Dear Prayer Partners,
We are so grateful for your partnership in prayer. Your investment of time, energy and prayers…..your walking alongside of us during this mission launch is so important to us…..and God is using you to make an impact on the Kingdom…..no doubt about this!
We just finished a message series on “Gratitude” which has really changed each one of us who took in the deep truths! Today’s message was on being grateful for the purpose that God gave you! It has some BIG truths that come from around the corner and surprised us and made us think of the BIG purposes of GOD and how He taps on the shoulder in surprising but always exciting ways. Interestingly enough, they are often not in the way we expected (or wanted) Him to use us!
What a deep message too about the privilege we have in launching this new mission……….and why we often get tired or discouraged in doing this amazingly fantastic and wonderful work of God! As you might guess, it has everything to do with our expectations. Once again, we are reminded what an amazing opportunity we have to reach people who are far from God in a totally new way!
If you were not in church this morning (and even if you were….this is the kind of message that needs a return look after the first dousing), I recommend you check out the video of the Classic Worship Message found here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11143567
Go to about minute 22 for the message which goes about 20 minutes. Share your thoughts by leaving a comment. Here are some excerpts for a glimpse that struck me. Which statements, truths, thoughts spoke to you the loudest? Highlight any of the statements below and copy it into a comment field along with your own thoughts……
- Thankful for our God given purpose
- God intends for us to make a difference for Him in the world and that purpose is the one we ought to pursue and live … even if it is not the one we wanted it to be.
- If your dream (or what we think we are here for) and God’s purposes for you aren’t exactly the same….are we ok with that?
-It depends on who you serve.
- There are people who lived and gave and sacrificed to get us here and they are no longer here.
-2 Chronicles 28
- We are here to build the Kingdom of God, a people who would follow God, have a heart after God….people who are not just learned of Scripture but followers of God.
- What God has given us to build is not buildings but people.
-What set us on this journey was to build a generation of followers of Jesus like the world has not seen in a long time and the church hasn’t seen in a long time. People who actually make a difference for good, people ready to take the world for God.
-If you are going to find and follow Jesus, where are you going to find him? Among people who serve.
- God has given us the task of reaching people that nobody’s reached before in a way that nobody’s done before, in a way that will build a generation of people that will reach the world in a way that hasn’t been done before.
- The founders, the foundation people are the legacy people…..and they are remembered.
- The people sitting here today will be remembered. You are the legacy people. You are the ones who served and sacrificed.
-You followed the path of God.
- You built the generation of people that will change the world because their hearts like none others have been captured by God. They don’t just know things about God but fully follow Jesus.
- The result of serving wholeheartedly is joy and success in building the Kingdom.
- How much of our job is getting here….how much of our job is continuing to build the sort of culture that creates the environments that reach people.
- God could have put us on any spot on the eternity timeline but He chose to put us here right now for this time and this place.
- Will you continue to say, “God, I am here and I’m all in!”
- Will you be strong and stay on task not only in the building but in the mission and the vision and the people we are trying to reach?
- Will you take up the challenge of doing the work God has given you to do?
Well, that was more than a few snippets…..but these statements really reminded me of our focus……building the Kingdom, reaching the people who have yet to cross the line of faith….and serving in the work God has for me to do. Stay strong and do the work. What we see here on earth or from heaven, no one knows. But a singular privilege we have …. that’s for sure.
PRAYER PARTNERS…. YOU TOO are those legacy partners in this mission…..praying for a year now! You know the work is just starting. Please continue to pray for 1 minute a day for this mission launch. We need it probably more now than ever!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Pray for our upcoming Living Nativity. What a wonderful opportunity to invite our community and tell the timeless story of Christ through this singing production where more than 150 children sing with joy about Jesus!
Ok, I’ll start. This is the one that is speaking to me. It’s simple. I rarely know what my mission tasks will be for a given day….. I just know I want to have this attitude in whatever I am given to do. This is definitely one for my task board…..
Will you continue to say, “God, I am here and I’m all in!”