Kearney Church The Table

Jesus Christ. Restoring relationships since 33AD.

table — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:57:41 +0000

Relationships are precious. They hold more value than any other resource we might have, our could ever obtain. Money cannot buy quality ones, and if nurtured our relationships can outlast any valuable we could hold dear over a lifetime. They are literally woven into the very fabric of our lives. That’s why it hurts so very badly when our relationships are damaged or torn. Nothing can bring us more joy, or cause us more heartbreak than our relationships.

We see this every day in our society, in the millions of lives that have been shattered by broken relationships. Broken marriages. Broken families. Broken friendships. All can lead to entire lives of bitterness, resentment, depression, and worse. Maybe this brings to mind a relationship in your own life? Perhaps even now feelings are welling up that you fight daily to escape? What is to be done about this brokenness that is rampant in our culture today?

That’s the question everyone is trying to answer. We live in this constant tension of brokenness and at the same time longing to be made whole. To have the things that have divided us from those we once held dear to be made right. We long to be restored.

The truth is that this brokenness we see in our relationships, that we see in our world, is simply a symptom of a much deeper issue. The big picture is that we have a broken relationship that surpasses all others. A relationship that is foundational to the very core of our existence. What has happened is that our relationship with God has been broken, and from that damaged relationship everything else unravels before our eyes.

So what is to be done? Is there hope in the hopelessness. What can bring us restoration?

There is good news. What is it? The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Restoring relationships since 33AD.

Join us to hear more about Jesus, The Gospel, and how God has given us a part in the process of restoration.

See you at The Table,

Pastor Steven Dahl
stevenwdahl@me.com

Lead Us Not Into Temptation?

table — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:30:31 +0000

“Let no man pretend to fear sin that does not fear temptation also! These two are too closely united to be separated. He does not truly hate the fruit who delights in the root.”

- John Owen

As Christians we all are programmed from our conversion that we are supposed to hate sin. Sin was the thing that separated us from our Heavenly Father in the garden. Sin was the reason God destroyed all but Noah and his family in the flood. Sin was the reason Yahweh placed His people under the Law. And it is the sin of an entire world that caused a Heavenly Father to send His only begotten Son into human flesh, to have that same Son die on a cross to bear the wrath of God that sin deserved in our place.

Sin is death. We see the truth of this played out in lives every day don’t we?

But the truth is that sin isn’t where all the trouble starts is it? We don’t wake up one day having decided that we should murder someone. We don’t walk down the street and fall into an adulterous relationship out of nowhere. We don’t flip through the channels or surf the web and suddenly find a porn addiction in an instant. Do we?

No, sin is the result of something that modern Christianity seems to tolerate in the life of a believer far more than sin. It is something that makes sin and the risks involved with it somehow worth it in the moment. The truth is that sin is birthed out of something we like to call temptation.

Temptation is the precursor to all sin. In fact one could argue that no sin is committed without it. Sin is the child of temptation indulged and acted upon. Temptation is a serious issue in the heart of a believer, so much so that it is one of the focal points of Jesus when He teaches His disciples to pray.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” – Matthew 6:13

Jesus teaches us that this should be our hearts cry as a follower of Him. And maybe it is something that we throw into our prayers, kinda like telling God what He wants to hear. The question remains, deliverance from temptation something that we really want Jesus to answer for us, and does our life bear this out?

Many times it doesn’t. Why? How does Scripture want us to respond to temptation?

Join us Sunday at The Table as we explore Jesus’s teaching on temptation and our response as followers of the King.

Pastor Steven Dahl

stevenwdahl@me.com

Giving Christmas Away.

table — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:53:21 +0000

According to the “Advent Conspiracy” Americans will spend 450 billion dollars on
Jesus’s Birthday.
We live in a society that equates value with love. We see it all the time. When a bride gets engaged we look at how big the rock on her finger is, and that indicated how much she is loved. Kobe Bryant anybody? Our greeting cards are seven bucks a pop if we “care enough to send the very best”. And when was the last time you saw a smart car wrapped up with a big red bow on a car commercial? The truth is you cannot even begin to watch any television most times of the year where the premise isn’t held up as absolute. You love well if you spend well.

This is especially true this time of the year. Christmas.

According to the American Consumer Credit Counsel the average American will spend $935 on Christmas gifts this year. On average. A grand. Man, Woman, and Child.

So how does this culture of excess line up with the culture of the Kingdom?

Let’s look at what our King has to say on the matter.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21

So with this in mind where is our treasure this holiday season? Are we making credit card payments for things that will find their way into the trash heap, or will we make memories with those we love that will last a lifetime?
Are we investing in some CEO’s children’s private education, or will we place our treasure in the hands of those like World Vision who will take it and educate the poorest of the poor, making beggars into workers, while sharing with them the knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Will we eat, drink, and be merry beyond our real need at our 4th Christmas party of the season, or will we feed a starving world that would be thrilled with the stuff we are gonna throw out at the end of the night?

Will our own kids think of Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty before they think of a Child King in a manger, Emmanuel, God with us. The Baby that came to suffer and die, to take on a Father’s wrath, so we wouldn’t have to. Have they truly received the gift of Life in Christ?

Isn’t that more pressing that the latest whatever?
This year change the world… Give Christmas away beautifully.
Seek Jesus. Ask Him how. He promises to tell us, if we don’t really know already.

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/default.aspx?page=3684

Happy Advent! Jesus is coming again!
Pastor Steven Dahl
stevenwdahl@me.com

And The Dead Shall Rise….

table — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:27:55 +0000

It is fitting that it is All Hallows Eve as I write this entry. As I look around the neighborhood I am confronted with hundreds of takes on what life after death looks like. To some the afterlife is nebulous. A ghost or ghoul that lacks any real shape at all. Yet others have donned the masks of the devil and his minions. Some are quite innocuous – the classic red spandex and pointy tail. Others are actually pretty horrifying, a glimpse of how the angelic damned might perhaps appear.

But there is another group out there this Halloween night with another perspective on how one might spend their existence after their natural time is up. Many are donning various shades of human immortality in their darkened forms. I’ve seen vampires (not the sparkly versions thank goodness), werewolves, and my own personal favorite, the classic zombie. I say classic because the classic zombie wasn’t the result of bioterrorism or a bad cure for cancer. It was caused by a nasty voodoo curse, or some damnable act of evil. As it should be. But I digress.

I find the second group fascinating. It’s not just because they have niftier costumes, but to me the second group bears a bit more of humanities’ soul. It is in this group we see human beings longing for immortality differently, and unlike the first group they want it while holding on to something that defines them. Their physical bodies. Even in the nastiest of forms, they would rather hold on to the body than be without it. Even if they have to suck blood or eat brains to do it! It’s unnatural to be without it.

I think this reflects something deep in our humanity. Something placed there by The Godhead. Not the nasty stuff, but a longing for a completeness in our eternal existence. The continual unity of body and spirit. To be whole. To be uncorrupted. To be immortal To be like Jesus… Resurrected.

The Corinthians had questions about the nature of this concept of Resurrection, and how it effected their lives practically. Believe it or not people still do. Join us this Sunday for our study of First Corinthians chapter fifteen and what it means to us that we will be resurrected like Jesus.

Happy Reformation Day!

Pastor Steven

stevenwdahl@me.com

With Strings Attached

table — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:28:44 +0000

I have always been told to never give gifts with strings attached. I suppose it’s a protection thing. Maybe so we don’t have expectations of how the person will respond to the gift. Will they use it? Will they put it in the closet and forget about it? Will they drop it off at Goodwill? Will they tell you thanks and pretend to love it, but really hate it?

Did you know that the scripture tells us that when you became a Christian you were given gifts? Yes, the obvious one of redemption, but there are others. Spiritual ones.

God gave you gifts….but risking disappointment God gave them with strings attached. There are stipulations about how and where they can be used.

The question we will be talking through this week at Gathering are:

What gifts were you given?
What are God’s expectations of how you will use them?
Is your getting dusty setting on a shelf somewhere?
How can your gifts change the world?

Unwrapping Spiritual Gifts : Signs

table — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:10:23 +0000

“Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs.”

So we have been studying Spiritual Gift and Paul’s words in First Corinthians about their source, their purpose, and their practice. Without a doubt one of the most controversial aspects to this study surrounds a set of gifts commonly known as “sign” gifts. Sign gifts are controversial because of their overtly supernatural nature. These are those gifts that kinda make an impression when you see them. People make that “what the heck” face those people on tv do hen they see David Blaine do his levitation illusion. GASP!!!

The issue is these gifts operate outside the “natural” parameters of our human experience. They are glimpses of a Sovereign, all powerful God moving through mere jars of clay, beyond any natural explanation, and at times we are anything but comfortable with that.

So what do we do?

We create doctrines, beliefs, and settings where Jesus took back some of the Spiritual Gifts, and where the Holy Spirit never does anything we can’t explain. Is that really the way God works. Always in tidy categories that we are comfortable with? Always within the outline of our Sunday Morning bulletin?

Never.

Jesus Christ is always bigger, better, and beyond what we think He is. The Holy Spirit is still in the business of giving gifts that defy all the odds. God the Father is still interested in all the Earth knowing that there is a God in Heaven.

Join us Sunday for a discussion on the Sign Gifts, why they are important, and how they play a part in the Kingdom today.

See you at The Table

Pastor Steve

stevenwdahl@me.com

Unwrapping Spiritual Gifts : Links

table — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:24:00 +0000

Hey Family!

Here are those links I spoke about on Sunday. I would encourage you all to take a very simple spiritual gifts test at the following link:

http://expectedend.com/spiritual-gifts/#gifts

I haven’t looked over the entire website so just stick to the test!

This link goes through those gifts with explanations, examples of use, and people in the Bible to study that have these gifts.

http://theresurgence.com/series/spiritual-gifts?page=1

There might be a couple exclusions of gifts, and we discussed on Sunday that the gift lists are not exhaustive, so if you have questions contact me @ stevenwdahl@me.com

It will greatly enhance our study together if you have at least a general idea of what your Spiritual Gifts are as a believer! So do it!

Not sure where you stand with Jesus, who is the giver of eternal life, the greatest gift of all? I would love to chat about that too!

Love you,

Pastor Steve

Unwrapping Spiritual Gifts: Introduction

table — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:06:30 +0000

Have you ever been around somebody that is truly gifted? Not someone who is kinda good at something, but truly gifted. Maybe a musician that makes playing any song, no matter how difficult, seem effortless. Maybe an athlete that can perform at the next level? Maybe a scholar with a mind that makes the most complex of problems child’s play. If we don’t know someone like that we have heard about them. That whole “13 year old at Harvard” thing.

How do those that are gifted make you feel about yourself? Do they make you feel a sense of awe? A sense that you are seeing something amazing, outside of the normal spectrum of human experience. Maybe they just make you want to ask them to recite pi continually until they pass out!

Or maybe you feel envy towards the gifted. A tinge of jealousy, questioning why it was that you were passed over in the talent pool. Or maybe you resent the fact that you have to work twice as hard to get the same results as the one whose gift makes it seem almost effortless.

No matter how you view the gifted I have a bit of good news for you. If you are a Disciple of Jesus Christ you been gifted. Yes you heard me right. You are gifted. How, you ask? By the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s right, I’m talking about the Gifts of the Spirit.

What are the Spiritual Gifts? Mark Driscoll puts it this way in his book “Doctrine“.

“Our spiritual gifts are a special grace of the Holy Spirit given to us at our new birth. They may be enhancements of our natural talents or wholly supernatural endowments. In either case they benefit the forward progress of the gospel and allow the Christian to live a passionate life of humble service as an act of meaningful worship.”

Mark Driscoll just described you. “Who me?” Yes you. The beautiful thing about the Spiritual Gifts is that you have one if you love Jesus as your Lord and Savior. So, surprise! You’re gifted!!!!

I know this statement is going to lead to a lot more questions. So I am inviting you to join us in the upcoming weeks to discover what the Spiritual Gifts are, their purpose, and how you have been gifted by the Holy Spirit do the Kingdom Work to the glory of Jesus Christ!

See you at The Table,

Pastor Steve

stevenwdahl@me.com

Going to Church is SO “Old School”, And That’s Why You Should Go.

table — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:36:00 +0000

Church.

The word stirs up many pictures in our mind. For many of us we used to see Church as a place. Somewhere we would go to worship, fellowship, and learn about God. The truth is far more dynamic than that. For those of us who strive to live the Missional and Incarnational life we know that the church is much more than a place we go and meet, but instead is the family of God that we belong to. It is our relationship with other apprentices of Jesus, and with our Master. Jesus Himself stated that, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” – Matthew 18:20 ESV. No matter where we are at the moment – the mall, our favorite coffee shop, our homes -Church is who we are, not where we go. I see view this totally supported in the life and ministry of Jesus. Most of the work of His ministry was done outside the places of worship during His time. Being part of the Church is the entire life of a follower of Jesus, not just where we head on Sunday.

That being said, I think there is a danger within our type of community to somehow downplay our corporate gatherings. We believe that because Church is so much more than just Sunday morning, suddenly Sunday morning isn’t that big of a deal. Sunday is one more thing that I can choose to be a part of if and when it is convenient for me. We take on the mantra of Kurt Cobain when he declares that, “Sunday morning, another day for all I care,” and we begin to fall into a subtle trap of viewing our corporate gatherings as an optional part in our walk with Christ. The writer of Hebrews warns us about this in his words to the early church,

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” – Hebrews 10:24-25

Now I can hear the arguments already, ranging from “not wanting to be legalistic about my faith,” to claims that the “early church would never meet in the manner we do now.” So I would like to encourage you with three reasons why attending a corporate worship gathering is important to us as believers.

First, it is the pattern of corporate and personal worship of God throughout Scripture, and as such this pattern should be replicated. In short because the Bible says so. In fact most of the Old Testament book of Leviticus is written to give God’s people the proper perspective on their corporate worship, and yet we also see God emphasizing how it should spill over into our personal life as believers.

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.”

- Deut. 11:18-21 ESV

In the new testament we see this pattern replicated. We see the Church expressed in the home, the marketplace, and in gathered corporate worship in the temple until they were no longer permitted to do so.

“And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:46-47 ESV.

Secondly, corporate gatherings can inspire us to fight the good fight faithfully, personally. Again Hebrews states that our gatherings can “stir up one another to love and good works” in a way that we can’t do or maintain by ourselves. The gathering of the family of God allows us to express our spiritual gifts to build each other up (1 Cor. 12:4-7), hear the teaching and preaching of the Word (Acts 2), and find accountability in community (James 5:16).

Finally, corporate worship reminds us that we are part of something bigger than you and me. When we fail to meet together to worship Jesus we can easily take our eyes off of Him, and place them on ourselves. This is not how our faith is meant to be lived out. We are a family. The Body of Christ. We are saved by Christ and have a wonderful personal relationship with Jesus, but we are at our best in the context of community. That is the way God has made it from the beginning. Adam was made in God’s image. He walked with God, he looked into God’s face from day one, and existed in a perfect relationship with his Lord. But God states,

“Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” – Genesis 2:18 ESV

God gave Eve to Adam when he needed community. Alone with His God was not good, it wasn’t bad, just not as good as it could be. The two of them basking in the Glory of Jesus Christ was perfect. We are no different. We need our Church community. We need our helpers. We need to be a helper to others.

So I encourage you to be both the gathered and the scattered Church. And we will see you Sunday.

- Pastor Steven

Summer Update

table — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:02:02 +0000

This Summer has been intese for those of us leading The Table. We have had military training, friends pass away, car trouble, house buying, and businesses starting. These things have stolen much of our time and energy. The cool thing is that even through all these things that our leaders are battling through, the community has not just remained intact, it has grown.

Now it’s time to define growth. Church traditionally means adding people and finances. You know, nickels and noses. Here at The Table, we choose to tackle the topic from a different perspective. We believe that if we see healthy growth in the areas listed below, that cash and people will flow in. Here’s how we measure growth:

Gospel Stories – Are we hearing stories of the God, The Holy Spirit, work in people’s lives?
Incarnational Community – Are people attracted to and entering into small group community?
Leaders – Is our pool of leadership growing?
Community Involvement – Are we fulfilling our mission to our surrounding community?
Worship – Are we seeing people respond to The Gospel in ways that honor God?

Even though Summer is usually a “lean” time for churches, we are seeing God grow out church…even with people and finances.