Gods Presence at Netcast

My daily reading today was to read through the Book of Jonah. As I read the first 3 verses God began to speak….

Jonah 1 
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. 

When the Lord began to put the dream of Netcast in my mind, a longing for "Gods Presence" was at the center of those dreams. I longed for the day to see God build a church that was more concerned with His presence than anything else. Do I love good theology, sound teaching, authentic leadership, Gospel-Centrality, certain worship music, community, etc? Absolutely…But no amount of right intellect, wisdom or musical preference can produce the personal transformation that occurs when we are saturated in the presence of the Lord.

Since Netcast began, "presence" (among other things) has marked us. People have walked into our worship gatherings and been overwhelmed with Gods presence, brought to tears in Gods presence, healed in Gods presence and danced in Gods presence. Presence has grown to become one of the common things that people speak of when they visit Netcast. I can't tell you how many emails I get that speak about visitors "sensing God or feeling God" while in a worship service or Community Group. Sturgeon has continued to encourage us as a church to keep pursuing "Presence over Programs or Process."

When I read those first three verses in Jonah, it stirred things in me. It reminded me of the importance of being faithful to Gods call on Netcast. It reminded me that "Gods Presence" through the proclamation and worship of Gods Son, is our only hope in seeing Greater Boston transformed. It reminded me that if we ever stop prayerfully seeking Gods direction or neglect His leading, then it's possible to lose the most important thing we have; "The presence of the Lord". When Jonah failed to be obedient to the word God gave him and fled to Tarshish instead of Nineveh, it clearly says that "Jonah didn't just run from Gods call, but actually ran from Gods Presence." In the same way, if we stop seeking God for a unified direction, the first thing to go will be the sensing of His Presence. Not because the Lord has left us, but because we stopped following the Lord.

Similar to Jonah, the Lord has called us to a "great city". Like Nineveh, Greater Boston is a great city full of people "who do not know their right hand from their left. (Jonah 4:14)" Greater Boston needs to turn away from its idolatrous evils, repent of its sins, trust in Jesus and experience Gods Presence. May Netcast never stop being a place that displays the beauty of our "gracious God, who is merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Jonah 4:2)"

May we lead the way in seeing Gods presence known by (1) keeping Jesus central to everything, (2) creating deep authentic communities, (3) worshiping God with all of our being, (4) planting churches, (5) equipping Gods people as best as we can and (6) being willing to do whatever we believe the Lord is leading us to do.

Generosity starts with correct thinking.

Sadly, statistics would tell us there is no difference between the way a Christian views generosity and the way the secular world views generosity. As believers in Christ, we believe that we serve a generous God who has given us a generous gospel. In the gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ emptied himself of all his riches and walked among us, becoming like us in every way. Then on the cross, our great God gave himself for us by becoming our sin offering and extending his righteousness to all who would believe in Him. Jesus is a generous God!

Romans 12:2 says “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...” 

In this text, it is clear that the key that worship begins with accurate thinking, not necessarily accurate actions. In other words, the ability to worship Jesus through generosity has less to do with what we do with our resources, and everything to do with how we think of our resources.

In 1 Chronicles 29:1-14 we learn that “Everything under heaven and earth belongs to the Lord” and by Gods grace, we have been entrusted with the responsibility of managing some of the Lords resources. A faithful manager, manages assets for the owners benefit and carries no sense of entitlement to the assets that he manages. But rather, it is his or her job to find out what the owner wants done with his assets and then carry out his will.

Biblical generosity starts with being able to grab a hold of the beauty of Jesus Christ. Jesus is so incredible, so powerful and so beautiful that our only response to Him should be...“Everything under heaven and earth is your.” By “thinking” in this way, we will become incredible worshipers of God and generosity will flow out of us like never before. Generosity will become a response of seeing how incredible Jesus is and how massive his mission is in comparison to our mission. And generosity no longer becomes a duty, but can now be a reflective reaction of understanding who we are in light of who He is.

If everyday of every week believers would see how great Jesus is, how powerful Jesus is, how glorious Jesus is, how victorious Jesus is, how majestic Jesus is; then who knows how God may use a church like that. "Yours, O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours." Therefore, may we be faithful managers of His stuff. And may we worship Him well.

Netcast's Position on a Biblical Tithe.

Netcast Tithing Position 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above" James 1:17 

All that we have belongs to God.We believe that nothing is our own. We are not owners, rather, we are investors. God has charged us to invest His resources while we are here on earth. This is a tremendous responsibility and opportunity!

"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required" Luke 12:48

It is from this perspective that we approach the Biblical principal of tithing.

The "tithe' is a standard set by God in the Old Testament which was also affirmed by Jesus in the New Testament. The word “tithe” literally means "tenth", and it called the nation of Israel to honor God by giving the first 10% of their income back to God. The Old Testament encourages us to be givers of our "first fruits" (Proverbs 3:9-10). This reference is made in the context of farmers who brought an offering of their first harvest. The intention was to bring the absolute best of the best before God. Today it is still a powerful acknowledgement that God is the ultimate Provider in every area of our lives.

Jesus affirms the tithe...Matthew 23:23 
Jesus always raised the bar when referring to the Old Testament law. He didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it with a more complete perspective (Matthew 5:17). Concerning 10% At Netcast, we believe that the tithe is only a starting point for Christians. The 10% figure is a tool to help us become expert investors of God's resources. It's not an end goal. It's a spotlight that reveals where we are hoarding resources or have become undisciplined financially. It’s a number that confronts our attitude towards investing God’s resources. However, 10% is not an end goal. New Testament Christians gave lavishly, often selling entire houses and land in order support the work of the Kingdom in their city and beyond (Acts 4:36ff)

Jesus downplays exact figures (amounts)
While observing people give in the temple, Jesus commented that the poor widow who gave a single penny actually gave more than all of the other wealthy people combined! Jesus downplays an exact figure of giving, while focusing on the attitude and faith of the giver. (Mark 12:41ff) Lest we think that Jesus lowered the standard of giving in this passage, we must remember that the widow was commended because she gave all that she had to live on, despite her poverty. If anything, this challenges us to be more lavish investors with God’s resources. A figure like 10% helps us take stock of where we invest God's resources. Ultimately, it gives us the ability to see what our heart desires, "where your treasure is, there you heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21).

Goal of Netcast Church
Our position on giving is best summed up by the apostle Paul "... as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in (love) — see that you excel in this act of grace (giving) also. (2 Corinthians 8:7 ESV) If we truly love Jesus with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, we will make a way to invest joyfully, sacrificially and regularly in His church and those in need around us.

Investing in Christ's church and others is one way of "bringing glory to Jesus by cultivating gospel-centered worshipful communities."

Hysterical Volunteer Email (Netcast)

One of the best emails I have ever received from a Netcast volunteer. Hysterical....

___________________

Hello Matt,

Reading your discussion on the budgetary aspects of Netcast has left me feeling very happy and excited about this future fiscal year!

I have decided that it is more than appropriate for me to start a discussion with you about the payment and compensation for my (much valued) time working with and for the Netcast church. I have worked out the rough amount of time I have spent teching shows, loading equipment, and providing expert and professional feedback for multiple sound, video, and technological related issues throughout the last year and a half.

Normally my freelance charge for such services is $325/hr with a 4 hour minimum, however since I have a personal interest in the establishment and you guys are probably a non profit establishment I have decided to cut that down to only $200/hr with a 2hr minimum for my expertise and services. As a result the total amount due, with back pay and taxes, equals $74,695.62. You may pay me in any currency or format you deem worthy, I personally prefer diamonds or works of art from the Mezzo-European era. You may, of course, discuss the payment offers with your board. If you find there may some issues with delivering payment, I would be willing and open to discussion regarding making reparations for the debt via services or goods exchanged.

For example; I would accept cured boar-hides as an alternative, they must value the worth of $74,695.62 however. I understand that due to the economic difficulties that are currently ravishing the country you may not have ready access to cured boar hides, so, as another alternative, I offer the following:

You allow my wife and I to have you and Beth over to our Apartment for dinner sometime in the next few weeks. Both my wife and I feel that having you and your wife visit our humbled abode would more than equal the dollar amount owed, and the pleasure of us making dinner for you would indeed clear the large and imposing debt Netcast has to me.

 Please feel free to take some time to think on this issue, discuss the situation with the esteemed and much lauded group of individuals you mentioned in your budget post, and let me know at your earliest convenience. I look forward to hearing your response.

Sincerely,
Kevin

Freedom: We are free slaves.

Series: Gospel of John
Title: Freedom
Text: John 8:21-36

Living in America, we take pride in freedom. We live in a nation that prides ourselves on our freedoms and liberties. However, Jesus says that "anyone who commits a sin is a slave." Then He adds to that by saying,"not only are we slaves to sin, but He is the only means of finding freedom." So, what does that mean? How can that be?

 Everyone loves the “Golden Rule”...”love your neighbor as yourself”. Through history, every generation lived with that conviction and everyone knows when we don't abide by that rule, misery comes. However, here is what is interesting. Throughout history, there has never been a society to flawlessly live by what they believe to be right. That is extremely telling statement. If every religion, society and generation has known a right way of living, then why has no society has been able to do it? Because we're slaves. We think we are free but we are only free to choose what we will allow to enslave us.

Tim Keller says...“Our real problem is that Jesus is not burning at the center of our life. If Jesus is not the center of your life then you're a slave and you don't even know it! There is no bigger slave than the person that doesn't know that he/she is a slave. All the 12-step programs know this, the person who says "I have the power" is a powerless person. And the person who says "I am powerless, I need help" is getting power for the first time…”

So, how do we walk in freedom?

The secret to freedom is this: Worship. We've got to have great worship, we've got to have emotional worship, we've got to have glorious worship, we've got to sense the greatness of Jesus, sometimes be so moved by the love of Jesus... moved to tears, moved to laughter by who Jesus is and what He has done for you. When Jesus is the center of our lives, we are free. Because if I have Jesus, I am free to build my identity on the hope and freedom found in Him rather than the things that will eventually enslave me.

Questions.

1. What things in our lives have been exposed as things that enslave me? 
2. How has we experiences false saviors seeming to bring freedom, but actually bring bondage? 
3. In what ways have you experienced freedom in your life? 
4. How can we as a small community encourage continuous worship in order to fight slavery?

Holy Spirit Strategy

At the end of Matthew, Mark and Luke; Jesus gives some very important instructions. Right before Jesus ascends to be with the Father, he tells His disciples what to do, what their mission is and their first step to accomplishing this new mission. To our surprise however, the first step to accomplishing the mission of God is to wait. Now, waiting is counter-intuitive to what we think is necessary when we are looking to accomplish something. However, upon waiting Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to them, granting them supernatural power from God.

Jesus is clear; For us to effectively fulfill all that Christ is calling us to fulfill, we first have to be empowered by God the Holy Spirit. To do anything apart from the Holy Spirit, is to do nothing at all. Therefore, in order to be a church empowered for ministry, we have got to be people that pursue God the Holy Spirit. As we continue to pursue this type of life, we will see incredible things. Peoples eyes will be enlightened to the beauty of God's word. Worship will resemble heaven while demonic forces will be destroyed. The preached word will produce transformed hearts and we wont be just sitting around waiting for our gatherings to end. Praise God; the sick will be healed, the lost will be found and the family of God will grow in numbers and health

Netcast 2 Year Anniversary (Update: Matt Chewning)

Can you believe that it has been 2 years since we moved to plant Netcast?

I was reminded this morning how so many people were a part of our transition as we followed God's call. We were so blessed with all of the people praying for us, coaching us, financially supporting us, sending encouragement, etc. To look back and see how God has multiplied our efforts and prayers is amazing. Two years ago when we moved to Beverly, MA we didn't know anyone. Now, we are surrounded with so many friends and family. In that time, Netcast went from an idea, to now a movement on the North Shore of Greater Boston. To give some perspective, this week I got a phone call from a guy who has been podcasting us. He is a leader at a campus of Life Church (Craig Groeschel's church www.lifechurch.tv) and wanted to let us know how blessed he's been by our ministry. It's stories like that that blow my mind of how Jesus is using all of us to encourage His Kingdom.

 Here's a current update of what's going on and how you can be praying for us...

Netcast has continued to grow faster than any of us could have expected. This is a great testimony, but also brings some anxiety. A year ago in September we were averaging about 200 people per weekend and now a year later our attendance has doubled to 400 people. In the past year we have seen a ton of people begin to get into community. We currently have 11 community groups and need to add more since many of them are way too full. In 2012, (based on what we know from handed in connect cards) we have seen at least 500 new people come through our doors. We have also seen at least 27 people become Christians and will baptize about 30-40 people in 2012.

We have also done our best to enhance our discipleship process this year, by adding ways to plug people into the life of our church through serving, community and partnership. Our online ministry is still growing as well. We are almost done putting together an App which will be launched soon. In the past year there have been 53,000 page visits to our website and we have reached 80 countries thus far. Amazing!!! As far as our funding has gone, we are doing well. All of our ministry expenses (Community Groups, Equipment, Space, Administrative costs, Online Ministries, Outreach, Children's Ministry, Missions, etc...) are fully covered by the church. We are also giving away between 20-30% of what is brought in towards church planting and other ministries. Currently, only our staffing costs are being raised from outside the church.

I want to thank you again for supporting us if you have. Your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed and we continue to be so grateful for your love and support. Please pray for our family as we have been sick lately and crazy busy. Beth and I recognize that we are in way over our heads; please pray for wisdom and that we clearly hear from the Lord. Right now, Netcast needs more leaders and laborers for all that God is doing out here. Pray that God sends people and we see leaders risen up from within the body. Also, please pray for my humility as I know that God opposes the proud and there is currently a lot to get excited about. May I never take credit for anything that Jesus does. Also, pray that the gospel stays central to all that we do as we seek to give Christ all the glory and see disciples made.

I love you all. More than you can imagine.

 Matt Chewning and Family

Motivation to serve.

I had a blast last night talking with my community group as we explored what it looks like as Christians to serve. I thought I'd take a minute to talk about our motivation to serve since it was brought up a bunch yesterday. In scripture I see a few reasons why we should serve and thought you'd enjoy seeing them too. This is also addressed in "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" by Donald Whitney

1. Motivated by obedience. 
Deuteronomy 13:4 says "Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. We cannot neglect to serve because we simply don't want to do we can't serve with the right heart. Our goal is to serve by obedience and believe that God will change our heart in the process.

2. Motivated by gratitude. 
1 Samuel 12:24 says "Serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you." In our salvation, when we actually see that God has never done anything greater for anyone, nor could he do anything greater than what he has done for us; it will lead to a gratitude that leads to action. So, it is vital that we slow down and remember what great things God has done for us.

3. Motivated by gladness. 
Psalm 100:2 says "Serve the Lord with gladness." If we can change our thinking from serving as something that we HAVE to do, and rather something that we GET to do; then our serving will be a privilege, not a burden. Seek a gladness in your service.

4. Motivated by forgiveness, not guilt. 
In Isaiah 6 when God cleanses Isaiah of his sin through atonement; Isaiah's immediate response is "Send me." In this case, service became an act of worship based on the forgiveness that he received. We all should see our service as worship because we have been forgiven of our sin. Because forgiveness was the motivation to serve, there could be no guilt.

Community should not be worshiped.

I want to be careful in what I say because I don't want to come across as if community isn't vital to us as believers. That said, we need to be careful to not put such an emphasis on community that we make it some sort of spiritual law. At Netcast, community groups are designed to be a family of people who meet so that deeper community can be forged. As a pastor, it is my desire that the people of Netcast are growing in relationship with others, therefore able to be authentic, transparent and stirred on to good things while at times being confronted with their blind areas. I never want Netcast to be a place where if someone is not at a community group every week than they can't be a partner with us or feel that they are not as spiritual as the next person. To me, that seems cultish and overly controlling. I feel that type of commitment is unnecessary to what community groups are trying to accomplish.

In my experience with this movement of community among evangelicalism, we have to be careful. The gospel is our means of justification, redemption and glorification; not community. Don't hear what I'm not saying, my heart is that everyone at Netcast would be plugged into a group and plan on attending as often as able. This way we are able to continue to stay connected with people. This hopefully would allow for deeper relationships to be forged that will go beyond a weekly meeting. Again the goal is never attendance, it's deep relationship. Often times it takes years of work for people to feel like they are building this.

Remember, community should not be worshiped. However, worship should happen in community. Lets press on to see Netcast become a gospel-centered worshipful community.

Marriage and Paul Tripp

After performing my very first wedding this past weekend, I was reminded of some of the basic truths that I wish someone would have taught Beth and I before marriage. Often times we forget the unavoidable realities that come with marriage and its God ordained purpose. Marriage has always been God's design in helping to point us to Jesus. Marriage is God's greatest design to continually reveal to ourselves that we are sinners and desperately need grace.

There is no relationship on earth that will more expose your brokenness and need for grace than the marriage relationship. Because this is true, marriage should be a relationship full of authentic and transparent communication and grace being extended. Not using grace as an excuse for hurting one another, but rather as a way of extending love towards one another. We are all sinners and we all need grace. Praise God for sending Jesus who paid the penalty for my sin and continually extends grace to me. It is His goodness that leads me to repentance, not his wrath. He is patient and kinda, extending grace to the multitudes. Lets resemble that in our marriages.

Here is a short Q&A from Paul Tripp that has been revolutionary in my relationship with Beth.


Q: You write that all couples enter marriage with some unrealistic expectations. Isn’t this something you resolve in premarital counseling?

Paul David Tripp: I wish it were that easy! But it’s almost as though each potential husband and wife is motivated to dismiss the truth about what they will inevitably face. In the midst of the power of premarital romance, it is very hard to get yourself to want to take a hard and honest look at reality. You are in love, and you are sure that everything will work out right.

Most couples are simply not interested in being realistic.

Q: What perspectives can we keep in mind in order to keep our expectations of marriage (and life!) in check?

Paul David Tripp: There are three wisdom perspectives from Scripture that enable us to have realistic expectations for marriage:

· First, you are conducting your marriage in a fallen world. This means we all face the same thing and your marriage will be touched every day by the brokenness of our world.

· Second, you are married to a sinner. We just don’t get to be married to someone perfect. Your life will be affected by the sin, weakness, and failure of the person you are living with. And at some point you will sin against your spouse.

· Finally, you must remember that God is with you. You are not alone in your struggle. Yes, you live in a bad neighborhood (fallen world), and the two of you are less than perfect (sin), but in all this you are not left to your own resources.

Q: Is every marriage destined for struggle?

Paul David Tripp: It happens to everyone. It is the unavoidable reality of marriage. Somehow, someway, every marriage becomes a struggle. Everyone’s marriage becomes something they didn’t intend it to be. Spending time together is radically different from living together. Reasons for attraction now become sources of irritation. At some point you need something sturdier than romance. You need something deeper than shared interests and mutual attraction. You need something more than marital survival skills. In every marriage either giddy romance wanes and is replaced with a sturdier and more mature love, or the selfishness of sin reduces the marriage to a state of relational détente.

Q: So what do we do when this inevitable point of disillusionment collides with our expectations?
Paul David Tripp: Both the problem and the solution can be summed up in one word: worship. I have become more and more persuaded that marriages are fixed vertically before they are ever fixed horizontally. We have to deal with what is driving us before we ever deal with how we are reacting to one another. Every relationship is victimized in some way when we seek to get from the surrounding creation what we were designed to get form God. When God is in his rightful place, then we are on the way to putting people in their rightful place. I am convinced it is only in the worship of God in our marriages that we find reason to continue.

Being a worshiper means that you attach your identity, meaning and purpose, and your inner sense of well-being to something. You either get these things vertically (from the Creator) or you look to get them horizontally (from the creation). This insight has everything to do with how a marriage becomes what it is. No marriage will be unaffected when the people in the marriage are seeking to get from the creation what they were only ever meant to get from the Creator.

Q: Tell us more about the power of worship in marriage.

Paul David Tripp: This is the bottom line: the war for our marriages is a war of worship. The fundamental problem of every marriage is misplaced worship. The cure of every marriage is renewed worship of God. Does it wound too simple? Well, it is and it isn’t. Although this principle is true of every marriage, the war and the cure look different for every couple.

This may not sound very romantic, but my intention is not to disrespect romance. I love romance. On the vast continuum of what defines maledom, I am way over on the romantic end. But a good marriage doesn’t grow out of the soil of romance. No, the soil in which a good marriage grows is the soil of worship, and the fruit that a good marriage produces is sweet, long-term, mutually satisfying romance.

Q: What do you say to the couple who says “we’re just too different to make it work.”
Paul David Tripp: First of all, don’t run away in fear. You haven’t made a horrible mistake. What you are dealing with is part of the plan. And it really is a gorgeous plan; in your marriage God will take you where you never though you would go in order to give you what you could not achieve on your own. He is working on something that is very good—lasting personal change—and he is with you during the process. He is giving you what you need to be, what you have been designed to be, and to do what you have been called to do. Now, that is a reason to be encouraged, even on the days that are difficult.

Q: Explain how praying for your marriage, and praying together, can affect a marriage relationship.
Paul David Tripp: The Bible reveals that we are kingdom-minded people, and we either live in service to the kingdom of self to serve the kingdom of God. So when you are hurt, angry or disappointed with your husband or wife, it is not because he or she has broken the laws of God’s kingdom, and it really concerns you. No, you are most often angry because your spouse has broken the laws of your kingdom. And the problem is that our spouse does the same thing. So, it will just be a matter of time before the carnage begins as our little kingdoms of one collide.

Reconciling your marriage begins when you begin to reconcile with God. It begins when you begin to pray this radical prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, right here, right now in this marriage as it is in heaven.” Good things happen as a result of that prayer!

Welcome Netcast's 1st Official Partners

I want to officially welcome all 74 of you as Netcast's 1st Official Partners. I couldn't be more humbled and excited about how Jesus has brought all of us together from all different places and walks of life. What is more exciting than that is where Jesus is taking us and how he plans to use us.

As partners, we have all committed to do three things. Be generous with our time, talent and treasure. In other words, we have all committed to one another and to Jesus that we carry the weight of Attending, Serving and Funding this local body. I'm not only excited about how God will use our joint efforts to advance the Kingdom, but also how He will use this process to grow and mature us into His image.

Because the summer has been a little crazy with community groups and travel schedules; we will have a strong "Re-launching"  on September 9th. By then, Netcast Partners will need to be in a Community Group and Serving on a Ministry Team if your not already doing so. You can get in a community group by emailing Dan@netcastchurch.org and you can sign up to serve through our new connect cards or by going to the Volunteer Table in the foyer after service.

Lastly, in December we will be having a Partnership Christmas Party for all of us to re-group and party together.  At that time, I will also hand out our vision for 2013.

I love pastoring this church. It is one of my greatest joys.

- Pastor Matt

Netcast Spring 2012 Update

Its been about 3 months since I have sent out a Netcast Update. On February 5th, Netcast moved to a new space since we were averaging well over 200 people in our services but only had 140 chairs. It was a pretty exciting problem to have.

Our new facility has really helped us to enhance every area of our ministry. Since we are renting a middle school auditorium on Sundays only, our expenses are still minimal and our space has gone from being able to fit 150 people comfortably to about 600 people comfortably. With the move, Netcast has seen another explosion of growth. At one time had almost 360 people in a single service. Our Children's Ministry went from about 20 kids on average, to at one point we had 70 kids in there. Almost all of this latest growth are by local families. This means that Netcast is really impacting our community and is becoming a more stable ministry.

With all of this excitement, we have also seen some real challenges. Because so many of the people are new, we have had to spend a lot of time and energy keeping our vision at the forefront of the church. Starting in February, I was taking the church through the Gospel of John, but to help keep a clear mission / vision and unity within the church, I recently started a series called "Netcast Identity" that will clearly define who we are as a body to all of the new people. As a church planter, I feel like I am in the core group phase again.

Another challenge has been that assimilation and pastoral care has been a growing difficulty. The difficulty of pastoral care has been hard because there are just so many people to care for and so little workers. The assimilation has been a real challenge because the way people are assimilated into a small church is drastically different than how people are assimilated into a medium sized church. Although we have a great number of people in community groups and serving positions, we need to continue to do better. Because of this, the majority of my time right now is being focused on organizing the internal structure and systems, leadership development and the preaching and teach of Gods Word.

Financially, Netcast is still doing very well when it comes to actual dollars. However, right now about 10% of our church is providing for 70% of our budget. So, in essence it seems we have about 30 people who cover the majority of our ministry expenses. I praise God for them, however we need to mature in this area as a church. We currently have very low fixed expenses and ZERO DEBT!! This has allowed us to continue to create a very generous culture within Netcast as we are giving away a high percentage of our budget to the Kingdom and are able to meet financial needs of our community when necessary.

Beth and I are still fundraising for about 66% of our annual income. At the beginning of 2013, I am hoping that that number will significantly decrease. Hopefully down to about 33%. In the past year a few of our supporters have stopped sending in support and honestly, I have been so overwhelmed with ministry responsibilities that I have not even followed up with them. I am looking to the summer as a time for me to refocus on some of my fundraising.

I praise Christ for all of you. You have been such a gift to my family and the Netcast Community. Please stay in touch and check us out at www.netcastchurch.org

Matt

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

Netcast Identity: The Mission of God and His Church

The mission of God is the demonstration of His own glory. God creates, calls, rescues, redeems, saves, and restores so that that He might be glorified in those things. His desire, which He will surely fulfill, is that the understanding and knowledge of His glory would be known throughout the world. In other words, God’s underlying mission on the earth is to make known His magnificence. Therefore, the church is called to be the means of making his glory known. But how? If God can be glorified in an infinite amount of ways, than what is the primary mission of the church? How are we, as the church, to pursue the glorification of God?

After Jesus fulfills the gospel by living the perfect life that we are called to live, dying the horrific death that we deserve and then raises from the grave; He proves that he is the Messiah, the glorious one. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature and He is to be exalted high above all things. In Matthew 28; the glorious Jesus, give us the commission on how we (His church) will glorify Him. We are told to go and make disciples throughout all the nations. God is most glorified by His church as the church preaches and lives out the gospel, while making disciples within the earth.

Why did Christ have to rise? (Easter)

Easter Sunday is the most exciting day in the Christian Faith. Of all the things that Jesus did; loving his neighbors, changing the course of our calendar, the miracles, etc...Nothing compares to His resurrection. His Resurrection is the crux of the entire Christian Faith. But why? Why did he have to rise? Wasn't his death enough? What did his death accomplish for us?

In the introduction to Peters first letter to Asia Minor, he records the answer to this question. 1 Peter 1:3-5 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

In these three verses we see that through faith in the resurrection of Jesus, He has opened up an opportunity for us to receive Mercy from God, New Birth From God and an Inheritance from God. This is great news. No longer do we have to strive for perfection in order to receive these things, but instead we simply trust in Christ's perfection which has been given to us through faith. This is grace, and grace is a gift that must be received. So today, receive God's grace by trusting in the resurrection of Jesus and make this Easter the best Easter you've ever had.

Can a Christian lose his/her salvation? (Reflections from Community Group.)

I thought I would send this out to address the question that was raised last night in my Community Group, about "Losing Salvation. I pray that his will bring more biblical clarity because if we don't grasp this right, the gospel can really be distorted. It may be a little long, but I hope it answers any questions.

Can a Christian lose his/her salvation?

A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer, or walked down an aisle, raises their hand or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what “makes” a Christian. A Christian is a person who has, by faith, received and fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9).

So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? Lets see what the bible actually says about salvation?

A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This verse speaks of a person becoming an entirely new creature as a result of being “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be canceled and reversed.

A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19). The word “redeemed” refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase that He paid for with the precious blood of Christ.

A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). To “justify” means to “declare righteous.” All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” what He had previously declared.

A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life is a promise of eternity (forever) in heaven with God. God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal life would have to be taken away. If a Christian is promised to live forever, how then can God break this promise by taking away eternal life?

A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). As we learned in Romans 5:1, justification is declared at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30, glorification is guaranteed for all those whom God justifies. Glorification refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection body in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.

Lastly, salvation is given as a gift, not deserved or earned; but granted by grace. So, if we can lose salvation that means that we can do something in order to earn it. At this point we should know that salvation cannot be earned based on effort (Romans 3), therefore it cannot be lost based on a lack of effort. Christ's effort in gaining the victory by paying our penalty is sufficient and we must put our hope in that. Over and over again the bible tells us to "hold firm" or "stand firm" until the end. This simply is encouraging us to keep a close eye on our heart to make sure we have not deceived ourselves by thinking we receive salvation through some external efforts. True believers in Christ "WILL" stand firm until the end.

This personally plays out in our ministry at Netcast when I am baptizing people. Some people have seen me having conversations with people in the dunk-tank before we baptize them. Here's whats happening in that moment. At that time, I rejoice with them but also warn them. Although I totally believe that everyone we have baptized at Netcast is a true believer in Christ; only God knows their heart. I warn them while in the water, "Only time can truly tell if this act is a resemblance of an inward conversion, or if you are just getting wet in front of a crowd." If the conversion is real, God will complete it (Philippians 1:6). If its not, the seed that was planted in you will be snatched away (Matthew 13).

The most frequent objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation are 1) What about those who are Christians and continually live an immoral lifestyle? 2) What about those who are Christians but later reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these two objections is the phrase “who are Christians.” The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a continually immoral lifestyle (1 John 3:6). The Bible declares that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he never truly was a Christian (1 John 2:19). Therefore, neither objection is valid. Christians do not continually live immoral lifestyles (un-repentant sin that does not convict the conscience), nor do they reject the faith and deny Christ. Such actions are proof that they were never redeemed.

In the end, No, a Christian cannot lose salvation. Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28-29). God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain the salvation He has given us. Jude 24-25, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

Some of this was taken from GotQuestions.org which is a great site to help us gain greater insight on issues and questions we run into.

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

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^th 2010 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)

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.

1. Recognition of who God is: Do you know who you're messing with?

2. Recognition of who we are: We think we're a big deal. Do you know who you are, in light of who he is.

3. 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!