The most un-Reached people group in America!

One of the largest un-reached people groups in the United States is the disability community. Over one-fifth of all Americans are affected by permanent disability, according to the most recent Census Bureau numbers. They're un-reached because of the isolation, pain, difficulty, and degree to which people affected by disability are ostracized in our culture.

 

Our daughter Ana has Down syndrome. I've had a lot of exposure and contact with the world of Down syndrome as a result. As I look back on my life experiences, I see how God was preparing me for life with Ana. I have been in youth ministry for 20 years, and in every one of my ministries there have been many students with disabilities, including Down syndrome. God has been so kind and gracious to expose me to the world of disabilities before I was graciously pulled into it on a deeper level with Ana. 

 

When she was 10 months old, we noticed strange things were happening to her. She would lose control of her body, especially her head and arms. We quickly called the doctor and got an EEG test that showed a thing called Hypsarrhythmia. Our neurologist gave us a diagnosis of infantile spasms. We were devastated. It was a difficult and tiring journey to her being fully cleared of all seizures. Her seizures were most often in the middle of the night; I would get up and hold her during the seizures, and sometimes there were episodes of 40-50 in a row.

 

I remember a night about 7 years ago very vividly. I felt completely helpless, and all I could do was cry out to Jesus through the tears. "Help me. Please help me, Jesus."

 

This is just a glimpse into life for people in the disability community. To face these struggles is exhausting spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.  One amazing way God has refreshed my family is through the ministry of Joni and Friends, especially the ministry's "Family Retreat." Most families facing disability struggle with endless demands on their time, energy, emotions, mental capacity, and spiritual life. I've been in support group, after support group, where people were completely overwhelmed. These families rarely have time to feed their own souls in substantial ways. Yes, we really are committed to the Lord daily, we believe in the importance of personal and corporate time with him, but practically how does this work out?

 

When my family attended the family retreat for the first time five years ago, this renewal happened for us. When we drove up to the camp, we wept as counselors and staff held up signs with our children's names on them. We were being celebrated for the first time, and it was completely disarming. As a result of the disarming power of celebration, we were able to have complete respite and be rejuvenated through corporate worship with like-minded people in the disability community. We also had the opportunity to be blessed by those facing the same struggles. "Short term missionaries" served the families, each one assigned to our individual children. My wife and I even had the chance to talk to each other about goals for our family and the deep, hard things we were dealing with, without interruption! We even went on a date! Every year on "date night," we find there are couples who haven't been out for a date since the birth of their child with disabilities, and for some this is 10-15 years prior.

 

In our involvement with Joni and Friends ministry over the years, I've met so many people neglected by their own church. One such woman was a single mother with a 21-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy.  As soon as her child was born, her husband left her. This is actually, sadly, a common occurrence; some figures reflect the divorce rate is as high as 80 percent (http://drgrcevich.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/special-needs-and-divorce-what-does-the-data-say/). Her husband couldn't handle the shame he felt, so he left.

 

She would often seek out other people to connect with in her church, but nothing materialized. One day, her pastor preached on the passage in Luke where Jesus says to invite the poor and disabled in to your homes, the people who can't repay you.  "He (Jesus) said also to the man who had invited him, 'When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just'” (Luke 14:12-14).

 

As she tells the story, she became so excited when she heard the passage and her pastor's teaching. "This is finally the day; now someone will invite us over!" she thought. So she rolled her daughter's wheelchair out to the foyer, turned it around and parked it so people would have to walk by them. Yet the people filed by; not one single invitation was extended to this very tired single mother. This is unfortunately an all too familiar scene for many in the disability community.

 

As we partner with ministries like Joni and Friends, however, we can make it more of a priority to serve families in our community affected by disability, and we can learn the best ways to meet their needs. For my family, the retreat has been crucial. Our heart has grown for the most unreached, un-evangelized, hurting, and isolated people group in the country. Let us with fresh vision obey the words of Jesus to "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed."

 

I believe Joni Eareckson Tada is the most influential Christian leader of this generation. See her testimony below. And here are a few links to information about ministries the church can take advantage of:

www.joniandfriends.org,

http://www.joniandfriends.org/family-retreats/

http://www.joniandfriends.org/church-relations/,

http://www.joniandfriends.org/christian-institute-on-disability/.

Cultivating Curiosity in the Name of Christ

Pastoral ministry requires a person to be curious and genuinely curious about other people. Over the years, I’ve found that ministry required me to be curious about people, and early on in my ministry, I noticed I was genuinely uncurious, arrogant and proud.

A mentor pointed this out to me. It was hard to hear, but it was the best thing he could’ve done for me at the time. I went with him on a weekend retreat where he was the speaker. On our way there, he said to me, "You interrupt people all the time."

I was shocked. He said I had interrupted his wife at dinner at least a dozen times. They were looking at each other, thinking, “Who is this guy; what is he doing?” He offered to observe me over the weekend and let me know what he noticed by the end of our time ministering together. 

At the end of the weekend, he told me he felt I cared more about myself, and what I wanted to say, than about other people and what was on their minds.

This hurt to hear, but it was so eye opening. I realized I needed to overhaul my pride, and my lack of curiosity. I needed to flex my selflessness muscles and genuinely begin caring about people’s souls, interests, passions and needs. James, the brother of Jesus, has this wise advice for us: When we’re tempted to speak first in any situation, we need to choose first to listen, understand and ask questions.

Are you curious, or are you self-important, arrogant, and proud? Here are a few ways to discern where you need to grow:

1.       Do you come into groups of people and begin immediately to talk about yourself or what's happening to you?

2.       Do you, like me, interrupt people when they’re in the middle of a sentence or thought? Do you rush to interject your opinion, tell a story about yourself, or somehow promote yourself?

3.       Do you ask questions of people? Do you seek to get to know people beyond surface level?

4.       Have people ever made these types of comments to you: “you talk too much,” “you interrupted me,” or “you’re not listening”?

5.       Do people seem to pull away from you after a while, even people you had considered a friend?

In order to become deeply caring and curious people, we need to be transformed by Jesus. For me it is happening as I submit myself to the direction of the Holy Spirit. My wife has also sharpened me; she knows my struggles and challenges me. "You aren't listening," "you’re interrupting," she will graciously point out.  

We can also grow by asking other people who are close to us: "Do you feel listened to by me?" "Do I have any blind spots in my character?" Our culture is head over heels for celebrities, starved for information about the rich and the famous, but our Christ call us to minister to the poor, marginalized, hurting, unpopular, and unfamous. Christ is calling his church to be genuinely curious about those that cannot repay you or return the favor:

“(Jesus) said also to the man who had invited him, ‘When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just’” (Luke 14:12-14).

Let us with fresh vision obey the words of Jesus, and with great curiosity, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, “and you will be blessed.”

Christ the Fountainhead of Life: Week 2 "What Does Jesus Control?"

Colossians 1:15-23 Christ the fountainhead of Life: Week 2 "What Does Jesus Control?"

I don't pretend to understand Quantum Mechanics but I do know from middle school science that protons have a positive charge and electrons have a negative charge. This makes them attracted to each other. You should thank them for that attraction because I guess if they all of a sudden lost their attractional force one to another we would quickly cease to exist. I guess it would kind of be like the Arnold Schwarzenegger  film The Eraser.

Did you ever see that movie it was pretty terrible, but that ray gun was pretty awesome at making people disappear. I would posit that we are held together by the great loving kindness and mercy of Christ. As we see in our next section of Colossians. "And in him all things hold together". We see today from this passage that Christ is totally supreme over all things down to the very basic building blocks of your life even your protons and electrons. There is not one thing that is out of His ultimate control, careful, and kind watch. 

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister." (Colossians 1:15-23 ESV)

Christ is completely supreme for our good and his own glory in three areas. 

1. He is completely supreme over all Created Things 

-all things we see and even those things and powers that we cannot see are under his careful purview

"15) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16) For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17) And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

All these things were created through him and they are for him."

-What could these things possibly "do" for Jesus that would do anything for Him?

Psalm 19 

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat." (Psalm 19:1-6 ESV)

And what does creation say day after day? It says to everyone everywhere, "I am here look at me, see me, I am God! 

This creation cries to us all that there is a great and wonderful creator that cannot be ignored. You can try to ignore him and fill your life with distractions but he has made everything 'ex nihilo' (from nothing) and we must pay attention! Not only did he create all things but all things will eventually one day return to him for his glory. One day at the end "every knee will bow" either bow voluntarily or involuntarily! This is the length and breadth or his supremacy! 

2. He is also completely supreme over His Church

"18) And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19) For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20) and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

Whatever your view of Jesus was before now, it was too small. Your view of Him was too small before you read this today! And hopefully after you read this, it will continue to grow! Ekklesia is the Greek word here that Paul uses to describe the assembly or church. And also likewise whatever your view of the church was when you read this today it was too small. The greatness of Jesus Church should continually be growing in your mind! Acts 20:28 says that the Ekklesia is the people whom The Lord has "bought with his own blood". It is all people who belong to him from every tribe, and nation, from all people, from all time! 

And he is the head and Lord of that Ekklesia! 

He is firstborn with preeminence because of his resurrection. 

He is also preeminent because of all fullness of God resting on him. 

He is also preeminent Lord of the Church because he has made peace with everything by his blood
And His Church will grow, until the gospel of Jesus Christ has reached every language, and tribe, and nation

3. He is completely supreme over you and me through the Gospel 

21) And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22) he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23) if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

-we were aliens and completely foreign but now we have victory!!!

-he presents you holy and blameless. Who does he present you to? God himself!

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV)
Because of Christ's gracious sacrifice for you and I, we can boldly approach His throne, where Christ lives to make intercession for us. At His throne we will receive Mercy and Grace, no longer Judgement and Condemnation. He has the authority to give it, because of His supremacy in Redemption and His authority in the gospel.

Close: Our views of Jesus will always be too small until the day we see him face to face. Until then how are you seeking to worship and make much of Christ? Let your view of Him be always growing! As the famous Dutch Reformer Abraham Kuyper said, "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"

Watch this sermon jam from John Piper, and let it help you worship the supreme Christ!