ENCOUNTER JESUS
I am writing to you today to continue to charge each of us with the Mission and Vision of Sterling.   This month we will focus on the “Encounter Jesus” idea.   I want to take us to the first chapter of John’s gospel.  John tells us the story of many of the disciples being called by Jesus,  each of them had different encounters, yet all had a similar response… deciding to follow.  Nathanael’s encounter of Jesus is a very interesting one.      
 
Several disciples witnessed miracles and decided to follow.  Some were rescued from menial lives and called to great service.  In Nathanael’s story his brother Philip has encountered Jesus and went to find Nathanael to tell him.  You can read the whole story in John 1:43-51.  Philip claims that they have found “the one Moses wrote about”, the Messiah.  I think for many of us if we were talking to one of our siblings and they dropped the bomb on us that “they had met the savior of the world today” we might not know how to react.  It seems that Philip is at least convinced of who Jesus is, but not Nathanael.   He doubts and questions “can anything good come from Nazareth?”  One of the great things about Jesus is that He is not afraid or offended when we doubt and question.  Read what happens next… “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”  “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.  Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”  Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” (Jn 1:47-49)  Do you see the change in Nathanael?  He now believes because, though he did not yet know Christ, Christ already knew him.  That fact alone was enough for Nathanael to decide to follow Jesus.

Many of us, at points in life, have had doubts in our faith.  Faith and doubt are like opposite ends of a teeter totter, with less of one there is more of the other.  When we encounter the living Christ all of that begins to change.  We too must make a decision to move forward and follow Him or to walk away alone.  Like Nathanael though, Jesus knows us even before we meet Him.  So what is your fig tree?  Jesus said He saw him while still under the fig tree… I wonder what     
Nathanael was doing there?  What did Jesus see, or know about him?  I know the Sunday School answer is “everything”.  But do you really believe that?  If so, then what does Jesus know about you?  Again, what is your fig tree?

Encountering Jesus changes everything.  We come to realize that there is “One” who can change our eternity and our present life all at the same time.  One who, when we meet Him, we want to find others and tell them.  One who knows everything about each of us and yet loves us just the same.  Have you encountered Him?  Will you follow Him?
 

DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN
Gideon is one of my favorite characters in the book of Judges for a couple of reasons.  The first is his radical transformation and the effect it has on his whole community.  When we meet Gideon, he is threshing wheat in a winepress to hide from the Midianites because the oppression was so extensive.  After a visit from the angel of the LORD Gideon is told that he is the one, chosen by God, to deliver the Israelites from the hand of Midian.  Before he sets out to do so, there is a test of obedience.  Gideon must first go to his father’s house and destroy the altar to Baal and the Ashram pole, which were both commonly pagan gods amongst Israel.  After Gideon is obedient, the people of the town come looking for Gideon to take his life because he had likely angered “the gods.”  At this point Gideon’s father reminds the people that if Baal were any sort of god at all, he would contend for himself and strike Gideon dead.  Gideon remained alive and was given the name Jerub-Baal, which means “contends with Baal.”  I can  only imagine what an impact this began to have on the people of Israel.
 
The second reason is because of his faith in the face of insurmountable odds.  When told to lead the Israelites into battle with the Midianites, Israel was out matched in every way.  They were squaring up against an army of around 125,000 while their numbers were 32,000.  As if this weren't enough, God tells Gideon that he still has too many.  Eventually, the Israelite numbers were down to 300.  Three hundred men facing 125,000 and they are told to take trumpets, clay pots, and torches into battle.  Gideon is faithful and God does His thing and the victory is won.  After Gideon leads the Israelites to overthrow their oppressor, the men of Israel ask Gideon and his sons to rule over them.  Gideon’s answer is priceless, “ I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you.  The LORD will rule over you.”  What a heart, considering the people demand a king in 1 Samuel 8.  It seems like Gideon gets the big picture.
 
However, after Gideon grows old he makes  the people bring him a bunch of gold.  “Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town.  All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.” —Judges 8:27.  How many times do we get too comfortable when we think all the work is done and we let our guard down?  We prepare for the enemy and may even experience victory, but it’s the small overlooked battles that usually trip us up.  Look at Solomon as another example.  He asks for wisdom and God grants it to him.  In fact, he is described as the wisest man to ever walk the earth and at the end of his reign, he too leads the Israelites into idol worship because he was involved with so many women from so many different nations.  We must always be on our guard! 
 
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
(2 Corinthians 10:5)
 
Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.
(Philippians 4:8)
 
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
(1 Corinthians 10:13)
 
Serving Christ Together,
Jason
 

A friend of mine was talking with me about the Monza Spyder that he is rebuilding from the ground up. Now, I knew from the conversation that this was a car, but had to rely on a Google search to tell me more. His first car was a Monza Spyder and he has loved them ever since. He even belongs to a couple Monza Spyder car clubs. Like many who decide to rebuild a vehicle, he has the one he is rebuilding, but he also has one that he purchased as a parts car.
He has slowly been working on this project as money was available to cash flow it. Since there is a niche market of Monza fans he has even been able to see some of the parts from his parts car to help fund the project.
My friend has taken this as an opportunity to spend time with his 14 year old son as well, having him help in the garage, even taking him to some car club rallies. Through the process his son has gotten to meet many people and seen his fair share of Monzas. One day as he was helping his dad in the shop he said, “Dad, would it be ok for us to build a Monza for me from the parts car.”

My friend was excited that he had passed on this passion to his son, but also realized that with his son being 14 he was on a timeline. To make matters worse, most of the car had already been harvested, used, or sold. But the excitement of his son catching his passion overshadowed all the downfalls.
In his excitement, my friend began to share with his car club buddies that his son now wanted to build a Monza for himself. My friend’s son had been to several car shows with his dad, so the car club buddies knew his son and were excited that this passion was being passed on.
As my friend began to search online and formulate a plan for repurchasing the parts he had sold, including some hard to find parts, a package arrived with his son’s name on it. When his son opened the box it was one of the missing parts. This continued to happen, as the car club guys were shipping parts to my friend’s son. They too wanted to foster this passion that they shared.

As I talked with my friend, I couldn’t help but think that this is what the Church is supposed to look like. This is what it looks like to Make Disciples. I know that we have passions, like my friend and his buddies, that we get excited to pass mo. My prayer and my hope is that we would begin to have an even greater excitement and passion about passing on our faith to the next generation.
Will we be willing to sacrifice time and money and preferences in order to reach others with the most import ant passion? Who are you discipling? Who can you begin to disciple? Who is discipling you?
 
Kevin

     Hello everyone.  The book of Daniel is probably one of my favorite books in the entire Bible.  For anyone who teaches children the first 6 chapters are a great place to find some great stories of God’s power that can not only apply to adults but to kids as well.  My favorite in the book of Daniel is chapter 3, the story of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  More famously known by their Babylonian names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  These 3 young men had to take the greatest test of faith one will ever have to take upon this earth.  The choice between life and death.  King Nebuchadnezzar had a tremendous reputation, not just in Babylon, but around the known world.  His kingdom was the greatest and strongest the world had ever seen to date.  To say that he had an ego would have been an understatement as well.  He knew he was powerful and he wasn’t afraid to “flex” that muscle to anyone who didn’t obey him.  That’s where these 3 young men have to take their test of faith.  Their choices were…disobey God and bow down and live here…or…obey God by refusing to worship anything other than God and die.  What a choice to have to make.      

     Knowing that these 3 guys were young men I could hear some people (even Christians) say, “that they had their whole life ahead of them.  Just bow down and do what you’re told so you can live.”  As we read this story one might think that this would be a really hard decision for them to make, but as it turns out it appears like it was a pretty easy one.  Their response to the king… “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king, But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  Decision made!   Their decision to obey God before anyone or anything else was not one that they had to make right then because they had already made that decision earlier in their life.  From an early age Jewish boys were taught God’s laws and how to live in accordance with those laws.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew the consequences for disobeying the king; he had made that very clear, but they also knew God’s laws and how they were to respond to anything that contradicted them.  For them the decision was a easy one…obey God! 

     One of the questions I want to ask in regards to this chapter is…why were there only 3 people willing to stand on the truth in the face of evil?  There was an entire nation of people taken captive to Babylon but yet only 3 are willing to take a stand for God and His Word.  I know that I am making an assumption here but if more people were willing to be thrown into the furnace, like these 3 guys, I think Daniel would’ve mentioned that. 
    
So my question for you all is this…are you preparing or are you prepared to answer to someone like King Nebuchadnezzar?  It may not be a life and death thing but you will eventually have to answer a faith question.  Jesus gives us the answer in how to respond in a situation like this in Luke 9.  Luke 9:23-25  “Then he said to them all:  If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”
Derrick <><
 

Dear Ones,
A couple dates I want to draw your attention to....
On Sunday, January 28, from 2:00pm-4:00pm, there will be an open house to honor Dave and Tara Sims for the 20 years they have served Sterling Christian Church. Be sure and stop by and let them know how much you appreciate their long time service here at Sterling.

On Sunday, February 4, the entire non-designated offering will go toward paying off the debt. At the end of 2017, $213,557.84 was still owed. I know there has been money given to help pay on that debt in January and I have not received that amount as of yet.

I would ask all of us to rise to the challenge and eliminate this debt. This is my prayer. I am asking you to take a few minutes each day and ask God to guide you in this decision on what to give on Debt Reduction Sunday, February 4th.

I do not want you to be frustrated, overwhelmed or upset with the amount of time we are giving to the stewardship series
(4 weeks). The Bible has over 2,300 verses about money. Many of Jesus’ parables deal with money. 

From an article by Mike Holmes: 
“The church of today is not great at giving. This isn’t exactly news. But it is a statistical fact:
-Tithers make up only 10-25 percent of a normal congregation. - Only 5 percent of the U.S. tithes, with 80 percent of Americans only giving 2 percent of their income. 
- Christians are only giving at 2.5 percent per capita, while during the Great Depression they gave at a 3.3 percent rate. 
Numbers like that can invoke a lot of guilt, which isn’t really the point. The larger point is what would happen if believers were to increase their giving to a minimum of, let's say, 10 percent. There would be an additional $165 billion for churches to use and distribute. The global impact would be phenomenal. Here's just a few things the Church could do with that kind of money:
- $25 billion could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years.
- $12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years.
- $15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day.
- $1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work.
- $100 to $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.

​Those are some amazing numbers. The truth is: Giving is a heart issue, not a money issue. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21
​
The full power of tithing is found in grace and not in fear--it's something we get to do rather than something we have to do.”

Love, Gary

Ahhh, the holidays are upon us.  For my family (and I’m sure for many of yours) it means a lot of hustle and bustle.  We are pretty close with extended family and the Thanksgiving/Christmas rounds mean that we have quite a few dinners to attend.  Thankfully, the vast majority of them live in or around Boone County within a 30 mile radius.  Often times we block out a 4 day period from our schedule and just go stay with family, which means we get to bring our dog, Vader, along.  This would be an easy task if Vader were a lap dog, or as I like to call them, a barking mop.  However, Vader is a Black Lab/German Shepherd mix and will turn 1 this spring.  He is beautiful and strong, loves to chew on anything he can get his jaws on, and enjoys knocking my kids over as they run through the yard.  He is clumsy and lovable and Caleb loves to climb on him and Vader just lets him. 
 
Whenever we go stay with family, the dog usually has to stay outside or in the garage because not everyone is keen to the idea of having pets in the house.  And if I’m going to be honest, a dog the size of Vader needs the room to run and play anyways.  They only problem with that… when we go to new places, Vader likes to explore, and too often we get phone calls from disgruntled neighbors because Vader is crashing their party, chewing up their hoses, chasing their horses, etc.  Vader also likes to stand in the middle of the road and say hello (with his tail wagging) to all the kind people driving by and slowing down to a near stop, honking their horns in anger.  I’m not sure they understand each other. 
 
In an attempt to keep the peace between my parents/in-laws and their neighbors, we bought a 30 ft leash to let him play on outside while providing a place close enough for shade and shelter and even toys/bones to chew on.  One such time we had left to go to the store and run errands and returned to find that this wonderful idea wasn’t such a wonderful idea to Vader.  He had wrapped himself 3 or 4 times around the legs of the trampoline and tangled his own legs in the mess.  As I am attempting to untangle this mess, I found myself getting frustrated at Vader because he had made a mess of that which was supposed to protect him, keeping him from becoming a pancake or getting shot by an angry neighbor.  I even provided a safe area with things to chew on until his heart was content.  Then it hit me. This is me.  I was reminded of a passage of scripture.
 
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.
Hebrews 12:1-2
 
God gives us gifts in life.  Gifts that are meant for us to enjoy life, His presence and drive us to Him in gratefulness as the provider and protector.  Too often, those gifts become our focus.  They distract us from Him and we become more focused on the gift than the giver.  Think about it.  What are the things we become obsessed with?  Family, success, food, sex, money, health, you name it.  They all are gifts from God that can become objects of obsession and end up pulling us away from Him and tangling us up.  It’s hard to get mad at the dog when I see myself acting more like Vader than allowing myself to be conformed to the image of Christ.  Let’s fix our eyes on Him.

Jason 

I know that forgiveness and loving enemies is a topic I return to regularly, both as I teach/preach and as I write. Honestly,
I think that is because I am so terrible at it.

Recently, I was reading The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self, Robert Mulholland and was challenged by his observation of our need to categorize others in ways that always gives us the advantage. As I chewed on this thought over and over, I began to see how this reality shapes our inability to forgive. If I am constantly putting myself in my sin at an advantage over another person and their sin I will struggle to love and forgive.

This plays out as we think things like “Yes, I gossip, but they slander and lie, at least what I say is true.” We can quickly see how in any sin we can maneuver in such a way that we aren’t as bad as “them.”

These thoughts took my mind to the apostle Paul who writes, “…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Timothy 1:15 ESV).

At times I have found myself wanting to argue with Paul, and explain why I am the worst of sinners. Interestingly enough, it is in the moments where I feel as if I am the worst of sinners that I find forgiving others to be much easier to do.

If I am the worst of sinners, then I cannot withhold forgiveness from you, because I am worse.

Any of us who are Christians and find ourselves in the midst of gossip, lust, greed, outbursts of anger, deception, division, drunkenness, sexual immorality, etc. have no excuse. We know and have accepted Jesus and His sacrifice for us. As we participate in any sin we make ourselves slaves to the sin from which Christ has freed us (Romans 6).
We would do well to heed Jesus’ advice in Revelation 2:5 and “Remember the height from which you have fallen!”
(NIV 1984). 
​
Let us constantly remember our own depravity, and in doing so find the strength and ability to forgive others of their own shortcomings.

Kevin

Since 2010 I have been addicted, and that may not be a strong enough word, to being in the woods for the fall deer hunt.  It is truly a blessing to be able to be in God’s creation that time of year.  God has even blessed me with being able to harvest several deer, including a few nice bucks.  As the time approaches for the upcoming season I am getting more and more excited.  I’ve been recapping past hunts and dreaming about those to come. 
 
One hunt in particular I can remember real well.  It was the fall of 2013, one week after the tornado went through Fountain County.  If you were here I’m sure you remember that day and the days after very well.  A lot of time was spent in cleaning up debris and helping other people put things back together.  Blood, sweat, and tears were all given during that week.  Cuts, splinters, blisters, and bruises were all outward signs of our affection for one another.
 
In his book “A Look at Life From a Deer Stand”, Steve Chapman tells the story of a buck that he harvested that had a big scar on his face.  He said it was a scar that showed his affection toward a doe that he had to fight for.  All of the bucks that I have harvested have had these same types of scars.  They all have shown outward signs of their affection toward the ones they care about.   I know that’s a little weird talking about scars on a deer’s face but we have all been there when it comes to the ones we care about.  We can probably find a scar on our own bodies that reminds us of helping or stepping up for the ones we care about. 
 
After harvesting his deer, Steve wrote a song titled “Scars of Love”.  Here are the lyrics:
 
On the faces of the soldiers who have fought for our freedom
On the arms of the brave ones who have saved us from the fires
On the knees of the mothers who have prayed for wayward children
You will find them…
 
Scars of love on the skin
Proof on the outside of what lies within
Let us all bow our heads
And thank our God above for all the scars,
Scars of love.
 
On the shoulders of the farmers who have carried our hunger
On the backs of the miners who have
warmed us with their coal
On the lips of the preachers who have never feared the truth
You will find them…
 
Scars of love on the skin
Proof on the outside of what lies within
Let us all bow our heads
And thank our God above for all the scars,
Scars of love.
 
And on the hands and the feet of the Carpenter from Galilee
Can you see…
 
Scars of love on the skin
Proof on the outside of what lies within
Let us all bow our heads
And thank our God above for all the scars,
Scars of love.
​
Jesus’ scars aren’t from a physical fight like that of a deer, but of a spiritual one to save you and me from death.  He chose to receive them when He didn’t deserve them so we wouldn’t have to be punished for our sin.  For that reason we owe him everything because of His scars of love.

​Derrick

Dear Ones,
​
     I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for all you did during the time I had the brain bleed and during the time of recovering from it.  You provided emotional, physical and spiritual support for Joanie and our family.  You provided support for me while I was in the hospital ICU for 10 days, most of which I do not remember, at least not in detail.  I was told by Joanie and some others that I was pretty much out of my head during that time.  The nurses were asking questions every hour for several of those days and I had a really hard time coming up with the answers.  On one occasion they asked me my wife’s name and my answer was “mashed potatoes”.   On another occasion they would ask me to smile and I would answer “ok” and then not move my lips at all.  There was a lack of connection between my brain and my body. 

     As time went on I improved and they sent me home.  They said to rest up.  They didn’t really need to tell me that; I could not stay awake.  I was falling asleep in the middle of sentences.  At first the only time I was awake was while I ate and when I went to the little boy’s room.  I still need more sleep than I have for a long time.  I do pretty good a few days and then have a day or two when I’m really tired.  I am back to putting days in the office and preaching part of sermons the past three Sundays and will preach part of this Sunday’s message.  I think I can preach a full message until Sunday night and I’m dog tired and realize that I would not have been able to.  Each week I seem to be gaining strength.  It’s that two steps forward and one step back thing.  I realize it will take time but I’m impatient.  I don’t know how many cards I received; it was a lot!  Also a lot of emails and text messages.  All appreciated! 

     You visited, gave money, brought food, offered to provide transportation and multiple other grace filled actions. In addition to this, many of you helped to move my folks here from Kentucky.  I was on a 5 lb weight limit at the time and not feeling that good anyway.  The church at Russell Springs had a crew help load and several folks from Sterling came down to help as well.  You drove the moving truck back to Indiana.  We asked for folks to help unload at 10:00 a.m. and at 10 minutes until 10:00, there was one person besides us.  I went into the house to see how Joanie had labeled the rooms to direct where to take the boxes.  When I came back out in just a few minutes there was at least 20 people there helping.  I carried a small box in and when I came back out there were at least 40 people there.  You guys had the truck unloaded in 20 minutes.  Amazing!  You made the beds, placed the dishes, and set the furniture.  You have provided a garage to store mowers and tools in until Mom and Dad are able to get a storage garage built at their house. I am so blessed.

Love,
​Gary

PACKING WHEEL BEARINGS 

​I have been looking for a flatbed trailer for many years now.  Not wanting to spend much money I have been waiting and watching for a “good deal”.   Well I found a really good deal on an older unit that was in pretty good shape.  Funny thing, there was a hay rake I was looking to buy and it just happened to be sitting on the trailer so I bought the whole package.  As usual, with many good deals, it “needs a few things”.  I went to pick it up a few days ago and noticed that a couple wheel bearings were very dry…which led me to the mental debate…"do I try to make it home and hope for the best, or wait and fix this problem first?”  I decided I didn't need another roadside experience like the jeep so I left it there and decided to return later.  Joe and I went with tools and grease to fix it, we packed all four wheels (his first time doing this) and made the trip home with no problems.

What can wheel bearings teach you about life???  We all have those moments when we realize something is not right.  Maybe a relationship all of a sudden feels strained, maybe a recurring sin that we struggle with, or a temptation we can see on the horizon.  What do we do when that moment is in front of us?  We have a choice; we can drag on down the road hoping and praying for the best, or we can pull over and wait to fix the problem the right way. 
Jesus addressed these and many more problems in the sermon on the mount (Mathew Ch. 5-7)  In relationships: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”  If the problem is repetitive sin:   “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (ouch!!)  If it is both combined:  “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”   
 
We all need fixed in many ways, it’s not that we are cast aside as useless, we simply need to continue to address our personal issues as we become aware of them.   So what is the last thing Jesus needed to park you for and do some maintenance?  Did you let Him help you with that problem?  If left unaddressed we likely will find greater trouble down the road.
 
Dave