Mark Beeson

Easter Weekend With GCC

 

Hundreds surrendered their lives to Jesus in the services this weekend. They chose The Way of Jesus: 218 in Granger, 23 in Elkhart and 7 in LaPorte (which held its first service this Easter Sunday with 256 people in attendance).

It was a fantastic and wondrous weekend, for which many of us had prayed.

I am a grateful man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ephesians 4:23-24  -  Take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

A Fine Easter Afternoon

 

The sun was shining in Michiana this Easter, so after all the services came to an end and the people of Granger Community Church scattered across the region, I watched one of my granddaughters go down a little slide, again and again and again and again and again. It was glorious.

 

Luke 18:17  -  These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.

Easter Isn't Just Bunny Rabbits....

 

Pick a service. 

Experience the Risen Christ.

Easter means more than you know...

 

Hebrews 13:20-21

May God, who puts all things together,
    makes all things whole,
Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
    the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
    up and alive from the dead,
Now put you together, provide you
    with everything you need to please him,
Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
    by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
All glory to Jesus forever and always!
    Oh, yes, yes, yes.

 

In The Shadow Of The Cross

 

It's Good Friday.

In the shadow of the cross, Trace Rorie helps us worship the Risen Christ.

I am a grateful man.

 

Colossians 2:15  -  Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.

 

Good Friday Service @ Noon

 

This big Sandhill Crane was in high gear when he set his wings to brake for a landing in the marsh. I was amazed at his ability to slow down and land. 

I thought I'd use his picture to remind you to slow down tomorrow and land at GCC's Good Friday Service.

It will be a most sacred and holy experience.

We begin at Noon. 

Mark 15:33-34  -  At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” 

ACTS 13 "The Holy Spirit Spoke to Them"

 

We studied ACTS XIII tonight.

Rob taught and I thought, "Only a few days are separating us from Easter and I'm spending these days praying we won't miss what God says."

Don't be surprised when you hear the Holy Spirit speaking to you this weekend. He is calling. God has work for us to do.

 

ACTS 13:2   -   One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke: “Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.”

 

As Far As Sunrise Is From Sunset ...

 

Psalm 103:8-18

God is sheer mercy and grace;
    not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
    nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
    nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
    so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
    he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
    God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
    keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
    like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
    leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
    eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
    as they follow his Covenant ways
    and remember to do whatever he said.

And Why Exactly Are We Doing This?

 

 

I arrived early for worship in Elkhart. I saw what happened before worship happened. I saw the meeting before the meeting. I know what happened before the church gathered, when a handful of devoted singers, artists and pastors met together to articulate their intentions. No assumptions were made. Objectives were clarified. Prayers were prayed. Reminders were given. Plans were reviewed. Underlying every word was the deeply held belief that the matter-at-hand was of towering importance. 

There was conviction there. Each man, every woman, knew why they were about to do what they had resolved to do. I thought: None will be satisfied until everyone in Elkhart surrenders to God's LOVE and follows Jesus. Their purpose is consuming. As long as they draw breath they'll serve God - and God calls every man, woman and child in Elkhart to follow Jesus. It's the same in LaPorte. It's the same in Granger. It's for all of Michiana.

So if you're ever asked about the goals of Granger Community Church, do not proffer some tripe about little dreams and small vision. Love enough to speak the truth: "The people of the church are living for Jesus and they're giving their lives to help everyone else do the same. They'll settle for nothing less."

Prepare yourself.

God's vision for you is not paltry, meager or small; God's plan is neither measly nor pathetic. He redeemed us for a purpose and it is glorious. God came in His Son Jesus to serve, and to give away his life in exchange for those held hostage. His Love is changing the world.

One week from now, on Easter weekend, I'm asking everyone who hears the sermon to devote the rest of their lives to serving God. I'm asking every person with ears to hear to accept God's invitation and follow Jesus - giving away their lives in the service of others. 

Get ready. 

Matthew 20:27-28   -   Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.

Landing This Palm Sunday Weekend?

 

 

 

If you're going a zilion miles an hour and think you're going to land somewhere, you better plan ahead. There's no good way to suddenly stop but there is a good way to plan ahead and land on target.

Aviators call it a "glide path." It's a gradual and planned descent that makes for a safe, timely and gentle landing. The closer the landing, the steeper the trajectory of the "glide path."

Investors use the same term when referring to strategic asset allocation based on the number of years leading up to a target date. The formula of assest allocation changes as your target date approaches. A wise investment "glide path" allows you to arrive in good shape at your target date.

So if you're planning to land in one of our Palm Sunday services this weekend, lay out your "glide path" now. Prepare yourself (and the friends flying with you) for a planned descent with a scheduled stop that refuels your faith and ignites your spirit. 

We're bringing the church together at all our campuses this weekend.

What's your destination? Which service have you schedule for this leg of your journey? I'll be landing at our Elkhart Campus tonight at 7:30 and our LaPorte Campus Sunday morning at 10:30 (Central Time). 

Plan your approach so you can arrive in good shape to settle down and worship. 

 

Revelation 7:9-10  -  I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:  “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

 

He Who Hesitates....

 

I observed no hesitation.

The waves rolled in and out and the little pipers rushed forward to gobble down the delicacies left behind after each surge. These tiny birds didn't waste a single opportunity. They ate when they could and backed away when the water returned, making the most of each opening.

Jesus once said, "As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

These days won't last forever. Night is coming, so while the "light of the world" holds darkness at bay we shouldn't hesitate to do our best - living holy and godly lives, making the most of each opportunity. 

Don't vacillate.

Live for Jesus.

2 Peter 3:10-14  -  The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
     Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
     So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 

 

13 Months Ago At The Granger Campus

 

Thirteen months ago the Main Entrance to The Eatery at The Granger Commons looked like this. In this picture you're looking south, through the front doors before they're in place.

It's easy to see progress when we're looking at a building project, but growth and development in our relationships, friendships, faith and family can be harder to measure. Progress isn't always obvious. Delays happen. Development slows. If plans are unclear, or cooperation is missing, people may drift away from their dream - and then drift away from their team.  

Look back on your last year.

• What's right in your life? 
• What's wrong? 
• What's confused? 
• What's missing?
• What steps were taken to build the life God invites you to live?

Get clarity on your building process. Your next steps will take you somewhere and a year from now you'll want to look back on your progress, so worship God and follow the Way of Jesus. That's the way to build a life.

 

Acts 24:14a  - (Paul)  "But I will tell you this: I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way of Jesus." 

 

Glory in the Lord

 

Psalm 34:1-3

I will extol the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.

 

 

 

A Voice Crying in the Wilderness ...

 

John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He must increase. I must decrease."

Even his contemporaries, the religious leaders of his day, didn't understand who John was (clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, eating locusts and wild honey). So John tried to clarify his own understanding of himself. He told them he came to prepare them for the coming of Jesus, "whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."

Don't be confused.

Jesus is Lord.

He is first. I am second.

John 1:22-23 

       They said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

       He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord.”’”

Precious Moments

 

Sometimes the playful little tussle of putting on a winter coat turns into a transcendent experience of unspeakable love. It seems only minutes ago that I was zipping Amber's coat on her, so seeing this beautiful moment between Ruby and her filled my heart to the brim.

Don't miss your beautiful moments. 

 

1 Peter 3:4  -   Beauty is something internal that can’t be destroyed. Beauty expresses itself in a gentle and quiet attitude which God considers precious.

 

Some Things Take a Long Time...

 

It takes a long time for God to sculpt the seashore, but eventually the erosive effects of the wind and water carve an impressive shoreline. The work of HIS hands is magnificent.

We are HIS workmanship and we are created for good works, so an old business axiom might serve today as an important reminder. We're not only to do good work, but to deliver our work in a timely manner.

"If you never ship your work is wasted."

It may take a long time to complete our tasks, but if we don't ship, our work doesn't matter much. In fact, if we never ship our work is virtually worthless.

Today I've been asking God, "What good work do YOU want me to deliver?" 

I better get busy....

Ephesians 2:10  -  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

 

Jason Raitz / Closing Session

 

Jason waxed eloquent with his story of an 8th Grade bully. Then, with a gesture and a wave, he tossed his carefully stacked papers into the air. I watched those sheets of paper drift to the floor and wondered how young Jason must have felt when the bully grabbed his carefully prepared homework and scattered it in the school hallway.

I was stunned. 

The illustration hit close to home; it's not that I've been picked-on a lot, but I have been undermined, blocked and discredited. You have too. We all know how criticism feels; it hurts. We know the facts; all too many in this broken world are ready to push others down and laugh as they fall. 

That's true enough, but Jason told us something else that's true. 

God is for us, even when people are against us. God has plans for us that can't be thwarted, no matter who tries to stop HIM. God has prepared works for us to do, no matter who throws us aside or mocks us for trying.

You can believe the people who take your hard work and toss it into the air as if it's nothing (as if you are nothing), or you can believe Almighty God, who says you are worth the life of His Son.

You are precious to God. You are loved. You are valued.

Don't believe the liars who say otherwise.

 

Ephesians 2:10  -  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

High School Winter Retreat @ SpringHill : Random Shots

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Esther 9:28  -  These days should be remembered....

 

Our Kids Are Getting GREAT Stuff

 

I've been to a zillion camps, retreats and student conferences. During the last 40 years, I've seen few ministries put speakers like Jason Raitz in front of the students. I've heard few speakers deliver the content of scripture with such humor, creativity and clarity.

SpringHill's Winter Retreat ministry is awesome. Our kids are getting great stuff.

I like this guy.

I like this place.

 

Isaiah 55:3  -  Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.

200 Miles North of Granger

 

It's Friday night (well, actually it's Saturday morning) and I'm 200 miles north of Granger with GSM High School students and a bunch of GSM leaders. We are cranking! It's Winter Retreat Weekend at SpringHill and the kids are receiving instructions for their Broomball Tournament.

I personally received several shouted broomball admonitions. I'm sure each came from a heart of love and was intended to improve my tournament play. Unable to give any better advice than I've received, I'll pass along what I learned from those yelling at me from court-side: 

     "No high sticks!"
     "Play the ball not the person!" 
     "The referees have complete authority!"

These bits of advice are commonly heard, and they are certainly most endearing.  

Broomball on the ice is a lot of fun.
It appears I'll be coming home with bruised shins...

 

Proverbs 9:7-8  -  Confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins. So don’t waste your time on a scoffer; all you’ll get for your pains is abuse. But if you correct those who care about life, that’s different—they’ll love you for it! Save your breath for the wise—they’ll be wiser for it; tell good people what you know—they’ll profit from it.  

An Empty Reminder of What Once Was....

 

 

When I saw this lobster tail I was stunned by its beauty. (Research by the University of Maine suggests only 1 in 2 million are blue.) I was sobered by its lifeless form. What was alive and thriving, was no more. What lived and moved, was dead and still. I was looking at the mere shell of what once was...

As I peered through my lens to take this picture I thought of John Wesley's concern for the white-hot movement of faith sweeping across England and America on the heels of his evangelistic preaching. The river of revival was molten. It was Spirit and fire. It was passion. It was devotion to methodical holiness. It was methodical work to rescue the perishing in a debauched and drunken society. It was God at work through the people called "methodist" - and it transformed culture.

Three years before his death (as the "methodist" revival was growing and gaining momentum) John Wesley had a horrifying thought. He wrote:

"I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out." 

Never forget; we can't live Godly lives without God. 

I pray you'll join me for a fresh infilling of the Spirit as we bring the church together for worship this Wednesday at the Granger Campus.

Come.

Blaze again with sacred fire.

Do not settle for a form of godliness while denying its power.

 

2 Timothy 3:1-5  -  But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.

Continuous Partial Attention

 

Amazing isn't it.

People dressed in black can lug big shoulder-mounted cameras around GCC's platform virtually unnoticed (largely because the continuous partial attention of our cultural conditioning enables us to look right past such things). Wires, cables, light-stands, mic-stands, music-stands, props and well-positioned camera operators quickly blend into the background as eyes and ears tune-in to the Gospel Story.

...  a lot has changed in recent decades. The Gospel hasn't changed but the culture Jesus Christ sends us into certainly has.

Tech-toys and tech-tools are now ubiquitous. Smart phones and wi-fi enabled tablets guarantee anyone anywhere can touch everyone everywhere. Today's social media nodes and networks don't merely help folks stay in touch; with these tools we're all in constant contact.

... and we think we love it.

Everyone wants to connect and be connected, so we're always-on: anywhere, anytime, anyplace. We pay continuous partial attention to everything and everyone. We feel chronic stress and anxiety because we're desperately fearful we'll miss an opportunity, conversation or experience. The problem isn't that we might be distracted; the emerging issue is that we are always distracted. Share dinner with a few friends (as they look at their smart-phones every few seconds) and you'll quickly see what I'm talking about; we're so accessible that we are inaccessible. We can look at everything and see nothing. We can be active everywhere without impact anywhere. Grandeur is missing when everything is noticed and nothing is note-worthy.

We're conditioned for continuous partial attention so when we finally see and hear the essential Truth (previously hidden in the cacophony around us), our lives become rich and full. At GCC we're doing our best to help people get past our culture's distracting white-noise and experience God.

I honor the volunteers who work each weekend, helping us recognize "the still small voice" of God. They help us sort through the ambient noise and focus on what matters most - giving Jesus our full attention.

 

1 Kings 19:11-13  -  Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Credit: I believe Linda Stone coined the phrase "Continuous Partial Attention" here. 

Looking For Something Right Now?

 

This is my son Aaron, looking out the window of our home. He's holding my granddaughter Ruby. Whatever they're looking at, I wish I could see it too.

A long time before I took this picture, John the Baptist was looking at Jesus when he saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on HIM. He saw what everyone wanted to see, what everyone around him was looking for - the Lamb of GOD who would lay down his life and take away the sins of the world. 

John the Baptist said Jesus would baptize us with fire and the Holy Spirit.

John said, "HE must increase; I must decrease." 

I don't know you're expecting, but I'm coming to GCC's weekend services expecting to see Jesus. I want to see Jesus. I want to testify with John, "HE is GOD's Chosen One."

John 1:34  -  I have seen and I testify that this is God's Chosen One.

 

Something I Need To Do....

 

I thought about my friends, Wyman and Sylinda Meinzer today; I prayed for them too. Back in 2010 I spent a few days with them, photographing Texas Whitetails, Bobcats and Coyotes. I enjoyed them very much. 

Gotta get back there sometime, check-in with my friends and take a few pictures....

 

Proverbs 27:10a  -  Do not forget your friends.