Dear St. Andrews Family,

A lot of Preachers talk about forgiveness, but forgiveness is richer and higher and harder and more shocking than we imagine. It’s not just an act of piety, it’s liberation of the cosmos. I can’t begin to encapsulate this in a blurb so letme tell you this…

I want to tell you a story about a man in prison and a son compelled to eat pig slop and a prophet King who came to free the world. I am praying that you will see “Forgive us our debts as we forgive out debtors,” in an all-new way.

Pastor Jace

Dear St Andrews Family,

Over the years many of you have asked how I got this superhero physique. The answer is simple: It’s all in what I eat. Did you know that in 3 years Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson eats a ton of fish. Literally, a ton of fish. I have a similar diet. In three years, I literally eat a ton of bread. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Ritz crackers, chapatis, pepperoni pizza, E.L. Fudge cookies . . . I eat a ton of bread. Now you know my secret.

This week in Matthew 6:11, Jesus tells us we are to ask God for bread. But this is so much more than asking for God to care for our physical needs. This prayer has a context that might just change everything. It hasn’t changed the way I eat bread, but it has changed the way I pray. I hope you will think this through with me.

Dear Family,

Don’t mess with my office. My desk is not a place you put stuff. Don’t move my books or my chairs. This is my kingdom. Mine. Don’t mess with it.

I have a lot of little kingdoms. My car, my bedroom, my countertops. I have an office at my house that I use for about 5 minutes a week. I gave it to Dan a couple weeks ago and every day I go down there it grates on me. It’s my kingdom. Don’t mess with my kingdom.

And yet we Christians know we are to seek His kingdom. We even pray “Thy kingdom come.” How do we make this shift from this being ours to it being Gods? How do we use what he gives us for His Kingdom? Let’s talk about this from Matthew 6:9-10.

Pastor Jace

Dear Family,

I pray a LOT. . . in front of people. But my private prayer life could use some serious work. Honestly, I get bored easy and distracted. And sometimes I wonder if it really accomplishes anything. Sometimes I am pretty sure God isn’t even listening. . . and I know He isn’t acting.

We all know God calls us to pray and my guess is that most of you struggle with it. I am praying that God speaks to us from Matthew 6:5-6 as we close out this series on hypocrisy.

​

Pastor Jace.

I am just going to go ahead and admit this: I like it when people see the good things I do. If I do the dishes, I want people to know it. If I visit someone in the hospital, I want someone to know. If I give extra to the church, I hope someone will tell me “good job.”

I struggle with pride and with hypocrisy. I think a lot of us do. That’s why social media is so great. We can talk about ourselves in positive ways and it’s perfectly acceptable We can toot our own horn.

Jesus has some things to say about tooting our own horn. Maybe we can wrestle with this together this Sunday from Matthew 6:2-4. Take a look if you have the time and let’s ask God to show us what we need to follow him better.

Dear Family,

Bill Hybels.

Mark Driscoll.

Tony Evans.

Steve Lawson.

James McDonald

Carl Lentz.

Bruxy Cavey.

Brian Houston.

Ravi Zacharias.

Maybe you know their names.

Famous pastors, speakers, apologists who did not live what they preached.

And every time one of them falls, the internet goes wild.

“Christian hypocrites!”

We all remember Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggert. We remember Robert Tilton. Christians have been giving Jesus a bad name for as long as any of us can remember.

But it’s not just them.

It’s us. We have been invited into a new life and far too often we refuse it. We are hypocrites. We are treasonous.

But there is hope once we admit it. We can take a step closer to the abundant life we are offered. Read Matthew 6:1 and try to prepare yourself to hear what God might want to say to you.

​

Pastor Jace

Dear St. Andrews Family,

I have a job for you. I want you to find someone to tell you the 3-minute version of the Christmas story. Get them to throw in all the details they know. What was the king's name, what did they wrap the baby in, how many animals in the stable? If you have children in the home, ask them together and let them work on the story together. If you can’t find anyone to ask, then try the experiment yourself. Then read the actual story in Luke 2. Maybe read some from Matthew 1 and 2. Notice how far off the story you have in your mind is from the story in the Bible.

Now ignore your mistakes and realize that your story is really good, too. The question is, why is this story told? What is our takeaway? What should we do? I think the answer might surprise you.

Dear St Andrews Family,

You know that moment when everything seems hopeless? Of course you do.

• The medicine isn’t doing its job.

• Your marriage has no meaning.

• Your job is in jeopardy.

• Your children are suffering.

Maybe you are feeling this now.

Israel felt this. Their world had been crushed. The temple didn’t have the power it once did. God felt more than a little distant.

And then . . .

Suddenly!

Let’s talk about “suddenly” this week from Malachi 3:1. Suddenly, he whom you desire, will come. It’s a story we all remember—when HE came. And it’s a story that empowers us through all the hopelessness of our circumstances and points us to his perhaps “sudden” coming to rescue us again.

Pastor Jace