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December 19, 2013 By Phil Ressler Leave a Comment

Reconnecting with God in the New Year

The Good Shepherd Daily Bible Readings for 2014

We are approaching the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. It is a time of the year when many people think about setting goals for the new year. Many of these goals revolve around living a healthier lifestyle such as eating better, exercising more, and being more relational.

Some people also make it a priority to reconnect with God in a greater way. This might mean making Sunday morning worship a greater priority, praying more regularly, or making a commitment to read the Bible daily.

Unfortunately, we fail with many of these goals after only a short time and end up frustrated. We are piled on with extra guilt and are left feeling worse than before. We are left with remorse and frustration for letting God, our friends, our family, and ourselves down.

Over the next two weeks, I would like to offer some thoughts on how we might move towards better accomplishing our goals and practicing grace with ourselves when we fail to accomplish those goals.

One goal I had for a long time was to read the entire Bible. This was something I tried every year, but inevitably would fail. Eventually, I was able to accomplish my goal after many unsuccessful attempts. Through the process, there was much I learned about accomplishing a goal and I wanted to share them with you:

1) Remember what it is about. For me, the ultimate goal was not reading the Bible in year. That is not the end into itself. The purpose of reading and studying the Bible is spending time with Jesus and to be able to more faithfully follow him. This leads to greater joy, peace, and all the fruit of the spirit. When you are struggling with a goal, always go back to the “why.”

2) Don’t let the calendar defeat you. When I would get behind a few days, I would become overwhelmed by the amount of reading I would need to do to “catch up.” But remember, the calendar is a guide. If you get behind, so what? You are no less of a person because you finish two weeks or even a month late. Another thing you might do is consider starting early. We have two weeks until the end of the year. Start now. You will have two weeks of grace built into your schedule. No one told you you had to start on January 1. If you have a goal to participate in the Good Shepherd Daily Bible Readings in 2014, they are now available online. Why not get started today?

3) Get some accountability! Find someone else to partner with you. Get an accountability partner to join with you in accomplishing your goals. This is someone who will hold you accountable and give you encouragement as well. You are much much more likely to accomplish something when you know someone is going to ask you how you are doing. Make sure the people in your life are aware of what you are trying accomplish so they can help you and not hinder you.

4) Write down your goal and put it somewhere you will regularly review it. Many studies have shown that you are far more likely to succeed in fulfilling your goals if you write them down and clearly articulate them with words. A goal is not really a goal until you put it into words.

5) Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Less is more. Oftentimes we destine ourselves for failure, because we try to do too much, too soon. Instead of trying to read the whole Bible over the course of the year, read the New Testament this year and the Old Testament next year. Or rather than thinking in terms of a year, make a goal to read the Book of Proverbs over the course of a month. There are conveniently 31 chapters in that book. Making your goal too overwhelming will only lead to frustration.

6) Keep going. It is inevitable that you will stumble. Life will encroach upon your ideal circumstances. How will you handle the interruptions that life brings to your well laid out plan? Think through the potential pitfalls that will hinder the accomplishment of your goals before you hit them. Consider why you failed in the past and what will be different this time.

7) Make it fun and enjoyable. If it is not something that is enjoyable, any excuse will do.

8) Make sure your goals are God honoring. There are many good things we can do, but is it the God thing. Make sure what you are working toward is what God would have you work towards. If not, it is going to be a hard road.

9) What do you need to quit? Sometimes it is not a matter of being more determined, but rather learning to say no. You can’t do everything. For example, to spend more time in God’s Word you may need to spend less time on Facebook or watching TV. Make sure to regularly examine your use of time.

What other ideas do you have? Would love to hear. Make sure to share in the comments section below. Next week we will talk about how to pick ourselves up after we fall down.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: eNewsletter, Goals, Know, New Year

November 22, 2013 By Phil Ressler Leave a Comment

6 Months of Gratitude

Baptism at Good Shepherd

Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. One of the things I am especially thankful is the ministry of Good Shepherd. I have now been here for 6 months and God has been so good. God is breathing new life into our church.

We are making an impact on eternity. Eternal destinations are being transformed. What we are doing is the difference between heaven and hell. The ministry of Good Shepherd is more than a life and death matter is an eternal life and death matter.

When we get to the end of our lives, there will be many things we will look back upon and realize that they were not all that important. We will likely regret not having done more of the stuff that matters. But when it comes to the kingdom work we did there will be no regrets.

My prayer is that we at Good Shepherd will always keep our eyes on the prize and that we will throw off the stuff that so easily entangles and hinders our kingdom work. My prayer is that we would run with perseverance the race marked out before us and that we would stay true to the vision God has established for our church. My prayer we would strive with every ounce of our being to:

KNOW Jesus.
GROW as His followers
and GO out as missionaries into the world.

I am thankful for you and your partnership in the gospel! God is doing some exciting things through us. Just a couple of things we have to celebrate and be thankful for include:

  • 3 baptisms in 3 weeks. Two of these families have recently started attending Good Shepherd over the last few months.
  • New families and new faces. Every Sunday we see new faces at Good Shepherd.
  • Friends inviting friends. More and more of you are sharing with me that you are inviting others to come. There is no better indicator that we are on the right track than this.
  • A full nursery. Two weeks ago there were 10 kids in our nursery. Six months ago, we did not even have a nursery.
  • Last Sunday our worship attendance between two worship services was 184 people. God is continuing to help us grow.
  • Our giving last Sunday exceeded $7000. This was the first time in the last 6 months our giving exceeded our expenses.
  • The Comfort Dog ministry is making progress. Two churches in the New Jersey District have given us gifts totally $1200 to begin the Comfort Dog ministry in New Jersey. We have also been awarded a grant by the New Jersey District for $6000 to begin this ministry. This Sunday, our Comfort Dog Ministry Leadership team will be meeting to prepare to send an application in to secure one of the Comfort Dogs. We are making strong progress towards our fundraising goal for this ministry.
  • This winter we will be launching new discipleship groups that will meet in homes. This is an exciting next step towards fulfilling our vision. If you would like to be a part of this push, please let me know.

This list does not include all the individual stories of life change. Many of you have experienced personal victories which God has won. Prayers have been answered. Hearts are being softened and drawn to Jesus Christ. How wonderful it is to be a part of all that.

God’s blessings,
Pastor Phil

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Baptism, Celebrate, Growth, Thanksgiving, Vision

November 14, 2013 By Phil Ressler Leave a Comment

A New Religion

money matters

There is a new religion in America. There are many people who are joining this new religion but they don’t even know it. They are being proselytized. They are giving countless hours of their time and thousands of their dollars towards the perpetuation of it. Some have even gone into debt in faithful support.

The American government has see the benefit of this religion. The government has endorsed this religion and encouraged the citizenry to whole-heartedly embrace it. There are tax breaks and benefits given in the name of this religion.

Worship centers have been built throughout the country. The parking lots are full not just on Sunday morning, but every day of the week. During the most sacred times of the year, people will fight over parking spots just for the privilege to participate in worship. On some occasions people will even sleep outside and overnight in a line just to get in.

Its message is seen on TV and internet. It’s everywhere you look. It promises happiness and fulfillment. It gives an answer to your lack of contentment. It offers to provide what is missing in your life and to fix what is broken.

It is the religion of consumerism. So many of us have literally bought into the message, but have little show for it. We have all this stuff in our lives, but we are no happier than before. There is always the promise that this next latest and greatest thing will provide the answer to our need, but it always comes up lacking. The promises are hallow.

We are led to believe that abundance of possessions equals abundance of life. But nothing could be further from the truth. The influence of consumerism has tainted our the church in America. Our life and our faith is about more than the abundance of our possessions. God gives us money and possessions as a means to an end. He gives them to us to provide for our needs and for the work of his kingdom. He do not give us money and possessions as an end unto themselves.

Luke 12:15 (ESV)
And Jesus said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

In another place in Scripture Jesus said there is only one thing needful.

Luke 10:41–42 (ESV)
You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.

For many of us we shake our head in agreement. We declare Jesus is the only thing we need, but live worried about our possessions and so many other things.

Our current message series is called Money Matters. It is all about letting go of our attachment to our stuff. Our stuff hinders our relationship with God, it robs us of fulfilling relationships with friends and family, and it constrains our ability to serve God’s kingdom.

It’s time to let go of the religion of consumerism. This Sunday we will look at how consumerism manufactures covetousness in our hearts and leads us away from true riches. We will consider ways we might over come the influence of consumerism with the help of Jesus. We look forward to seeing you at 8am and 10:30am on Sunday morning.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Consumerism, Covetousness, Money, Stewardship

November 7, 2013 By Phil Ressler Leave a Comment

The Secret of Contentment

Give Thanks for He is Good

I’ve been getting ready for the second message in our Money Matters message series. This Sunday we will be taking a look at the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14–30.

In this parable, the master entrusts each of his three servants with a different sum of money. To the first, he gives five talents. To the second, he gives two talents. And to the third, he gives one talent. Keep in mind this is no small amount of money. One talents was worth approximately 25 years worth of wages for a common laborer.

The application for us is that in this life, we have all been entrusted with money and possessions by our master. Some of us have been entrusted with more. Some of us with less. Nevertheless, each of us has been given a tremendous amount. It is more than we realize.

Yet, we are surrounded by affluence. It is not hard to find other people who have more than we have. We are that servant with two talents, but it seems like all our neighbors around us have been given five. It is easy to become envious of other’s possessions. It is a struggle to live content. We want to keep up with the Joneses.

This month we celebrate Thanksgiving. While we talk about the importance of Thanksgiving, there are many Americans who are filled with less than Thanksgiving. I find it very interesting how we have this national holiday set aside to give thanks for all we have been given and then on the very next day so many of us go out of our way to fight, scratch, and claw for things we don’t have. How thankful are we really?

We have much we can learn from God’s Word about contentment. Paul says in the Book of Philippians:

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Philippians 4:12 (ESV)

The secret to contentment has very little to do with possessions. It is all about the place of God in our lives. I wanted to end this week’s email by sharing a few thoughts on how to fight the temptation of envy:

Seek Jesus first! Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God and that everything else will be given us as well (Matthew 6:33). The key is to seek first the kingdom of God and not the everything else. God will provide the everything else, but it starts with seeking him. When we seek first the kingdom of God, it will shape our priorities and desires. Many of the things we once desired will no longer be important.

Think about those areas in your life where you sense a lack. Maybe it is with your time. Are you seeking first the kingdom of God with your time? If there are not enough hours in a day, then I can most assuredly say that you are not seeking God with the use of your time. God gave you 24 hours in a day and that was no mistake. God knew what he was doing. He gave you just the right amount of time to do what he intends for you to do. If you don’t have enough time, then you are doing more than he intended for your to do. It means that some of it will have to go. Make God’s priorities to be your priorities and believe him to multiply your minutes.

Focus on what you have been given. This is huge! Because of the affluence around us we are constantly made aware of the things we do not have. But focus on what you have been given. Focus on what you have today that you maybe did not have a year ago or even ten years ago. Many of our necessities today, were once considered luxuries. When we constantly focus on what we don’t have it is difficult to fully appreciate what we do have. The messages we see in commercials on TV is that our life is not complete until we have purchased the new product. Maybe we need to tune those messages out a bit more and tune into God’s Word.

Give and invest in others. I am not talking about giving your leftovers. We are really good at discarding our used and unwanted stuff. It makes us feel good to give that old coat away that we no longer wear. We anonymously put it in a box or donate to a drive. That is not what I am talking about here. Give of yourself. Invest with your time. Make your gift sacrificial. Instead of buying that new coat for yourself this year, buy that new coat for someone else and make due with your old coat from last year.

The irony in all this is that the secret of contentment has nothing to do with getting more. That is a thirst that cannot be quenched. The secret of contentment is all about giving. The more you let go of your possessions. The more you let go of your desire for control. The more you let go and give yourself to Jesus the more you will discover his joy and satisfaction.

Remember in the end, none of it is yours in the first place. And in the end there will come a day when he will ask how you did with what he entrusted you with. Will you hear the words, “well done good and faithful servant?” Having more is not all it is cracked up to be. There are many in this world who have achieved the heights of wealth and fame, but their lives were still as empty as before. There is only one who will fill our cup. Give it all over to him, and you will get back more than you could ever dream or imagine.

So how about you? What are some ways you fight envy? What are ways you live Thanksgiving?

Have a great week,
Pastor Phil

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Contentment, Envy, Stewardship, Thanksgiving

October 31, 2013 By Phil Ressler Leave a Comment

Money Matters

money matters

Money matters! Yes it does. Money is huge. Yet, it is a topic which pastors are often reluctant to address in the church. It certainly is a challenging topic, because it is a sensitive topic. But over the course of the next month we will be discussing this very topic.

We need to talk about it! Here are a few reasons why I believe it is so important:

  • Because Jesus talked about it. In fact, Jesus talked about money as much as he talked about prayer. If it was such an important topic for Jesus to address, it needs to be a topic we address.
  • If the church does not address relevant topics, the church becomes irrelevant. The world is talking about it and if the world is talking about it, the church needs to be talking about.
  • If we do not make good decisions with our money, we will become enslaved by our poor decisions. This is why we need to hear from God on this matter. How many people live lives enslaved to debt?
  • Eternity hangs in the balance. Jesus told us to store up heavenly treasure (Matthew 6:19–21). The types of investments we make today have eternal consequences.
  • The urgency of the mission. God’s mission has a church. We need to recognize that with great blessing comes great responsibility. God will ask us for an accounting of what we did with that which he entrusted us with. Will we hear the words, “well done good and faithful servant”?
  • For the sake of your relationship with God. Jesus says you cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). While we can give every other part of our life over to him, our checkbook is often the one last thing we hold on to.

These are some reasons why I believe we need to talk about it. I pray you can join us during the next four Sundays in November at 8am or 10:30am. We will also be hosting two workshops sponsored by Thrivent Financial. On Sunday, November 17 we will be hosting Parents, Kids, and Money Matters. And on Sunday, November 24 we will host Your Legacy: Family, Church, Charity. For more information and to sign up, make sure to visit our website.

God’s blessings,
Pastor Phil

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Financial, Money, Stewardship

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