Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

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Amelia Small Groups Promo from Amelia Church of Christ on Vimeo.

Does the Resurrection Matter? – Part Two

If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then the Bible is a lie.

There is a movement toward a "pick and choose" method when it comes to Scripture.  Actually, it's not a new movement.  It's been around for centuries.

For example, Thomas Jefferson set out to revise the story of Jesus' life.  He respected the ethical teachings of Jesus, but he didn't believe in the supernatural miracles that are reported in the New Testament…so he cut them out. What was left came to be known as "The Jefferson Bible."

Here's the problem…if some of the Bible comes into question, then all of the Bible comes into question. If the Bible lies about one thing, we should assume that it lies about many things.

This is problematic for many people who claim the name of Christ but do not believe in His bodily resurrection from the dead.  The problem is that the Bible reports it as fact.

It is prophesied in the Old Testament (Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 53:8-12).

It is reported as fact in the New Testament (Acts 10:37-40, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

If you're going to throw out the resurrection of Christ, at least be honest about it. Throw out your Bible, too.

Does the Resurrection Matter? – Part One

The resurrection of Christ is what separates our faith from any and every other world religion.

As Mark Driscoll wrote in his new book entitled Doctrine, "Of the four major world religions based upon a founder as opposed to a system of ideas, only Christianity claims that the tomb of its founder is empty. Judaism looks back to Abraham who died almost four thousand years ago and still cares for his grave as a holy site at Hebron. Thousands visit Buddha’s tomb in India every year. Islam founder Mohammed died on June 8, 632, and his tomb in Medina is visited by millions of people every year." (bold mine)

As Christ-followers, our leader indeed died. He was, in fact, murdered.  But the grave couldn't hold him. As a precursor to Easter, we'll explore why that's important over the next few days.

Annual Picnic/Easter Egg Hunt

This annual event is this Sunday (rain or shine) right after our morning worship service.  Tons of fun for the kiddos. But it's also a great time for all of us to kick back and just enjoy hanging out together.

Come, grab a hot dog, relax, and spend some time connecting with others in the ACC family.

The Story of Zac Smith

Want a preview of my message that's coming this weekend?  Zac Smith embodies every word that I'll be preaching on Sunday.

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Swagger Jackers

This weekend, I preached that the people of God should be cocky. A person of strong faith has a sanctified arrogance about them.  They walk with a swagger. Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells us why.

We boast…we brag…we are arrogant…about our God. If you truly believe that nothing is impossible with God, then you will walk through life with a spiritual swagger.

Steven Furtick had a recent post on his blog about swagger jackers.  I resonated with every word of the post.  It was largely written to pastors and leaders, but I'd like to expand the thought to everyone.

A swagger jacker is anyone or anything that hijacks your swagger.

There are people who try to back you down from doing what you know God has called you to do.

There are circumstances that, if you allow it, can cause you to stop walking with a swagger and start walking with a limp.

Too many Christ-followers have a "peculiar hitch in their git-along" (theology via Andy Griffith).  They don't walk with a swagger, confident in the power and supremacy of their God. Instead, they limp along in fear and trepidation because they've allowed someone or something to steal their swagger.

I don't know what your swagger jacker is, but I do know this…it's not as big as your God.

Turn your focus to His power today. Pray for Him to do an impossible work in your life.

And then walk through the rest of today with a swagger.

The Church Being The Church

I can't get over it. I just can't.  Images from Sunday are still flooding my mind.

We kicked off our What Faith Can Do series this weekend.  The message was simple: Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

So many times the people of God pray small, safe, sanitized prayers.  We don't really believe that nothing is impossible with God.  We limit God based on what we see in our limited perspective.

But real faith isn't dictated by what we see (Hebrews 11:1).  Faith doesn't calculate the odds.  Faith believes in an omnipotent God who supersedes our circumstances…who is bigger than our problems and pain…who really can do the impossible.

At the end of the service, I challenged our people to go big. We positioned some of our leaders around our auditorium and I challenged people to go seek them out. Our leaders were ready to pray big, audacious prayers over our people. The only question was…would our people respond to the call?  Would they step out in faith?

YES THEY WOULD!!!

People moved in droves toward our leaders.  Tears flowed.  Huge prayers were prayed. Love was given.

It was a shining example of us just being who we are.  It was the church being the church.

And I just can't get over it.

What Faith Can Do

We're kicking off a short two-week series this weekend at ACC called What Faith Can Do.

But don't let the brevity of this series fool you.  It might be short, but it's going to be a powerhouse.

Have you ever said this before?

"God, where are you?"

"God, I can't do this anymore?"

"God, why aren't you coming through for me?"

Have you ever given up on God?

If so, you're in good company.  I have too.

Don't let anything stop you from being at ACC the next two weeks.  Seriously. God is blowing me up with the Word He is laying on me.  By the time I get to Sunday, I'll be ready to explode!

Blessing Blinders

Almost all of us wear blinders that keep us from seeing our blessings.

The blinders come in a cornucopia of different flavors, shapes and sizes…but one thing remains the same: they keep us from seeing our blessings.

Some blessing blinders…

Busyness

Disappointment

Misplaced focus

Misappropriated priorities

Unanswered prayer

Lack of prayer

Self-centeredness/selfishness

The list could go on forever.

I don't know what your blinders are, but let God lift the blinders that you are wearing today. Allow Him to show you how blessed you really are.

Last week, Brian and I visited Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  Go spend an hour in that place. That will take your blessing blinders off.

Some of the sights and sounds that met us as we walked the hallways are burned in my mind.  One little girl in particular sticks out in my mind.  I'll never forget seeing her tears as she fought through tremendous pain trying to walk.

God broke my heart in that moment.  And I was reminded of  this simple, but life altering, truth…

I am blessed.

It Will Change Your Life

I get accused of over-hyping stuff sometimes.  And that's probably a fair criticism.  One thing that I've tried to back away from is the line, "This will change your life."

I used to say that a lot, and I always meant it.  I believe that what we do in our church is life changing, but I've come to realize that God is the one who ultimately performs the life change.

It's not up to me to hype it up for God.  It's up to me to set it up for God.  If He chooses to take our work and change someone's life, then He gets the glory.

Given this new way of thinking, I'm very intrigued by a current ad campaign that I saw on TV.

"DIRECTV: It will change your life."

Wow!  Talk about overhyping something! I had a satellite provider for a while and it didn't change my life. (Maybe that's because it was DISH Network and not DIRECTV.)  But seriously…I think this is the worst case of overpromise/underdeliver that I've ever seen.

I'm committed not to be a DIRECTV pastor. Will I hype stuff?  Of course.  I believe in what we do with everything in me.

Every sermon series is a great sermon series.  Every opportunity is a great opportunity.  If it wasn't, why are we doing it?

But at the same time, I'm not going to promise something that only God can deliver. We will do everything we can to set things up for God to change your life. And when He does change your life, you give all credit, glory, and honor to Him.