Rather than summarize the entire message, I would like to talk to you today about barriers to giving generously. All of us were challenged to go Next Level in our giving for the next 13 weeks and I know that many of you responded to God’s challenge out of a desire to live a life that is pleasing to Him. But one of the things that we must realize is that often times there are barriers to our generosity.

Matt Schoenfeld is the author of a little book titled Abundant Living: the five biblical principles for financial success. In this book he suggests that financial success begins with what we talked about on Sunday – generous giving!

But he also talks about how this principle of generous giving works in conjunction with four other principles. I would add to that by saying that failing to apply the four other principles actually become barriers to your generosity. What I mean is that no matter how generous you want to be, you will never get there without applying these principles. So, let’s take just a moment to explore these four principles.

1. Fleeing the love of money (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Go and read the words that Paul writes to Timothy. People who long to be rich fall into many temptations that plunge them into ruin. Your love for money and the desire to have more will always stand in the way of your generosity and often cause you to do things that will ultimately cause you harm.
2. Living within our means (Proverbs 30:7-9). The author of Proverbs begs God for two things before he dies, he writes, “First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.” The key is for us to be content with what we have. If we are striving to have more things than we can afford we will find ourselves stretched to the point that generous giving is not an option.
3. Planning (Luke 14:28). Jesus encourages us to count the cost before setting out on a project. In short, it takes some careful and thoughtful planning. This type of planning is what I would call “Big Picture” planning. Where does God want you to be financially? Are there any big purchases that will need to be made in the upcoming year, such as cars or even furniture? Will your family take a vacation this year? God is not against us having nice things or even us taking trips for the purpose of relaxing and connecting with our family. God wants us to do these things, but God wants us to do them in consultation with Him, according to His timing, and to do them in such a way that they do not hinder our generosity to others.
4. Using a spending plan (Proverbs 27:23-24). The point of this passage of scripture is that things can run out a lot quicker than we realize and making our resources last takes careful planning. This type of planning is what we often refer to as a budget. A budget is basically telling your money where it is going to go each week before you spend it. This is a great way for us to set priorities in our weekly spending. If we plan to be generous to God and others then it has to show up in our weekly and monthly plan. If we think we will be generous with whatever is leftover, we will quickly find that without a spending plan there is nothing left with which to be generous. We must budget and prioritize the things we are going to spend money on. This helps us to say “no” to things that are not a priority in God’s plan for our lives.

These four principles in conjunction with the principle of giving generously are an important part of God’s plan for our lives. I wish I would have learned them much earlier in life. I could have saved myself a lot of heartache and stress! I pray that you will put these principles to work for you over the next thirteen weeks of our Next Level Giving Challenge and watch how God blesses and provides for you.

In Christ,

-Pastor Brandin

That is the question I think we should all be asking ourselves. Ultimately it is a question of obedience and surrender.

God continually seeks to take us to the next level in our relationship with Him and in the development of our character. The question is whether or not you will be obedient and cooperate with God in this process?

On Sunday we looked at a quote from Sasha Dichter that I want to share with you again today. He states that going to the next level requires engaging “in a controlled environment for a defined period of time to practice acting differently so that, over time, new practices pervade your life.” 

When Sasha speaks of a “controlled environment”, he is talking about an environment that we intentionally create that causes us to act differently for a short period of time in the hopes that it will cause us to develop new habits and ways of behaving.

I believe that all of us should be this intentional about our own personal spiritual growth and becoming the person God wants us to be. But what happens when we aren’t intentional?

I believe that God takes us through seasons and experiences in life where He creates the environment in which he intends for us to be changed and for our character to become more like Christ’s. Sometimes these are painful life lessons and the pain is magnified when we resist God throughout this process rather than surrender ourselves fully to Him.

Over the next several weeks we are going to be looking at some areas
where God wants to take us to the next level. Will you decide now that you are going to cooperate with Him and surrender yourself to what He wants to do in your life?  

If you will I am confident that God will bless your life at a whole other level.

-Pastor Brandin

That’s okay, I did as well. But I also made it a point to go back and listen to the message on our website and asked God to check my attitude as well. I hope you will do the same.

The truth is we all need to be reminded at times of what Viktor Frankl refers to as “the last of the human freedoms.” He goes on to write that this is the freedom “to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” This reminds us that no matter what we have been through or are going through, our attitude is our choice. As I said Sunday, you can choose to:

• Become a victim or to become a victor
• Become defeated or to be an overcomer
• Become bitter or to become better
• Become hateful & rude or to become compassionate & loving
• Become negative and critical or you can choose to be positive and encouraging
• Take short cuts and look out for only ourselves or we can be people of integrity and character
• Allow things to tear us apart or to bring us together.

The Apostle Paul was a great example for us in this and we learned from his letter to the church in Philippi three important things:

1. Your positive attitude has the potential to be a powerful witness for Christ to your friends, family, and everyone around you.
2. Your positive attitude has the potential to be an amazing source of encouragement to other believers who are going through difficult times.
3. Your positive attitude and how you conduct yourself will bring glory and honor to God.

Just think of the powerful impact your attitude can have on those around you and how you can exalt Christ despite your challenging circumstances. It’s all about attitude.

So what do I do if I’ve had a bad attitude? Well, first of all you need to recognize it and repent. Scripture calls us to repent of anything in our lives that does not honor and glorify Him, your attitude included. The second thing you need to do is submit your attitudes to God. 2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” And the third thing you need to do is nurture a good attitude. We do this by following Paul’s advice in Philippians 4:8, which says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

I hope that you will take these words to heart and always remember the words of Viktor Frankl -  “…everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances…”

-Pastor Brandin

The details:

• Saturday, 4/28
• 8:30 AM-3:30 PM
• Please be on the job site (3116 W Volunteer Way, Springfield, MO 65803) by 8:15 AM or, if you prefer, meet at the church at 7:30 AM. Orientation begins at 8:30 AM so please be prompt.
• Wear your “Here to Serve” t-shirt if you have one. If you don’t have one, we have a few left. Contact the office to see if there is one available.

Volunteers 16 and older may work at the construction site with parents; but 16- and 17-year-olds are not allowed to operate power tools, equipment, or vehicles; or work more than six feet above the ground. 14- and 15-year-olds with appropriate adult supervision may work on landscaping projects only; landscape projects are scheduled as needed.

When you come to the construction site, dress comfortably for work in weather-appropriate clothes that can get dirty or painted on, and wear closed-toe shoes or boots (no flip-flops or sandals). For safety, very loose fitting clothing is not allowed. Remember to dress in layers for changing weather, and to apply sunscreen early and often.

Please bring your own work gloves. If you have tools, you can label them with your name and bring them, but we’ll have some, so you don’t need to bring them. Your safety while volunteering is our #1 priority, so please review the Habitat Safety guidelines: CONSTRUCTION SAFETY!

We’ll have drinking water there, but please bring your personal, recognizable water bottle to keep with you and refill. If you need to dispose of plastic bottles or aluminum cans while on site, please look for marked recycling containers for those items. Please help us keep the work site clean by also picking up any trash you see and placing in trash containers.

Parking and checking in: Please follow the parking signs to the designated parking area. Once parked you will see the new construction happening, walk on down and keep an eye out for Habitat Construction Staff.

Private property: Please be very considerate regarding noise levels, staying out of yards, disturbing personal property, etc. Do not go on the homeowners’ property without being accompanied or directed to do so by Habitat staff.

So, here we are on day 14 of Lent. Are you enjoying the daily devotional readings? If you haven’t joined us in reading them, you can do so on our website each day or subscribe via email or mobile device.

One of the things I love about the devotions we are reading together is how they draw us into the story of Jesus. As we work our way through the Gospel of Matthew we get the opportunity to take an inside look into the experiences of the disciples and others that had intimate encounters with the Christ.

Our goal during the season of Lent is to have intimate personal encounters with the living Christ! That is my prayer and my goal for you as well. As I read through the gospel narrative and play back the encounters with Jesus in living color one thing becomes clear – everyone who had an intimate encounter with Jesus had the opportunity to be changed. The reality is, if they walked away from Jesus unchanged it was of their own choosing.

For example, in John chapter 5 we read about an intimate encounter Jesus had with a man who was unable to walk. The first thing Jesus says to the man is, “Do you want to get well?” It’s almost as if Jesus was saying, “Here I am. The choice is yours.” The man ultimately decided he wanted to be changed.

On the other hand, there was another man whom Jesus had an intimate encounter with who ultimately walked away unchanged. We know him simply as the rich, young ruler. He went away grieved because he was unwilling to give up what Jesus asked of him. It was his own choice.

I wonder how many of us will go through the entire season of Lent, with multiple opportunities for intimate encounters with the living Christ and yet will walk away unchanged? Either because we chose not to get close to Jesus by reading His word, or because when we did encounter him we were not willing to give up what Jesus asked of us and we made the choice to walk away unchanged.

The choice is yours.

-Pastor Brandin

Tonight marks the official beginning of one of the most exciting seasons on the christian calendar – Lent! A lot of people are confused by this simple four letter word, but don’t be. It simply represents the six weeks leading up to the celebration of resurrection Sunday, better known as Easter.

It begins with a special Ash Wednesday service tonight at 6:30 PM and we want EVERYONE to be a part of this important moment in the life of our faith community. This is a significant time in the life and history of the church. We use this time for introspection, prayer, and fasting. We do these things in order to purge our lives of anything that has crept into our lives that is robbing us from the full joy of the salvation we have in Christ.

Hebrews 12:1-2 serves as our theme this year which states, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”

That is the goal of our church-wide fast! That we would throw off everything that hinders our walk with Christ, especially sin that so easily creeps into our lives and trips us up in our relationship with Him.

This past Sunday I spoke about why we pray and fast during the season of Lent and you can hear that message in it’s entirety here. We have also made a Prayer & Fasting Guide available to you for this journey. It includes tips for how you can engage in prayer and fasting, scripture readings, and links to our online Lenten Devotionals. This guide is available online at sfnchurch.com/lent and we will have printed versions available at tonight’s service that include space for you to journal during your 40-day journey.

As I said Sunday, you will get out of this journey what you put into it. God promises us in His word that if we will seek him with all our hearts, we will find him. He promises that if we will draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. All God’s promises are true and all God’s promises never expire. Trust in his promises these next forty days. Seek Him with all your heart and God will reward you with nothing less than Himself.

Your Fellow Partner in the Journey,
-Pastor Brandin Melton

It is with great joy that I say, “We are experiencing the presence of God at SFN Church!” I remember times and moments when I was growing up and as a young adult when I would walk away from church services thinking to myself, “Wow! You could really sense God’s presence today.” But I believe we are being blessed with more than just occasional moments of the anointing of His presence; I believe that we are coming hungry for it and expectant of it.

Why is the sense of His presence “occasional” in some churches and “expected” in others? I think it has everything to do with how we worship. Do we worship occasionally or do we show up with the expectation that we are going to worship God today, no matter what? This is the difference.

I’m sure you have heard us say at some point a paraphrase of Psalm 22:3, “God inhabits the praises of His people.” Others would say, “God dwells in the atmosphere of His praise.” What this basically means is that when God’s people come together in genuine worship and praise to the God of the universe, and don’t hold back or approach him without awe, it blesses God and God in return blesses us with an overwhelming sense of His presence.

Let’s continue to praise Him for He has done great things! Let me share with you just a couple of great things God has done recently.

Three years ago we planted a seed of hope in the life of a young mother at our Free Garage Sale by giving her and her daughter a Christmas tree. That was what they desired most, and through some amazing circumstances we were able to provide them with one even though all of the Christmas stuff had been gobbled up quickly. This past Sunday that young mother came to church at SFN for the first time!

You see, we planted a seed three years ago but God has continued to nurture it and cause it to grow until just the right time when it is ready to be harvested. Think of all of the seeds we have planted over the past three years and may have forgotten about. God has not forgotten about those seeds. He is nurturing every seed that has been planted and we trust that one day each and every one will be harvested in due season. Praise God!

We can also praise God for reminding us about how urgent our mission is. We have been walking through a series titled “Hell and the Mission of the Church” over the past several weeks and I have been broken by what God’s word says and I have watched God break all of you as well. Praise God for breaking our hearts over the reality of Hell and the eternal destiny of so many. We praise God for that because it is only after we have been broken that God can give us away to the world. And the world needs us.

This past Sunday I shared with you the reality of what God’s word says about the fate of those who have never heard the name of Jesus and our responsibility to reach them. We shared with you about the Joshua Project and the 30 unreached people groups around the world. I would encourage you to go to their website and begin to pray for the unreached people groups that need to hear about Jesus.

We can also praise God for how you all responded so generously to the message by giving of your financial resources. You gave over $2,300 to missions on Sunday in addition to the 10% of every dollar that is given in the general offering! Thank you for your generosity and please continue to pray about how God would have us to GO and GIVE so that others might hear about Jesus.

Our God is good! I hope to see you this Sunday as we gather together once again expecting to meet in the powerful presence of an almighty God!

In Christ,

Pastor Brandin

I would challenge you to listen to it, listen to it again, and listen to it as many times as need be to motivate you to join in the mission of the church. Click here to listen.

There are many ways that the church today becomes influenced by culture, and often times we are unaware that a particular way of thinking has crept into the way we act and live. But a popular viewpoint that we cannot afford to adopt is Universalism.

As I mentioned in the message, universalism is a theological doctrine that all human beings will eventually be saved. Scripture very clearly reveals to us that this is not true. There is a Hell; there are no second chances; and many will end up there.

The truth of Scripture and the reality of Hell should help to guard our hearts from drifting towards universalism. Universalism neuters the church of its mission. It robs us of the zeal we need in reaching out to the lost. David Platt writes, “…while some professing Christians have rejected universalism intellectually, practically they may end up leading universalistic lives. They claim Christ is necessary for salvation, yet they live their lives in silence, as if people around them in the world will indeed be okay in the end without Christ.” Are we living lives that look more like Universalists than followers of Jesus Christ?

I want to leave you with this quote from Charles Spurgeon:

“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that…. The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his blessed Master, wil be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away, that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others…..”

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

- Pastor Brandin

Jesus didn’t send away the 5,000 men plus women and children when they were gathered. Instead, He invited His disciples into the problem and then performed a miracle to meet the need using only five loaves and two fish. In the same way, He calls us to do the same in our broken and hurting world!

On Sunday I presented two upcoming opportunities to respond to the brokenness around us including working with Habitat for Humanity on a house build in Springfield and building homes in Joplin through a work and witness trip. I’m excited to share that over 60 cards were received wanting more information about these projects!

If you are interested in more information but were unable to submit a card last Sunday, you can complete a card this Sunday and drop it in the offering plate or you can email the church office at info@sfnchurch.com.

To hear last weeks message, click here.

-Pastor Brandin

The process I shared last Sunday comes from the example of how Jesus handles bread. That may sound like a funny place to start, but what if we can learn something about how Jesus handles each and every one of our lives from the way He handles bread. In Luke 24:30 that is says, “It was as He reclined at the table with them that He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” The words I want to emphasize to you are: took, blessed, broke, and gave. This is the process God uses.

As we pointed out on Sunday, it is the process God used in the lives of men like Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Joseph, and even Jesus. Using Jesus as the supreme example, we see how God took him from the womb of the virgin Mary, blessed him with signs and miracles, broke him on a hill called Calvary, and gave him to be the Savior of the world. This is the process God uses and he uses it in my life and yours.

Let me briefly define those stages for you.

1. The Taking Stage. What I also call the “calling stage.” It is where you sense God is calling you in a new direction in your life; He’s taking you into new territory. It could be a new job/vocation, a new relationship or away from a damaging one, or it could be to a new ministry or involvement in a faith community such as this one.
2. The Blessing Stage. In this stage His divine favor rests upon us and He begins to open doors that seemed closed for so long, you are receiving so many more good things than you deserve, God’s goodness just seems to be upon everything you do.
3. The Breaking Stage. It is in the breaking stage that God purges from us all of our self-sufficiencies. It is in the breaking stage that we are forced to lay down our pride and arrogance, and realize that we are nothing without God. It is in the breaking stage that God makes us holy and makes us more like his Son Jesus.
4. The Giving Stage. God breaks bread so that He can give it. It was A.W. Tozer who said, “It is doubtful that God can use a man greatly, until He has hurt him first deeply.” God breaks us to make us useful.

As you reflect upon these things this week, I want to encourage you to think once again about what stage you find yourself in. Spend some time praying and asking God to reveal where He has you. Once that becomes evident to you, surrender your life completely to Him and ask Him to fulfill his purpose in you.

You can listen to this message in it’s entirety by clicking here.

- Pastor Brandin