Be A Man

This past Sunday at church changed my life.
Father's Day is usually one of those days where we go to church to please dad, or you drag your dad to church for just one Sunday. This year, it was different. We had 2 men from our church share their testimony about how God changed their lives-about how this culture wants our men to live a certain way and when you find God, you see that there is a completely different, better way to live. The 2 men, Chuck and Nathan, have been two pillars of our church plant as they have been able to provide support to me as the pastor, but also to other families. What they provided for me Sunday was something completely different. A picture of humbleness.
Sadly church has turned into a show. It has turned into a place where we dress up and put on enough make up so that people won't see who we truly are. These 2 men did completely the opposite for me and our church. They didn't hold anything back as they laid out the sin of their past. There was no cards face down on the table.
This is where our church needs to go (men and women). We need to start becoming a church that strives to live a holy life as we follow a perfect God, but remember that we are not a perfect product. Paul said in 1 Corinthians, 'Follow my example as I follow Christ.' And so as we are not perfect in deed right now, we need to show others what a Godly life looks like-that includes repentance.
I'm starting to see a change in the way I view church, and I'm proud to be apart of a group of people at The Rescue Church that feel like church is supposed to be so much more than a beauty pageant. It is for God's people to carry one another's burdens. It is to be a resting place where repentance isn't frowned upon but encouraged, and forgiveness is rejoiced. And most of all-it's about us worshipping Him!!
Here's a little snapshot of what I shared on Sunday:

It’s time that men realize who we are. We are created beings with the ultimate creator in God. And that God has created men for a purpose. If you’re a dad with us today, it’s time that you become a man in your home. Maybe it’s time to dedicate your home to God, dedicate your marriage to God, dedicate your children to God. But most importantly it’s time to dedicate your life to God. You will be unable to lead your family on a path you are unfamiliar with. Stop being a guide that makes it up as they go along. Start acting like a son that wants the advice of their father. I’m proud of my father today, and I’m expecting some of you are too. But there are some, probably some of you here today, who have not had a good experience with their earthly father, and I’m sorry for that. But don’t let that stop you from following the father who has never let you down. Be the man God has called you to be. Start a legacy in your family. Start something new or revive something old. Whatever the case start it today.

This message is important because our country is starving. It’s starving for men of truth and integrity. And sadly it is trying to cure starvation with things that will leave us even worse. And so this morning I am crying out to you. Not out of selfish ambition but out of a heart longing to see great days for God’s church.

Let the men of God rise again. Let men like Moses, David, Daniel, and Paul rise up and start claiming that this land is God’s land. This day is God’s day. And that this church is God’s church.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

-Pastor Cory

pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

www.rescuesumner.org

A Letter

This past Sunday I decided to write a letter to our congregation. We had just finished the book of Galatians which is really a letter Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia. This letter along with others in the Bible was very useful to pointing out stumbling blocks but also offering solutions. Whereas this letter was written to my church from me, I hope that it can be helpful to many churches and many followers of Christ. 

Pastor Cory, a follower of Christ Jesus by the will of God. To the church in Sumner, WA, The Rescue. To those in Christ Jesus called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I wake every morning I thank God for you. I sit at the edge of my bed in the morning, as I let the soreness of night leave my body, talk to God. Thanking him for another day, but thanking him for who I am with. As the faces of people stream through my brain I realize that this body of believers does not fall short. You do not fall short in your love for God, for your pastor or each other. God has called you into a supreme sense of fellowship, and a joy of mine is seeing it in action.  

I appeal to you that you would concentrate on this fellowship to bring about unity within our congregation. We would have no divisions and be one in thought. We would let our pursuit of Jesus bring us together. That we would not become a church that jumps from fad to fad. Or glorifies itself rather than our creator. I pray that your faith would be rooted in God, and the Bible.

We are living in a day where our faith in Jesus is and will be tested. And I know that your faith right now is being tested. You are tested at work, at home, with friends. And the test is simple. Do you speak of Jesus as your source of joy? Or do you place your praise and worship on man made things. I must remind you that you are always worshipping something or someone. I pray that it would be a someone, and that someone would be God.

I want to also write to you this morning about growth. There is physical growth. I have seen that our church is not just growing with adults but babies and children. And then there is spiritual growth. Now, more than ever in the course of human history, we need strong Christian families. I mean that with all of my heart. Because right now the Christian faith is under attack by those who would rather worship the idolatry of open religion-where whatever you choose is right. I pray for you that within your homes, the ‘rights’ and the ‘wrongs’ would be a matter of recognizing and not a matter of creating. God has spoken and we must listen and react to His voice, not our own. And so I would ask that you look inside your heart and help this next generation. Stop depending on others to do the work God has called you to do.

I know that you are a church of music. And that you long to worship Jesus in song. I must warn you as you sing. The hearts of the people of this church should be prepared before you enter this house of worship. Without doing so, you will sing songs with meaning them. I remember growing up with some of the great hymns.

            -Sweet Hour of Prayer-When is the last time you prayed for an hour?

            -Onward Christian Soldier-Are you still waiting to be sent?

            -Serve the Lord with Gladness-Do you gripe about your service?

-The Whole Wide World for Jesus-Have you knocked on your neighbor’s door?

We need to start meaning what we say and what we sing.

 Despite what you have heard about the church or have seen on media outlets, I see a bright day coming for God’s church. I see a day where God’s people rise again. This is not the time or the place to a drawbridge church; where we get everyone inside and hurry to pull up the drawbridge. I see a day where men and women take upon the armor of God for a purpose of action, not just as a security system. I see a day where the Revival of generations past becomes new again. 

Think back when you were called. When you remember God calling your name. There needs to be a longing in your heart. There has to be a longing for the unsaved. A longing so strong that your faith is changed from a Sunday attender to a soldier for Christ. And I know it won’t be easy.

People despise the cross of Christ, because they despise the fact that they are broken. People do not want to hear that they are sinners. It comes across as offensive. But I plead with you brother and sister, as I am writing this letter to you, take heart. God is with you. He has never left you and will never leave you. And as simple as those words might seem, we need to be reminded. And when we are reminded of these words, there is nothing that can stop us. So is there anything stopping you! Pride, ego, worry, fear, anger. Bring them to the Lord sooner than later. Bring your sin to the Lord today and repent. God has so much more to show you. God has so much more to do through you and through this church. But we need to repent of our sin.

I pray that as I continue to preach here at The Rescue that it would be a demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power. In this way your faith will not rest on human wisdom but on the wisdom that comes from God. I am humbled to be your pastor and look forward to the days ahead as we strive to be apart of His Church.

I, Pastor Cory, have typed this greeting to you in my own hand. Let all who hear and read this letter know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That He died for you to save you from your sin, and that by believing in Him you will have eternal life.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you. Amen.

-Pastor Cory

pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

www.rescuesumner.org

Children of the Promise

Since we had a power outage at our church on Sunday (along with most of the city of Sumner!!), I wanted to post some of my notes from Sunday since there won't be a recording on our church website.

Our church is going through the book of Galatians right now and it's an amazing book. Paul is writing back to churches that he planted and sees that his church is being enslaved by legalism. They are being told by false teachers that in order to be saved they must obey laws/rules/man-made customs. And this book, which is a letter, is simply saying that we are only saved by Jesus Christ. That's it. Yes, the law is great at pointing out the sin in our lives, but obeying the law won't justify our lives. 

And so we were in Galatians 4:21-31. In this text, Paul will use an analogy to help the Galatians understand. What you can do is grab your Bible and read along with my notes. 

C. 4 V. 21: Let me clarify what he means when he talks about being under the law. To be under the law is not a reference to those who obey the law. When he uses the phrase under the law, he's talking about those who would use the law as a means of justification. I will obey the law, and in my obedience to the law, I'm going to have right standing before God. God will accept me. God will approve of me, and God will bless me because I am doing these things. Paul says no.

V. 22-23: This is one of the more interesting, compelling stories in the book of Genesis.

Gen. 15:4-5, ‘You will have a son…your offspring will be like the stars.’

Abraham points out some things. "Hey, I'm really, really old, and my wife is really, really, really old. Not only that, she's been barren for her whole life. I just don't know that all of a sudden we're going to have little miracle babies," but he believes and he goes and tells Sarah.

Abraham and Sarah get a little antsy and so Sarah gives Abraham her maidservant, Hagar.

Gen. 16:2, ‘…perhaps I can build a family through her.’ Hagar gets pregnant. This actually wasn’t an uncommon practice. But it wasn’t a wise one. That son is named Ishmael.

Gen. 18:10, ‘I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’

Gen. 18:12, ‘Sarah laughs.’  And in Gen. 18:15, she lies about laughing.

Gen. 21 Isaac is born. ‘The Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100!! Whew!!

Now you should start to be able to see where Paul is going with this. If his argument throughout the letter to the churches in Galatia is basically, "You can't; God can," you can see where he's going. The child born of the slave woman, Hagar, was born by the flesh, i.e. you didn't need God's help for that. You could do it. You could make it happen. Here's a younger woman who is not barren and that is a son born of the slave woman via the flesh not the promise.

But Sarah's baby, Isaac, that baby is miraculous. That son is a son of promise. 

V. 24-25: "Now this may be interpreted figuratively..." Now that's an important little verse, and I know you might not see it's importance, but really the greatest error among evangelicals when preaching, teaching, looking at the Old Testament is we want to make everything allegory. Everything is allegory as though it didn't actually historically happen, but it's just a story that teaches us a moral lesson about the God we serve.

The truth is the Old Testament is historical and rarely allegory(analogies, metaphors). What ends up happening in allegory is that stories are abused. The story of David and Goliath is just butchered, repeatedly. You can conquer your giants. Where are your five smooth stones? We look at him as what our God can accomplish, but the story of David and Goliath is about the workings of God, not the workings of man. It's a literal story that changed the course of human history! Jonah is literally swallowed by a fish. He refuses to go to Nineveh, and he is historically and literally swallowed by a fish. Wait! Can you really believe that?? Oh, I believe it. And things get real goofy when all of a sudden everything is allegory and things aren't true anymore. They are just kind of stories that teach a moral lesson. Officially stepping off the soap box. 

So what we have here is Paul saying, "Hey, listen. That can be taken allegorically." Now let's look at how he does that. "These women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai..." What did we get at Mount Sinai? The Law. "One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children."

For you and I, that might not come across as unbelievable, but for the Jewish people who heard him say that... I mean, he's already at odds and he just open-hand slapped them with that phrase, because to them Hagar is the mother of the Gentiles whom they despise, whom they are trying to convert to Judaism. They would not view Hagar as their mother. They would view Sarah as their mother, but he just said Jerusalem (present Jerusalem, this stronghold of Jewish practice), those are the children of Hagar. They are enslaved.

 V. 26-27: Now that is Paul quoting the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 54, verse 1, who is communicating to the Israelites who have been pushed into exile, who have been dispersed across the nations. Their hope as a great nation is dashed. It's gone. Other nations are becoming powerful. Their once mighty nation is almost dissolved completely. But the prophet Isaiah reminds them, "Oh, no, no, no. It is when you are weak and barren, when you have no ability to bring forth life that God flexes most mightily. It's when you are weak that he is strong. It's when you are barren that he brings life. It is when you have no ability that God makes a way." 

V. 28-29: What we read about in the Scriptures is that we are adopted sons and daughters of God, and that is a beautiful reality. Throughout the book of Galatians what you'll find are these invitations that are laid out for those of us who would hear and believe. This is Easter from last week, that if you would believe in and trust in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you could, regardless of how you've come in here today, leave differently.

You could leave differently and point to how you walked in today as who you used to be. What you used to do. The anxiety you used to have. The fear you used to walk in. The chains you used to have. You could have this former life, and now the invitation that is being laid out is...Do you want to be a slave or do you want to be a son or a daughter of God?

V. 30: What do we inherit? We all like inheritance, right?! Let me lay out just a few things that pertain to this inheritance of believing in Christ. 

1. We get God himself. This is our first and primary inheritance. There is nothing more lovely and nothing we need more than God himself, and our inheritance in Christ, being adopted as sons and daughters, is we get God.

2. We will get, upon our resurrection, new imperishable bodies. Starting in verse 42 of 1 Corinthians 15. Regardless of how attractive you are right now, your nose and your ears never quit growing. Google it. It means if you live long enough, things start looking strange on you, and you can't hear as well, and you don't have the vitality, and things make you a bit nervous.

The Bible says the new body we receive doesn't get sick. It doesn't get tired, and it doesn't cry tears. So not only do we get God himself now and evermore, but we get a resurrected, imperishable body, and that's good news.

3. We will get suffering, and persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12 says this: "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." So what is the second word in that? All. See, I would like that verse so much more if it said, "Indeed, some," because then I could separate myself out and go, I need to pray for those people, but he said, "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted." We don't change scripture. It is our source of truth.

V. 31: What is our response to this invitation of adoption rather than slavery?

If you choose to be a slave in this life to legalism, you'll be a slave for eternity.

If you choose to be a son or daughter of God now, you'll be adopted forever!!

Have you made your choice?

-PC

pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

www.rescuesumner.org

It Is Time

'Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?' Gal. 4:16

We've all been there. We get fired up by the Holy Spirit of God. Most likely at church on Sunday, go home, decide who we're going to tell about Jesus. Knock on their door, AND....
Rejected.
Wait, what?!?! Jesus is everything! How in the world can't they accept a message of real, true freedom? And now, more than anything, I feel like their enemy for telling them about Jesus. We become timid, guilty, embarrassed. I know, because I've been there. Why is it that we feel like we are on God's Roller Coaster sometimes?
I can tell you this-it's not God's fault, it's ours. I need to realize that if I knock on 100 doors and 1 gives their life to Christ-it's a celebration!! But am I willing, or strong enough, to knock on 100 doors? That's really the question. I think it's time our actions start pouring out from our love for God.
Ready for some truth? We need to evangelize. Not better or more-we need to START!!
Let me see if I can get some zeal for the Almighty God rushing through your veins.
John 15:7-9 is simply awesome.

'If you abide in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.' 

God is wanting us to bear fruit. He is waiting for His army to rise and take on this world with the Good News of Jesus Christ! We are his disciples! We have a Father who loves us! Whatever we ask, it will be given to us!! And so it is time. 

Lord, we ask for revival. 

-PC (Pastor Cory)

pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

www.rescuesumner.org

This is Why I'm Free

This is who I am, 
It's where I stand, I won't apologize
This is why I'm free, now I believe
I will not compromise, this is who I am. 
-Colton Dixon 'This is Who I Am'

I'm beginning to understand why people take breaks from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets. If you're not careful you can fall into a mode of hatred-real quick!! There have been times where I was literally frozen staring at my computer thinking, 'Did he/she really just say that?!' Sometimes it makes me wonder about where we're headed. The world, our nation, our churches, Christianity, and especially our next generation (in which I hold a special place because they are my children's era).
The problem starts to come when I start to worry. I forget so easily the passages in the Bible where Jesus says that he is a good shepherd, that he will never leave me and of course-not to worry. So how are we to live? 'The righteous will live by faith.' (Gal. 3:11) 'So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.' (Gal. 3:24)
I will be justified if I put my faith in Jesus Christ. Sounds like a simple formula. So what happens when I see all of these present-day events on the news or social media outlets that don't line up with the Law of God, and don't line up with proclaiming Jesus Christ? What am I to do?
It's difficult. We are starting to live in a culture where if you proclaim your beliefs as a Christian, then you are offending or judging someone. And the argument is usually assaulted back at Christians as, 'Jesus would have loved everyone and you are hating!' Have Christians/the Church messed up sometimes-sure. But how did Jesus handle sin?
I can't think of a better way than in John 8. A woman is caught in adultery. The pharisees most likely had already picked up some stones to kill her. They bring her to Jesus to catch him in a trap. The Law of Moses had said that they must stone her (In a way the law led this woman to Christ-literally!). They wanted Jesus to say otherwise so they could arrest him as well. Then something amazing happens. I say amazing because we don't know. Jesus bends down and writes something on the ground with his finger. The pharisees leave. The woman is saved from the stoning.
But Jesus ends this encounter by saying something very profound-'Go now and leave your life of sin.' Jesus does not mess around with sin. He fully understands sin, and he fully understands the sin that is in all of our lives. But he brings freedom. Whereas the law cannot save us, it can reveal evil. Was this woman still guilty? Yes. Is adultery bad? Yes. But it doesn't have to equal death!!

Jesus loves you so much that he wouldn't let you die in your sin. 


-PC
pastorcory@rescuesumner.org
www.rescuesumner.org

Self Help

Whenever I have new people come into the church and give their lives to Christ, it's a celebration! It is the fullness of what the church is about-bringing people to Jesus!! Not a church's agenda, culture, or movement they're trying to push. It's always supposed to be about Jesus.
And the obvious question that comes after this celebration is...'Well, what should I do now?'
It's a pretty simple, and understandable question to ask-what's next??
I've caught myself sometimes because I go into pastor mode too quickly and unleash this amazing package of Bible readings, our small group schedule, sign them up for our next baptism, schedule a meeting for membership, how they can help, how they can do this and that...
Have you ever read the Bible and the words convict you so much you just sit back and feel embarrassed because there's a good chance you've been doing things wrong?? Or maybe, you've just been doing things with the mentality of 'works'??
If you haven't, you need to read the book of Galatians...TODAY. It's takes 30 minutes to read.

'So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.' (Gal. 2:16)

'I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.' (Gal. 2:21)

'All who rely on observing the law are under a curse...' (Gal. 3:10)

'The righteous live by faith.' (Gal. 3:11)

The hardest one for a pastor to read, 'If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!' (Gal. 1:9)

I understand that we live in a day of 'self-improvement' or 'self help'. If something is wrong-you fix it. And I personally know good Bible believing Christians who are in the field of counseling that are doing remarkable things. The difference here is that we need to know where the healing comes from. We need to know where our salvation comes from. I believe God can use counselors, teachers, pastors, mentors, etc. to bring about change in our lives, but that's the point-GOD uses them. Let's not praise the process but instead, the source. 

And so this may be a hard way to get people more involved in church, or for better attendance, offerings, etc. But everything has to start over. We need to have a church restart. Are we doing things because of Jesus or because we feel good about our own works? I believe that if we start with Jesus, our churches would become healthier. That we become even more obedient through our love for Jesus, rather than trying to love out of obedience. 

And so today I will live by faith.

-PC

pastorcory@rescuesumner.org

www.rescuesumner.org

Ash Wednesday

For most of my life I was really oblivious about Ash Wednesday. It wasn't until 2004 that it really came to my attention. Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ came out on that date. A movie that accomplished  so much for Christians as well as bringing to light what Ash Wednesday was. It's a holiday (holy day) that Christians have honored for over ten centuries. It falls at the beginning of a 6 week season called Lent. It prepares us and leads us up to Easter. In the earliest centuries, Christians who had been stuck in persistent sin had ashes sprinkled on their bodies as a sign of repentance, even as Job repented in 'in dust and ashes' (Job 42:6). Around the 10th century, all believers began to signify their need for repentance by having ashes placed on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. It was to be a sign of good things to come. As we know there is an empty tomb that goes with the cross of Christ.
Which led me to think about Ash Wednesday differently, even for today. It can be taken as a 'gloomy' holiday, but it reminds that through the bad news of our sin, there is GOOD NEWS through Christ. So this Ash Wednesday I've decided to stare death in the face and acknowledge that I am mortal. But the only reason I can is because of the assurance of life, real life, eternal life that I have through Jesus. When we know our lives are in our Father's hands we can be honest about what lies ahead. We can be confident in the face of death because we serve the one who conquered death.

-PC
pastorcory@rescuesumner.org
www.rescuesumner.org