Why Are They Here?

Click Here to Listen to the Sermon for Sunday, December 18,2011 by Pastor Rodger S. Loar

Scripture Reference:  1Tim 2:1-7, 2Peter 3:9, John 3:16-17

Why are They Here?  Why does God have people here on earth that don’t believe in Him or don’t know Him?  He could just make everyone believe.  So, why are they here?

Most people live their life like the game of life.  They make their decisions almost randomly, like with dice or spinners.  They take life as it comes and live as if this is all there is.  Do they get married?  Maybe.  Do they get divorced? Maybe.  School?  Sure.  Buy a home? Have a Child? Buy a car or go on a vacation?  Possibly.  How do you know if you win?  Why, by the amount of money and stuff you have.  Or, by the amount of pleasure you’ve found this year.  Their lives amount to a frenetic rush of entertainment and busy-ness in order to ignore the inconvenient and terrifying truth that one day this life will be over.

Then, it happens.  They come in to work one day and the boss gives them the pink slip.  Perhaps they lose their home to foreclosure.  Maybe, they get arrested or sued.  Or, the doctor gives that terrible diagnosis.  Or, a loved one dies.  Suddenly, all that other stuff doesn’t matter so much and they begin looking for the real meaning of it all.

Now that they are at this point…  Where do they find meaning?  Where can the go for truth?  Hope?  Salvation?

2Peter 3:9 and 1Tim 2:4 tells us that God wants all people to come to know him, and that he is patient, giving them a chance to know his love. 

We, as God’s people, are the very living example of this.  Few of us are descended from the people of Israel who were God’s original chosen people.  No, we are a new people who God has allowed to be added in, through the grace of Jesus Christ.  We have received the gift of God’s patience, till we came to him, and now we need to recognize that others receive this.  We are called to pray for the people of this world.  Pray for them, love them where they are, and share our faith in a gentle and sincere way.

One day, a time will come when they are open to hear.  And God will be patient with them, just as he was with us.

Pray for your friends, your family, your neighbors, your coworkers.  Don’t be afraid, don’t be selfish, and don’t fall for the lie that anything else, other than Jesus Christ can save them.  Be there for them, love them, and earn the right to share your story with them.

Pastor Rodger

Why Are We Here?

Click Here to Listen to the Sermon for Sunday, December 11,2011 by Pastor Rodger S. Loar

Scripture Reference:  Matthew 5:13-16

Why is the church here?  That is, what purpose do we serve here on this earth?  There are some people who would see the church as the police of the world, demanding obedience to God and requiring them to change to follow a set of rules.

That’s not why we are here.

Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 5-7 in the Bible) tells us that we are to be a light to the world.  Light is a powerful thing.  If you’ve ever driven in the desert in the middle of the night, you can see the city coming up from many miles away, just from the light on the horizon.  It’s a good feeling when you are worn out from traveling all night, to see that light, that hope, in the distance

The church is here to be like that city.  We are here to point the way for others to find Christ.  Like a guide, we are to show the way to Christ, to demonstrate the hope of salvation that comes only from him.  Our actions, our faithfulness, and our love should reveal that God is there and that He loves the world. 

In this season of Christmas and throughout the year, here are some ways to be that bright, shining light of hope:

1. Be generous and giving:  share your money and your time with those in need.
2. Have integrity:  Know that your coworkers, your employees, your friends and your neighbors can see the choices you make.
3. Share your story: Let people know how God has changed you, let people know how struggle and how you are overcoming the problems you face.

Be a light –

Pastor Rodger

Why Are You Here?

Click Here to Listen to the Sermon for Sunday, December 4,2011 by Pastor Rodger S. Loar

Scripture Reference:  1Peter 2:4-10 and 2Timothy 2:2

 

People have some funny ideas about church. 

The first one is that church is a building.  It’s not.   

The second is that church is a business that sells a product called God to the people who come.  It’s not. 

The third that going to church is just showing up on a Sunday morning.  It’s not

 The church is the body of people who gather together.  It is the living, breathing extended family of God, gathering together to worship him and to encourage each other.

It’s about living together in that messy, knocked-around, whoops-I-made-a-mistake, let-me-help-you-up-when-you-fall, kind of way. 

Peter calls us living stones, being built into a spiritual house with Christ as the cornerstone:  The Church!

Like the toy bricks that you had as a kid, we build upon each other to be a wall.  We are strong because we stand together and we stand with Christ.

The church is US!

Why are you here?  Why do you come to church on Sunday?  Why should you make it a priority to be together with your church family every week?

The answer is simple:  We are stronger together.  We encourage each other.  We build each other up.  The strong among us today help the weak.  And tomorrow, when we struggle, they will be strong to help us. 

Church isn’t about habit.  It’s not about business.  It’s not about going to a building because that’s what your parents did?  It’s about people.

Let me encourage you to make Sunday morning a priority.  Be here with your family through thick and thin.  Build them up and you’ll find that they build you up too.

Life is a Journey.  You don’t have to walk alone.

That’s why you are here.

Pastor Rodger

Why Am I Here?

Click Here to Listen to the Sunday, November 27, 2011 Sermon by Pastor Rodger S. Loar

Scripture Reference:  Genesis 1:27-31, Deuteronomy 6:5, and Matthew 22:34-40

Philosophers have been wrestling with the question of existence for millennia.  Why am I here?  The answers are there in God’s word.  From the beginning of the Bible, God lets us know the answer to the question, “Why am I here?”

God put us here for relationship.

We are here to care.

Care for God.

Care for Each other.

and Take Care of Creation.

That’s why I am here.

God put us here to take care of the place.  We are caretakers and we haven’t been very good at it.  All too often, Evangelicals get so focused on heaven, that we are no earthly good.  All arguments about global warming aside, we need to take care of the planet, and yet, we often push away others who care about the environment.  We seem to present the idea to the world that Christ is coming back, so it doesn’t matter how we keep the place.  But God cares about creation and we are called to take care of it.

We are also called to care for one another.  Do we do that very well?  Christians are unfortunately known for treating our own brothers and sisters in sin very poorly.  We have similar divorce rates and even higher abortion rates as the rest of the world.  God cares about our relationships with one another, so perhaps we should treat those better too.

Finally, We are called to care for God; to love Him with all of our hearts and mind and strength.  Sadly, we don’t do a very good job of that either.  Worship on Sunday is just another activity that might fall to the wayside for work or entertainment.  We don’t spend time with God in His word or in prayer.

God put us here to care.

That’s the answer to the question:  “Why am I here?”

The answer then calls us to get to work:

1.       Let’s care for God.  Make it a priority to spend time with Him each week.

2.       Let’s care for each other.  Get counseling, build relationships, seek help, so that when times are hard we can turn to those closest to us for support, and know that they will be there to walk with us.

3.       Let’s care for creation.  Let’s show the rest of the world that we care about the creation that God gave us.  Let’s glorify God by living simply, by cutting our trash, by recycling, by cleaning up.

Let’s care and show the world that we care. 

Pastor Rodger

We Are Back!!!

After hours of technical support, changing to a new server, internet provider issues, and not one, but two computer crashes, the Monday Morning Bible Blog has returned.  We will be restarting the blog beginning the first week of Advent (Sunday, 11/27/11).  If you would like to listen to any of the sermons that are missing between August & November, please contact Mountain View Christian Church to obtain a CD of the sermon:

Mountain View Christian Church
2927 East Campbell Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85016
(602) 955-9414

We're Sorry

Due to computer network problems, we have not been able to publish the last two Bible Blogs.  We are working on the problem and will put up any missing blogs and sermons when the problem is solved.

Wisdom - 31 Days of Proverbs: Wisdom versus Knowledge

Click Here to Listen to the Sunday, July 31, 2011 Sermon by Pastor Rodger S. Loar


Click Here for the August 2011 Proverbs Contest


Scripture Reference: Proverbs 1:1-33


Knowledge, Yeah, we’ve got. that Information, it’s all over the place. Data, it’s pouring out of our computers at an unbelievable rate. Trying to keep up with all of this is like trying to drink from a fire hose.

It’s been said, “Knowledge is power.” But, power needs control.

The problem with knowledge is that you need wisdom to apply it.

Wisdom, however, is not running in large amounts. In fact, it seems that the more information we have, the less wisdom that seems to be present.

Open any newspaper. Flip on the TV news. Look at the entertainment sites on the internet. There are plenty of intelligent people, people with college degrees, people in charge of companies and government agencies who are doing dumb things. These are smart people, but they lack wisdom.

The month of August is Wisdom month for MVCC. We will be reading the book of Proverbs, seeking wisdom. Proverbs 2:4 instructs us to seek wisdom as one would look for hidden treasure. We should search for wisdom as a thing of value.

Our challenge to you this month is to begin reading the book of Proverbs. Read one chapter each day, chapter 1 on August 1^st, chapter 2 on August 2^nd, and so on till you complete the 31^st chapter on the 31^st of August. Don’t worry if you missed yesterday, it’s easy to catch up. It should only take 5 – 10 minutes each day to complete the challenge.

Proverbs is a fun book of wise sayings. You’ll find yourself laughing at ones like Proverbs 25:24 (especially if you are a husband). You’ll find some that are humorous, but Oh so true like Proverbs 27:3 and others that are just plain wise advice such as Proverbs 22:24-25.

I encourage you to highlight the best proverbs that you come across. Share the advice on Facebook. Write them down and memorize them. Wisdom is a valuable thing.

Pastor Rodger