Mendham Hills

Sometimes when the "stuff" in my life is really spinning out of control, I start looking around. You would think my first thought would be to look for help, a way out. Nope. Do I look for a lesson to be learned from all of this? Not on your life - I'm in no mood for a lesson. When the stuff really hits hard, I have a couple of more primal concerns - wrong ones - and so do you. This Sunday at Mendham Hills, we learn the wrong questions to ask in our stuff, and the right one to help us make some sense of it all.

I had a new friend meet me at the front of the church last week with a pretty profound question: "If God is so powerful and He loves us so much, why doesn't He keep stuff from happening in our lives?" Great question. I mean, we play by the rules, we work hard, we pray and pray and pray...and yet the stuff just doesn't seem to change or go away. Why God? What is all this stuff happening to me? Why won't you just take it away or fix it? The unwanted gift of our stuff - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

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God, where are you? It's a pretty common question. Live long enough and you'll find yourself asking it. Heck, even Jesus came to the point of saying, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Have you? I mean, if God is in control, why does my life so often seem out of control? Looking for what God is up to in your life? You may be only one moment away because it just so happens...

George Thorogood sang it, Jesus answered it. If love is a verb, if love is a command, then who do we love? Maybe you or a skeptical friend have had trouble rationalizing a God of love with a world full of hate. How am I supposed to love my enemies when I have trouble loving my spouse? Learning to love everybody, always - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." So said the apostle Paul. He grew up, he matured...but in regards to what? He was not speaking generally, but specifically. He grew up. He changed the way he spoke, understood, and thought about love. Most of us never do, though. When it comes to love, we still think and speak like children and wonder why our Barbie Dream House images wind up more like an Adam's Family haunted house. This week, we conclude our "Love Does" series, and here's a hint - Love Wins!

"...to love somebody." Great song, but an even deeper truth. Jesus said as much when he said, "A new command I give you: Love one another as I have loved you." Why is it that we spend so much time and effort on every other command, and so little on what would become known as the "great one?" Who taught you how to love? If you think it's just natural, think again. This weekend we launch our new series, "Love Does." You and I really don't know how to love somebody, and it's time we learn. A series that could transform and save every relationship you have begins this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

Always, not sometimes. Always, not once-in-a-while. Always, not occasionally. Always, not some day. Seems kind of repetitive, right? That's the point. For most of us, love is kind of like a dance - there's a back and forth to it. You give, I give. You take, I take. That is not the kind of love that is the singular command of Jesus. Nor is it the kind of love He has for you. What does love always, always, always, always do? Find out this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

I'm kind of an old school guy. Sure, I pay my bills online now, but I refuse to check the box asking me to "go paperless." I still want the bill to come in the mail. I want to hold it in my hand, review it, and then file it away. This way, at a moment's notice, I can simply go to my filing cabinet and be reminded of who I paid for what and when. My memory might fade, but my filing cabinet is there forever. Oh, yeah...I also want to do that with things that people have done or said that hurt, disappointed or angered me. I have filed them away and I can bring them back at a moment's notice. How about you? We have a singular command - to love. This is NOT what love does. Destroying the record of wrongs, this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

Jesus summed up all the Old Testament Laws and Prophets with two new commands: Love God and love others. One of His early followers, the Apostle Paul, went even further when he wrote, "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." For them, the command to love had nothing to do with a feeling. Jesus commanded an action, and then Jesus showed us how to love. This Sunday at Mendham Hills, we look at the dirty little word behind real love. Warning: You might not like it, but if you really want to know what love is, Jesus will show you.

Kickoff 2018 is here! Are you old enough to remember the classic and oft-repeated line that came over the public address system after every Elvis concert? That's right! "Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building." Elvis stole that line. It was God's first. He used it a long time ago. Yet, we keep forgetting that God is not in a box - God has left the building. Try as we might, He just won't stay put. This Kickoff Sunday, invite a friend along for the fun, food and message - church re-explained!

"Time rolls by the clock don't stop / I wish I had a few more drops of the good stuff, the good times / Oh, but they just keep on flying right on by like it ain't nothing / Wish I had me a pause button / Moments like those, Lord knows I'd hit it and give myself five more minutes." Found myself singing this song a lot this week as summer faded into fall and the kids went back to school. Time is going by so fast - I wish I could just pause it or at least slow it down. How about you? One day, my kids were young - and now, they are almost grown and gone! This week at Mendham Hills - how to buy yourself five more minutes (and how to spend them!).

This Sunday we wrap up our summer-long look at Jesus' directive to "pray this way." What if I told you the ending you know and love and sing of "The Lord's Prayer" isn't really the ending? Would it matter? Should it matter? The truth is Jesus actually ends His model prayer with a story about unlocking the power of prayer. Ever feel like you pray so much and see so little? The often-untold story of the Lord's Prayer...the story that doesn't end the way you think it does...this Sunday at Mendham Hills.