 It's Monday, a new week, a fresh start. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." (NLT) If God's mercies are new every morning, then they are certainly new every week. Let's seek His mercies together this week, starting today.
1. Pray - Ask God to help you follow Jesus today. 2. Read Carefully from His word (I encourage a chapter in a Gospel) 3. Share - with the group what you read and how your walk with Jesus is going. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim
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 A brief word from Dallas Willard, "Many faithful Christians, in spite of their faith, are deeply disappointed in in how their lives have turned out....what they had hoped to accomplish in life they did not. They painfully puzzle over what they may have done wrong, or over whether God has really been with them. Much of the distress of these good people comes from a failure to realize that their life lies before them. That they are coming to the end of their present life, life "in the flesh," is of little significance. What is of significance is the kind of person they have become. Circumstances and other people are not in control of an individual's character or of the life that lies endlessly before us in the kingdom of God." (The Divine Conspiracy, p.376)
So we press on to become like Christ. 1. Pray - Ask God to help you follow Jesus 2. Read - a chapter in the New Testament, listening CAREFULLY to what the Spirit is teaching you. 3. Share - with a friend or group what you learned and how your walk with Jesus is going. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim  Did you know that at one point in history there were two popes? It happened in 1378 and is a sordid story of political drama that makes today's politics look like a sitcom. The point: Who's spiritual authority to you put your trust in when there are two popes? Go back a little further in history and you'll see that the prophet Isaiah realized he had two kings (see Isaiah 6:1-8). There was the king of Judah, Uzziah, whom Isaiah trusted for protection and prosperity and then there was the Sovereign King of the Universe, the Lord God Almighty. The point: Until we force our lesser king to abdicate the throne we cannot trust, serve and devote ourselves to the King of kings.
Who or what's your king? 1. Pray - Ask God to help you follow Jesus 2. Study - Read a chapter in a Gospel listening to what the Spirit is teaching you. 3. Share - with a friend or group what you learned and how your walk with Jesus is going. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim The prophet Isaiah faced his greatest life crisis "in the year king Uzziah died." In crisis, trial and disappointment we all have a choice: To see God as glorious and exalted and trust His sovereignty OR to blame God and wallow in the loss of our own sovereignty. Even when it is difficult to do, let us in all circumstances praise our God. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Blessed be the name of The Lord." 1. Pray - Ask God for help to follow Jesus. 2. Study - God's word, listening carefully to what the Spirit is saying to you. 3. Share - your journey with Jesus with your brothers and sisters. Keep Pressing On, - Pastor Tim  If you think striving to be an apprentice of Jesus is something that is too difficult for you right now or reserved for "special" Christians, you may be confusing normal discipleship with being a monk (what those guys did was very hard indeed). Striving to be an apprentice of Jesus is the simple responsibility of all Christians. In the book, "Renovation of the Church," Mike Lueken writes, [for so many of us] the way we did church, the style of our services, the underlying values behind our ministry - these communicated a ‘gospel’ in which accepting Jesus was required, but apprenticeship to Him was optional. Apprenticeship to Jesus (aka discipleship) is simply striving to be with and become like Jesus. My hope with these "Learning 2B Disciples" posts is to provide one vehicle of apprenticeship that is within our reach, encourages us and keeps us accountable.
1. Prayer (Asking God for strength and help to follow Jesus today) 2. Study (Read with the desire to understand a chapter or portion of a chapter in a gospel) 3. Share (Tell a friend or small group how it went, what you learned, failures, struggles, small victories or big victories.) Keep Pressing On, - Tim Kirkes It's Monday! A great day for a fresh start and re-commitment in our journey to be with and become like Jesus. According to Jesus, without His chosen preachers and teachers, we cannot understand His word, we cannot come to know and grow in Christ. In Luke 10:16 Jesus said the following to His disciples, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” In other words, "The preaching of word of God is the Word of God." The faithful preacher and teacher explains Scripture and points to Jesus. You can measure your love and devotion to Jesus (the Word) by your discipline and devotion of listening to the preacher and teachers He has given to you. 1. Pray 2. Study (all or part of a chapter in the NT) 3. Share (did you pray, what did you learn, what happened in your walk with Jesus today) Keep Pressing On, Pastor Tim  Mount of Olives But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. -Luke 5:16 (NIV)
Jesus had places. He withdrew to them. One of His places was the Mount of Olives where He would seek God's help and strength in prayer. Susanna Wesley (John and Charles' mom) sat at the table with an apron over her head. This was a sign to her many children she was in her place, alone with God. My places include any empty room before the kids get up and the church sanctuary (a perk of being a pastor who lives on the church property). God is invisible, He is not a pressing appointment on our calendars. We need to press Him into our schedule and go to a place where visible things won't distract us from our time alone with Him. What are your places? 1. Pray (Ask God to help you love him with all your heart, mind, strength and soul). 2. Study (Read a part or whole chapter in the gospel, listening to what God is teaching) 3. Share (Tell a friend or small group what God is teaching you, how your walk with Jesus is going. Tell us your places.)  Dear Apprentices of Jesus,It does no good to have a Mount of Olives if you don't have a habit. I read this yesterday, "Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him." (Luke 22:39, NIV). The New American Standard tells us this was Jesus' "custom." Jesus made it His habit to go to the Mount of Olives to pray. And did you notice this?: "His disciples followed Him."
Good, holy habits come at the cost of bad or even neutral habits. This week I'm fasting from the internet. No news sites, no surfing for things that interest me, no Facebook, no reading about the latest technology. None of these are bad, but for me they have become a hindrance to the good habit, praying as usual. The reality is that those who follow Jesus seek to do as He did. 1. Pray (Ask God for what you need to be a faithful servant of Jesus today) 2. Study (Read some or all of a chapter in a Gospel and listen to what the Spirit is teaching you.) 3. Share (Submit to the accountability of a friend or small group. Share if you prayed, what you learned and how it went serving Jesus today) The work of God does not start working until we get to work. This lesson is taught throughout the Bible; Moses returning to Egypt to rescue God's people, David picking up stones to battle Goliath, Paul traveling to proclaim the gospel. One of the most visual examples of this is from Joshua 3:13, And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. I don't know about you, but I would rather see the waters standing in a heap before I step into a river at flood stage carrying a 50lb load on my shoulders. That's not the way God works in us. First He calls us to obey, then we are to act in obedience, and as we act, God does the work only He can do in us.
 In his book, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard notes, We become a life student of Jesus by deciding...We do not drift into discipleship…. The disciple or apprentice of Jesus, as recognized by the New testament, is one who has firmly decided to learn from him how to lead his or her life, whatever that may be, as Jesus himself would do it. Decide today to be a true disciple/apprentice of Jesus who listens in order to live out His commands and who seeks to be with Him in order to become like Him. PRAY- Ask God to help you love, obey and become like Jesus and to be available to serve His kingdom. STUDY - Read at least one chapter of a gospel (or portion of a gospel) listening to what the Spirit is saying. SHARE – (This accountability is the tricky part.) Share with a friend or in a small group of friends that you meet with or can email and tell them....
In his book, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard notes, We become a life student of Jesus by deciding...We do not drift into discipleship…. The disciple or apprentice of Jesus, as recognized by the New testament, is one who has firmly decided to learn from him how to lead his or her life, whatever that may be, as Jesus himself would do it.
Decide today to be a true disciple/apprentice of Jesus who listens in order to live out His commands and who seeks to be with Him in order to become like Him. PRAY- Ask God to help you love, obey and become like Jesus and to be available to serve His kingdom. STUDY - Read at least one chapter of a gospel (or portion of a gospel) listening to what the Spirit is saying. SHARE – (This accountability is the tricky part.) Share with a friend or in a small group of friends that you meet with or can email and tell them....
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I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.
- William Carey AuthorMy name is Tim Kirkes. I am honored to be the a child of my heavenly Father, the husband of Lisa, the father of two boys and the pastor of San Dimas Wesleyan church. Archives
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