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Where would you be if your friend or relative didn’t ask you to come to church or attend a Christian event? Think about it. Your friend was most likely your friend first before asking you to hear about Jesus. How we seek people, how we listen, how we engage and invite can make all the difference. It can soften hearts to hear the good news of the love of God through Jesus Christ.
You’ve maybe heard it said that “God’s NO is not a rejection. It’s a Redirection.” God’s goal for you is to become more Christlike and often, we take a number of turns that take us off God’s intended purpose and we need redirecting. The thing is, we don’t yet see things clearly, we know things in part, and we struggle perhaps in the wrong direction, but we will, one day, “will know fully, even as we are fully known” by God. Isn’t it amazing that we can hand over all our past, present, and future to a God who knows us and desires the best for us?
Belief in the power of positive thinking is not the same thing as an inner wisdom and unwavering confidence in Christ. It doesn’t come from believing in ourselves. True optimism, true belief is in getting our minds right on the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It comes from biblical convictions about the nature of God and knowing that He loves us and has an exciting plan tailored for just us. Getting our mind right is part of being able to recognize that God is working in and through us to accomplish His purpose.
So, there’s a dream God has given you or maybe a dream that has been rekindled by last week’s Sermon and Study. Now what? Our next step is to focus on the one main thing in life that will keep us moving forward to obtain it. It sounds simple! Yet, in reality, it rarely comes easily. The push and pull of everyday life make take away some of the excitement we once had. But that’s why we must learn to Remain Focused. Fix our eyes on Jesus and the promise God has given to get us through.
We end our series on Understanding Spiritual Gifts this Sunday as we gather together to celebrate Holy Communion. Through this series, we’ve discovered that our spiritual gifts are given by God, used for His glory, and each one of us has a different one to build up the Body of Christ. Now that we know that, what are we going to do about it? Each one of us has a passion, something that burns inside of us to do, a heart to change our world. That fire is connected to the use of our gifts for the glory of God.
Put your Sunday groove on because we are coming together as a Church to worship, praise, and thank God for all He has done and will do through you and me in this new season. Have you ever seen those commercials where people press a reset button? We aren’t resetting things, we are moving forward with a Fresh Start, a new step in our walk with God and one another. Be sure to join us this Sunday as we see new faces, make friends, and take that fresh step in your spiritual journey. We have a ton of opportunities to make connections, learn more about God, and serve in our community!
Unless you are a die-hard athlete do you even think of stretching. Physical stretching is one of the best things we can do to keep ourselves in the game. But what about spiritual stretching? God sometimes asks us to go out of our comfort zones. He stretches us. Our faith enlarges and we reap a host of spiritual benefits like restoration, influence, and the promise of things we can’t even imagine.
There are two emotions or thoughts we could have as we move into Pilate's Judgment Hall. We can either search for the truth about Jesus the Christ or fear what will happen. Earth's kings and rulers joined forces to destroy the Lord's Anointed, the Messiah. The nations raged against Him and people plotted in vain against Him. And yet, full authority was given to Him. Such a plan God had in mind from the beginning of the world to ransom souls through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. Truth always overcomes fear.
We begin our Lent Series, Places of the Passion. We will be walking in the footsteps of Jesus, visiting places where HIs passion took place to learn more about His sacrifice for us. We begin in Jerusalem, the city of peace to understand the Prince of Peace. His coming to rescue humanity from its sin and offer those who believe true peace.
Sometimes life seems that way even when the sun is shining. Where do you turn when the world seems cold and dark? Scripture reminds us that We can look up! We can turn to the promises of God in His word. That is what we will be discussing this week as we come to worship as the Body of Christ.
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