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A Reason Worth Working and Struggling So Hard


When we set out on this church planting journey, so many people who had walked the road before us warned us that it would be one of the most difficult things we would ever do. (It certainly has been.) They said, “If you don’t feel a true sense of calling from God, and you can imagine yourself doing anything else, don’t plant a church.” (I couldn’t imagine (and I still can’t imagine) doing anything else.) They said, “Don’t be surprised when a year or two from now, most of the people who set out on this journey with you are no longer with you.” (Of course you think you’re going to be the exception, but here we are a couple years into this thing, and most of the people who set out on this journey with us are no longer with us. For some I understand why, for others I still don’t understand. In either case, it’s painful.)

I apologize if some of you are growing weary in hearing me express the emotional rollercoaster this journey has been (and continues to be) for me. It certainly would, in many ways, be easier and more comfortable to keep it stuffed inside and pretend like we have it all together. Some may argue that that approach would be better for creating stability for us as a fledgling new church community. Although everyone may not be feeling these things, and everyone may not be feeling them to the degree that I am feeling them, I suspect that I am not the only one wrestling through this journey. And so right or wrong, I’m attempting to continue to step out of my comfort zone and to be candid about what I am experiencing and feeling.

When I say this has been an emotional rollercoaster, it truly has been. Two Sundays ago we had a great turn out for our Sunday Morning Gathering. We had a handful of visitors who all really seemed to have a positive experience. I had the opportunity to connect with a number of other pastors in the area to talk about what the church is really meant to be, and to dream about how we can better work together for the sake of God’s kingdom. I had several clearly God-orchestrated encounters with unchurched people and the opportunity to speak into their lives. It was a great week! And then this past Sunday we had our lowest ever attended Sunday, and as much as I tried to fight it, I found myself in a heap of discouragement, wondering if God has completely abandoned us, and ready to throw in the towel. Deep down inside I know it’s not about how many people show up on a Sunday morning. I know that’s not what it’s about, and it’s not why we do what we do. And I wish those things didn’t effect me the way they do, but they do. I’m grateful, though, that God is using those things to work in my life and to continue growing me into the person He wants me to be.

This isn’t my first ride on this rollercoaster either. It’s been quite a regular occurrence over this journey. I remember distinct points a year ago, 10 months ago, 8 months ago, 6 months ago, 4 months ago, 2 months ago, where I thought maybe it was over. And yet, we’re still here. And all along this journey, when these moments of discouragement set in, as I do my best to press into God even in the midst of that discouragement, the fog begins to lift and God keeps bringing me back to my calling. I’m here not because Impact Community Church is the answer, not because this thing looks anything like I thought it was going to look like, not because we have a certain number of people coming on Sunday mornings, and not because certain people are here with us on this journey. I’m here because, at this moment, this is where God has called me to be. And no matter what the circumstances look like around me… no matter how much it doesn’t make sense, and it may not look like it’s going to work, until the Spirit of God makes it clear that I’m called to be somewhere else, I am praying that God will continue to give me the faith, the strength, and the obedience to stand and endure. And those of you that are called to be here with us, I’m praying for you as well, that God will continue to give you the faith, strength, and obedience to stand and endure as well.

Galatians 6:9 encourages us, "9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” The truth is, the harvest belongs to God. When it comes, how it comes, and what it looks like is God’s business. It may not look like anything we thought it would. It may not come as soon as we think it should. Our job is not to manufacture a harvest. Our job is to be faithful in doing good and to never give up. Our mission is not to build A church or even to build THE church. Jesus said He would build the church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. As a small segment of God’s one church, we have been commissioned to go and make disciples. With or without Impact Community Church, this is, and always will be our mission. But as long as God has a role for Impact Community Church to play in that mission, as a segment of His one Church, we will continue on. If and when God no longer has a role for Impact Community Church, as an organization, to play in that mission, I trust and believe that God will no longer make it possible for us to be in existence. I have seen enough of God’s hand in this journey to know, with certainty, that we are not here because we’ve willed this thing into existence, we’re here because God has called us to be here. And for as long as God calls us to be here, there is work for us to do. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Personally, I want to get beyond trying to figure out whether or not we are supposed to be here as a church community. I think the enemy would love nothing more than for us to spend all of our time trying to figure out whether or not we should be here, and to not spend any of that time actually fulfilling the Great Commission. I confess that I have been distracted and I’m sorry for that! As long as God continues to make provision for us to be here, let’s keep our eyes focused on the mission.

I was reading today in the book of Colossians. Paul wrote this letter while he was imprisoned for living out the mission God had given him. It was one of several occasions where Paul was imprisoned for His faith. He was also slandered, beaten, left for dead, was homeless. hungry… and the list could go on and on. I’m sure to many, these setbacks could have been viewed as clear evidence that God was not blessing the work he was doing, and that he should turn back from it and give up, but Paul refused. When I try to put myself in Paul’s shoes, and then look at the things I suffer in comparison (not enough people showing up on Sunday mornings, or people not being as committed as I would like them to be), admittedly I’m quite embarrassed! God has blessed me, and blessed us, beyond measure! What valid reason do we have for not wholeheartedly devoting ourselves to making disciples?!? But Paul wrote to the Colossians…

"24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. 25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. 26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people.27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” (Colossians 1:24-29 NLT)

Again, the things I suffer, and the things we suffer, undoubtedly pale in comparison to the things that Paul was suffering. Regardless, we suffer for the sake of Christ, and for the sake of His church. And every once in a while, I think we need to be reminded why we do. The mission of making disciples, as Paul says, is about “warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us.” And the reason we do this is because, when the end comes, “we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.” And I love Paul’s words in verse 29, “That’s why I work and struggle so hard…”

The mission of making disciples is not an easy one. Jesus never promised it would be. But as Paul also says, that’s why we need to depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within us, and not on our own strength. We struggle and we work hard, but we struggle and we work hard for a reason. And I am convinced that when the end comes, and we stand before God and hear Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant”, it will undeniably be worth it.

And so, we labor on...
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Be the Church


As we start this new week, may we remember that church is not somewhere we go, church is something that we are. We are the church. We are the Body of Christ. We are the hands and feet of Jesus to a broken and hurting world.

Be the church to those around you. Be the hands and feet of Jesus to those you cross paths with this week. When people frustrate you throughout the week, remember that you have no idea the things they are wrestling with in their lives right now.

Choose to love. Choose to serve. Choose to surrender and allow God's light to shine through you.

Be the church and may God bless you abundantly as you do.
Read More 0 comments | Posted by Skot Lokers edit post

Faith in the One Who is Writing Our Story

Hebrews 11:1 (AMP)
1 NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

All of us want to know the end of the story... how things are going to turn out. It's what keeps us turning page after page in a great novel. It's what keeps us glued to the screen during our favorite movies and TV shows.

Life isn't much different. On the journey of life, we all want to know where our story is going to end up... how things are going to turn out. And it seems we spend a great deal of time, trying to write our own stories and secure the destiny we long for. The problem is, the Bible seems to suggest that we were not intended to be the authors of our own stories... God, our Creator, is intended to be the author. He created us with a purpose and longs to live in relationship with us and to guide us toward the fulfillment of that purpose.

Ultimately to live the story we were meant to tell, our responsibility is to live in communion with God, and to live in daily, surrendered obedience to Him.... allowing Him to guide and direct the decisions we make, that ultimately lead us to the story we will tell with our lives.

The struggle is, only God knows the end of the story. Only God knows how each decision we make will impact the story we end up telling. As much as we want to control and write our own destiny, we can't see exactly how each decision will impact our lives. Making decisions would be easy if we knew how each decision we make would impact our story. But it also would remove the necessity of our dependance on God. If I knew how each decision was going to impact my story, I wouldn't need Him to guide me and direct me in the daily decisions I make.

Instead, God invites us into an intimate relationship with Him and a journey of faith. Even though we can't see the end of the story... even though we don't know exactly how it all turns out, we live with a sense of hope and assurance, not in the outcome or the destination, but in the One who is leading us toward the destination... that He is for us and not against us; that He is working all things for our good; that He only wants what is best for us, and He will lead us exactly where we need to be.

Even though you don't know what tomorrow holds, heed to the encouragement of the author of the book of Hebrews and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), and allow Him to guide and direct the decisions you make. And be certain that as you do, a beautiful story is unfolding that is exactly as it was meant to be.

Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Skot Lokers edit post

Where's My Coffee?!?!?


Let's get one thing clear right from the start... 
I don't drink coffee. 

Never have. 

Probably never will. 

I don't like the taste of coffee.

I've had many people tell me over the years that coffee is an acquired taste... "Just drink it and you'll learn to love it!"

My response: "Forget that!"

Why in the world would I subject myself to drinking something I don't even like, just so I can become hooked on something that's not even all that good for you!

And yet, oddly enough, in some strange way, I envy the coffee drinkers.

I'm not sure exactly what it is.

I suppose there's a bit of excitement in the hunt for a good cup of coffee.

But mainly, I think it's the "cool factor."

Let's face it, people carrying around a Starbucks cup look cool, right?

And what we long for is not just the coffee inside that cup but the cool factor it represents.

So much so, that even though I don't like coffee, I will go into Starbucks and order a hot chocolate (which is the drink my 4, 8 and 10 year old kids drink) just so I can carry around the cup and "be cool."

It's crazy the things we do to fit in, isn't it?

God has uniquely made each one of us to be who we are. With different tastes and different styles. And yet all of us at different points feel this pressure to be something we're not. To drink things we don't even like so that we can "be cool."

The thing is, all of us ARE cool. We're cool in our own unique way. We're cool the way God made us. We're cool in His eyes and that SHOULD be all that matters. 

He wired us to be who we are so that we can fulfill the unique purpose that he has only for us. My fear is that when we spend so much time trying to be something that we're not, we continually deny ourselves of who we are and can very quickly lose sight of who God has created us to be and the purpose he has for our lives.

Okay so maybe a cup of coffee won't lead us to an existential crisis with God and the meaning of life, but it's a small example of a much bigger issue in our lives.

We all have our Starbucks moments where we just want to fit in. If we're not careful, those Starbucks moments can start to consume and drive our lives.

What would happen if we took the same amount of energy we put into trying to fit in and be accepted, and put it into embracing who we really are and discovering who God created us to be?

What would happen if we learned to love and accept people for being themselves? What if we celebrated uniqueness instead of uniformity? 

What if we lived our lives trying to help people discover what makes them cool instead of trying to make them like us?

I think that... would be cool.

Be who God created you to be. Like the stuff you like. And don't like the stuff you don't like. Be true to yourself.... But more importantly, be true to God. Take time to discover who God has created you to be and live life to the fullest in him.

What are your Starbucks moments that tempt you to do something just for the sake of fitting in?
Read More 2 comments | Posted by Skot Lokers edit post

The Triumphal Entry

This week at Heartland Church we are beginning a new series for the season of Lent called "Journey to the Cross", looking at the final events of Jesus' life here on earth and what they mean for us.

This week we'll be looking specifically at Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover and ultimately his death and resurrection.

There are several accounts of this story in the Gospels but my favorite is in the book of Luke.

After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' say, 'The Lord needs it.'" Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it." They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." (Luke 19:28-44 NIV)

A couple things that are important for us to note in this story...

1) JESUS ENTERING JERUSALEM ON A DONKEY - Why is it that after traveling a great distance on foot that Jesus chooses to stop at Bethphage and ride the remaining short distance to Jerusalem on a donkey? The reason is that Jesus is making a statement. We often view donkeys as a lowly form of transportation but back in those days, only the very wealthy and kings and rulers rode on donkeys. Also, the significance of Bethphage was that it was considered to be like the city limits of Jerusalem. The Hebrew people knew their scripture well and the prophets foretold that when the Messiah came, he would enter the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Jesus was making a statement that he was indeed that Messiah. Judging by people's response to his silent statement, they understood what he was saying. The people begin crowding around him, waving palm branches and shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

2) THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PEOPLE'S RESPONSE - There is a lot of history here, that for the sake of this discussion, we won't get into. But it's safe to say that the Hebrew people experienced a long line of oppression under ruthless governments from the time of their slavery in Egypt to Jesus' day when they suffered under the Roman empire. So when the prophets spoke of a Messiah who would come to be their King and free them from oppression, the people expected a physical king to come and overthrow the government, and to literally free them from this physical oppression.

Over the years there were a number of groups who would rise up "in the name of God" and try to overthrow the government. One such group was called the Macabees. Interestingly they took as their symbol, the palm branch (you can find Macabean coins with the palm branch on them), and they took as their battle cry, "Hosanna!" which literally means, "God save us."

Well in Jesus' day, there was a group of people known as the Zealots who were also all about physically overthrowing the government. The Zealots fashioned themselves after the Macabees and took as their symbol, the palm branch, and took as their battle cry, "Hosanna!"... "God save us from our enemies!"

Here's where this all comes together. When the people crowd around Jesus in this story, waving palm branches and crying, "Hosanna!", they certainly were recognizing his claim to be the Messiah, but their expectation was that he was triumphantly riding into Jerusalem to overthrow the government and to establish his kingdom. Their own agendas clouded out what Jesus had really come to do. It's interesting how Jesus responds to them... He looks over the city of Jerusalem and weeps, and says, "If you only knew this day what would bring you peace..." In other words, in all the excitement of this moment, they weren't seeing what it was really about.

One of the things that strikes me about this story is how it exposes our own agendas in approaching Jesus. How often do we, like the crowds, approach him as Messiah, with our own ideas of how he should act and what he should do in response to our needs? We often think we know best. One of the lessons we need to learn in following Jesus is to constantly surrender our own agendas to the will of God for our lives. We need to recognize that even when it doesn't make sense to us, God's plan is always the best plan.

Are you willing to surrender your own agenda for God's agenda?
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Living in Community

This week at Heartland Church we are continuing our Alternative Lifestyle series looking at Living Life in Community. 

We've talked in weeks past about how intentionally choosing to live alternatively to those around us and to follow Jesus is not an easy thing to do. It takes intentionality, hard work and discipline to make significant changes to our lives.

The truth is though, that the journey of pursuing an Alternative Lifestyle becomes exponentially more difficult when we try to do it on our own, because God has created us for community.

How many of you have ever tried to make significant lifestyle changes on your own? How successful were you? Statistics show that when we invest in making changes to our lives while surrounded by a support system of other people, we are much more successful than when we try to do it alone.

God never intended for us to journey through life on our own. We see in God's own triune nature (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) that he himself is a communal being. 

When God created Adam, the first man, he said, "It is not good for man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18) and he created a woman to be with him. 

God established his covenant with a community of people (the nation of Israel) who did life together. 

The book of Ecclesiastes speaks of the power of community and relationships. "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

In the New Testament we see Jesus living and doing ministry in community with his disciples. We see the establishment of the New Testament church, to which the Apostle Paul referred to as the Body of Christ - many parts who all need one another.

God has called us to live an Alternative Lifestyle and one of the ways we do that is by choosing not to journey through life alone but to surround ourselves in community. It's not always easy but it's one of the ways we begin to experience the fullness of life that Jesus came to give.

How are you doing at surrounding yourself with other people and doing life in community?
Read More 0 comments | Posted by Skot Lokers edit post

Living Life on Purpose

This week at Heartland Church we continue our Alternative Lifestyle series looking at the topic of Living Life on Purpose. The phrase Living Life on Purpose has a dual meaning in my mind. 

On one hand it speaks to the intentionality behind what we do... we are intentional and purposeful in the things we do. This is vital to following Jesus down this alternative path of living. When we talk about going against the norm and living according to an alternative way, that doesn't just happen by accident. We have to be disciplined, intentional and purposeful about the decisions we make. It takes hard work to live differently... do it on purpose!

On the other hand the phrase Living Life on Purpose also speaks to the idea of living toward the mission or purpose I was created for. The truth is God has created each one if us with a unique calling and has given us each unique gifts and personalities to fulfill the purposes he has for our lives. Ephesians 2 speaks of the salvation God has given us by grace alone and in verse 10 says, "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, SO WE CAN DO THE GOOD THINGS HE PLANNED FOR US LONG AGO." 

A big part of the challenge of learning to live this Alternative Lifestyle is discovering the purpose that God has for our lives and then making a decision to intentionally (purposefully) live according to it.

Will you live your life on purpose?
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