FBC Greenview IL

08/31/2026

Here are our September Celebrations!

08/30/2026

08/26/2026

Weekly Wednesday Discipleship
“Take up your cross” is Jesus’ call to true discipleship: deny yourself, accept that following Him has a cost (including potential suffering, rejection, and loss), and walk after Him daily. It is not about enduring ordinary hardships with a participation trophy.
The saying appears in the Gospels:
Matthew 16:24: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Mark 8:34 (similar wording)
Luke 9:23 (adds “daily”)
Jesus spoke these words in a culture where the cross was not yet a religious symbol but was instead an instrument of Roman ex*****on: public, agonizing, and shameful. Criminals were often forced to carry the heavy cross to the site of their death. To “take up your cross” meant accepting a path that could lead to humiliation, suffering, and death for the sake of following Jesus.
Immediately after, Jesus explains the paradox: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25). The call screens out half-hearted followers and invites total surrender.
What It Does Not Mean:
Popular usage often reduces it to “my difficult boss,” “my chronic illness,” or “my difficult relative” with statements like “that’s just my cross to bear.” While Christians are called to endure trials with faith, that is not the original intention of the phrase, nor is it truly the spirit of what it means. The cross in Jesus’ teaching is not a random burden God assigns; it is the deliberate choice to put self to "death" so that Christ can live in and through you.
In today’s world and in practical terms, taking up the cross is a daily posture of self-denial and allegiance to Jesus over comfort, reputation, security, or personal ambition. It includes:
Dying to self: Choosing obedience when it costs ease, popularity, career advancement, or relationships. Examples include refusing to compromise integrity at work, speaking truth in love when silence would be safer, or prioritizing time with God and others over endless self-centered activities.
Willingness to suffer loss: Being ready to lose friendships, family approval, social standing, job opportunities, or even physical safety if faithfulness to Christ requires it. In some parts of the world this is literal persecution; in more comfortable settings it is often more of a social or professional cost.
Daily, not one and done: Luke’s “daily” emphasizes that this is not a dramatic one-time decision but a repeated choice, saying no to pride, resentment, greed, lust, or self-protection each day and yes to the way of Jesus.
Following, not just carrying: The cross is taken up in order to follow Him. The focus is relational AND directional, which means moving after Christ rather than wallowing in suffering for its own sake.
The paradox: Losing one’s life (self-centered agenda) in order to find true life. This can look like sacrificial love, generosity, forgiveness, and service that make no worldly sense but flow from identification with the crucified and risen Jesus.
Modern illustrations often include remaining faithful in a hard marriage, continuing to give or serve when finances or energy are tight, refusing to “church-shop” purely for personal preference, or accepting the social cost of holding to Christian ethics in a culture that finds them offensive. The common thread is that the disciple no longer has final plans of their own. They are not serving to gain a reward. Direction, identity, and security are found in Christ.
Jesus didn't soften the demand. He asked whether His followers are willing to lose friends, family closeness, reputation, livelihood, or life itself. Not every disciple experiences every loss, but every true disciple must be willing. The alternative is a form of discipleship that costs the disciple nothing and, ultimately, gains them nothing of lasting value.
Yet the same passage promises that the one who loses life (figuratively) for Jesus’ sake finds it. The cross is not the end of the story. That distinction belongs to the resurrection. Taking up your cross is the path into the life Jesus offers: freedom from the tyranny of self, participation in His mission, and the hope of sharing in His glory.
In short, “take up your cross” in today’s world means a deliberate, ongoing decision to let go of self-rule, accept whatever cost faithfulness requires, and walk after Jesus, trusting that the life found on the other side of that surrender is infinitely better than the life clung to in self-preservation.

08/19/2026

Weekly Wednesday Discipleship
Three short commands from the Apostle Paul pack a powerful punch:
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
At first glance these verses can feel almost impossible. Rejoice always? Pray continually? Give thanks in all circumstances? How is that even realistic in a world full of hard days, unexpected losses, and everyday struggles?
Paul is not telling us to fake happiness or pretend everything is fine. He is pointing us to a deeper way of living that is possible only because we belong to Jesus.
Rejoice always does not mean we never feel sadness or pain. It means our joy is rooted in who God is and what He has done for us through Christ, not in our changing circumstances. Even in sorrow, we can still hold onto the deeper joy of knowing we are loved, forgiven, and held by Him.
Pray continually means living in ongoing conversation with God. It is not about nonstop formal prayers, but about keeping an open heart toward the Lord throughout the day, turning to Him in the ordinary moments as well as the hard ones.
Give thanks in all circumstances is perhaps the most challenging. Notice it says “in all circumstances,” not “for all circumstances.” We do not thank God for every painful thing, but we can still find reasons to thank Him in the middle of them, for His presence, His faithfulness, His promises, and the hope we have in Christ.
Paul ends with a strong statement: this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. These three habits are not optional extras for the “super spiritual.” They are God’s clear will for every believer.

08/12/2026

This week's post is courtesy of my friend, Stultz!
Weekly Wednesday Discipleship

The last time I was in the hospital they put this “fall risk” bracelet on me. Yesterday, as pastor Christopher preached out of Galatians, I realized we’re all a “fall risk”.
But thank God we’re not saved by our good deeds or good behavior. God gave us the law not to condemn us but to show us we need an advocate. We are imprisoned by the law but Christ sets us free!
God showed it to me like this one time. It’s like we’re walking on a tight rope without a net. If we fall we’re dead! This keeps us frozen and afraid to get off the platform, we’re stuck. But when we accept Christ as our lord and savior we suddenly have a net. We are set free from the prison. There’s no longer a need to be afraid. Because if we fall he’ll catch us.
The sad part is too many Christian’s are still afraid, still in the cell with the door open, still on the platform even with a net.
In Galatians 5 Paul goes on to tell us “for freedom Christ has set us free.”
In other words, he didn’t open the cell door for us to stay in the cell. He didn’t put a safety net for us to stay in the platform. If you’ve asked Jesus to be your lord and savior you need to run out of that cell. You need to be dancing on that tight rope.
We’re all fall risks because in our humanness it’s impossible not to fall. But he’s got us. The fall doesn’t change his love for us because it’s not based on our behavior, it’s based on his behavior!!!

08/05/2026

Weekly Wednesday Discipleship:

The shortest verse in the entire Bible is also one of the most powerful:
“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)
Just those two words reveal so much about the humanity of Jesus. When he received word that His friend Lazarus was sick. He delayed going to Bethany, and by the time He arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the other Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Then He asked where they had laid him. When they showed Him the tomb, Jesus wept.
Jesus knew He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew the end of the story. So why did He weep?
Jesus felt real human emotion. It’s easy to forget that while he is the son of God, as the son of Mary, he was also human. He was not detached or distant, Jesus entered fully into human sorrow. He felt the weight of loss, the pain of friendship interrupted by death, and the grief of those He loved.
Jesus was also moved by the suffering of others. He saw Mary’s tears and the sorrow of the people around Him, and His heart was stirred. Compassion is not just something Jesus teaches, it is something He feels.
To those of us who think in purely human terms, the least obvious, but perhaps most important reason for His tears is that death was never part of God’s original design. When Jesus stood at the tomb of His friend, He was face to face with the painful consequences of sin and death in the world. His tears reflect both love and a holy sorrow over what had gone wrong.
We see evidence of these facts throughout The Bible:
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Isaiah 53:3 describes Jesus as “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.”
Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
Romans 12:15 calls us to “mourn with those who mourn.”
And one day, according to Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.”
Because Jesus wept, we know that our tears matter to Him. He is not cold or impatient with our grief. He does not tell us to “just get over it.” Instead, He enters into our pain with us.
When we weep, we are not alone. The One who is fully God and fully man has walked this path. He understands the ache of loss, the sting of death, and the deep longing for things to be made right.
And yet, the story does not end with tears. Just a few moments later, Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb. His tears did not cancel His power. His compassion and His authority stand together. He is the Man of Sorrows who is also the Resurrection and the Life. He walks with us through the tears, and one day He will wipe every tear from our eyes. He is with us every step.
If you are carrying sorrow, allow yourself to bring it honestly to Jesus. You do not have to hide your tears from Him. He has already wept. If you know someone who is grieving, remember that simply being present and sharing in their sorrow is a Christlike act. Sometimes the most powerful ministry is quiet companionship.