Pastor Ken Andrs

Another Morning

2010-04-27T05:22:00.001-07:00

This really isn't just another morning, my oldest daughter, Katy, has turned 8 today. God is so Good to us. She is smart, Loves Jesus, Teaches others about Him, is a willing Evangelist, and is a developing Leader. God bless her in her coming years.

Posted via web from Pastor Ken Andrs

Psalm 1 -- Connected to the Source

2010-04-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

We began a new series at LPC this past week. We are looking at the Psalms, How God's People Worship the Father through Life. On Sunday we looked at how being connected to the source allows us to connect with others in healthy ways. When we are connected to the Mockers we tend to be self centered and easily waylaid on our path to knowing Christ. When we are connected to the Father we have deep roots, we soak up the goodness of life and produce fruit that brings glory to the Father. In the midst of this growth we cannot help but come into contact with the mockers, but are we impacting them or are they impacting us? It all comes down to the source, if we are connected to the Father we will make an impact on those around us.

Blessings on your Monday,
Pastor Ken

Symbol of hope at Easter goes beyond cross | Superior Telegram | Superior, Wisconsin

2010-04-02T08:15:00.001-07:00

Symbol of hope at Easter goes beyond cross | Superior Telegram | Superior, Wisconsin

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The Symbol of Hope at Easter

2010-03-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

Every spring I desire to do the same things, for tradition’s sake- a big plate of fried fish and chips, a walk through the melting snow and slush, a pitiful attempt at coloring eggs that will never be eaten, and sitting in the rising sun thinking on the empty tomb. I do this to focus myself in this changing time of year; to focus not on the summer to come, but on all that God has done for me.

Many people wear a cross to remind them of their faith. I prefer a different symbol. The greatest symbol of faith followers of Jesus have is the empty tomb. We may focus on the cross, but it is the tomb emptied of death that brings the most fear and hope to the world. The empty tomb challenges us to think beyond the moment to what really matters.

On Easter Morning, for the past several years, I rise, pause to look out over all the Lord has given to my care, and think on the empty tomb. This is the time of Easter I look forward to each year- not for the tradition, but for the hope and fear it brings to my life. You are probably saying, “A pastor afraid of the empty tomb?” Yes, I do fear it. I fear it for those I love, my friends, my aquaintances, and my enemies.

I fear the tomb for what it means for all of us. It means that to live, to have life, to have a life worth anything more than what I earn laboring, there must be death – the payment of all I have done wrong. I fear all people everywhere will not accept the payment God offers based on the death, burial, and resurrection of the One who offers us new life, Jesus.

I fear the tomb, for it is the symbol of the culmination of the pain and suffering Jesus felt on this earth before the night of His betrayal. It dredges up visions of the intense torture He experienced leading to the cross and the pain, shame, and slow death upon the cross. I fear the tomb, for it asks me to examine myself and my role- my sin- in the death of the One who loves me more than any other.

This fear brings me hope; for I do not rely on my own work to pay for all I have done wrong. Rather, I look to the empty tomb. The empty tomb that waits for me to die to self and live for my Savior, the Conqueror of Death, Jesus. In the empty tomb that I fear so much, I rest in the hope that is Jesus.

Romans 5:18-19 reads,
“18So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. 19For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. (HCSB)”

I will rise on the 3rd day, before anyone else, and think of the empty tomb, leaving my fear and embracing hope. Taking hold of the hope Jesus brings by conquering the grave, I go on with my day and rejoice in the freedom He has given me to offer His hope, without fear, to the world. His righteous action has freed me and can free you from the bondage of sin.

How do you want it to end?

2010-03-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

The past few days I have been challenged with my own mortality. Not so much that I will die or am dying or am afraid to die. Rather it is the kind of life that I will live and what I want to accomplish while I live that I am concerned about.

I assume this feeling is pretty unnatural for everyday life, but after getting fired 2 weeks ago I am doing some soul searching and examining what I desire to accomplish with all I do in life. I keep coming back to one thing, just one thing that I strive to do with all I have in this life.

It is rather interesting and different, but it keeps me focused on what I am called to do and who I want to be.

"I want to end up sliding into home, battered, beaten, bruised and bloodied. I want to have Jesus pick me up off the ground at heavens gates pull out the flaming arrows from the shield and armor, brush the dirt off my shoulder, pull the sod from my helmet as He removes it. I want Him to be proud of the way I led my family, my church, my friends and enemies to know Him more and more each day. I want to hear the words from His mouth as He welcomes me Home, 'Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into your rest.'"

I am most concerned for my family in this vision... As a task oriented man I am afraid that I will not have the ability to teach and lead them as the Pastor-Dad I want to be. Loving, kind, compassionate, caring, encouraging and faithful to my children in all things. The task of Dad has not been one that I feel capable to accomplish on my own. I must ask my Father in heaven for help and bring my brothers around me for support. We must be the church that grows believers to be the fathers and family we need to be.

A great calling but a hard life to get to the bitter end.

Social Experiment

2010-02-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

I was on a retreat a few weeks ago and decided I needed to take a survey of the Southern Baptist Pastors and Wives in attendance. I asked what do you need to teach a new believe? It always came back to two things, How to read your Bible and How to Pray.

As I look at these things I can't help but think that what we really need is to learn how to communicate with the Father. How to look at His love for us and respond with thoughtful response to Him. So what do we need to do?

Read your Bible and Pray every day.

I have to admit that with my Busyness at times I miss my time to read and pray. My desire to wake in the morning read God's word and then pray asking Him to bless my day. What about you? Do you remember to Read and Pray every day?

It is my desire to relearn these techniques to be able to communicate them to my friends who are new believers and encourage them to know the Father in more intimate ways.

Mondays and Ministry

2009-10-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

As I sit here sipping a halfway decent cup of coffee listening to the gossip at the next table and enjoying watching the college students flirt their way through their shift at the bagel shop I realize that most people don't know what I am going through. It is Monday morning, yesterday I was exhausted as I stepped in the pulpit, I cried after the service as a friend declared he didn't know if God was really God, I ate lunch with good friends trying to avoid the awkwardness of the pain we have both felt this past week, took a too long nap and then taught the most horrendous lesson on adultery I have ever heard because of the immaturity of the young believers and their "off color" comments. Today it is Monday, I am desperate to see God move on behalf of the young believers, to transform their minds and draw them closer to Him.

I am struggling to understand the movement of God from week to week, to know how He will move and what to prepare for. In a couple hours I will go to work, do some ministry and play with my family. What will God do? I don't know, but I am loving every minute of it. A new friend commented Saturday night that a called pastor is reluctant, because He knows it will hurt, but God has called and so the pastor acts.

It is Monday, it hurts, but it is time to act. My 10am meeting is here, I act, Lord don't let it hurt too much.

Long Time Coming

2009-09-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

It is Friday afternoon and there is so much going on I don't know when my next break will be... October 1, maybe, or later... This brings me to the question, how much can you bear? For a long time I thought I was an all-star at bearing under what God would have me do. As I think now, that was wrong... I was a poor performer because I did not share the load with those that God placed around me. When I did not share the burden with Christ I limited who could bear the load to myself. When I turn the load over to Jesus, He shares it with me and those He chooses that can assist in work at hand, mainly the church. What are you doing to support your Pastor? What about the Elders? Or Deacons? Or Ministry Leaders? Or the Ushers or the person wiping your kids nose while you are enjoying the service?

Each one of us has a load to bear from our calling, our life and dealing with sin, our own and others'. Are you willing to give that load to Christ? What about helping with someone else's load are you willing to share if Christ calls?

I am getting better at sharing, but I always need a few more trustworthy friends to bear the load with... Will you be one?

Faith and a Job hunt

2009-06-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

How does one balance looking for a Job and the reliance of God's provision. Every step we have taken to start a church in Superior has been bathed in prayer. Well Lord you have called us, prepared us and brought us to your town for your glory. We stand in the midst of the need for Your provision and I can't help but wonder what You have planned. Lord in the midst of this trial I cannot help but have faith in You to provide the right job at the right time for Your glory.

Lord move or move me.

New Calvinists

2009-05-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

10 years ago, in the midst of college I realized I held Calvinistic beliefs. I was excited to finally have a label on what I believed. In the intervening years I waffled, Seminary and the desire for better grades will do that to a person. More recently I have noted my lack of deep theological understanding is affecting the way that I preach and the way I work in the church. To rectify this problem I have decided to explore, as Time Magazine has so aptly stated, New Calvinism.

The problem I have is that New Calvinism is not really all that new and different. The new is referring to the age of the adherents, mostly 20-40 year-olds. So I am left with studying the theology of the Reformers and Puritans, and then looking at the pet projects of the new leaders like Piper, Sproul, Mahaney and Driscoll. Berkhof is on the list as well, but I really want to see a repository of thought with reviews of materials so I that I don't have to spend hours reading texts that agree with one another.

God as I reaffirm my belief in you, help me to establish it based on who you are rather than on what I understand.

Pioneer Church Planting

2009-05-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

I have often contemplated the direction of my church planting efforts there are a few things that I will die for in planting a church.

1. Following Jesus
My colleagues claim it is a calling, a word from God, or a vision of the future that God has revealed. I have never had a direct vision from God, God has not spoken to me, or even called to me verbally. No quite the opposite is true, God's word specifically states that we should Love God and our Love for Him calls us to share His love with others. The best way I can describe it is God's call is for all believers to use the giftings He has given us for His glory.

2. Indigenous Planting
We plant churches to reach the community for Jesus. The people who grew up in the neighborhood need to know Jesus, they desperately need to know Him. It is those who grew up here that will turn their lives over to Him and cause others in the community to know Him as well.

3. Proclaiming Christ and Him Crucified
The only way people can know the truth of who God is is through the proclamation of Jesus' sacrifice and His grace given to all of humanity.

4. Local Support, Global Attitude
The local church must be willing to launch and assist the planter in starting this new work. The support must be generous and exceptional. The local church must see the need for a new expression of faith and be willing to sacrifice to launch the ministry. Not only in the local area but also through the whole world.

Loving God to Love Others

2009-03-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

I am constantly drawn back to the truths of God's word. Especially when it comes to my relationship with the Father. I turn to His word for direction, now more than ever.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (HCSB)
4"Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 5Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Leviticus 19:18 (HCSB)
Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

Mark 12:28-31 (HCSB)
28One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked Him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?"29"This is the most important," Jesus answered: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, The Lord is One. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.31"The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."

As a child my third grade Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Merry shared the Love of Jesus through practical care and grace. To a rowdy class of boys and girls she blessed us with an unfailing love that engaged us, challenging us to awaken spiritually making the Bible, for the first time, God's love letter to us. Rev. Brewer taught us the life of Joseph emphasizing God's omniscience and omnipresence while revealing God's foreknowledge for all of life. This established a firm foundational relationship with Jesus that could not be shaken.

But is could be swayed. Jesus remained the same, but the need to Jesus transformed.... To knowledge, life skills, thought processes and tasks. Even more so in college, then again in the first years of ministry my relationship with Jesus was based on performance rather than Love.

In establishing relationality with the Father I found myself once again drawn back to the foundational truths taught by Mrs. Merry, Rev. Brewer and my Grandfather. Love God, Love Others, and whether you are Brilliant or Dumb it is God that Leads, it is all about God.

Here I am Lord use my Love for You to reveal Your Love for others, for that is what my Love for You leads me to.

Love the Lord, Love others, Led by the Lord.

Preaching and Pain

2009-02-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

I have spent a long week working on my Preaching and Dealing with pain. I was not surprised by how intricately they were linked, rather how they were connected this week. On Monday and Tuesday I was in Madison working on my preaching skills, being sharpened by the Simeon Trust, sitting under David Helm, Paul Winters and Jeff Nettles. This was a great time of sharpening and applying the hermineutical process to the art of preaching. I truly enjoyed this time.

Returning home I prepared a sermon to share the Love of Jesus at a funeral. The pain the family was feeling and then what I was feeling was near unbearable. Sharing the love of Jesus at a funeral is hard to communicate when they are so focused on their pain.

In the next few days I look to apply what I have learned to the preaching process, all the while individuals are returning to Jesus. Discipleship groups are starting and more are looking to know Jesus. Pray for us as we continue to share the Love of Jesus with Superior.

Outreach vs. Relationship

2009-02-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

I am an extremely relational person. I like people and want to be around them, then just like a switch I want to escape.

God is a relational God, Father to Son, Son to Spirit, Spirit to Father. All in relationship to each other. Yet in this most perfect of relationships there is room for more. God has given us the opportunity to be in relationship with Him through the Son. If I know the Son, I know the Father.

My greatest desire is to know God perfectly, to continue the relationship that He has built with me through knowing Him in Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength perfectly.

In my struggle to know Jesus I am continually confronted with my own sin. I desire to live in repentance accepting the forgiveness and receiving the spiritual healing I so longingly seek.

When my heart is right with the Lord, I am able to serve out of God's power ministering in a relational way to those He has given me to serve. Yet today, as I interact with friends I ask myself how can I serve those God has given me in a relational way as we continue to grow? How can I be connected with those I serve when my time is at a minimum?

Welcome

2009-02-01T04:03:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Lake Point Church, Friends and Family,

As Lake Point grows and serves in the community it is our desire to remain connected to those that matter to us. This blog is one of those avenues to connect with those around us.

In the next few weeks look for our web page to be updated, a calendar added, sermon notes blogged and noted, not to mention the potential of having our sermons on MP3.

Technologically, a lot is happening, but even more is happening in the lives of God's people right here at Lake Point.

Thanks for your time, and look for updates.

Blessings,
Pastor Ken