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Calming Your Storm

Written by amerrill on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Calming Your Storm

Recently we had the biggest storm in five years in Southern California. Almost 10 inches of relentless rain fell in one day, along with high winds and flooding in several areas. It’s hard to imagine a storm like this would have been possible in our sunny city, but once you’re in the midst of it, it can seem like there is no end in sight. You may wonder if the storm will ever end.

Perhaps storms in life are all too real for you. Financial hardships can drench our thoughts with worries. Relationship troubles can flood our hearts with sorrow and pain. Health problems can turn our lives upside down. But no matter what you may be facing today, Jesus Christ has the power to calm your storms.

We find a literal example of this in the Bible in Mark 4:35-41:

Jesus and His disciples were traveling on a small boat when they were suddenly hit by a furious squall. As waves pummeled the boat and threatened to overtake it, Jesus was sleeping soundly on a cushion in the boat’s stern. His disciples woke Him and exclaimed, “Teacher! Don’t you care if we drown?”

In the midst of a personal storm, we can either panic or we can pray.

During the direst circumstances, the best thing to do is to reach for a power outside of ourselves as we recognize our own limitations for answers or control. We witness this in our own lives when we face struggles with loved ones or money or health problems that bring us to the brink of death. We have witnessed this unfold as a community after the Northridge earthquake in 1994. We even witnessed this as a nation, when millions turned to God after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Whenever we are facing difficult times, God wants His children to call to Him and ask Him for help. As Joel 2:32 says, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Going back to the story in Mark 4:35-41, imagine what a peculiar sight it was for the twelve disciples to see Jesus peacefully asleep in the middle of such a violent tempest. How can you and I find such peace in the midst of our own turmoil? Jesus fully trusted in His Father and knew that God was in control of all things. When you have lost all control, who better to trust than the One who has total control?

The next scene is pretty powerful.

Awakened by His disciples’ cries, Jesus got up and said to the storm, “Quiet! Be still!” as simply as one would shoo a fly or hush a barking dog. And the squall became completely calm. The men who witnessed this amazing feat marveled and said, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!” Jesus can conquer any storm you are going through today. He can save, redeem, deliver, guard, protect, and free you. All you have to do is call out to Him, just as the terrified disciples did on that tiny boat. If your storm is more than you can bear, turn to Jesus and He will see you through it!

There is a common misconception that once you decide to become a Christian your life will be free of tribulation. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Jesus repeatedly warned those who followed Him that they would experience troubles and suffering because they believed in and followed Him. The reality is, everyone, believers and unbelievers alike, will encounter the storms of life—no exceptions, no exemptions. Furthermore, whatever storms you may be weathering today, there are others who are facing the very same thing. These storms vary in size and shape, but the Lord calms both the storms and our fearful hearts.

Once the sea was peaceful again in Mark 4:39, Jesus asked His disciples,

“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Fear chases away faith, and faith chases away fear. Too often, we lack faith. We have a difficult time believing that God can handle our children, our finances, our health, our schedules, and our other problems. Yet if we learn to entrust the cares and worries of our lives to Jesus in faith, there is no room to fear.

Jesus challenges us to recognize that God gave Him power not only over the winds and waves, but over all seemingly hopeless situations. He wants us to fully put our trust in Him.  Jesus continued to astound the disciples by His power as they walked with Him further and grew in their faith. Likewise, by walking with Jesus daily, we too can experience His power in our lives to deepen our faith and calm all our storms.

Hope for All

Written by amerrill on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Hope for All

If you’ve spent much time in California during the past few years, you know how desperate we’ve been for rain. Thankfully, the long-awaited downpour we’ve had this winter seems to have quenched our state’s five-year dry spell. We needed the rain because our land is dry and thirsty. This is true spiritually for our state—and our entire nation as well.

We are a dry and thirsty land spiritually. We have the highest percentage of people who do not believe in God in this country than we’ve ever had before. More people are atheist or agnostic than ever before, which means there are more people who have no understanding of the presence of God in one’s life. Many of our institutions mock God. We have people whose needs go unmet every single day because of apathy and greed. Pornography and abortion are like a plague in this country. Religious liberties continue to be stripped away from people of faith. And instead of “In God we trust,” it has become “In man we trust, or “In self we trust.”

We have lost our way politically—as we can clearly see from the unprecedented vitriol and ugliness of this past election, on both sides equally. Moreover, I’ve never seen our nation so divided racially. Just look at the comments section of most news articles on social media and you’ll see how quickly people begin to spew hateful prejudices against one another. It must grieve the very heart of God who has made us all in His image (Genesis 1:27). He has called us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31) and to consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

We’ve lost our way economically and morally; we are a bankrupt nation. Our federal government is close to 20 trillion dollars in debt. That’s $170,000 per tax payer. But we are not just bankrupt economically; we are bankrupt morally. There is the breakdown of the family unit, which causes us to be relationally challenged. We have more people who are being engulfed and enslaved by addiction to drugs, alcohol, and pornography. And we are living in times of terrorism. There seems to be a tragic attack just about every week somewhere in the world or on American soil.

Because there is so much discouragement around us, God put it in my heart that “Hope for All” would be our theme this year at Shepherd Church. Last year, our theme was “Love God, Love People.” This year is about offering hope to a broken world. The year 2017 at Shepherd is for people who are lonely, lost, confused, broken, disenfranchised, discouraged, afraid, or empty. It’s for people who are addicted and hopeless, desperate and searching. I want people know that they are loved. I want people to know that they are valued and important—that they matter; that they are respected, cared for, wanted.

The parables in Luke 15 demonstrate how much God cares for those who are lost and without hope. A shepherd loses a sheep. A woman loses a valuable coin. A father loses his son. Each of these people did whatever they could to find that which was lost, and they serve as pictures of Jesus Christ’s love and compassion for the lost. In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. In Matthew 9:35-36, Jesus went through the towns and villages and—

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Our Lord has great compassion for those who are sick, hungry, thirsty, naked, and oppressed. We see throughout the Gospels that everywhere Jesus went, He offered hope to the hurting. He came to this earth to love and forgive; heal and redeem; restore and save. We need to model Christ’s example.

I want people to look at our church and say, “There’s a church that cares for people. There’s a church that doesn’t throw aside someone who is addicted, but helps them. There’s a church that’s willing to sacrifice for others. There’s a church that has the best volunteers in America—they serve and they welcome everyone. They hold no prejudices. They see others as better than themselves. There’s a church that offers hope to all people. There’s a church that strives to love like Jesus.” If you would like to learn more about the hope that is found in Jesus, please join us at Shepherd Church.

Let Freedom Ring

Written by amerrill on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Let Freedom Ring

The New Year offers the promise of fresh beginnings. There is something about January 1 that gives us the motivation we need to start making changes or commitments we’ve abandoned the previous year. We tell ourselves this year is going to be different, and we feel confident and hopeful.

But sometime around mid-February or March, we lose focus. Perhaps it’s all those Valentine’s Day chocolates or Easter eggs! But we find ourselves making the same old choices and feeling discouraged or defeated. What we long for is freedom from bad habits and mindsets, and yet we come up empty.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, I want to encourage you today with a passage of Scripture from Galatians 5:1, which reads, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

In this letter, the apostle Paul addresses a group of churches in ancient Galatia, a region in modern-day Turkey. Some legalists had crept into the church and tried to convince Christians that in order to receive salvation and eternal life, they must also observe certain Old Testament laws such as circumcision. Paul wants to set the record straight that God’s grace comes from faith in Christ alone as he wrote this epistle to the Galatians. He outlined two important truths—freedom from the law and freedom from sin. And these two points are equally significant for believers today:

1. Freedom from the law. Have you heard the expression “fallen from grace”? It is often used to describe what happens when a celebrity or politician has been caught in a scandal, but the expression actually originates from the Bible. In Galatians 5:1-12, Paul warns Christians not to attempt to be justified (to be made right with God) by the law. He says that whoever does so has “fallen from grace,” meaning they are not relying on the grace of God for salvation but the work of the law. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love,” Paul writes in verse 6b.

The reason why the law cannot save a person is because it’s burdensome and heavy. It’s impossible to obey it all because there are 613 laws in the Old Testament. It’s kind of like the links in a chain—if one link is broken, you’re sunk. You are obligated to obey the entire law (v. 3). The religious law is restrictive and keeps you from running a good race (v. 7). Paul makes the point that those who wish to steal our freedom in Christ are persuasive and cancerous (v. 8-9).

2. Freedom from sin. In verses 19 through 21, Paul lists various sins. There are sexual sins, religious sins, and relational sins. The law points out these sins, but Jesus provides freedom from all sin. Paul writes in verse 13-15:

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

God’s grace—and our faith in Jesus Christ—is not a license to sin. Paul warns that the spirit and the flesh are in constant conflict with one another, and those who gratify their sinful nature will not inherit the kingdom of God (v. 21b). Instead, he beckons us to walk, live, and be led by the Spirit of God. That is where we find true freedom—the chance not only to start over but also to transform our minds and hearts for good.

If you would like to learn more about the freedom we have in Christ, please join us for weekend services at Shepherd Church. We would love to have you!

Does Your Schedule Honor God?

Written by amerrill on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Does Your Schedule Honor God?

Three words summarize the lives of Americans: overwhelmed, overscheduled, and exhausted. Many people have a passion to work and be productive. In fact, God instilled that desire in us. There are many Bible verses, especially in the book of Proverbs, that talk about how hard work—as opposed to laziness—is beneficial to us and pleases the Lord. Work enables you to achieve, provide for your family, and support your church and charities through financial giving.

Work in and of itself is not bad. The problem lies in our tendency as human beings to mistake busyness for work—and to so overfill every moment of every day that we ultimately squeeze God out of our lives. In doing so, we neglect the fourth command in the Ten Commandments that the Lord gave to Moses. God must have known our propensity to put work in front of Him when He said in Exodus 20:8-11:

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The word “Sabbath” is rooted in the Hebrew language and literally means “rest.”  As much as we try to fight it, like a two-year-old fighting a nap, we need to rest. It’s the way God designed us. So He blessed the seventh day of the week and made it holy—set apart—for Himself. God generously gave us six days, and the seventh day is His.

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Our great-grandfathers called this day “the Holy Sabbath.” Our grandfathers called it “the Sabbath.” Our fathers called it “Sunday.” And we call it “the weekend.” But the Sabbath does not mean it’s a day for us to sit on the couch, watch sporting events, and eat takeout food. It’s not a day to go shopping or to the beach because that’s what we may find restful. It’s a holy day, and it’s a continual call to worship.

Leviticus 23:3 shows us that the Sabbath is a day of sacred assembly: “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.’ It’s a covenant of rest to commemorate the finished work of creation.”

Equally important, the Sabbath is a day to commemorate the fished work of redemption. Just as God rested from His work at the beginning of the Old Testament, His Son Jesus rested from His work at the beginning of the New Testament. Jesus’ work was bringing the message of salvation—by preaching the truth and healing the sick—and ultimately offering His life on the cross for the sins of the world. Hebrews 10:11-14 explains:

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus Christ] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

By honoring the Sabbath Day and keeping it holy, we honor not only God’s command, but also His rest from His magnificent work in creation and Jesus’ rest from His redemptive work on the cross. If you would like to worship with us at Shepherd Church, our service times are Saturdays at 5:00 and 6:30 pm and Sundays at 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30 am at our Porter Ranch campus. We also have campuses in Agua Dulce, West L.A., and Woodland Hills.