Dear Church Family,

God comes where he’s wanted.

Since the beginning of our church, we have established that “prayer is our only method.” This means we are a “pray first” people. When we embark on a new journey, sense God leading, or are desperate for the move of God, prayer is our utmost priority.

For this reason, in January 2025, we are inviting our Compass View family to spend 21 days pressing into God’s presence through prayer and fasting. We will seek God collectively as a church beginning Monday, January 6 until Sunday, January 26th. The purpose of this is to take our focus off of our earthly concerns and listen to what God has for our heart, home, church, and our town.

I will be preaching on God Comes Where He’s Wanted this season. Each Sunday will focus on elements that God wants from us or long to have. For instance week one will be Attention. God longs for our attention. We need to detox from the toxicity of media, the noise we allow into our lives. Fasting does center around food, but there are many things we can cease for a season in order to experience God more fully.

My sermon first will lay the foundation before we start. This will help rally our church around getting our attention on God as the pathway for experiencing renewal and revival. Remember, a discipline doesn’t set you free; Jesus sets you free. Disciplines are a conduit to the presence of God through Christ.

We pray to engage with the one who desires to work through us for his glory with power.  We pray because Jesus prayed and so did the early church.  We fast because sacrificing necessities brings greater clarity and devotion to our lives. As Richard Foster wrote, “We fast because it reveals the things that control us. We fast because there is an urgent need. Most important of all, we fast because God calls us to it. The motivation of prayer and fasting is to draw closer to the heart of God.”

Let’s start this year off unified by seeking God together through prayer and fasting!

Blessing,
Pastor Jonathan

DEVOTIONAL PLAN
21 Days of Prayer to Discover Your Identity In God  (copies available on Sunday)

PRAYER & FASTING RESOURCES
7 Basic Steps to Successful Fasting & Prayer - Bill Bright

Personal Guide to Prayer & Fasting - Bill Bright

Understanding Fasting  -  Richard Foster

The Purpose of Fasting - Richard Foster


BOOKS

Celebration of Discipline - Richard Foster

Ruthless Elimination of Hurry - John Mark Comer

GRACE HAS FINGERNAILS

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.”
* Titus 2:11-12 *

Grace has fingernails.
- Tony Merida

Church family,

I have come to realize that most southern men have an unspoken rule. It goes something like this, “Never fully admit you are in need.”  

We don’t need help.
We don’t need help from you.
We don’t need help with directions.
We don’t need help skinning a deer.
We don’t need help changing a tire.
We don’t need help with money.
We don’t need help from you.
We don’t need help.

I have a garage door spring that is broken. I’ve heard the horror stories of guys working on garage door springs by themselves. It seems to result in a hospital visit, limbs that don’t work right after you get knocked off the latter when that thing breaks loose. Now, that didn’t stop me from watching a YouTube video and convincing myself I don’t need help. I told my wife, “I think I can do this myself and save us money in the process.”

The problem with the above list. It just isn’t true.

We need help. We aren’t truly independent. We are dependent.

Titus 2:11-12 makes one thing clear. We needed salvation and hope. The only thing that could fix the problem was grace. Here grace has a name. His name is Jesus.“Grace has fingernails.”
In other words, God put on skin.

He appeared full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) This gospel rich text is filled with the reality of grace. His grace brings hopeful salvation, but also it teaches us to renounce what is not like Christ who poured out his grace richly. He gave his life because we were a people in need.

The truth is…

We need help.
We need help from Jesus.
We need help from others.
We need help with marriage.
We need help with life direction.
We need help knowing the next step.
We need help discipling our kids.
We need help with our idols.
We need help with our sin.
We need help.

We need real rescuing, identity changing, life altering, earth shattering grace.

This southern man way can really be damaging though. We can easily isolate ourselves, or live with such bravado that we are laced with pride where there should be humility.

So we have to move from independence to dependance.

Listen to the way Paul David Tripp articulates dependency. “Dependency means no longer being afraid of exposure, because I really do believe that there is nothing that could be known, exposed, or revealed about me that has not already been addressed by the person and work of Jesus. It means living as if I really do believe that isolated, individualized, independent Christianity never produces good fruit.” (LEAD)

We need to move from independence to dependance.  

When thinking about the church. The truth is, God in his grace gave us the local church because he knew we would need the church. We can’t do this alone. We shouldn’t do this alone. By the way, I am hiring an overhead door guy.

Blessings,

Jonathan Johnson

Do You Need Help
I am here for you and would love to hear from you. Spiritual or practical, give me a shout.
501.249.0818
jonathan@compassviewchurch.com

Resources Used in this Post
New Churches Podcast LEAD: by Paul David Tripp
LEAD: by Paul David Tripp The Bible: Titus 2
The Bible: Titus 2

"God is not waiting on a future version of you to love." - Mason King

____________________

I snagged a book this past week I hope is going to be compelling. It came recommend by someone I read on SubStack. To be honest, Amazon had it on sale so I snagged the Kindle version. I am a sucker for a deal, and anything on spiritual disciplines. The book is...

Spiritual Disciplines: How to Become a Healthy Christian 

Immediately, I started reading it. I made it 5 sentences when I put the book down and teared up when I read this quote.

"...God is not waiting on a future version of you to love."

Mason King hooked me. I couldn't stop reading. However, I did pause when I started in on Chapter 1.  Mason argues that generations before us had been in search of the "good life."  In our modern age, the packaging is just different. Here is the list he shared of what we are served on social media silver platter and the like.

Materialism (I am what I have)
Consumerism (I am meant to acquire)
Perfectionism (I am what I do)
Rationalism (I am the final word)
Stoicism (I am unaffected by you)
Romanticism (I am my emotions)
Hedonism (I am my greatest pleasure)
Postmodernism (I am what I say I am) 


Now, I would add a ninth option. I call it...

Athleticism (I am my shape or athletic ability). 

This is just a side note, though this mind set has been driving millions over the last 100 years, especially parents.

What is the point of this list?

It exposes our heart. At best it helps locate the idols of our hearts or the false saviors we tend to trust. After which located we can begin to do some spiritual gospel-centered work.

Now to my questions.

Look back over the list.

Which of these has dominated your life?  
Which narrative have you bought into hoping it will finally bring lasting happiness?  
Which "I am" statement bests fits in a specific season of your life?

Do you have a pretty solid answer?  

"God is not waiting on a future version of you to love."

So much gospel truth in that sentence isn't there?  This became crystal clear to me on Monday, while I was reading Psalm 103.

8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9  He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10  He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11  For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12  as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13  As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14  For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

WOW! Now read verse 17.

17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,

Now that is good news. His steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting!

If you have tried the modern form of happiness or pleasure seeking only to be left empty, there is an invitation to be a disciple of Jesus. If you looked to some temporary fix that only left you with a black hole of shame and guilt, the invitation is to follow Jesus.

That was his invitation wasn't it?  

For further reading go to John 1:1-14; Hebrews 1:1-12; Colossians 1:15-20.

This weekend will be really big for our community. Mountain View is expecting thousands of visitors for the eclipse.

We have been invited to host, church on the square.  Here are the details...

Church on the Square
donuts & coffee @ 10:00A
worship starts @ 10:30A
*bring your own lawn chair.

- Parking may be difficult, so come early.

More than a story about a runaway prophet or tale about a whale, Jonah lets us in on the heart and the mission of God. Through this series we will discover that we are both on God’s mission and ARE God’s mission.

Crawford Loritts says, “On our way to accomplishing something, God is making us someone.” That is the heart of the book of Jonah. God sends Jonah on a mission while shaping the heart of Jonah at the same time.

If you have ever read Jonah, you know the interesting nature of the story line. I have read Jonah, taught Jonah, and wondered if I was like Jonah. I believe there is something our young church needs to hear through this short book.

We will spend eight weeks walking through this narrative. Here is a touch of what I hope God does in our hearts.

- Breaks up hard hearts bent on running.
- Reminds us of His faithfulness.
- Points us to Jesus, the one greater than Jonah.
- Draws our hearts to the tomb of Jesus, by way of Jonah in the great fish.
- Moves us to a place of compassion for people far from God.
- Brings revival to our place in our time.

I mentioned Jesus twice in the bullet list. This is for good reason. More than anything, I want this book to point to Jesus. There is a gospel-centeredness to Jonah, and I want us to find it along the way.

Jesus identifies with Jonah (Matthew 12:40), but he is also the one greater than Jonah. (Matthew 12:41) Jesus should shine through this book as we compare and contrast.

What does this mean for you through the week on days like Thursday or Monday? It means Jesus has compassion for runaways. Jesus willingly entered the depths of darkness to rescue us so we can have a new life. God sent Jesus on a mission to seek and save the lost. There is curial message of repentance and faith in Jesus through this story. Unlike Jonah through, most in his generation rejected him.

One final thought. Stephen Witmor wrote, “Why does this comparison between Jonah and Jesus matter? It matters because it points us to our perfect Savior, a Savior who willingly died for our sins (rather than his own) and was then raised from the dead by God into unimaginable and eternal splendor. He was rejected by many of his own generation, but will be praised forever by his people. This is the gospel according to Jonah.”

“God breathes life into your story and gives purpose to our story.”
- Aaron Johnson & Story Church

One of the most meaningful church names I know came from the heart of my older brother, Aaron Johnson. Aaron started Story Church on the tail end of the pandemic. Talk about paddling upstream. Despite obstacles along the way, they are impacting the greater NWA region with the gospel.

Story Church has a very meaningful tagline.

“God breathes life into your story and gives purpose to our story.”

Those are words we need to hear. God breathes life into your story through the redeeming work of Jesus. The local church is shaped by the individual stories that become a collective story of God’s beautiful work of grace.

I believe Jesus’ story does reshape our story. The good news of the gospel changes everything. Like Lynn Cohick articulates, “Jesus’ story of incarnation, cross, resurrection, and glorification establishes that a believer’s past need not define his or her future — sins forgiven, fellowship with God restored.”

That’s what our current sermon series is all about. We want to hear our people share their story of redemption. How has Jesus reshaped your story?

I like this series for a few reasons.

PEOPLE
We get to lean into what matters most. Always, in every way we must think people over programs. Every person's story matters more than we know.

CHRIST-CENTERED
Your Jesus story shines the spot light on the right person; Jesus. We are not the center of the story, but we are part of the story. At the center of the grand story of scripture is Jesus.

MISSION
Hearing everyday people share their story sets the example for us to share our story. This is not just a powerful tool it is a powerful responsibility. A life lived on mission includes announcing the work of the gospel in your life.

My friend Tyler Godush shared something with me this week in a comment about our sermon series. Tyler said, “This morning I spent some time preparing for a message and testimony I’ll be sharing…I couldn’t help but to think of the series your folks are in now, “Share your story.” It’s the same God & Spirit in all of us. Scripture says we overcome by the blood of the lamb & the power of our testimony. What a powerful tool & responsibility the Lord has given us.”

Tyler is right. What a power tool and responsibility we have to share our story! Let’s make it happen Compass View.

Blessing,
Pastor Jonathan

“Becoming a man doesn’t happen by accident. Men are formed.”
- Forming Men

Almost daily, I say a specific prayer with my son. We call it the man prayer. This idea came from the book Church Planter where Darren Patrick shares a prayer he wrote for his son. So I decided to write our own.

God, make me a man with thick skin and soft heart; thick skin to handle life, and a soft heart to handle people. Let this day be used for good and not evil, your glory and not ours. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Oh LORD my rock and my redeemer. And God, make me like the kingfisher, let me never get up even when it's hard.

I share this prayer because it is my calling as a father to partner with God to form my son into a man. Our prayer is a request and a calling. We are asking God to form us.

Looking back, my father had the biggest impact on my life moving from boyhood to manhood. I am grateful my father instilled in me the confidence to tackle just about anything. Yet, most of all he modeled Christ-likeness, worship, prayer, and wisdom. He is a man who worships God.

I am still being formed. I desperately need the sharpening work of other men in my  life. Who helped form you? How are you being formed now?

Some men live their whole life without a model of Christ-likeness in their life. It doesn’t have to be that way.

I want to invite you to join me and other men on Feb 24 for a Men’s Breakfast. Come for the bacon and eggs, but expect more. It’s about FOOD, FAITH, & FELLOWSHIP…it’s about being men who are formed.

JOIN US SATURDAY, FEB 24. More details coming soon!

"And he told them a parable to the effect that they
ought to always pray and not lose heart." - Luke 18:1

Then lifting up his hands he prayed, “Dear Father, we thank
Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.” - George Müller

George Müller was a missionary in Bristol, England. He cared for more than 200,000 orphans over his lifetime. Müller was a man of prayer to the extent that he never asked for money. He simply prayed. One morning he was up early, with nothing to give the children to eat. Soon the children in the orphanage came down stairs for breakfast. As they stand looking at George he said, “Now children you know we must be in time for school.”  Then lifting up his hands he prayed, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.”

There was a knock at the door. The baker stood there, and said, “Mr. Müller, I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast, and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.” Mr. Müller thanked the baker, and no sooner had he left, when there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.

That's wholehearted prayer laced with faith.

Have you ever needed God to move in your life, so you prayed night and day?  You prayed with the potency of David. Like Elijah calling down fire from heaven you cried out to God. Maybe you were like Daniel praying three times a day even when everyone around you wished you would stop.

The parable or story Jesus shares in Luke 18:1-8 is about that kind of prayer. The theme in these verses is persistence. Yet, it is also about the heart of God and the heart of his disciples.

Pause for a moment to read Luke 18:1-8.

Here is a bit of what Luke reveals about God.

- God listens when we cry out to him.
- God gives justice to his children.
- God shows compassion to the marginalized.
- God moves quickly, in other words, he responds without delay.

Jesus defies our preconceived ideas about God's character. He is begging us to internalize the goodness, faithfulness, love, mercy, patience, and justice of the Father. Jesus encourages our  persistence in prayer.

Then he says, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Faith is the Greek word pistes. Do a quick study, and you will find it means to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance; to have full confidence in or believe w/ allegiance to.

Faith and trust in God over what?

I want to point out three realities in our modern world that easily divert our faith/trust. They are the empire, self, and performance.

Empire
I think there is a real temptation to trust the empire over God. Consider how God's people would turn to a nation in times of hardship or distress. Israel was ready to go back to Egypt due to a lack of provision in the wilderness after God had just delivered them out of the hand of the oppressor. (Exodus 16:1-3)  We openly or secretly trust the next leader to get us out of this mess and save us from all our fears.

Self
Could it be like the majority of our western culture, putting faith in yourself is the temptation? “You do you” is the mantra of the day, and it sounds all too good. It is the temptation to lean into your desires, wants, dreams, and aspirations for the purpose of pleasing yourself. In other words, trust yourself.

Performance
Then again, maybe you are the religious type, so the temptation is to trust your performance or behavior. You hope your performance or piety before God will be the ticket. This seems to be how the Pharisees were bent. If only you would clean yourself up. Try washing your hands before you eat. Change your behavior to get freedom from this mess. I heard a pastor say, "This makes the gospel sound like….‘you suck, try harder, God is worth it.’"

Here's the major point I want to make. Modern culture, the self, and performance so easily make us half-hearted. Your identity or the places you draw significance can too easily get wrapped up in the areas that only pile on the shame and guilt. These pursuits draw us away from the cry of our heart. We give up territory in our heart.  We become half-hearted.

Now, look back at the first verse. "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." Draw strength from the promise of God today. God is listening even when you think he is not responding. When you don't see a change in the relationship, don't give up on prayer. If you need God to move at work, take it to him. Don't lose heart. If you desire justice, God is there to answer your request quickly. Don't lose your heart, Christ is truly our hope and stay.

Lift your hands to the sky and thank God for the food, or whatever you are about to receive.

The way we start always matters.

Since the beginning of our church, we have established that “prayer is our only method.” This means we are a “pray first” people. When we embark on a new journey, sense God leading, or are desperate for the move of God, prayer is our utmost priority.

For this reason, in January, I am inviting Compass View to spend 21 days pressing into God’s presence through prayer and fasting. We will seek God collectively as a church beginning Monday, January 8 until Sunday, January 28th. Also, we will be walking alongside our sending church for these 21 days, praying together for the movement of God. The purpose of this is to take our focus off of our earthly concerns and listen to what God has for us as a church, family, and as individuals in the new year.

I will be preaching on The Cries of Our Hearts through January. Each Sunday we will look at fasting from various elements in our life. We need to detox from the toxicity of media, the mania of busyness, and the compulsion of over consumption. Fasting does center around food, but there are many things we can cease for a season in order to experience God more fully.

I will be teaching the necessity of slowing down on Sunday, January 7 before we start. This will help rally our church around spiritual disciplines that create the pathway for experiencing renewal and revival. Remember, a discipline doesn’t set you free; Jesus sets you free. Disciplines are a conduit to the presence of God through Christ.

We pray to engage with the one who desires to work through us for his glory with power. We pray because Jesus prayed and so did the early church. We fast because sacrificing necessities brings greater clarity and devotion to our lives. As Richard Foster wrote, “We fast because it reveals the things that control us. We fast because there is an urgent need. Most important of all, we fast because God calls us to it. The motivation of prayer and fasting is to draw closer to the heart of God.”

Let’s start this year off unified by seeking God together through prayer and fasting!

DEVOTIONAL PLAN
Compass South Prayer & Fasting Guide 

PRAYER & FASTING RESOURCES
7 Basic Steps to Successful Fasting & Prayer - Bill Bright
Personal Guide to Prayer & Fasting - Bill Bright
Understanding Fasting - Richard Foster
The Purpose of Fasting - Richard Foster

BOOKS
Celebration of Discipline - Richard Foster
Ruthless Elimination of Hurry - John Mark Comer

MAKE ROOM IN THE WAITING
It was a rather cold morning, but the sky was already turning blue as we drove into town for breakfast. I had slipped away with my son for our weekly man time, as Jack likes to call it. There we were with Bibles open and journals ready, his little fingers a touch greasy from the "candy bacon biscuit."  We read a few verses in Isaiah. Then Jack said with excitement in his voice, “Hey Dad! Did you know that when Isaiah told everyone that Jesus would be born it was 700 years before it actually happened?”

That is an incredibly long wait.  

Isaiah 40:31 is a very familiar verse.  "...but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."  This is written with beautiful motivational poetry. Honestly, it inspires me to wait upon the LORD.

Have you ever wondered how Isaiah 40 begins?  Isaiah writes in verse 3, "A voice cries: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the dessert a highway for our God."  If you know your Bible, this is the text Matthew and Luke reference when they announce the ministry of John the Baptist.  Isaiah starts with a prophetic announced of one who would prepare the way for Jesus, and he ends by telling God's people to wait.  

That's an incredibly long time to wait.

I was talking with my good friend Chad Graves about making room during Advent.  He said, "What we need is already on its way.  That's what advent is all about."  God has what we need, it's simply in the waiting.  

So, don't tap out now. No need to throw in the towel just yet. Wait for the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 40:28) Hold out for the one who does not faint or grow
weary. (Isaiah 40:28)  

It may be a long wait.

It may be waiting for the relationship to heal.
It may be waiting for a job to open up.
It may be waiting for your prodigal teenager to return home.
It may be waiting through the pain, the storm, or the fire.

Strength is renewed in waiting on the LORD. (Isaiah 40:31)

We are preconditioned for hurry not waiting. So, Advent becomes a deliberate season where we wait. My children are counting down the days before Christmas. A simply exercise in the art of waiting. They are learning to slow down and simply wait. Slowing is considered a spiritual discipline to many.  John Ortberg defined it as "cultivating patience by deliberately choosing to place ourselves in positions where we simply have to wait.”  

Let's wait together, and make room in the waiting for the one who renews our strength in the waiting.

KING OF KINGS
Lyrics (Verse 1, Chorus)

In the darkness we were waiting
Without hope, without light
'Til from Heaven You came running
There was mercy in Your eyes
To fulfill the law and prophets
To a virgin came the word
From a throne of endless glory
To a cradle in the dirt

Praise the Father, praise the Son
Praise the Spirit, three in one
God of glory, Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings

PREPARATION
Every year we make room in our home for our Christmas tree.  This annual experience is preparation for the season.  It’s quite the event really.  We like to start by working together to get the house picked-up & clean.  Then we turn on a steller Christmas playlist to let joy fill the room.  I love watching our children decorate our house with smiles and laughter.

The first arrival of Jesus, the first Advent, was a moment of grace.  God had prepared it all, and the stage was set to redeem the world.  Everything down to the finest detail had been made ready for the Christ child.  God was making room for us when it seemed Rome didn’t have room for another king to jump on the scene.  Mary, that unexpected girl whose heart bent toward God would carry in her womb the promised Messiah.  Just like he promised, the king of all kings was born in Bethlehem, the city of David.   Isaiah told us about it, Christ would be called Immanuel, meaning God with us. (Isaiah 7:14)  They would call him Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins. Jesus, the true light, entered the darkness of our broken world to make room for us at God’s great banquet table.

What grace!  What joy!  How loving of God to come to where we are so we could be where he is!
I love how the Apostle John wrote about the incarnation. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Jesus was and is the most truthful and gracious man to walk the earth.  He came to us and for us.  “He moved into the neighborhood…generous inside and out from start to finish.” (The Message)

I want to make room in my heart, my schedule, my family, my work, and my rest for Christ.  He is Emmanuel, meaning God with us.  He is standing there full of grace and truth. So, let’s start today, and welcome Jesus along the way, right where we live, work, and play.

JOY TO THE WORLD
Verse 1

Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

THE QUESTION
What should a disciple of Jesus do with his or her time?


We would probably come up with a pretty solid list if I had everyone post their answer.  The list would include something like...

A disciple should read the Bible, pray, attend church, evangelize the lost, spend time with family, fast, have a daily quiet time, etc.

I ask this question because it is very possible to be a disciple of Jesus and still waste the time God has given you. It is possible to use up all the time God has given you for yourself, & never give your time away to the ways of Jesus.

I don’t say that to shame you; I say that to awaken your heart.  Hard questions are good, because they help shake us out of our comfortable routine.

A question like this requires nuance.  I am not talking about separating the sacred from the secular. Jesus didn't make this separation nor did he require it from his disciples.  Afterall, Jesus lived in the world.  I am also not trying to get you to add more things to your busy life.  Most often, we shouldn’t think in terms of addition, but intention. Like Jeff Vanderstelt wrote, “This isn’t additional, this is intentional.  It’s not about adding more to our busy lives, it’s about engaging all of life for his glory.”

ACTIVE vs PASSIVE
This past weekend was Serve Sunday.  These strategic days are about practicing what we preach.

Compass View has a burning desire to meet people where they are.

This statement tugs at our hearts because it describes the life of Jesus. Jesus met people where they were. For instance, look at his interactions with the woman at the well, Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, Peter, and the thief on the cross. Jesus met them all where they were.

So back to the question…what should a disciple of Jesus do with his or her time?

How many of you grew up in church?  I have spent the majority of my life attending church and listening to sermons. I suppose much of that time has been delivering sermons.  How many of you can remember ten sermons?  How many of you remember five sermons?  I don’t remember many sermons either.  However, I do remember taking groceries to a single mom when I was thirteen.  I remember a trip to Wagnor, OK to seek the lost when I was eighteen. I remember the fifteen CityReach trips I made to cities all over the US to help church planters reach their city.  I remember helping a neighbor move dirt so he could plant grass in his backyard, & the conversation we had about tattoos and Jesus.  I remember opening our home to some neighbors who were new to the area, were looking for friends, and didn’t care much about the things of God.  I remember stopping to help a stranger with his car one night.  Then three months later this stranger had turned into a friend and soon gave his life to Jesus.

Why do we remember the active moments of serving more often than the sermons?

When we walk across the street, serve the poor, seek the lost, seek justice, and extend love, like you did on Sunday, we are living the message rather than merely listening to the message.  Listening to a message is essential, but it's not ultimate.

What if your God given time as a disciple is only filled with listening to sermons?  Jesus didn’t let his disciples simply listen to his message.  He journeyed with them showing them how to live the Christ-centered life.

Here is how Winfeld Bevins writes about this in the book Make, Mature, Multiply.  “Jesus demonstrated how the disciples should live the Christ-centered life.  One reason Jesus had such a lasting impact on his disciples is that he lived the message before them daily.  He was the message and the method. By walking with Jesus, they saw how he lived his faith in the real world.  He prayed before them. He fed the poor. He had compassion on the multitude.  He healed the sick.  In other words, he lived the life that he wanted to reproduce in his disciples” (Winfield Bevins).

Here is the message: Jesus met me where I was to bring me to the one I needed most.  

God wants to make his appeal to Mountain View through you, Compass View. (2 Corinthians 5:20). Jesus longs to use your life to bring people to the one they need most.  So, go get your hands dirty, listen to someone’s story, give your time away, be present with people, tell your Jesus story, and live the message.

A disciple of Jesus should use his or her time being intentional with others and with this time we have, for the sake of the gospel.  Let’s live everyday life with gospel intentionality.

- Pastor Jonathan

SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS

OCT 15  -  Serve Sunday | Worship @ the City Park Amphitheater | 10:30am

OCT 29  -  Student Sunday | Igniting a passion in the hearts of teenagers for the kingdom
               -  Baptism Sunday | Interested in Baptism?  Fill out the Baptism Interest Form.

SUNDAY TEAMS

As a mobile church, we set-up & tear-down our equipment every Sunday. We utilize an army of servants every week.  We would love to have you on a team!  Fill out the Serving Interest form and we will be in touch.    Volunteer Form

NEW NURSERY AREA

We are so thankful to now have a space we can utilize for our little church goers.  If you have a child, 2 years old & under, we invite you to use our nursery area.  Parents are welcome to drop their children off, or stay with their child.  We are constantly working to provide a safe, fun, and Christ-centered environment.  

CONNECT FORM

If you are new to Compass View, we would love to connect with you.  Please fill out our guest card or digital card.  We simply want to start the conversation about your story and our story.  Maybe God is leading you to journey with us with a vision of restoration and discipleship in the greater Mountain View area.   Digital Connect Card

PRUNNING 
I was sitting on the typical church pew, listening to a youth pastor from Tulsa unfold the word of God.  Life had me at a crossroads.  At the time, I was sixteen years old in my junior year of high school.  By this point I had been a Christian for 5 years.  This youth pastor expressed to a group of teenagers how much Christ loved them, and of God's relentless pursuit of their lives.

It was different from the typical messages I had heard in the past.  It wasn’t about behavior modification or cleaning up your mess. I don't remember every word, even one word for that matter. I simply remember that moment where the gospel of grace was so plain I was led to make a radical shift due to God's radical love.

With wisdom from this youth pastor from Tulsa, I decided God was leading me to surrender some things in my life.  The most glaring shift needed to be how I spent my weekends with my friends.  I know that sounds simple.  Honestly, it took me more than one sermon, on prayer, or conversation to come to that conclusion.  Talk about a tough moment followed by an even harder season as a teenager.  I was called to follow Jesus, not my friends.  The friends I once had slowly became friends of the past.

It was the first time I remember experiencing the pruning hand of God in my life. I was living the reality of John 15:2. For the first time, God cut something away to give way to flourishing.

If I were honest, John 15:2 is hard to understand. How does God prune the branch that makes up our life? Where does he cut away and how? I am sure, out of his great love he has pruned more in my life than I could see in the moment or care to admit.

LOVE
In John 15, Jesus gives an invitation for his disciples to abide in or be attached to his love.  He explains how being attached to or abiding in his love means following his commandments. (John 15:10-11)  This works because our life in Christ is relational, not transactional. We are not earning his love, rather we are abiding in it. As someone said before, "You can't earn what you already have."

Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love." Sit with that truth for a minute. Jesus, during the last moments with is disciples, doesn't come with strong words of correction.  He comes with a strong loving heart.

This doesn't mean Jesus is weak. Quite the opposite is true. Love is the strongest word he can use to describe his relationship with the Father and his disciples. Love then is the strongest action which he would display by "laying his life down for his friends."

...which brings me to the point.

When you come to a crossroads in your life, one of the most loving actions God will take is moving his hand to prune the branch. At the same time, one of the most loving actions we can take is to move our lives in the direction he is calling.  

John Ortberg said, "Anytime you see life flourishing it is because it is receiving nourishment from outside of itself."   I heard a pastor ask a very solid question the other day.  "What do you use to nourish yourself, so that you can thrive?"

Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)

Jesus gives us the secret in John 15…the secret to flourishing if you will.

The word abide has struck me for years.  Here it means to remain, dwell, stay, or to live in.  I have chosen to use the word attach, and hopefully my concept flows out of the reality.  Here is what Jesus said, “Abide in me & I in you, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  In other words, attach yourself to me, abide in me, remain in me…it’s the only way you can flourish.

Back to the question…what do you use to nourish yourself, so that you can thrive?  

Our culture looks for nourishment around every corner, hoping to achieve lasting fulfillment often in a source that can not sustain.  In all honesty, there really is only one source.  Jesus gives the secret.  He is the source.

I want to wrestle with this thought and powerful question as we walk through John 15 for our current sermon series.  

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Further Resources

ESV Bible -Online Resource
Bible Project - Jesus is the Vine