May 29th, 2009 by Tim Moore

How do we get faith? That is the 64,000 question. If faith has the power to fill gaps in our lives and see the impossible become reality, then we all want it.

Romans 10:17 says that “faith comes from hearing the word of God”. When you consider the context of that passage you see that it is talking about preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are lost. When we preach Christ to people who don’t know Him and they choose to surrender their lives to Him, that is when faith comes to them to believe in a God they can’t see. All followers of Christ have at least enough faith to believe in a God who died for them and rose again even though they weren’t there to see it happen first hand.

But what about the kind of faith that allows us to experience the supernatural – to have gaps in our life filled by God? You aren’t going to like this answer, so hold on. Faith is developed in us as we experience trials in life. When life is good and the money is plentiful, the kids are healthy, the cars are running well and everything is okay – you do not build faith. It is so easy to rely upon yourself in those situations.

But when your health is failing, you have no money and you need a miracle – that is when you need God to do something. And when he does, it builds faith in you for the next trial. When the only thing you can do is lean on God…that is when you start to build faith.

Romans 5 says…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us. (Remember faith is the substance of what we hope for)

James 1 says consider it joy when you experience suffering because it produces perseverance which in turn makes us mature (Paraphrased). In other words, trials develop faith in us because it gives us an opportunity to experience God’s faithfulness. When you experience God’s FAITHfulness it grows your FAITH.

So if you are going through a trial right now, at least take comfort in knowing that your faith is developing in you and you will be stronger on the other side.

May 27th, 2009 by Tim Moore

What exactly is faith? One of the most well known passages about faith is found in Hebrews 11:1.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Faith is being completely sure and certain that what we hope for is going to happen. To me faith is the gap filler. In other words, what stands between me and what I hope for is this gap. I don’t have enough money…we don’t have the people…I can’t get this marriage fixed…I need a miracle. Have you ever had those thoughts? Then you have a gap between where you are and what you need. These gaps are things that you can’t do anything about. You need the gap filled. You need a miracle.

Faith fills in the gap so we can experience the supernatural in our lives. It is the conduit that allows us to experience the miracle we hope for. Faith connects us with the ONE who can make it happen. Faith is being sure that what you hope for not because you can do it, but because God can.

What many people miss is the next verses in Hebrews 11. That is the stuff that gives us the faith.

This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

I love it! That statement “By faith” is repeated through the entire chapter. It is when God crossed this gap between the natural and the supernatural and did something miraculous. God created the world from nothing. Gap filled. God told Noah to build an ark when there was no sign of rain to save humanity. Gap filled. Abraham was told he would be a father of nations even though he had no child and was nearly 100 years old. Gap filled. The Red Sea was parted for the Israelites. Gap Filled. The walls of Jericho fell. Gap filled.

People through history have experienced the supernatural (God bridging the gap to us) by our faith. Read Hebrews 11 and notice that phrase over and over – “By faith”. It is our faith in GOD that gives us the certainty of what we hope for and have not yet seen!

Perhaps you have a gap that needs filled and you can’t do it. God can. He is the only One that can. Ask Him in faith to fill it.

May 26th, 2009 by Tim Moore

This week, I feel compelled to talk a little about faith. Why? Because I need to hear it. Sometimes we can know a lot about God and still struggle with believing. Sometimes we need to quote back to ourselves what God said in His Word. So, this week I’m going to energize my own faith by speaking the truth about faith!

Faith is something we all want. The Bible says that if we have faith even the size of a mustard seed that we can say to a mountain, “go throw yourself into the sea” and it will happen (See Matthew 21:20-22). When I read that, I feel like if I can just get enough faith like that I will be like superman. I will be able to do anything I want. Who doesn’t want that? So I’ll just try real hard to believe with all my might…and the mountain doesn’t seem to move!

Here is one thing I’ve learned about faith – you can’t fake it. You can pretend like you have faith (done that before) and you can talk like you have faith (done that before too), but that doesn’t mean you have it. Faith is something that is DEVELOPED in you. It doesn’t come just by flipping on a “believe” switch.

I’d love to say I have enough faith to throw a mountain into the sea (and all kinds of other cool things), but I don’t. But I want it! And that’s a good start. So I’ll ask God for it.

‘God, give me more faith. Develop true faith in me. I don’t want to pretend I have it. I want the real thing!’

May 22nd, 2009 by Tim Moore

Right now, I’m in my office and the stress of the end of the week is weighing on me. This week has been more than hectic with some of the busy things going on in my personal life. Now I find myself behind in preparing my message and honestly, I shouldn’t even be typing this. I need to get busy. I have a ton to do at the house, I’m not ready for this weekend and we are getting ready for our Memorial Day outreach at the church! I’m feeling stressed…again. I hate when this happens.

So I took some time to simply talk to God and I said to him, “God, I need your help today! Give me what I need to get through just today.” Sometimes the stress of what we have to do can keep us from even talking to God or asking Him for help. I know there are probably many more like me, feeling stressed right now. If so, stop what you are doing and ask God to help you get through just today. And don’t worry about tomorrow…until tomorrow. Then you can do it all over again.

Seriously, I’ve got to get back to work!

May 19th, 2009 by Tim Moore

We just got done having a LifeGroup guides (leader) development lunch on Sunday. Audry Slane, our LifeGroup coordinator, shared some great stuff to remind us all about the importance and power of small groups.

In our church we believe that LifeGroups are ESSENTIAL to growing closer to God and each other. I love our weekend experiences-when we come together as a larger group to worship. But in these small groups we find closer friends and the community we crave.

I’m personally having a blast in our LifeGroup. I see people growing and engaging the Bible like never before. It’s great to know that I have people who will support me and my family and pray for us. And best of all, this week we are having a cookout! The desserts alone are reason enough to get into one.

If you are not in one…you need to be. If not for yourself, maybe it is to help someone else. If you would like to find a group that will fit you click here!

May 18th, 2009 by Tim Moore

Again, this past Sunday we had people recommit their lives to Jesus and some give their life to Jesus for the first time ever! I love when that happens. No matter how many technical difficulties we had on the weekend and how much I think I messed up in the message, when people respond I know it is because of God. God is doing something great in our church and I believe that we are only seeing the beginning. This is why I do what I do. This is why I love being a pastor. Because I get the privilege of being part of leading people to eternity in heaven. There is no greater job on this planet!

I love my church!

May 14th, 2009 by Tim Moore

If you ask any pastor if he wants his church to reach the lost, you will undoubtedly hear a resounding “yes”. I think that is probably the primary reason most people go into ministry. But just because someone WANTS to reach the lost doesn’t mean they will.

If someone truly wants to reach they lost they will be intentional about it. Jesus was incredibly intentional about it. He went to dinner with tax collectors. He put in the effort to find common ground with them. He was a true friend to them. And as a result he was criticized. (Matthew 11:19)

If we want our churches to reach the lost, we must be intentional about it. We must choose music that connects with the lost. We have done that in our church to the tune of G-N-R, U2, Bon Jovi, and even AC/DC. (Yes, I know we are probably going to hell for that!) We must teach the Bible in a way that makes sense to someone who has never heard of Jesus. (To many “mature” Christians that would be called “dumbing it down”) We must be a church that truly cares about the lost enough to really welcome them to church. (No, that doesn’t mean just giving someone a worship guide when they enter the sanctuary!) And most of all, we must preach the Gospel. How can they respond if they don’t hear it?

We know that we have and will continue to be criticized for playing secular music and all the other things we do to reach the lost. But guess what…we have more and more lost coming to our church every weekend. And many of them are giving their lives to Jesus!

If you really want to reach the lost…you have be intentional about it. You actually have to care. You must build everything you do around them and for them. Jesus came not for the healthy (saved) but for the sick (lost). When you do that…you will reach them.

May 13th, 2009 by Tim Moore

Book Review:  Overcoming Barriers to Growth (Michael Fletcher)

This was one of the first books I read when we were stuck at our first growth barrier.  This book was incredibly helpful from a structural point of view.  As I read the first chapter, it was like reading about our own church.  His insights to barriers for church planters was right on.  What we needed to change was not so much about programs or how we did things, but was our leadership structure!

When we first started Crossroads Church, everyone pitched in to do everything.  We didn’t have the luxury of having different leaders for different areas of ministry.  But as a church grows, that core group begins to really struggle to find identity in the church.  Often what you have is a “committee” of people who have “been there from the beginning” sitting around trying to make decisions together.  That is death for a church.  That picture is the absence of leadership.

After spending over half a year praying about how to move us beyond our growth barrier, God gave me an incredible thought.  Leaders should lead something.  Duh!  Light bulbs went off.  At that point, I restructured our leadership so anyone who was a key leader in the church was going to be leading something.  It was one of our first moves to breaking through our growth barrier and set us up to move beyond the 2nd growth barrier defined in this book!

I really recommend this book to any pastor (especially a church planter) who might be dealing with early growth barriers.  Other leaders in the church might also find it helpful to understand what it will take on their part to help the church to grow.  I ordered and gave everyone one of my leaders a copy of this book so we could overcome barriers to growth together.

May 11th, 2009 by Tim Moore

Today is a big day for me. It is the 13th year I get to celebrate being married to the most amazing wife, Lorelei. I still rem

ember the day like it was yesterday. The morning of our wedding it poured and when I got to the church they were still in the middle of an unexpected funeral service. Seems like an odd way to start of one of the biggest days of my life. But it has been anything but a funeral!

I don’t think I would ever want to picture life without my wife. Sure things are not always perfect, but I have never once had any regrets! I truly believe that God gave her to me to balance me in so many ways.

Honey, thank you for 13 great years! I know the best ones are yet to come. Happy May 11th.

May 8th, 2009 by Tim Moore

For One Prayer we will experiment as a church with video teaching. We did this last year and found it to be a great success. This year again I will be pre-recording my message for the weekend of June 7th. Here is what I need. I need at least 40-50 people to come be part of an audience for the taping of this message. It helps if I am preaching to an audience. I want to appeal to everyone on this blog first. If you have the time and would like a special sneak peak preview to my message for One Prayer, come to the church on Wednesday, May 13th at 6:45pm. We will begin recording shortly after 7pm. It should only take about 40 minutes.

I hope many of you will be able to make it and I’m pumped about One Prayer!