Jesus in a Shoebox

Americans love shoes. According to this site, Converse alone has an annual revenue of over $16 billion. That calculates out to... A LOT of shoes. I'm confident with that estimate 1) because I did the math, and 2) because, if you find it on the internet, it must be true, right? I digress...

November 18 (2 weeks from tomorrow) is Awaken's deadline to bring in Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. We finally got around to doing our last night. While my mother-in-law watched Adalyn at home, Emery, Jenn, and I hit up Wally-World. Walmart is a killer place to go for shoebox gear because they have lots of small, cheap toys so you can jam those boxes full of killer stuff for the kids. We had a budget in mind, but as you'll find, you can easily get carried away while shopping. We ended up spending double what we had in mind. Oh well. It's worth it. Once we got home, we took the giving a step further and had Emery choose almost new toys out of her own toy box to include in the shoe boxes. She was stoked to give of what she had to "nother boys and girls."

Every year, Samaritan's Purse (run by Franklin Graham) ships millions of boxes around the world to kids who barely have anything. It's a hands-on way of sharing Christ with them, because they come in the name of Jesus. Many cities and churches around the world who receive shipments of these boxes put on big Christmas crusades with singing, dancing, performances, games, as well as the shoe box distribution. They're able to share the Gospel - the true meaning behind the boxes - then hand them out. As any of you who are parents know, when someone reaches out to your kid, they reach out to you too. These gifts don't just effect the kids, they preach to the whole family!

If you want to learn more about OCC, here's some info from their site.

Bring your boxes into Awaken by Wednesday, November 18, then we'll take them to the local drop-off center to be shipped out. Make sure to include a donation of $7 for each box to pay for the shipping costs. You can also donate online this year, through Samaritan Purse's EZ Give program. If you choose that route, your box will be equipped with a bar code that will allow you to track where your gift ends up! Super cool! Enjoy.

A Sermon for the Senses

Last night, I got to teach on one of my favorite topics to teach on: the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Super cool. The fact that He took the death that I deserved really rocked me this week. I hope that it never becomes commonplace.

Last night was a first for me: preaching on Halloween. While everyone else was out trick-or-treating, we worshiped - it was great. People all over the US put on masks and costumes, turning them into things that they really were not. My daughter was Little Red Riding Hood, another little girl in the church was a Bumble Bee. We normally don't allow bees in the church, but we made an exception for Bella because she was such a cute stinger-less bee. Jesus' death had a similar effect on us compared to the costumes people wore: By dying for us, Jesus put on our sin and became something He was not so that we could put on His righteousness and become something we could never be. That truth is straight out of Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:21 - For ​He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become ​​the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus knew that we were born separated from Him and the last thing He wanted was for us to die the same way, so, He gave everything up to fix that problem. Unfortunately, we get caught up in a bunch of other unimportant stuff and forget how incredible that sacrifice is. Jesus knew that, which is why He gave the church a simple, hands-on way to remember His sacrifice - communion. You see it, hear about it, touch it, taste it, and smell it - it's a sermon for the senses. I didn't have to do a lot of talking last night because I let the bread and the juice do the talking.

Is Jesus' sacrifice something you think about daily or do you easily forget about it? He got punished like He was the one sinned so that we could be rewarded as if we had never sinned! Wow! What a deal! Jesus certainly got the short end of the stick on that one huh? He's not whining about it though, He's sitting at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3) patiently awaiting our arrival when He raptures us. Because He died for us, the party can begin soon!

You can download the message HERE or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes HERE. Enjoy.

So...we had a baby

Last night at this time, I had just gotten finished preaching on Philippians 1. Super cool night with lots of new faces. We ate at Chili's afterward and slept in this morning. Today, we had a baby. We were at Sam's Club when Jenn felt a good strong contraction, and then after we paid out and headed to the car, her water broke. We sped back to the house, Nate & Jenn came and picked Emery up, and we were off to the hospital. With Emery, Jenn labored for about 21 hours, but with this one, it was about 3!

We enjoy the surprise of not knowing the gender beforehand, so we didn't know it was another girl till we met her in the delivery room. When her head came out, the doctor said, "That's a boy head." We won't tell her he said that. We quickly found out that he was wrong and were introduced to Adalyn Micah. She born at 5:56pm at a healthy 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 21.5 inches long. She has finger-toes like her dad and is already getting compliments about her height. I guess it runs in the family. She has barely any hair, but I'm sure she'll have plenty very soon.

I'm sitting here in the recovery room now getting down with technology. She's already the star of Twitter, Facebook, and her very own website, adalynmicah.com. Make sure to swing by and stay updated with pics of the newest Miller chica.

I'm stoked to be a dad again. I've been praying for this little one for a long time now - I'm glad she's finally here!

A Sermon That Packed a Punch

Zechariah 4:6 - ...‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. 

What a relief! Ministry isn't something we have do on our own strength - it's by HIS Spirit alone! That sure takes a weight off of my shoulders! Tonight, we continue through Acts 2 in our "To the End of the Earth" series through Acts. It's been incredible to see the exit of Christ and the entrance of the Holy Spirit. Last week we saw the Holy Spirit appear in a very powerful way and tonight we look at Peter, now supercharged by this new presence in his life. No longer is he the sword-wielding, ear-chopping, Christ-denying, foot-in-mouth disciple that he is so well known to be. Instead, he is bold, direct, and Christ-centered. He delivers a sermon that packs a punch...such a powerful punch, that thousands of devout Jews (some who live hundreds of miles away from Jerusalem and are just in town for the feast of Pentecost) accept Christ after hearing Peter's words (Acts 1:41). Incredible!

It's a great reminder to all of us that when God is given control of someone’s life, you’d better either get on board or get out of the way! A life surrendered to Christ is a very powerful thing. The disciples prayed for the gift of the Spirit and when He showed up, things changed…quickly and powerfully. That same Spirit is available for us today. It’s as simple as a prayer – confessing your sin and inviting Him in as your Savior. At that point, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you, making you capable of the unthinkable!

To illustrate the power of the simplicity of the Gospel, check out the Holy Spirit doing His work of conviction through this chick...while she's getting robbed!

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Oh, and if you're reading this before 6:30pm, it's not too late to join us for church tonight at Awaken! If you missed it, all the messages are available in our message archive on our website or also in our podcast in iTunes. Enjoy!

WAKE UP!

awakenchurch.org now features a WAKE UP! page designed to get people to do just that: WAKE UP! Using the video below, I lay out the simplicity of the Gospel message and give people a sample prayer to pray. I hope this can be used as a tool for people to come to Christ or maybe even a reference for someone who doesn't have a lot of experience with leading others to Christ. This page sums up what we're all about at Awaken: Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's it.

Spiritual Meat and Potatoes

I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy - I love a good steak, a big burger, some BBQ ribs, or something hot off the grill. I'm the same way spiritually - I love the meat of God's Word. At one point in my life, I used to settle for spiritual Happy Meals - they were fun, entertaining, and they even filled me up for a little while. I liked those because I didn't know what else was out there. Then, I tasted a filet mignon and I was hooked. I couldn't go back.

Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, said "I fed you with ​milk and not with solid food; ​for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;" (1 Corinthians 3:2). The milk was a great place to start, but eventually you have to move on to the solid food. Unfortunately, I'd say most Christians spend most of their lives surviving on short little sermonettes. I've heard it well said that "Sermonettes make Christianettes," and I would agree. The less you take in, the less you'll grow - it's logical. So, what do your spiritual meals look like?

Tonight after service, a guy gave me a huge compliment. It was said kind of in passing and probably didn't seem like too big of a deal to him, but it was huge for me. He said, "Kevin, I like your style. There's no fluff. It's just straight from the Bible. It's deep." That's it! Finally someone got it! I needed to hear that so bad! I've faced my fair share of doubt and discouragement since I've been here - all on the heels of criticism. I'm not a milk man, I'm a steak man - I try to serve up good, hearty portions of God's Word, but obviously, not everyone is into that. One guy told me that I should fashion my sermons more like a TV show - 22 minutes is a good length. My thought is that just because the bar is already embarrassingly low, should I lower my standards to match in order to get more people to come or should I endeavor to raise the bar of Biblical literacy by going deeper and hitting it harder? I prefer the latter.

I'm not at all saying that I'm the best at what I do. I sure have a blast doing it thought. I feel like I'm the waiter delivering the filet that the Master Chef (God) has spent thousand of years preparing thorugh the lives of faithful men and women. I'm just stoked to get the chance to bring it to people and see the joy on their faces when they're spiritually nourished. Any compliments that are given are obviously referred back to the Master Chef, who did the prep.

I hope you're not settling for sitcom sermons or milky, watered down messages. Go for the solid food - the deep truths of God's Word. That's where the true nourishment comes from.

Skulls, the Grim Reaper, & Other Non-Churchy Things

Last night was a great night at Awaken! I love getting together the people each week, plus, on Wednesdays, we serve FREE Lasater's coffee. Free coffee makes everything better. Seriously.

Every service so far, we've seen new faces  - some come back, some don't, but that's to be expected. I talked to one guy last night who is new to the whole Christianity thing - a co-worker of his recently led him to the Lord! He wasn't attending a church, and his mom happened to pick up an are you awake? card with the skull on the front (pictured). He told me, "I have a few Grim Reaper shirts, but I never thought that was ok for church." He was pretty intrigued when he saw that we were advertising with a skull, so he thought he'd come check it out. He said the message last night was exactly what his friend had been telling him - God knows and is in control of the future, so our lives should reflect that. I'm glad he came and I hope to see him back. I told him to wear a Grim Reaper shirt next time.

On another somewhat morbid subject, Halloween is just a few weeks away. While the world celebrates death, we will celebrate death at church as well...in a much different way, of course. We will celebrate the only death that can offer us true life - Jesus Christ. If it weren't for His death, we'd all have to die eternally for our sins. There would be no hope and nothing to look forward to. I don't think I've ever been to a church service on Halloween and I know I've never taught on Halloween, but this time, I'll do both - kill two birds with one stone (since we're on the subject of death and all). It will be our first ever Communion service and we will end service about 30 minutes early for a few games for the kids. Plus, every kid who comes get a FREE bag of candy. This isn't just any bag of candy, either. It's not the orange marshmallow shaped like a peanut or the generic white-wrapper candy - it's the goods. Bring a friend and we hope to see you there!