There are so many things to be said about Sunday at CLF that I must limit myself. So, I’ll focus on how understanding God’s character changes us (especially in joy) and the ‘sense’ I go from our annual family meeting.
The Changing Power of Understanding God’s Character
In 1999, I read the book The Pleasures of God by John Piper. It was a life-transforming book because it gave me a perspective about things God takes pleasure in. Chapter 7, in particular, changed my life. That chapter is entitled “The Pleasure of God in Doing Good to All who Hope in Him.” In that chapter, Piper makes statements like, “God is like a highway patrolman pursuing you down the interstate with lights flashing and siren blaring to get you to stop—not to give you a ticket, but to give you a message so good it couldn’t wait till you get home.” Another one that stunned me was, “God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant, indecisive, or tentative in his desire to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger.”
The reason why these statements transformed me was not just because they were true. They stunned me because this isn’t how I viewed God. Like an impatient father, I believed God was waiting to pounce in discipline. He was, at minimum, mildly disappointed with me or, at worst (more likely), constantly looking at me with a scowl on His face. And because I believed this about God, anytime something brutal hit, I went into a state of depression and deep sadness. If something good happened, I was happy. My emotions were as up and down as the Texas Giant rollercoaster.
When I read Piper’s book and compared it to God’s word, I saw the truth of these words. It was as if the Lord was helping me get to know Him in an entirely new way. God was introducing me to His smile, His exultation over me with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17), all because of Jesus’ completed work on my behalf. The transformation in my soul was immediate. I started having a depth of joy and happiness that I never had. I stopped viewing every circumstance as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and began to see them as sifted through the hand of the God who loved me and had fashioned events for my enteral good.
Further, ‘bad’ things were not seen through the lens of God’s frustration about me. God was not like an old school marm waiting to pounce. He was faithful to His glory in my life and to my good, and these ‘bad’ things were to be used by Him to make me more like Jesus.
What I learned through this experience is this truth: correctly understanding God’s character changes us to be more like Jesus, and improperly understanding God’s character causes us to stay dominated by sin (namely condemnation and guilt).
I say all of this because when we understand that God is the most joyful being in the Universe and that the good news of Jesus connects us to God, the result is joy. Let that settle into your soul today. If you believe in Jesus, your God is rejoicing over you (Zephaniah 3:17). He is not impatient with you, nor do You exasperate him. He loves you with an everlasting love. He has committed His Son and Spirit to help you be what He wants you to be.
So, what about when we sin? Isn’t God mad at us? How does God see us, then? We can view this the way that a loving, caring father cares for His kids when they sin. In love, He disciplines, not in impatience or unrighteous anger. And His discipline is to draw us back into fellowship with Him. So much so that He calls us to confess and agree with Him about our sin, and He will forgive us (1 John 1:9). God’s pleasure is in our hearts as we hope in His steadfast love for us.
Let this encourage you today.
The ‘sense’ in Our Family Meeting
I looked forward to our Annual family meeting this past Sunday. I was excited to talk about God’s work at CLF and what our elders see as we move into 2024. Here are some highlights:
- CLF is a family, not a corporation. As our church has grown, we focus on what we’ve done throughout our 20-year history: love God and love one another. The past few years have created a subtle shift in CLF that we’re fighting. Sometimes, the bigger the church grows, the more ‘corporate’ it feels. Well, that’s just not who we are. We’re not a church that has it all together. We’re not a polished entertainment center. We’re the family of God, and our elders are passionate about keeping a ‘family’ feel to our ministry.
- The reports from the various ministries in the church were deeply encouraging. To hear of the hundreds of people who hear the gospel and are equipped with God’s word was stunning.
- Dave Quilla did a great job addressing our building plan’s newest rendition. We, as elders, have remained flexible about what comes up, and the new direction is to build on our current property (where the CLF buildings are). The main reasons are: the search for the property came up empty (so far); we are not currently meeting in our buildings on Sundays, and that provides the opportunity to build in our current location; we have all the parking we will need for a future building; and this allows us to build in phases as we have the money.
The general ‘sense’ I got from our church family on Sunday was excitement and joy. People were thrilled to hear how God is working in our church. I have received a few text messages that indicate this. There was a general joy in knowing that we, as elders, don’t have all the answers and depend on the Lord’s direction. I’m very grateful for this.
Looking Ahead
This Sunday, we will continue our Advent study with Love. We will look at John 17:20-26.
From the Cheap Seats
- $700 million…wow!
- I never saw the Cowboys blowing out the Eagles. But I did see a stat that showed that the Eagles have lost six straight in Dallas, and four have been by 20 points or more.
- Rumor has it that Marvin Harrison Jr. is being offered as much NIL money to stay at Ohio State as he would make in the NFL. Things were already crazy.
To watch or listen to the sermon described in this post, please click here.
Have a great week!
In Christ,
Dave York
