Mike Phay speaking.

Being on Mission is being a Worshipper.  So often, we are guilted into being on Mission for God and so we go, doing our 'duty': finding joy in abating our guilt, being able to go home when we're done, and getting a pat on the back and an 'attaboy' from other believers who hear our stories of sacrifice and evangelism.  Lived in this light, Mission becomes about 'me.'  If we happen to be kind hearted and compassionate in the process, it becomes about 'them.'  But it's never about God.

That's too bad, because biblically, Mission is always about God.  Without exception.  The God Who created the universe has been, from the beginning, a Missionary God -- wanting to get His name known so that the universe could know how amazing He is.  That is our Mission.  Love God: Treasure Him above anything else.  Love Others:  Give them the One that you treasure.  In this way, being on Mission is being a Worshipper.

Do you want to be a Missionary?  Then you need to love Jesus for all that He is, and allow that love to be contagious.  That's it: magic formula done.  Fall in love with Jesus.

Mike Phay speaking.

When God wanted to do something on the earth, He chose to do it through people.  He has always wanted -- and has thus created -- a Family for Himself.  A people to call His own, made for His own glory.  And today, in Christ, that is the fundamental Identity of the church.

But how?  Could we be in God's own family when we are His enemies?  Only through His Son has He given us this gracious ability -- this adoption, along with all of its benefits. 

It's an amazing thing to be in the Family of God.  Now -- can we live it?

Jeff Wall speaking.

"The Son of Man did not come to served, but to be served..." As we follow Jesus, we must imitate Him.  This is essential to our Identity as the people of God.

Jeff Wall speaking.

The vision of Pneuma church is to live in Covenant together.  We do this purposefully by holding one another to the following Identities: Family, Learners, Servants and Missionaries.

Join us on this journey as we dig deeper into what it means to be a Learner -- a Disciple of Christ.

Jeff Wall & Mike Phay preaching.

It isn't a stretch to see how Paul's writing to a first century church applies almost directly to our church situations in the 21st century.  As we look at 1 Corinthians we see the overarching themes that act as poles for our lives:  Living between the Cross and the Resurrection; and living in the Power of the Spirit, expressed as Love.  As we live in the tensions between these four overarching forces in our lives, we live the Christ-life as Family, Learners, Missionaries and Servants.  These are the identities that God calls us to live in as we live for Him in the world.

Jeff Wall preaching.

The notion of taking a collection and passing the offering plate around is a sticky one for the modern church.  But as believers, we are called to give because God has so graciously given to us.  Without falling into a quid pro quo deal with God -- where we expect an exact return on our investments -- there does seem to be a biblical "Law of the Harvest."  You reap what you sow in every area of life, but especially as you hand your finances over to God.

Mike Phay preaching.

The resurrection has profound implications for how we live now.  And although Christ's work for us has profound implications on both our past and our future, often we miss the NOW of the Gospel.  Salvation means not only that we get Heaven then, but that we can live that then-life now.

And yet this kind of then-life comes with a price: Jesus says that a seed must die before it can bear fruit.  The road to glory for Jesus was a road through the cross.  This is your Death-Life Now. 

Jeff Wall speaking.

How the reality of Christ's resurrection and the promise of a future resurrection should change our lives today.

Mike Phay speaking.

The issue of "miraculous" spiritual gifts is one of the hottest topics in the church today.  Are they still around?  If not, why not?  If so, then what are they like?  How do you use them?  How do you know when they are real or counterfeit?

This sermon addresses some of these questions in an effort to further Pneuma's conversation and deepen our corporate worship.

Jeff Wall preaching.

Distance, impatience, self -- the easy way.

Love -- the most excellent way.

This chapter exposes our hearts and paints a picture of the life that God would have us to live with each other.  The more difficult, yet most excellent way to live.

Jeff Wall speaking.

As believers, we are said to all be endowed with "spritual gifts."  But what are these gifts?  How are we to use them?  Which one(s) do I have? Are they still around today?

In studying this passage, we will find that what is most important is not that we have gifts, but that we use them to serve and build up the body of Christ -- the Church.

Mike Phay preaching.

In his classic work Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote "Without Christ there is discord between God and man and between man and man...Without Christ we...would not know our brother, nor could we come to him. They way is blocked by our own ego. Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother.  Now Christians can live with one another in peace; they can love and serve one another; they can become one. But they can continue to do so only by way of Jesus Christ. Only in Jesus Christ are we one, only through him are we bound together." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together [San Francisco: Harper & Rowe, 1954], 23-24)

Christ gave us this example of self-giving, sacrificial love when He died for us.  He gave us a meal with which to remember it.  And when we share this meal together, we must come in grace and with grace.  For Christ invites the church to His table -- and we get to be part of that Feast.

Mike Phay preaching.

1 Corinthians 11:2-16 is arguably the most difficult passage in the Bible to interpret.  The issue of "head coverings" in public Christian worship is not one that most modern churches deal with.  Many would look at this passage and dismiss it as an argument of social propriety that is no longer valid today.  Surprisingly, others would hold onto the customs put forth as normative for all churches at all times.

But Paul is making a deeper point about the nature of men and women in the church -- and it is the idea of "headship."  He is adamant that the church be an accurate reflection of the "Already Not Yet" aspect of the Kingdom.  That we -- gathered together corporately -- show forth the newness and the glory of God's Rule.  This means many things -- the deepest and most important of which is the new kind of relationship between men and women in the church.

Jeff Wall preaching.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he used two short sentences to sum up the entirety of the Old Testament Scriptures:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength," and "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Simple commands, yet impossible commands.

It is also clear that the Gospel gives us freedom:  freedom from slavery to the things that have bound is in the past.  So often, we take our freedoms too far, proclaiming "All things are lawful!" (1 Cor. 10:23)  And yet Paul stops us:  "Not all things are helpful...not all things build up.  Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." (vv. 23-24) Idolatry keeps us from this important reality:  to do all the things for the good of another, and not for ourselves.  We must first see ourselves in light of God:  "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." (v. 26)

True Christian freedom is this:  Freedom to worship, and freedom to love. 

Mike Phay preaching.

Imagine taking your kids to the Grand Canyon and offering them this challenge:  "Hey kids!  The one to do a triple somersault-backflip-handspring closest to the edge without falling in gets to pick where we eat for dinner!"  Good parents would passionately urge their children to stay away from the edge.  You would never let your kids play with the Drano, hoping that they wouldn't drink it would you?

In 1 Corinthians 8-10, the Apostle Paul is teaching his spiritual children about the dangers of "eating food sacrificed to idols."  In 10:16, he urges them: "Flee from idolatry!"  Don't dawdle around and play a little bit with it...flee! 

The warning sounds strong across the centuries.  Even though most of us are not tempted to eat "idol-food" or go to "idol-meals," we are daily tempted with the soul-destroying beckoning of idols that are trying to snatch the affection and allegiance of God's children.  And yet God will not give His glory to another; he will jealously protect it.  And he has shown this throughout His story -- especially in the people of Israel.  And he calls for us now to be people who do not crave evil things, but rather to be men and women like Phinehas (Numbers 25), who are as passionate about His glory, His honor, and His mission as He is. 

Mike Phay preaching.

1 Corinthians 7:17-40.  Futurists say that they can pinpoint future trends in our society and economy based upon a clear view of the present.  Christians can pinpoint the way to live in the present based upon a clear view of the future.

Paul's teaching on singleness and marriage seeks to give us a new perspective on how to live life: not flaunting or seeking to change our circumstances to better our standing with God or others.  Rather, living for Christ in the midst of our circumtances for the sake of God and others.