It’s easy at times in our lives to be discouraged but there’s a great reason for hope in this life. There are all kinds of statistics that cause great fear in the lives of the people of the church. In North America roughly 4000 churches close each and every year, while only 1000 new ones start. That’s a crazy statistic that appears as if the church is failing miserably in the world today. Continue reading
It’s easy at times in our lives to be discouraged but there’s a great reason for hope in this life. There are all kinds of statistics that cause great fear in the lives of the people of the church. In North America roughly 4000 churches close each and every year, while only 1000 new ones start. That’s a crazy statistic that appears as if the church is failing miserably in the world today. Continue reading
About a year ago we introduced the concept of Christian Neighboring to the congregation I serve. It was a lot of fun, and we were able to make impact in people’s lives as a result. The goal of Christian Neighboring is not to add numbers to the local church. As a matter of fact we don’t really talk all that much about church attendance or membership. The focus is on Jesus and knowing him. 
This morning we’re less than two weeks away from Easter. Over the next fourteen days we’ll journey with Jesus through some of the most difficult times in his earthly life. He’ll be accepted, then rejected and betrayed. He’ll be accused, tried in a bogus trial, beaten, mocked, ridiculed, forced to carry his own instrument of torture, then killed. He’ll be buried, and when it seems as if all help is lost be raised. 
The goal of a disciple is to clothe themselves in the very thoughts, words, and actions of the person they desire to follow. In the case of the person who calls themselves a Christian, that person is Jesus. There’s no secret about it. The follower of Jesus wants to clothe themselves in the things of Jesus. We want to have Jesus’ patience. We want to love the way he loved. We want to find joy in the everyday things the way he did. But exactly how does that happen? 
It’s a prayer that we have a really hard time meaning. We use the words as a great platitude but actually wanting to apply them is a whole other story! We think we’ve got life pretty well under control even when we admit things are spiraling into a chaotic mess. In the Lord’s Prayer, probably one of the most popular prayers of all time, we say the words Thy Will Be Done. 
One of my favorite accounts in the gospels happens to be the one where Peter is called to come walk on the water to Jesus. I often wish I had been there to see the whole thing unfold. If you’re not familiar with the story, it goes like this. 
As many of you know, I’m a pastor of a church. And a big part of what we do is this thing called worship. We hold it on different days of the week but generally we do this thing on Sunday mornings. There are many styles of worship. Some people use tons of songs while others use none at all. Some worship is packed with teaching and others use an interactive style approach to the time of worship. 
This morning I woke up pretty thirsty. Perhaps it’s the whole wintry dry air that has caused this or perhaps something else, but I just needed a tall glass of ice water right away this morning. And that water really made a difference. No more thirst, at least not right away. But I do know that shortly after I finish this post, I’ll just be thirsty again. 
I have become more and more of a morning person. I never thought that it would happen but now it seems as if I can just jump out of bed and get right to work. For the longest time I would awaken only to struggle and struggle. You’d have to pry my eyelids open with toothpicks some mornings! Some mornings I just couldn’t stay awake. 
We all have a story to tell. What’s yours? With the news hitting recently about all of the devastation and destruction and evil hitting our world, it’s probably a good time to focus on the story that makes us who we are.