DeanSweetman.com » Faith

SPIRITIAL GROWTH & UNITY-Part 2

Dean — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:23:19 +0000

Matthew 13:44 records Jesus telling a simple parable to explain the Kingdom of Heaven. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field — and to get the treasure, too!

Picture this man working hard in a field – plowing along in the heat when – BAM! His plow collides with something that turns out to be a great treasure! Does he run to the bank and deposit it? No. Does he take it and sell it for the money? No. Does he call a TV crew to record the event? No. He does something that seems pretty strange – he puts it back in the ground, and then goes and sells everything he has to get enough money to buy the field. Why would he do that? Why didn’t he just take the treasure and run? In this parable, Jesus wants us to see what can happen when our lives collide with the Kingdom of Heaven.

First, we must understand that the Kingdom is not a faraway place. The Kingdom is here and now and it will be find by any and all who seek diligently for it. The Kingdom is like a great treasure that consists of many different things. And God keeps it buried. Why is it buried? Why isn’t it easy to find? Wouldn’t it be kinder of God to make finding the Kingdom easy for us? Well, anything you find easily is easily lost. And even though God offers us all He has in Christ, the mentality of the Kingdom is not one of entitlement. He who seeks will find, not he who sits.

What was the man’s reason for giving up all he owned to buy the field? So that he could keep plowing to see what else he could plow out of the field. Keep plowing. That’s a lesson we all need to learn if we want to see the Kingdom reach into every area of our lives. Life with God is a never-ending discovery of things about God and who we are in Him. If we are willing to keep on plowing, we will find the full blessing of the Kingdom. But it takes work. There is a cost in bringing God’s redemptive work into every area of our world.

Verses 45 and 46 tell of another man and another treasure. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it! Pearls seem pretty commonplace to us today, but in Jesus’ time it was dangerous to get pearls. You had to be willing to take risks. Pearls are hidden in deep, dark places and are hard to find – but they come out perfect. They don’t need to be cut like diamonds or refined like gold – they are perfectly made inside the oyster that holds them.

God loves to hide pearls in obscurity. Think of David, in the farthest fields tending his father’s sheep, writing songs to the Lord. The least of his brethren, yet chosen by God to lead Israel because of his heart. The path to his destiny was long and not easy. God surrounded David the way an oyster surrounds a pearl, shaping him to become “a man after God’s own heart.” Do you feel obscure and overlooked? No matter what men think, you are not. Allow the process to continue to shape you. The treasure of your best life can be found and your pearl will shine. Just keep plowing.

Easter 2012

Dean — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:39:45 +0000

Today, as we are celebrating and reflecting on the resurrection; we’re going to go back 2,000 years before the resurrection. Genesis 22 tells us about Abraham’s test of faith. At this time the world was Godless and broken. In all this, God found Abraham. God saw his heart and faith. God knew Abraham and knew he was a man of faith and put him to the ultimate test; the sacrifice of Abrahams only son Isaac. Abraham’s supreme obedience brought the provision of God at the last minute. As he held the knife in his hand that would sacrifice his son an Angel of the Lord came to him. The Angel ordered him to put down the knife. God had seen that Abraham feared God so much he had not spared even his son. Because of this supreme act of obedience and faith God gave him a promise he gave no one else. “I will do something through you which I have not done with anyone else. Abraham became the “father of many nations.” God’s plan to redeem humanity was already in the works.

I can’t help but see many parallels between Jesus’s death and resurrection and Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. Just as Jesus carried his own cross at his death; Isaac obediently carried the wood that was meant for his own death. Just as Jesus obeyed His father in the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity; Isaac obeyed his father even as the sword was over him. The place where Isaac was sacrificed, Mount Moriah, became the site of the Temple of Solomon. It is believed that the crucifixion was at the summit of Mount Moriah.

Abraham’s dream for years was a son. As his “dream” and heart were tested on Mount Moriah God proved faithful and provided true to his promise. Like Abraham, God puts dreams in our hearts. Our dreams can be tested. This testing can be painful at the time but through this testing comes endurance. Through endurance comes God’s provision. God will always provide! All Abraham had was belief and a promise. His only response to God telling him to sacrifice Isaac was “we will go to worship and we will return!”. Church, this should be our response when we go through our own trials and testing! We will worship and we will believe! This is all God requires. Today, Easter Sunday, represents a moment of remembrance of when God took the keys of Hell and rose to conquer death! All he requires for us to have access to this love is to “just believe”!

Rise and Build, Next Generation, Part 4

Dean — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:48:15 +0000

Luke 18 is a record of Jesus telling several short parables that center around the theme of faith. These short stories tell us many things that, if we pay attention, will change the way we look at faith. Jesus begins with the story of an extremely unjust judge whose hard heart cannot stand in the way of the persistent faith of a poor widow. The next story, of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, shows that repentant faith is more honorable before God than well-behaved self-righteousness. Jesus also speaks of a rich man who does not mind keeping laws, but cannot manage to trust God to provide for his daily needs.

During His teaching, Jesus is approached by parents bringing their children to Him hoping He will bless them. Rather than being upset by the interruption, Jesus embraces the children and holds them up as examples of faith. The chapter ends with Jesus healing a blind beggar along the road, telling him, “Your faith has healed you.”

What is this abstract thing we call faith? Quite simply put, faith is confidence. Confidence that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. It is confidence that God knows and sees more than we do and so knows what needs to happen in every situation if we will trust Him with it. In addition, it is confidence that God always has our best interest at heart and will never lead us where He cannot keep us. Hebrews 11, another great chapter about faith, defines it this way: “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (NLT)

Faith connects us with the power of God as we abandon confidence in ourselves and our own abilities and place our confidence completely in Him. In Luke 18:8, Jesus asks the question, “When I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?” Let’s begin anew today and commit to being one that He finds faithful.

Rise and Build, Next Generation, Part 3

Dean — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:44:27 +0000

When we get our financial affairs in order in the natural, we position ourselves for breakthrough in the supernatural. I’m encouraging you to think about how you can challenge yourself in the upcoming Rise and Build campaign. Many people doing their part, giving small and large, have built our church. Giving above and beyond the tithe takes faith. In 2 Kings 4, the widow is told by Elisha to go and get all the vessels she can, not just a few. When it came time for her to pour her small portion of oil into the large vessel that would merely soak up the last of her oil, it took faith to believe that the oil would continue to flow.

Oil in the Bible is a metaphor for the Spirit in both the Old Testament and New Testament. Oil was used to burn for light, to cook, even for healing. Oil was always used in making their lives better, and just as oil was critical to their lives, the Holy Spirit is critical to our lives. Everyone is able to minister in the Spirit, and it is through the Holy Spirit that we find the miraculous. It is also through the Spirit that we can challenge ourselves in giving. There is story after story of people challenging themselves in the natural in giving with supernatural results.

I want to take a moment to present an opportunity for ministry especially for Easter in relation to the story of the widow’s oil. In verse 4, Elisha tells her to gather empty vessels, go into the house, shut the door and start to pour the oil into the empty vessels. The Spirit can move anywhere (marketplace, street, hospital) but some miracles are meant for the house (the church). All around our lives are empty vessels needing to be filled. If someone is struggling in his or her marriage, they are empty; if someone is battling cancer, they are empty; if someone doesn’t go to church, they are empty; if someone is facing financial hardship, they are empty. Think of empty vessels around you and determine how you can pour the oil of God into their world. Let their desperation embolden you in reaching out to them to bring them into the house.

Lastly, make sure your oil isn’t flowing in the wrong place. It is great to give to causes but don’t put giving to something that can heal naturally before giving to something that can heal supernaturally. It is time to start believing the word spoken over your life. Set aside time to consider what you can do.

Verses Used:
*2 Kings 4:1-7

Rise and Build, Next Generation, Part 2

Dean — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:32:27 +0000

Christ is asking us to lay down our lives, and pick up a cross. We all know what the cross meant to Christ, but what does the cross mean to us? It means surrender. On the cross Jesus surrendered all His rights. He died and the temple curtain separating God from the people was torn in two. When that happened God didn’t escape, mankind was allowed in.

“If anyone wants to follow Me, let him lay down his life, and pick up a cross.” For us, a cross is symbolic, the surrender isn’t. How do we give up everything? God doesn’t want our house, He wants the right to tell us to hold a D-Group there. He doesn’t’ want your Ford (Lexus maybe), He wants the right to say, “Haul a load of groceries to the Quinn House in it.” That willingness is the key; remember a key has one function: Locking or Unlocking – whatever is powerful, or valuable; like an engine or a vault.

God has the powerful to give; you have the valuable to release. What power do you need? What of value are you willing to give? In 2 Kings 4 the Shunammite woman gave her food, and her home, God gave her a new life – a child, but then it all seemed lost when the child died. When it looked like everything good had been lost, God raised the child from the dead and gave her back what she needed most, a life.

So what about our everything, are we willing to give? What does God have, is He willing to give? God gave His Son, He is all in. Are we?

Verses Used:
*2 Kings 4: 1-7
*Matthew 16:24

Rise and Build, Next Generation

Dean — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:59:16 +0000

What is the difference between a Son of the House and a Servant of the House? That is an excellent question. The answer is spread throughout the Bible. One of the main answers is, in a sense, another question. Are you a Son? Well, how is your fruit? I.e: what do your actions say about you?

2 Kings 4:1-7 contains a story of a woman who was a Daughter of the House. Her husband (called a “son” of Elijah in the story) had just passed away, leaving her and her two sons in deep debt. This Daughter of the House ran straight to the answer: God. She sought out Elijah, her husband’s spiritual father, for advice; she accepted his advice, and, what is more, she obeyed it. That is the first and most prominent fruit of a son or daughter; they obey the Father. And when they obey the Father, His blessing falls upon them.

The house of God thrives on the obedience of the Sons and Daughters. Without Sons and Daughters, the House grows old and stagnant and stale. Nothing new happens; there is no fresh outpouring of the Spirit, for the House is old and set in its ways. Sons and Daughters bring fresh life and energy to the House; they bring faith in their obedience. And who is it they are obeying? The Fathers of the House.

Paul writes in I Corinthians that there are plenty of teachers in the House but not enough Fathers. People flock from teacher to teacher; they listen as long as the teacher says things they like. If the teacher starts getting too deep or too personal they leave in search of a new teacher. People do not want to sit under a Father. Fathers bring correction. Fathers bring discipline. Fathers do not say what the people want to hear. But it is fathers that build the sons and daughters.

Think about that for a moment. Who is speaking into your world? Are they the type of person you want to be in five, ten, even twenty years? Then they are your father or mother. Sit. Listen. And learn from them (and take the bumps and bruises of the ego that come with it). God is speaking through these people. He, first and foremost, speaks through His Word. Then, He speaks through His Spirit. And, finally and most often, He speaks through the people He has places around us. The longer we sit and listen, the more of their spirit we catch and the more of God we hear.

So, as we gear up towards a new Rise and Build campaign, take a moment to think. What is God saying to you? Are you listening to the Fathers and Mothers in your world? Are you ready to obey what it is they are saying? If the answer is yes, then you are a Son and/or Daughter of the House.

Verses Used:
*II Kings 4:1-7
* I Corinthians 4:15-16
*II Corinthians 3:1-4

The Tithe (part 1)

Dean — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:38:33 +0000

The tithe is found in both the Old and New Testaments. We see Abraham paying Melchizedek the High Priest a tenth of what he took as spoils of war, along with the first communion. People in those times learned to give their tithes of crops abundantly into the storehouse, a literal building that could hold food and seed in case of famine. In modern times, we pay our tithes to the local church – not a TV ministry, not a parachurch organization, but to the (store) House of God. If we have not learned yet that tithing is not an option for us as Christians, how can the church be “chief upon the mountains” as the bible declares? Tithing brings honor to God, brings blessing into our lives, and causes God to throw open the Windows of Heaven – it is the only time we are allowed to test God! He is saying to us, “Try it! Put Me to the test, I want to blow you away with My generosity as you learn to be generous!”

We are called to respect the altar of God – back in the days when priests offered sacrifices for the people, there was an increase of bribery as folks wanted to get rid of their lame, crippled and diseased cattle or sheep, and paid the priests to offer those on the altar, as if God were blind! Malachi was a prophet to the priests who had a lot to say about honoring and respecting the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, as you can read in the verses noted above. God’s principles don’t change, He will always bless you if you put Him first. If we have all our bills in front of us and wait til they are paid up to pay our tithes, we will never manage the 10% because the bills always seem so insurmountable. But if we line them up and put the tithe at the head of the line, we will find that supernaturally, the money is there to pay the rest! The priests (pastors) are responsible to tell the people that God is righteous and deserves the firstfruits of our labor, as Malachi aptly points out. We will miss out on a huge life blessing if we allow that 10% of our paycheck, disability or unemployment check (whatever we are getting as income, as opposed to monetary gifts from others) to go unpaid to the local church, the storehouse of blessing.

Tithing is probably the scariest thing we will ever do as Christians! It is easy to get saved, but it sure it hard to trust God with our money. Only 6% of the church in America tithes, according to Barna Research Group. This proved true several years ago, when Ps. Phil asked me what I had given in an offering. We discovered we’d given the same amount, and in a group of over 100 people, each of us had contributed 1/3 of the total offering taken that day. The 6% had prevailed, sadly. We are promised a return on our tithes and offerings, thirty, sixty or even a hundred times over what was given. No bank has ever given me that much of a return! What God can get through our hands and into others, He will get to us so we can do it again. If we are on food stamps, share some with others – there are always areas where we can give to people.

We have to learn that God sees our heart, He knows how much we make, and He is asking us to repay Him for the blessing of being able to work, or being able to draw a check due to disability, unemployment, etc. We want everyone in this church to thrive, and tithing is foundational to making that happen. We must look at our hearts, decide to give the Lord the honor and respect He deserves, lay our tithes on the altar, and watch the miracles unfold! I can’t wait to share more about this and tell you great stories of many who have tithed and received new jobs, raises, bonuses – all because we took a chance and risked loving God with our whole hearts.

Verses Used:
*Numbers 18:26
*Malachi 1:6-8
*Malachi 3:8-10

Faith & Vision

Dean — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:57:37 +0000

Our church will begin fasting and praying on February 1st for 21 days. This is an opportunity to go to the next level for real this year, to overcome challenges and bring about lasting change. If you fast AND pray, change WILL happen! We look to the New Testament church for examples of how to work together, how to mature in Christ, how to be a “marketplace apostle”. One of the first men to rise up to a new level was Barnabas, a tradesman who, during a time of famine, sold a field he owned and gave all the proceeds to the apostles in Jerusalem to help other believers. Others followed his lead, and the whole church banded together, sharing and selling so that no one would go without. What they owned was not their own. The people made sacrifices for each other, and this was the first example of charity in any culture of that day. Let’s be sure our things aren’t getting in the way of where God wants to take us.

After the famine in Acts 4, a very zealous Jew named Saul was at the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, a man killed for speaking the truth about the Resurrected Christ. The Christians went into hiding because of the persecution now upon the Church, and in Acts 9 Saul goes to Damascus to kill Christians there who are sharing the Gospel. He actually thinks he is doing God’s will! On the way, the Lord blinds him and he comes to faith in Jesus himself, not eating or drinking for three days afterward. A Christian in the area named Ananias is asked by God to go to Saul, lay hands on him, and let God heal him – however, Ananias has heard Saul will arrest any Christians in the area! After arguing with God, he summons up his courage, lays hands on Saul, and goes so far as to call him “Brother” as he obeys the Big Ask that God had given him. Saul becomes Paul, the greatest apostle to ever live, the one who wrote most of the books of the New Testament, and from whose life we can learn so much about perservering and following the leading of the Holy Spirit! The thing is, he was not even accepted by the local church and the apostles who had been with Jesus until Barnabas, whose name means Son of Encouragement, befriended Paul and vouched for him to the church leaders in Jerusalem. You can’t fulfill your destiny until someone believes in you. It took the courage of Ananias & Barnabas to bring the killer of Christians into the family of the church. People then and now are looking for someone to care for them. We need lots of people to reach out to new folks at C3 this year, and our leadership classes are going to help us get confident as we step out and mature even more.

When God asks us to do something big, something scary, something well and truly out of our comfort zone like He asked of Ananias, we know that by prayer and fasting we can accomplish anything that God has laid before us! He is going to ask us this year to do what we have never done before, therefore it makes sense to prepare ourselves for this year of challenge. You don’t have to be a pastor to bring love and care to people in your world. We have to come out of our immaturity and the mindset that says, “Oh, that’s someone else’s job” and begin to really grow in our faith. This means that the people around us who need help will have someone there to encourage, to mentor, to pray for them – you! When the religious Jews threw Peter in jail for healing a crippled man on the Sabbath in Acts 12, the church was praying for him fervently, but when an angel opened up the jail and got Peter to safety, no one praying at the house believed it was really him knocking on the door! These people had seen the house shake with the power of prayer, but had forgotten that God really does work miracles! Don’t pass your miracle off as coincidence, believe that God meant for your prayers to be answered.

We are all currently afraid of something God is asking us to do, some challenge we’ve come up against. God will give us the means to conquer the fear and win the challenge, but we have to step out in 2012 and do what frightens us. This church will go to another place in Christ if we all step out, fast, pray and believe that God wants to do miracles in us, for us and through us. We’re not going to waste 2012, even when unseen tests come at us from left field, like the pain I have been having in my neck all last year. We do not give up, we find a way to make it through the maze of life because God believes in us!

Verses Used:
* Acts 4:31-37
* Acts 9
* Acts 12

The First Family

Dean — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:31:40 +0000

When we think of Bible heroes, names like Moses, David, Samson, and Daniel come to mind. Joseph of Nazareth – husband to Mary and earthly father of Jesus – is generally not on the list. But on closer inspection, this quiet man is due more notice and respect than he is given. His heart is very much like God’s and provides a powerful role model for all of us today.

Joseph and Mary were betrothed in the Hebrew tradition. This is rather difficult for us to understand for it was not just a joining of two people in marriage but a merging of families, fortunes, and futures. A betrothal period could last up to seven years. During that time the expectations of both families looked and worked toward the union in a way foreign to us today. In addition, the entire community knew of and anticipated the union.

The Spirit and will of God interrupt this proceeding with the purpose of changing mankind’s destiny. From a heavenly perspective, it made perfect sense. From an earthly perspective, it made no sense. Fortunately, Joseph was not a man given to emotional reaction. Here we find his first quality of merit. Matthew 1: 19 tells us that Joseph “considered these things.” He didn’t react in a reality TV/Jerry Springer kind of way. He thought carefully and took the issue before God. He opened the door of his heart to hear what God had to say about the matter before he made any decision. Though his personal reputation was on the line, his first consideration was finding out what was the right thing to do.

A second quality to notice is that Joseph chose not to seek retribution, but to cover Mary and “break the engagement quietly.” (vs 18) If Mary’s pregnancy were to be discovered she would, at the least, be exiled or, at worst, stoned to death. Imagine Jesus’ life being ended before He had a chance to be born. But Joseph chose grace. He chose to cover her rather than expose her. In this day of “investigative reporting” when no secret is safe, and when many delight in the downfall of others, we could learn a great deal from this type of grace. Joseph took Mary as his wife but did not sleep with her as his wife until Jesus was born. Pretty amazing, right? Imagine walking in that kind of obedience.

Most importantly, Joseph’s willingness to set his own feelings and opinions aside and be open to God brought the will of God to pass. God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to confirm the truth of the story Mary had told him. Joseph protected them and provided for them as Jesus grew. Once the story of Jesus’ birth, the flight to Egypt, and the return to Nazareth is done, we don’t hear any more about Joseph. He fades into the background. But without his obedience, the story would never have taken place. Imagine the multitude of lives that have been changed because Joseph chose to consider God in his actions. How many of us are living our best life because of his choice and how many others might find their best life if we choose to live by his example?

Verses Used:
*Matthew 1:18-24

The Four Rivers – The Euphrates

Dean — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:12:02 +0000

The Euphrates River–the final river in the Four Rivers series–is the river that means to “break forth into fruitfulness.” It is the simplest of the rivers to grasp: God wants us to be fruitful. That is it! So simple! God loves simple things. Humans make things too complicated; God makes it simple. He wants you to be fruitful, and the way to fruitfulness is obedience. Obey God. See? Simple.

Matthew 25 tells the tale of three servants entrusted with their master’s money while he is away on a long journey. It is an accepted fact that the man on the journey is Jesus. He is leaving for a time, and He entrusts His servants with His property. Jesus came to earth to save us and to establish the Kingdom. He got the work started through His death and resurrection. Then, He said, “The rest is up to you.” He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us in our charge to change the world. He trusted us with His resources (money,abilities, etc…) like the man in the parable entrusted his servants.

What happens next is the real gem. The man gives to his servants according to their abilities. Wait a second. That’s not very fair. Why don’t all the servants get an equal share? That’s because “fairness” is no Biblical. God wants us to have more then other people. He wants us to prosper and be fruitful. There is no ceiling or cap to that. It is ongoing. Those who cry over how unfair it is are the ones trapped in the small-mindedness of the world. Very simple. Two servants prospered because they used their resources; one did not. When the master returned, he rewarded those who increased and cursed the one who did not.

So use what God has given you! Sow it! Invest it! And watch the blessing of increase come into your world.

Verses Used:
*Matthew 25: 14-30
*Psalms 1