On Sunday the 19th we’ll be looking
at the priorities identified by over 50 lay leaders who met together on January
28th. A bit later this Winter you will be invited to talk about these top
tier priorities in a small group setting.
Andy Stanley says “vision leaks.” What he means is we have to keep “checking in”, or the church can wander off course. Musicians must tune and re-tune their instruments. Pro golfers or tennis players keep practicing their swing. No matter how good we are we can’t forget the basics!
A friend of mine grew up on a farm in north central Indiana. Every time she read the passages in the Gospels where Jesus talks about us as sheep who belong to the Good Shepherd, she said, “Sheep bite.” (I think she spoke from personal experience.) She would warn people that if they joined a church or went into ordained ministry: “Sheep bite.” In every church!
The other thing she would say about sheep is they get lost one bite at a time. Churches can have the same thing: we get lost one bite at a time. People have good ideas of things we can do. We like to stay busy. We like to make things happen! So we start saying yes to one thing after the other. Before you know it we are busy doing all sorts of good things - even if they aren’t a part of our core mission!
The Gospels tell us Jesus set his face for Jerusalem. He never allowed himself to be detoured. He knew what his life was all about (Luke 4): “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”
So on the 19th we’ll be looking at these big ideas:
Andy Stanley says “vision leaks.” What he means is we have to keep “checking in”, or the church can wander off course. Musicians must tune and re-tune their instruments. Pro golfers or tennis players keep practicing their swing. No matter how good we are we can’t forget the basics!
A friend of mine grew up on a farm in north central Indiana. Every time she read the passages in the Gospels where Jesus talks about us as sheep who belong to the Good Shepherd, she said, “Sheep bite.” (I think she spoke from personal experience.) She would warn people that if they joined a church or went into ordained ministry: “Sheep bite.” In every church!
The other thing she would say about sheep is they get lost one bite at a time. Churches can have the same thing: we get lost one bite at a time. People have good ideas of things we can do. We like to stay busy. We like to make things happen! So we start saying yes to one thing after the other. Before you know it we are busy doing all sorts of good things - even if they aren’t a part of our core mission!
The Gospels tell us Jesus set his face for Jerusalem. He never allowed himself to be detoured. He knew what his life was all about (Luke 4): “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”
So on the 19th we’ll be looking at these big ideas:
- Welcome & connecting.
- Growing & going deeper.
- Equipping & serving.
Here is a question: what is your
life all about? If someone were to ask you about your life purpose what
would you say? How would you summarize your life purpose in a 30 second
“elevator speech?” I encourage you to spend time with God, talk with
trusted friends, and see what Jesus might say about the meaning of your life.
We get lost one bite a time. Before you guard against getting lost, though, you need to do the hard work of listening for God’s call on your life.
Welcome to the adventure!
Join us on Wednesday night for our Ash Wednesday service at 5:30 p.m.
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
We get lost one bite a time. Before you guard against getting lost, though, you need to do the hard work of listening for God’s call on your life.
Welcome to the adventure!
Join us on Wednesday night for our Ash Wednesday service at 5:30 p.m.
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
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