Sunday on Monday – for 1.29.12
Some thoughts from yesterday ….
- Announced the unanimous decision to purse a land purchase for Quest in Grovetown/Gateway area. So thankful for a church with Vision to see beyond ourselves to an entire community of people who are longing for what we know they are wired for — God, relationships, and opportunities to change/make a difference!
- Wrapped up our ALMOST CHRISTIAN series with a message challenging we as a church to corporately be ALL IN with God and His Vision for our church. Praying that we’ll all consider what this means for us and commit/covenant together to follow God’s Agenda for our church, and not our own…
- Bringing back THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM series this Sunday, Feb. 5 at all three services. Come and let’s talk about things that are often difficult to talk about in the Church!
- 7 people joined Quest yesterday. Very powerful time has people covenanted with God and the church community to live out the life of a follower through our local church. So awesome to see our community grow! This is something to celebrate!
- Prayed for our youth yesterday — 61 of them (along with some adults) — are headed out on a ski retreat this coming weekend. Going to be an awesome time together of growth with God and each other. Can’t wait to hear about the experience! (my oldest daughter is going on her first youth trip —- pray for her dad! Ha!)
- Our band is so incredible. Loved listening to them yesterday and letting them lead us in worship. If you get the chance, please tell them how much you appreciate their sacrificial service to God and our church community!
- After worship – headed to Thomson to teach a seminar on “Reaching Younger Generations” …. had the pleasure of team teaching with Mike Freace from Quest, very gifted speaker/teacher. Got to hang out with Wes Roberts and Forrest Page as well. Was fun. Not sure when I’m going to learn how speaking 4 times in one Sunday takes it out of you — fell asleep at 8 pm last night!!!
- Was awesome to pull into the parking lot last night after being in Thomson and see so many kids and youth in community at KidVenture Nights and also at Youth. There is so much LIFE happening in our kids and youth ministries—- and we need to CELEBRATE that every chance we get!
I can’t tell you how much I LOVE serving The Quest Church as your pastor. It is such an amazing experience that I thank God for every day. Look so forward to what the future holds!
ALMOST CHRISTIAN – one of the most important series we’ve ever done at Quest
We’re starting 2012 with a series at The Quest Church called “Almost Christian.” As I’ve pondered and prepared for this series, I can honestly say that this is definitely one of the most important series we’ve done to date. The reason is this — we’re going to be exploring how we so often get comfortable in our Christianity and “think” we’re being Christian, when in biblical reality we may be further from it than we realize.
You need to be with us for this series. Whether you are already a Christian, or considering Christianity – this is a series that everyone needs to hear and let sink in. It’s one of those series that will challenge us deeply and call us to levels of commitment to God and following Him that we probably haven’t considered enough.
As we begin a New Year, let me ask — was last year ALMOST what you wanted it to be, but not quite? Did you ALMOST live the life you are called to? As a follower? As a husband/wife? As a mother/father? As a friend? In your work/business? With your friends? ——– Are you tired of the ALMOST life? Isn’t it time to follow through and get serious about God and your faith? If it is — get ready for a life-changing series at Quest.
Christmas begins with darkness
Yesterday in worship, I preached from Isaiah 9 – where there is a powerful prophecy about the coming Messiah who would bring Light to a Dark world.
Isaiah says that “The people who walk in darkness…” (v. 2) —- owning the fact that as people, we certainly are surrounded by spiritual darkness because of our sin and rebellion against God.
I realized something last week as I prepared and prayed over that message – and what I realized is that Christmas is only Christmas (you know the part about Light and Hope) because IT BEGINS IN DARKNESS. I cannot fully realize and appreciate Light and Hope (Jesus) until I own my darkness. This explains why so often for so many of us – Christmas is only a “story” that never quite connects to our own “story.” We’ve become so good at avoiding and hiding our spiritual darkness, that we don’t recognize that the Light has come to dispel and truly annihilate our darkness.
This Christmas Season – celebrate Light and Hope. But get estatic about the fact that the reason we can celebrate Light and Hope is that we live in a spiritual state of darkness and NEED LIGHT AND HOPE. Get real – don’t hide your darkness. Don’t avoid it. Owning it is the only way Christmas will every truly make sense and change you.
A Challenge — mentoring younger generations
In yesterday’s message, I challenged older generations (basically busters, boomers, and some gen x’ers) to INTENTIONALLY mentor/disciple younger generations. A Biblical picture of this can be found in the relationship of Paul and Timothy in the New Testament.
I’m convinced that one of the greatest failings of my generation (gen x) and those before mine is to take this seriously and commit to it. Like a baton pass in a track relay race, older generations are in danger of dropping the baton of faith for the next generation. What we do over the next couple of decades will make all the difference if we are serious about leaving a Godly legacy for emerging generations.
If you are a gen x’er, boomer, or buster – who are you mentoring? Who are you intentionally discipling? Passing the baton from your generation to the next?
If you are a millenial or net gen’er, or even some gen x’ers - who is mentoring you? Are you seeking out discipleship and spiritual direction from older generations?
In the Church we like to create programs and ministries. But no program or ministry can replace the power of one-on-one relational discipleship from one generation to the next. Imagine what would happen if we began to take this seriously…..
The Elephant in the Room SERIES
Let’s face it – there are ALWAYS things we need to talk about that we don’t talk about. You could call these things “the elephant in the room.” Happens in our families, friendships, workplaces, and even the Church.
In the Church there are certain subject/topics we tend to avoid. We avoid them because they stir up emotions and people have various opinions on them, etc. But this shouldn’t cause us to ignore these important topics of discussion. We think about them, so why not talk about them? And why not look into the Bible to explore what God might have to say about them?
That is the intent of a new “series” coming up at The Quest Church. Well – it’s not really a series in the way we typically do a series — several weeks on one topic. Every few months we are just going to throw in a one week discussion on an “elephant in the room” topic. You won’t know what the topic is until that day. Just know that it will be something that isn’t typically discussed in the Church, or is avoided, etc.
So I hope to see you this Sunday, Oct. 23, at 8:30, 10, or 11:30 am for our first “elephant in the room” discussion!
If you miss it, be sure to go online to www.theQUESTonline.com/media to check it out.
Is God who I THINK he is?
How do you SEE or VIEW God in your mind? In other words, how do you IMAGINE him?
The reality is that we imagine God in many many different ways. But check this out and let it really sink in — The way I VIEW GOD may not be WHO GOD IS. That may not seem like such a big deal until we consider that we live life every single day based on our view of God. Seriously – the things I think about, the way I love my spouse, how I relate to my kids, the way I see my job/career, the way I drive (ouch), the way I save for retirement, and the list goes on and on…. My view of God AFFECTS my life in ways that I often don’t even realize.
I’ve been RE-IMAGINING God lately because of this reality. I want to be sure that the way I live my life everyday lines up with the way I SEE GOD. And if it doesn’t, then I need to make some serious adjustments. But more than that – I want to be sure that the way I view God is the way HE ACTUALLY IS. I don’t want to base my view of God on only what I’ve experienced and been taught in the past. I want to discover God for who he actually is.
This Sunday, at The Quest Church, we begin a new series called RE-IMAGINE. We’ll be exploring all that I’ve just talked about. I hope you will join us. It may change the way you SEE THINGS.
Re-Viewing People
Was at a Conference this past week listening to one of my favorite speakers and authors – Leonard Sweet. He mentioned one of the toughest spiritual disciplines he’s encountered – CELEBRATING PEOPLE instead of CRITIQUING PEOPLE. Hit me hard. About how we spend so much time turning people – God’s creation – whom He loves and pursues — turning these people into “objects” that we critique. Think about it. Upon meeting people we spend so much time deciding (critiquing) what we like about them, don’t like about them, etc. We place them into categories. We treat them as less than “human.” Wow. We have a deep sickness, don’t we? Where we VIEW people alot differently than God VIEWS them.
What if instead of CRITIQUING you … I CELEBRATED you? As a unique creation of God. Made by Him. Loved by Him. Pursued by Him. What if the first thing I did was CELEBRATE humanity, rather than CRITIQUING and CRITICIZING it?
In 2 Corinthians 5:16 – Paul states that “From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view….” The “from now on” comes from a life-changing encounter with Jesus. Who gives us new sight. A new view. Of everything … including people.
I don’t know about you but I need to RE-VIEW people … but in a way that CELEBRATES them before anything else. Can you begin to IMAGINE a world like this? It starts with the next person you SEE…..
Wound me
“Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” — Proverbs 27:6
More and more I’m realizing that what I need in my life are people that speak into my life. People willing to “wound” me as the Proverb states. Proverbs is a book of Wisdom, and the author is stating that true friends are willing to speak into our lives in ways that may “wound” us, but are for our benefit.
The reality is that true community requires this. People speaking into our lives and challenging us where they see sin, inconsistencies, whatever. But the sober truth is that this seldom occurs – even in The Church today. We’re unwilling to lovingly speak truth into each others’ lives. Yesterday – I had a realization of WHY this is the case. It’s largely because WE DON’T INVITE IT. We don’t ASK PEOPLE to speak Truth into our lives. We don’t tell people – “Speak into my life. I invite you to say whatever needs to be said. Please WOUND ME.” It’s kind of ridiculous when you think about it. I mean, do I really think I’m perfect and don’t need anyone to wound me? I’m a sinful, broken person in need of healing. And the Bible teaches that often healing comes through the wound. A true friend where his/her motive is love, speaking Truth into my life in order that I might move on in sanctification and holiness.
So — who are you inviting to wound you? Who is speaking loving Truth into your life? We can never become the people we’re made to become – and we can never become the Church we’re made to become – without this. May we become those who INVITE this into our lives so that we might become all that God wants us to be!
Study the Story of God
We’re in a Summer Series @ Quest right now called “Big Stories.” Basically we’re walking through the story of Scripture in 9 weeks -hitting the big mega-themes of scripture. Started with Creation and the Fall … ending with The Birth of the New Testament Church. Stuff like that.
Many have commented on how much they’ve enjoyed this series….and more importantly … are GROWING because of it. What’s interesting, though, is that this series is content heavy compared to other series’ we’ve done. I LOVE IT! Demonstrates that there is a real hunger to know and live God’s Word among our church community.
Quest Church -and anyone else out there – I want to encourage you to FEED YOUR HUNGER. When it comes to God’s Word, this means that we need to not only READ, but STUDY the Scriptures to know the Story of God and how we fit into it. Statistics demonstrate that few even READ Scripture daily … and even fewer go the next step of STUDYING it. Much of this is born out of our consumerist mentality in 21st century America. “You feed me.” People come to church just to “get fed.” My response – “Feed yourself.” Don’t depend on others to feed you or you will end up starving to death spiritually. God intends for us to READ and STUDY ourselves… not depend on others to do all the work for us. (This isn’t to say we don’t gain from others’ study of Scripture … but it should only stir up the hunger inside of us to study it for ourselves).
Imagine a church community where followers are feeding themselves during the week (studying the story of Scripture/God), and then show up for corporate worship through small groups, worship services, etc. This is the church we’re called to be. A community of people – at all different places along the journey – exploring and studying the Scriptures and stirring up the hunger within each other.
UNCOMMON
From Pastor John to The Quest Church …. And anyone else reading this 
Quest Church family and friends – yesterday in worship I challenged our community to be UNCOMMON. This was born out of my study of the word “holy” this week in scripture. The Hebrew definition of “holy” is “set apart for a special purpose; no longer common.” It really hit me in my study of this word in the past week that we are called to this as those who are a part of the Quest Community. I talked about how the Community of Israel was called to this in the Old Testament, but this is our call today as well.
In light of this, I had to ask myself this past week — Does my life look COMMON? If so, why? Why am I swimming along in the stream of culture headed towards the same things as the rest of the world? The pursuit of self above all else? Money. Prestige. Popularity. Addictions. Mediocre marriages. Visionless families. Etc. Etc. Etc. In Jesus Christ, my live has PURPOSE. His PURPOSE is to be lived out in me. Namely this means radical love for God expressed through sacrificial love for people. This is the heart of the Gospel message. It’s what it means to be truly “holy.”
So today – know that you are SET APART by God for HIS SPECIAL PURPOSE. You are not COMMON. Because you belong to God. You are a holy people!
I am so thankful to be a part of such a great community at Quest. It is a privilege to serve as your pastor.
Seeking to live the UNCOMMON LIFE,
John Kenney
