how he would deal with people, I can see him as being a little sarcastic as a kid. But again, thats all speculation.

We'll have to attack the violence of the bible at another time. I have some other thing I gotta run to, but I got some thoughts on that as well. Maybe we can do that one over coffee.

Let me know how this settles and what else you're thinking of.

Matt

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

To: Matt Chewning
Sent: Thu, June 30, 2011 9:09:40 AM
Subject: Re: I'm curious about Netcast

Hello Matt:

First of all, thank you for getting back to me so quickly!, to be honest I had my doubts about getting a response or maybe one within a week later. I like that good "customer service" you might have adopted during your years in Corp. America.

Alright, let's start with my background and history if you let me.

I was born and raised in South America, as you might know most Latin American countries are Catholic due to the Spanish colonization. I believe that the Catholic influence was in the air, not only coming from my Family but also from the society in general. Unfortunately, my Catholic experience is one of memorization and repetition of prays without understanding what they meant or why you should be saying them. The other environment that was not healthy in my religious experience was the obsessive idea of guilt that was imposed. I grew up with guilt about everything making me feel that I was not good enough, that I was a bad person. It took me a lot to get out of that bad environment, thank God for the University that gave me the opportunity to have my first contact to Theology which made me see things in a different way. After the university I went into a divorce with the Catholic church (at least with the one that I experienced). I never denied the existence of God (a universal energy) and the great example that Jesus has provided to us, BUT unfortunately many religious groups do not preach the real teachings of Christianity and instead they focus on the same mambo jumbo that I used to hear every Sunday when I was a kid. Due to the divorce I mentioned before I started searching to fill up the spiritual gap I have been carrying for years. I am not an expert in any religion, but by knowing the generals of each of them, I ended up understanding many things. The main Idea is that no matter how you call your God, it is the same one. The other idea I got was that no matter which religion you follow, the main goal of it is to develop into a better spiritual life, one that connects you to your God, therefore improves your life and you are able to achieve happiness. The last idea I learned is that even though all religions have good intentions, at the end of the day humans are the ones that run the show, therefore there are biases or contradictions between what they preach and what their members do.

Now let's talk about my main questions because I have several but there are a 3 that kind of bug me a lot:

1- We all born sinners: It is hard for me to believe that a new born baby, the purest creature among all is a sinner, that the baby is impure. That is a contradictory idea by nature and also by the main definition of God which for me is love. How could God would like us to believe that we are sinners since day one of our existence. This concept kind of flows with the idea of imposing guilt so other dogmas could be accepted without analysis of them. If there is an analogy or metaphor behind this idea, please explain it to me.

2- The life of Jesus: I might have not done enough research on this, but It seems that the only 2 parts known about his life were his childhood and when he was 30 y.o. to the time of his death. It is kind of hard for me to believe that his life in between was unknown or at least not mentioned as if there is something to hide about it. If you know where I could read more about Jesus entire life, please guide me.

3- Lastly but not least, why the bible is so violent?: this summer my 2 girls are going to a Christian summer camp. In the camp they gave a "bible for kids". Some moms from my kids' school told us that it is great, so we accepted the gift. We started reading it and since we (my wife and I) have not read the bible from beginning to the end, we were surprised about some stories that talk about adultery, killing and other violent acts. I don't want to raise my kids in a crystal bubble, but I don't think that a 7 or 5 y.o. kids need to be expose to those type of stories. Is there a real bible for kids? one that focuses on the good things that should be learned out of it without exposing kids to the misery that we humans created in the world. It is sad, but we live in a society that enjoys violence, I don't want that for my kids and in my own way I try to avoid anything that is violent, but I also would like my kids to learn the good stuff of the bible. As you said in your response: something that is the foundation for their beliefs.

I might not be a good example for my kids as a Christian, but at least I want to be able to answer all their questions related to Christianity and this is why I'm asking all these questions.

Matt, I don't expect you to have the answers to all my questions, but any guidance or help would be appreciated.

- John Doe