LHH Culture

As I said in my latest post, a church should be a tithing missional community of Jesus disciples who study His teachings and commandments on love and service, and then obey them through words and actions.

So that’s what LHH will and must be. 

LHH must be a missional church – reaching out to those in our local communities as well as using resources to spread the Gospel globally.

LHH must be a tithing church – God gives to us so we must give back – we must tithe in order to be a missional church.

LHH must be a community church – reaching in to one another to show our genuine care and concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

LHH must be a discipling church – our mandate is to go out and make disciples – so we will disciple those who are new in the faith so that they may persevere in their faith and may one day do the same for others.

LHH must be a loving and serving church – these two qualities most define Christ’s ministry and so we must follow in His footsteps (this is where the rubber meets the road).

Now, let's look at LHH’s final area of culture – an area that truly is God-ordained to speak on – because the Church began the season of Lent on Wednesday – a season of 40 days of individual preparation for God’s sacrifice for mankind.

In Colossians 3: 1-17, Paul makes it very clear to the church in Colosse that life, attitudes, and actions must change in the person who is in Christ.  And if you look at some of His other letters to churches you’ll see the same theme.

If I could put verses 1-4 into today’s language, he would be saying to us, “Because you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have died to self and now find your identity in Him.  Since your identity is now in Him, then put your thoughts on the things He desires to see in your life; not on the things of this earth that you once valued.  And for you who live according to Christ, know that when He returns for His Church, you too will return with Him to the glory of Heaven.”

So God's Big Idea from these verses is this:  CHRIST MUST BE YOUR IDENTITY.

In verses 5-10 God provides us with this Big Idea:  FAITH IS MIND OVER MATTER.

Just as in the days of the early church there were carnal Christians, people accepting Christ’s salvation yet living as nothing needed to change in their lives, carnality is running ramped among the church in the western hemisphere.  People are crying out to Christ because they want the eternal life He has to offer, in fact Jesus is cool, but they never permit their minds, their thoughts, their hearts, and their lives to be transformed into His likeness.  They want a ticket to Heaven, but don’t give up their earthly desires – the party is still happening.  They abuse His grace by seeking pleasure for themselves, with no conscience to change - to do what is right.

Paul was saying to us that life in Christ is about change– change for the better.  But it takes a conscientious decision on our part to want this change.

In verses 12-17 God’s Big Idea is this:  WEAR WHAT IS RIGHTEOUS.

In order to do this I have to constantly think about what I am saying and what I am doing.  Which is what the season of Lent is all about – sacrificing my desires (what I want to do) for those of Jesus (what He wants me to do and to be.)

I know the thought was a fad a number of years ago that actually made some a lot of money, but it is so much more than a fad.  It is really valuable and should never be forgotten as we prepare ourselves to wear Christ.   Remember the thought?  WWJD bracelets.

Actually, I have to train my mind in all situations to first think on how Jesus would have me handle this - "If Jesus were here, what would He have me do?"

And that is our goal - to allow our minds to be transformed into the knowledge of what is above – that being Jesus Christ.  This is wearing righteousness.  Our thinking must become that of Christ’s, and in this process we become more like Him.

LHH must be a culture of people who live righteously and holy.  Not a people who are self-righteous and proud – “holier than thou” – but a culture of people who truly clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  A culture of people who choose to be made in the image of God rather than making God in the image of man.

We don’t want to be a culture of people who give Jesus a “black eye” by our unwillingness to change to do what is right.  If He is our Savior, then let’s let Him be our Savior – our Savior from the Devil and our Savior from ourselves.

Though the goal of Christ for everyone who calls on His name to be saved is righteouness and holiness, He also understands that in our humanity we will mess up from time to time.  Not a problem when we admit it to Him and learn from our mistakes.  Jesus always picks us up and gives us another chance. 

But when we abuse this grace, when we continue to live in the same sin over and over again, we become carnal Followers of Christ.

In conclusion, LHH will be a culture that resembles what God wants to see in His Church.

He wants to see LOVE.

He wants to see SERVICE, which is love in action.

He wants to see COMMUNITY.

He wants to see DISCIPLESHIP.

He wants to see TITHING.

He wants to see MISSION.

And He wants to see RIGHTEOUSNESS.

But this culture won’t exist unless you and I embody it.  If we want to be the church as God has called the church to be, then we have to live according to His purposes for the church.

So what do you want to do?  The choice is yours.  I hope you come along on the adventure.  And I can guarantee you this, if it’s done right, you won’t be disappointed; and neither will God.

LHH Culture

It always amazes me how the Bible gives such a clear picture of what church should be:  A tithing community of Jesus disciples who study His teachings and commandments on love and service, and then obey them through words and actions. 

Jesus calls the Church to be a community that cares so much about one another that those not part of it are amazed and intrigued by it.  In this community people are being loved.  And through this love people are following Jesus’ teachings; not because they are commanded to, but because they willingly choose to.  And in this community, people are using their tithes to reach out to others who are struggling to get back on their feet (Not handouts, but a hand up).  

Yet Jesus warns us not to be so wrapped up in the community of the believers that we lose sight of our mission as a church.  And our mission is to seek out the lost and the sick that are in need of the hope only Jesus can offer.  We have to be a community that sees the world the way Jesus does – wanting to see no one perish.

In Luke 15: 1-7, notice who was gathering around to hear what Jesus was teaching – the tax collectors and the “sinners”.

But before we move on, let’s define who these people are.

The Tax Collector – He was Jewish, yet worked for the Roman Government as a collection agent.  His job was to collect taxes from the Jews under the rule of the Roman Empire.  He was regarded as an outcast, and therefore could not serve as a witness or a judge, and he and his family were expelled from the Synagogue.

The Sinner – He was an evil person as well as the one who refused to follow the Mosaic Law as interpreted by the teachers of the law.  He was commonly known by what he did:  a tax collector, an adulterer, a robber, a murderer, and the like.

Now, why would these types of people want to hang with Jesus?  They hung with Him because He did not come to condemn them like the religious leaders of His day.  Where the religious leaders shunned and criticized these types of people, Jesus listened to them – gave them “the time of day.”   Jesus didn’t consider them outcasts.  He treated them like they would want to be treated, which gave Him a voice among them. 

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law blatantly scorned such people every opportunity they got.  They saw themselves as more righteous and were upset that “the sinners” would not listen to them since they were the ones living righteously in “God’s” eyes.

So Jesus took some time to teach a parable to His disciples, which was directly connected to what He was hearing in the murmurs from the Pharisees.

And His point in this parable is this:  Mission to the Church:  Seek the Lost.

Jesus was clearly speaking to the Pharisees that He came into this world to seek and save those who are spiritually lost, not those who think they are doing everything right and don’t need to be saved.  He was saying that the self-righteous aren’t in need of fixing because they already see themselves as not-broken.  He was saying the lost are lost forever unless we go seeking for them.

And so He is saying to us that our mission as a church is the same mission He had in His ministry – to seek those who are spiritually lost and bring them home.

LHH must be a missional church.  

Jesus calls us to reach out to the spiritually sick.  In Mark 2:17 he says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

And these were the ones He reached out to.  He taught and shared with those who were spiritually lost.  The self-righteous were not His target.   He sought out those who sought out Him.  Knowing this should cause you and me to be discerning about whom we seek.

As individual followers of Christ, we have to realize that not everyone is going to follow Christ.  Those who are high on themselves (pious in who they are and what they believe) are not the ones Jesus sought.  Instead, He sought out those who had no preconceived ideas of who He was and were sensitive to Him.

So if we’re going to pour our lives into people who are spiritually lost, then let’s be smart about whom we seek. 

It’s just like fishing – throw out the bait in the water hole, and if you get no strikes, reel it in and move on to another hole.  

There will be times where you get no bites no matter what water hole you’re fishing in.   There will be other times where you won’t be able to get your bait in the water fast enough.   In either case, you’ve got to keep fishing and be selective about where you fish.  Fishing in ankle deep water is probably not going to catch you many fish.

In fact, the best places to fish are in those areas that are tough to get to; therefore not a very comfortable experience to get there.  Yet when there, you ask yourself, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”  With regards to people, these areas are places of pain, struggle, and mourning – the areas where we’re not quite sure how to act or know what to say.  But know this, people who are hurting are more receptive to being found and brought home.  They’ve hit rock bottom or know they are heading there, and Jesus is the only hope they have left. 

So fish for people who are hurting and struggling.  It’s these people who are usually seeking to be found, and Jesus wants to bring them home.

I woud advise you to limit your time fishing in areas that are overfished or are not conducive to holding fish.  With regard to people, these are those who don’t want to believe in Jesus because they know they are right and He is wrong.  These people are going to take extreme work to bring home.  In fact, while you’re trying to lift them out of the hole, they are fighting you to stay in the hole and wrapping your line around debris in the water.

These type of people take a lot of energy and effort, so the best avenue to take with them is prayer.  When you see people whose response to the spiritual bait you just threw them is defiance and argument, then your job is to model Christ through your actions and words – to pray for them – to pray that God open their hearts to hear what you have to share.  Maybe one day they will take the bait.

So we each have an individual mission to share the hope of Jesus Christ.  But if there is one thing I have learned in my 43 years of life, I cannot save the world.  Come on, if Jesus, God in the flesh, couldn’t win them all over to His side, what made me think I could?  But that’s not an excuse to excuse the mission I’ve been called to do.

Therefore I must plant many seeds and pray that God give me opportunity to sometimes share in the harvest.  My part is to be faithful in sharing the message of hope.  God must do the rest.

As a body of believers, our mission is to unite together in opportunities of mission.

We presently support a missionary family to Honduras.  Our goal, with time, is to support more missionaries that will be able to share the Gospel in regions we cannot.

But, though we aren’t all called to participate physically in global missions, each church of the body of Christ has a mission to its community.  This is so much harder than giving money to someone else to do the hard work in sharing the Gospel.  It’s harder because we physically have to participate in the community in ways other than rooming in it and going to work.  It’s harder because we have to meet new people and we have to be prepared to have conversation with them.  And these new people might be “unchurched”, “worldly”, “sinners”, and the like.  It’s harder because there is the fear of what could go wrong.

And LHH has done some of the hard work, though the work is never done.  

We have been missional in the following ways:

·         I use my skills as a former math teacher to come to the elementary school once a week to tutor kids in math;

·         We donated $750 to the Hedgesville Elementary PTO for the inflatables used for their fundraising carnival event so that they could use the money raised to help better the students’ education at the school;

·         We also volunteered time and manpower at the carnival to help them put on a great event;

·         We passed out free water bottles to the guests of the carnival;

·         We have donated boxes of food to families in need from both the elementary and high schools the past two Thanksgivings;

·         We have mown lawns and done yard work for a single mother;

·         We have put in an air-conditioning unit for a gentleman who was really struggling physically in the midst of the heat waves last summer;

·         We have assisted struggling families within the church to help get them back on their feet;

·         We have shared the Gospel through words, love, and action. 

And being missional does not always produce immediate results.

But what are results?  Results are not numbers of people coming to church.  Results are people coming to worship who are being discipled to follow and obey the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Results are disciples.

So LHH will always be a missional church looking to find that one poor soul that is lost to bring him/her home.  And that means we have to believe that each of us are called to do our part in reaching out to them.   

Though remember, the work is never finished because we are led by the Holy Spirit.  And He will continue to provide you and me, the church, opportunities to seek and find the lost – to go fishing.

Just think, as a follower of Christ, where would you be today if no one took the time to invest in you?  To ask you about Jesus?  To invite you to come and bring you to worship?  Would you be calling Jesus, Savior?  Most likely not.

LHH will be missional.  What part of the mission is yours?

LHH Culture

In review of LHH culture, we will be a church who:

1.      Shows LOVE,

2.      Seeks to SERVE,

3.      Desires COMMUNITY and

4.      Values DISCIPLESHIP.

 And as I shared last Sunday, we don’t look at these God-given purposes as separate entities, but rather as cyclical, meaning they intertwine together and are an integral part of you and me as we bring God’s light into a dark world.

Today we’re going to look at the 5^th area of purpose that God envisions for this church.

But before we jump into what God’s Word has to say about it, I need to say that this is one of those “touchy” subjects that many pastors are afraid to preach on and that some in the church feel the pastor should never mention.

Yet it involves the one subject that Jesus spoke of more than any other, except the Kingdom of God.  He spoke of it more than heaven and hell combined.  Of His 39 parables, 11 of them speak of this subject.  And in the Gospel of Luke, 1 out of every 7 verses mentions the subject.

So, I think you’ve guessed the subject is money.  And in particular we’re going to be looking at tithing and how God desires it to be taught, as well as its importance for the people of LHH.

In Luke 21: 1-4, Jesus is looking and watching people as they come into the area of the temple court where offering boxes were set up and women were allowed to be.  He watches as they bring their gifts, their tithes, their offerings to put into the temple treasury.

As He is watching, He notices that a widow has come in and dropped 2 small copper coins into one of the collection boxes.  And so He takes some time to teach His disciples on what He has just seen.

What’s neat to me about the words Luke recorded in his gospel is that he merely recorded a casual conversation that Jesus shared with His disciples.  And Jesus did this often – took the time to teach based upon what He was observing.

What He sees and hears during this observation are coins being deposited - deposited into inverted megaphone shape openings that funnel the coins into the boxes. 

So can you hear it?  Can you hear the coins clanging through the funnel onto the coins already collected?  I can.  I hear that lots of coins will make lots of noise, and a couple coins of the smallest currency will make little noise as they are dropped into the box.

And so does Jesus and His disciples.  And Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, this poor (literally) widow has put in more than all the others.”

Now His disciples, if they were really paying attention, are probably wondering, “What do you mean?  All the others put in large sums of coins and she only put in two of minimal value.”

But Jesus’ point then and for us now is this:  Quality over Quantity.

Jesus is not looking at how much a person gives, but rather the MOTIVATION behind the gift.

Many of the people who were putting their tithes in the boxes that day, were giving 10%, or maybe more, but it was being done out of ritual and vain conceit.  It was done with no thought of the importance and value that comes from giving.  They were giving because they were supposed to give.  They were giving because it was commanded of them in their religion.  They were giving because they wanted people to notice how righteous they were by giving. 

But the people of His day just weren’t getting it; and sad to say, neither do we. 

·         Jesus wants people to give out of GRATITUDE as they remember the gift of forgiveness offered to them through His sacrifice. 

·         Jesus wants those who have been blessed with more to give GENEROUSLY to God rather than keep it for themselves. 

·         Jesus wants people to give out of RELATIONSHIP and LOVE, not out of commandment.

This is a true story by Brian Kluth, radio host of Give With Joy.

A number of years ago, I was teaching a seminar on what the Bible teaches about finances to Christians in Eastern Europe. After the seminar, one of the people came and told me how much the teaching helped everyone. He said during the 70 years communism was in their country, people were told the Communist government owned everything and the government would provide for everyone. He went on to say that communism fell, and people came from America and said that capitalism was the way to go--where people own everything and they have to provide for themselves. He then said, today I learned the best news of all. God is the owner of everything and He is our provider. He learned people must be faithful and generous with whatever God gives them.

Here’s another true example by Brian Kluth that illustrates how God uses tithe given with the right intent – the right motivation.

I heard a missionary tell an amazing story of a child’s generosity. John Bechtel, a missionary in Hong Kong, wanted to start a Christian camp to reach people for Christ. A bankrupt multimillion-dollar hotel and conference center became available for sale. He made an offer to purchase the property and then traveled around the world to raise the millions he would need. But no one was willing to help and he returned to Hong Kong discouraged. Then one day he got a letter from a young girl that included $1 and a note saying she wanted him to use this to buy the camp. John Bechtel prayed and took the girl’s $1 to the real estate closing and the corporation decided to accept the $1 as full payment! Since the camp first opened, over a million people have come and over 100,000 have accepted Christ.

So God wants quality over quantity.  Quantity means nothing if being given for invalid intentions.  He wants our gifts to be given with the right spirit.  Jesus was telling His disciples, my paraphrase, “A little given out of SACRIFICE is far greater than a lot given out of conceit, pride, or indifference.”

And so Jesus says to His disciples to clarify His prior statement, “All these people gave gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Jesus’ point in this statement is:  Tithing = Trust

This is critical.  He wants us to see in this woman someone who was willing to give everything she had because she trusted that God would meet her needs.

God wants to see in our giving that we are giving out of TRUST, and how much to give varies per individual and family.  But it is a very, very important component in our faith journey.

The widow that Jesus saw wasn’t looking for anyone to notice.  She put it in because she wanted to.  Jesus said she gave everything she had to live on into that offering box.  And basically, we can say that her 2 small coins were kind of like today’s penny – not much to live off of.

But yet, she did it knowing that she didn’t have a husband to provide a living for her.  She did it because she trusted that God would provide for her needs.

I think she really understood what Jesus taught His disciples in Luke 12: 27-31.

“Consider how the lilies grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you, not even Solomon, in all his splendor, was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!  And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.  For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows you need them.  But seek His Kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Tithing equals trust.  In order to give – to give of my first fruits and not what is left over (the Biblical definition of tithing) – I must trust God to expand the income I have left.  My mind says this is not possible, but FAITH proves that it is true – that God truly provides for my daily needs when I’m willing to trust Him.

Brian Kluth shared another story on trust in giving.

Steve owned a small business and had an annual salary of $50,000. He went to a conference where Dr. Bill Bright challenged people to give a million dollars to the LORD’s work. Steve told Dr. Bright it would be impossible for his family to give a million dollars. Dr. Bright asked, “How much money did you make last year, and how much did you give?” Steve said, “My salary is $50,000 and we gave $15,000.” Dr. Bright said, “Next year, trust God to help you give $50,000.” But Steve said, “That’s my entire salary!” Dr. Bright said, “Trust God and see how He provides.” With God’s help, Steve’s business did well and his family joyfully gave $50,000. The following year, God helped them give $100,000. Each year, his family lived on his $50,000 salary and gave all their extra income to the LORD’s work. Within several years, they gave over a million dollars!

I share this story, not to guilt anyone, which would include me, but rather to show how it takes trust in order to see God work through our giving.  Giving takes extreme faith because we see the bills and we know how much income we have – it seems impossible to give.  Yet for some reason, living on 90%, with 10% going to God’s Kingdom, goes further than living on 100%.  Can’t explain it, other than it is God’s way of proving to us that He can be trusted in what He says.

At LHH, we will be a community of givers.  Though we pressure no one to give, we understand that in order for God’s ministry to occur – to reach-in to the people of His Church and to reach-out to the spiritually lost - we must give. 

I preach on tithing as a purpose – a vision – from God for this church because we want to be a church that invests into the people of this church.  I believe that tithe is meant to be used for ministering to others, not for paying large amounts for buildings and large salaries. 

So we want to use tithe as a PEOPLE INVESTMENT.  I believe that when people are struggling within the church we want to reach out to them to get them back on their feet.  In response, they will be encouraged to give in their future so that the investment can be used to benefit others who are facing financial struggles like they did. 

And so tithe is not merely a command to do, but rather a way to invest into the lives of people – a way to look like and be the community of believers as we read about in the Bible.

·      We want to use tithe to support the missional efforts of our COMMON UNITY GROUPS.  We believe that the people of the church can use the money more effectively to reach out to the spiritually lost and hurting in their communities.  We believe that by tithing back to the groups we are giving them an opportunity to share the love and truth about Jesus.  It’s called opportunistic evangelism.

·       We want to use tithe to participate in GLOBAL MISSIONS.  We want to help fulfill the command to the church to go into all nations and make disciples.

·       We want to use tithe to increase the QUALITY OF THE MINISTRIES we offer.

·       We want to use tithe to reach out to the PEOPLE OF HEDGESVILLE so as to build bridges to them rather than isolate ourselves on an island waiting for Jesus’ return. 

Remember, tithe is an investment for the future – the eternal – yet it has its benefits for today.  When we tithe we are building up treasures in heaven that will never run dry.  But also, we get to see God work today when He miraculously sees that our needs are met.

Jesus said in Luke 12:  33b, “Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”

It’s often hard for us to do because we only see the temporary – the finite.  We see the trouble we’re facing right now and are just trying to survive in the instant.  But Jesus’ plan for us on earth is to prepare ourselves for the future.  So in order for you and me to effectively do this with our money, we have to learn to tithe.  And in tithing, God is looking for QUALITY AND TRUST.

Will you invest for the future?  Will you invest so that the Kingdom of God can expand through souls coming into a saving relationship with Him?  Will you invest so that your retirement is eternal and will be lavish and extravagant because you invested into the Kingdom of God?

Know this:  This investment is not like the ones we have on earth who gain one day and lose the next.  No, this is the one investment that never loses.  It is guaranteed for life - eternal life. 

LHH Culture

LOVE, SERVICE, AND COMMUNITY are three of God’s purposes for the individuals of His Church.  And the beautiful thing about God’s purposes is that they intertwine with one another to make the follower of Christ strong in and assured of his/her salvation.

LHH must be and will be a culture of people who care for and about one another.  It has to be, if we’re to truly say we are living according to God’s Word – to the teachings He passed onto His children throughout time – to the teachings Jesus gave us about the Kingdom of God.

And don’t forget that the time we are given to walk this earth, when we become children of God, is to be spent preparing ourselves for the eternal life that awaits us in Heaven.  

So knowing this changes our goals – our goals are no longer designed for what this short life on earth has to offer, but instead are based upon what Heaven offers.

Now remember, everyone is a creation of God, but not everyone is a child of God.

You are not a child of God until you make the choice that you need a Savior for your mistakes – your sins.  And it’s through your repentance of these sins that God counts you as His child.  It is through your repentance that God adopts you into His family.  And without adoption papers, we don’t get our name changed to God’s last name.

The choice to be ADOPTED falls completely on your shoulders and mine.  And if I don’t believe that Jesus is the INK that God uses to sign my adoption papers, then my belief in God means nothing.

1 John 2: 22-23 states, “Who is the liar?  It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.  Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

Have you made the choice to be adopted?  If you haven’t, don’t wait until tomorrow.  It may be too late. 

And if you made the choice recently or even today, the process of rearing is just beginning; whereas, the process of rearing never ends if you made the choice a while ago.

When Drew was born into my family almost 13 years ago, he took on the name we gave him – Drew Christian Cardwell.  But that was just the beginning for him and for us as his parents.  Fortunately for those adopted into God’s family, God doesn’t have to learn to be a parent on the fly like we humans do.  He wrote the book.  

But that’s not my point in this illustration.  My point is this, just as Drew has to be nurtured, trained, and loved from his infancy throughout his entire life by the imperfect Caroline and me, God must nurture, train, and love on His adopted children from their infancy in Christ until they come into His physical presence.

And this process of nurture, training, and love is what God desires to see lived out in the people of LHH.

In Matthew 28: 18-19, the church is given its’ mandate to reach out to the world.  And Jesus didn’t call the church to go out and get people saved.  Instead He spoke these words, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

God’s Big Idea from this passage is this:  GOD WANTS DISCIPLES, NOT PUNCHED TICKETS.

And DISCIPLESHIP is merely applying and following the teachings and trainings of Christ.

So how were the disciples going to do this?  How were they going to make disciples?  They were going to make disciples by baptizing and teaching the new converts to obey the teachings that Jesus had taught them.

And you see there’s a huge difference between those who only want to be saved and those who are disciples.  Those who only see themselves as saved – as having a punched ticket – a “get out of hell” pass – give nothing more to Jesus than mere lip service.  Those who are disciples are being taught the core values of Jesus and are obeying them.

Tell me, who is Jesus more pleased to associate Himself with?  You’re right – the disciple.  With disciples there is RELATIONSHIP, and where there is relationship, there is OBEDIENCE.

LHH must be a culture that reaches out to the spiritually lost and blind of this world.  And when they make the choice to be adopted into God’s family, it is our calling to teach them to obey the ways of Jesus.  In doing so, they are being prepared for a future of eternity with God.

So how will the newly adopted be taught?  They will be taught through YOU & ME. 

We are Jesus in the flesh.  That can be scary – really scary!!!!!!  But if we obey His commands to live the way God has taught us to live, we will be a pretty good representation.  

We should be able to say to those coming into the flock, the church, “Look at me and follow my example.”  There’s not pride in such a statement because what others should be seeing in you and me is the lesson Jesus taught on humility.  If they are seeing this community loving and serving one another, they are truly seeing humility.

What does this really look like at LHH?  How do we become disciples?  How do we disciple others? 

Well, I really believe that the avenues you take in your spiritual growth flow out of you into others who are just beginning their walk.  So the laws of nature say, “You put nothing in, nothing will come out.  You put in more than the capacity can hold, and it has to overflow.”  

You get the picture – the discipleship of others will only be as GREAT as the disciple you are.

And at LHH there are many ways we encourage you to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ; many being organic.  I’ll list five.

1)    Participate in COMMON UNITY GROUPS for a time of fellowship and study

2)    WORSHIP weekly on Sunday morning gatherings

3)    SELF-FEED – spend time daily in God’s Word through reading or listening to the Bible on CD

4)    Listen to CHRISTIAN RADIO – lyrics and teachings, and

5)    FAST AND PRAY – the source of one-on-one communication with the Teacher, Himself.

People need to see in you and me that we KNOW the God we serve.  And the more you know, the more you can share with others.  And the more you can share with others, the greater the fruit you are producing in their lives, as well as yours.

LHH must be a culture of people who VALUE STUDY – people who want to know everything there is to know about God – His principles and His commands.

Not so we can say, “Look at me!  Look at how knowledgeable I am about God.”  But rather so we can fulfill God’s purpose for each of us to go into the world and make disciples.  

After all, if we don’t obey the teachings of Jesus, how can we expect anyone else to follow His teachings?

So where are you today?  No matter whether you just made the choice to be adopted into God’s family or made the choice some time ago, God is in the business of rearing His children, and it’s called DISCIPLESHIP.