Mendham Hills

This Sunday, as we wrap up our series on God's great self-revelation statement, we get to the question you have all been asking: "What's up with the ending?" "He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation." (Exodus 34:7) Yahweh is compassionate, gracious, and maintains love to thousands, but he punishes innocent children? Well, not exactly. Yet, He is serious about the plague of generational sin. A message every parent needs to hear about Yahweh, the baggage we pass down to our kids, and finally being set free from generations of brokenness - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

We leave. Things get tough, touchy, boring, dry, or someone does something or says something that offends us and we bolt. We are outta here! We leave jobs, cities, churches, friendships and marriages. We just cut ties and move on. Yahweh, He is different. Yahweh, He stays. You see, Yahweh has a deal with you - a covenant, a promise. It's probably not what you think, but there is one thing you should know: He will suffer any hardship and pay any price to keep it. This Sunday at Mendham Hills, we discover a God "abounding in love and faithfulness," a God who keeps His promises, a God who never leaves.

God is love (at least according to the Bible). We love this attribute of God - we lean into it, we celebrate it, we highlight it to our friends. Yet, what do we do with all those stories and scriptures about His anger or His wrath? Is an angry God compatible with a loving God? If God is angry, what does that mean for me? What makes Him angry? Do I? This God - who insists we call Him Yahweh, the One who is compassionate, gracious, and abounding in love - also reveals Himself as one who, although slow to it, gets angry. Understanding a God slow to anger - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

We all know someone like this - no matter how good the situation is, how well things have worked out, or how many blessings they have, they still feel cheated. Their baseline or default emotion is anger and they are always upset about something. Yet, most of us also know someone who, no matter the challenge, the hardship or the curse, remain happy and optimistic. Their default emotion is joy. Have you ever paused in life to reflect on your own baseline emotion? How you ever wondered about God's? What is God's default feeling and position towards you, and if you really understood that and believed it, what could that change in your life? Your destiny? Yahweh, the compassionate and gracious God, this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

So, God has a name and it is not God, it is Yahweh. That's what He wanted to be called. Why? Practically, what does it mean for how we relate to Him? For example, when I pray, does it really matter? Is God's mind made up already, or can it be changed? Is God unchanging or not? If He is unchanging, why would it matter if I pray? If He can be changed, well then, how should I pray? Once we begin to realize that God has a name and a person-hood, it sure does raise a lot of questions. Come get some answers - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

Yahweh makes some pretty stunning claims. He refers to Himself as The Creator God, The Everlasting God and The All-Knowing God. Yet, perhaps the boldest and most startling claim is the He is "El Elyon" - The God Most High. He is The God above all the other gods. Other gods? Are there other, lesser gods? Yahweh says He is jealous over you, so are there others vying for your affections? What would that mean? How much could that explain? Starting to wonder if everything you see is not all that there is? There is an eternal battle raging, and your heart is the prize. Yahweh amongst the gods - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

So, God has a name and it is not God, it is Yahweh. That's what He wanted to be called. Why? Practically, what does it mean for how we relate to Him? For example, when I pray, does it really matter? Is God's mind made up already, or can it be changed? Is God unchanging or not? If He is unchanging, why would it matter if I pray? If He can be changed, well then, how should I pray? Once we begin to realize that God has a name and a person-hood, it sure does raise a lot of questions. Come get some answers - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

Did you know God has a name - and it's not God? Does it matter that God has a name and why should anyone care? What if in revealing His name, He also revealed who He is, who is God? While the vast majority of people still believe in God, this "God" is often just a projection of their own values, morals, and ideas. The current state and history of our world attests to that danger. Together, let's discover what God has said about himself - who He says He is. His true identity and character are both far different and far better than we could ever imagine.

What a "Welcome Back" we have on tap at Mendham Hills this Sunday - it's Kickoff 2017! Come hungry for food, friends and fun, with all kinds of new surprises in store for the coming church year. This is truly a Sunday you can't afford to miss! We launch into a new season of ministry together with an introspective and inspirational look at ourselves. Who are we as a people, a community, and why do we do what we do? What's our point, our purpose, our plan? It's the perfect week to invite a friend as each and every ministry will be on display, and together we focus on squad goals for a new church year. Come and find your place!

It seems that there is an ever-increasing amount of violence in our world. Watching the news, you see the consequences of hate, bigotry and greed. So what do we do when presented with unspeakable evil and violence? Are we always called to "turn the other cheek?" Is there ever a time to stand up? To stand against? Are we allowed to express our frustration and anger? Are we allowed to ask God to eradicate evil and those propagating violence? We wrap up our summer series, David & Bono, with a look at a Psalm that is so honest and raw, it leaves us wondering - "Am I allowed to say that?"

The data is in and it is indisputable: we are a people under stress like never before. According to a recent Bloomberg article, we just broke the American Psychological Association’s all-time stress record. Money, work, the economy, and now a political environment like no other have all conspired to put us on edge. You couple these factors with the natural fears of man, including the greatest fears of all – sickness and death – and we become a people in search of some relief. Yet, the places we seek to find it often lead to dead ends, addictions, disappointments, or worse. This Sunday, David, Bono, and the Psalms teach on fear…and its relief.

"Bad company corrupts good character." How many times have you said this to your children? How many times was this said to you when you were young? It might be one of our favorite verses to quote to kids and teens alike. And while most of us believe this to be true when it comes to our kids, do we believe it's true for us? Maybe it doesn't apply because, "I'm a mature adult - I can handle it." If we want to be able to stand firm and solid in faith, the very first Psalm gives us direction on the kind of people we should surround ourselves with. Join us as we continue our summer series on the Psalms - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

"Bad company corrupts good character." How many times have you said this to your children? How many times was this said to you when you were young? It might be one of our favorite verses to quote to kids and teens alike. And while most of us believe this to be true when it comes to our kids, do we believe it's true for us? Maybe it doesn't apply because, "I'm a mature adult - I can handle it." If we want to be able to stand firm and solid in faith, the very first Psalm gives us direction on the kind of people we should surround ourselves with. Join us as we continue our summer series on the Psalms - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

The brutal honesty of the Psalms continues this week with a sincere inward reflection. We have, as followers of Jesus, been adopted by God, forgiven, restored and renewed. We are "joint heirs" of an unspeakably glorious Kingdom, blessed with an unfathomable inheritance. Many of us know these truths - we can memorize and recite them, right down to the biblical passage from which they are drawn. Yet, and here comes the honesty of the Psalms, why am I still so unfulfilled? The Psalmists, much like each of us, cries out to God, "Why is there so much turmoil in me and why does the mourning just go on and on?" This Sunday at Mendham Hills, come wrestle with God and allow your heart to discover and feel what your head already knows.

As a culture, we've been educated about things like proper diet and effective exercise, and as a result, we've gotten much better about taking care of ourselves. Many of us have made lifestyle changes with regard to what we eat, and some of us have even joined a gym...all in an attempt to feel better and enjoy a better quality of life. Now, let me ask you a question - how have you educated yourself and what have you done to take care of the most important part of your being? I'm talking about your soul - that intangible and mystical part of each of us that represents the very core of our personhood. Did you know that your soul can get tired? Is yours? This Sunday at Mendham Hills as Bono sings Psalm 23 we'll diagnose the problem and look for answers for an epidemic among us: soul fatigue. Are you weary? Come and find rest.

Inspired by the conflict in Northern Ireland, U2 released one of their iconic recordings - Sunday Bloody Sunday - in 1983. The song lyrically poses a question common to the writers of the Scriptures, "How long, how long must we sing this song?" While spending this week walking in some of the poorest places on earth - dry, hot and broken places - I found myself asking the same question: how long Lord, how much longer must we sing this same song? This week as we kick off our new series, "David & Bono | When the Word Sings," we'll take an honest look at the pain in the world, and try to figure out together how to sing a new song.

When I was a kid, I attended a lot of weddings, participated in a lot of weddings, and loved it all - the food, the music, and the dancing. But until I got married, I didn't realize just how much planning and work it takes to make a wedding happen. Choosing the venue, the caterer, the photographer, the florist, the dress, the tuxes or suits (and on and on it goes) requires a lot of research and investigation. A lot of TIME. It's exhausting. Can you imagine doing all that work, investing all that energy into planning the perfect day and then forgetting to invite anyone? All your effort would be wasted. In the Bible, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven as a "great banquet" - a perfectly prepared celebration like nothing we've attended before. And guess what? He sent out invitations! "The pleasure of your company is requested" at the celebration at MHCC this Sunday as we look at the power held in a simple invitation - the power to change a life for eternity.

The concept of a God for many people, maybe for you, is somewhat abstract. We love the idea of "a God." We certainly hope for a benevolent deity, but in the day-to-day, it sure would be nice to have a more tangible presence. When life gets tough, I would really love to have a "God with skin on" to go to. In the final days of the life of Jesus, we see that God saw fit to provide just what His children were looking for - a very real and present Father. This Father's Day, we will ask the dads among us to take a note. Our kids need the same thing... "a Father with skin on."

In what I believe will be one of our more powerful gatherings of the year, this Sunday we take a hard look at what we are ashamed of. Perhaps nothing impacts our own identities more than who it is we "hang out" with. We want to be seen as cool and popular, so we strive to be seen with, well, the cool and popular. Maybe we even have some public friends (the ones we want to be seen with) and some private friends (the ones we invite to our homes, but not out for dinner). Who do you want to be identified with? Or identified as? And does it matter? As we prepare for our annual baptism gathering in a couple of weeks, a question echoes across the centuries that each of us must answer: Who do you want to be identified with and who are you ashamed of? It matters...it really matters.

I lose things - lots of things - all the time. I lose keys and coats, phones and cards. It is so bad that for Christmas, my daughter got me Bluetooth-enabled discs to attach to my keys and wallet. Heck, as I write this, I can't find my new winter jacket. Most of the time I find my stuff, and when I don't. it can be replaced. Have you ever lost something irreplaceable - something you can't simply go to the store and buy new? Maybe a parent, a friend, a child? That's a profound level of loss and one worthy of not only mourning, but a search to end all searches. This week, in perhaps the most revealing chapter in his book, Luke proposes that we take a look at things valued and things lost. Search parties and homecoming celebrations - this Sunday at MHCC.