I’m not sure who was the originator of the quote, but I heard it from one of my teammates, Chris Thomson. He asked, “if not now, when?” I thought about it a lot. How many times do I put something off because…. well I don’t really know why. At the moment, it sounds good in my head to push off something that I’d rather not to, or to justify doing other stuff that I’m involved in. Let’s face it, our world has lots of shiny things to distract us. There’s not a day that goes by where I’m not drawn to check my Facebook because I’m sure someone wrote something witty as their status and if I miss it, my day will not be complete. I’m continually looking for the most recent email, the YouTube video of the day or wanting to join in that interesting conversation in the hallway. And that’s just my work day. The rest of my life could easily be distracted with a million things to do at the house, conversations to had, games to played, snacks to eat. None of it is really bad, but before I know it, my life is over flowing with plenty of things to do and often it’s the important things that I never seem to get around to.
“For the first time, I’m comfortable inviting guests”
Posted in: Grace Church, Sermon Extras, Vision & New IdeasI made this statement this past Sunday: “For the first time in my almost 4 years here, I’m comfortable inviting guests to join us here at Grace.” So let me explain, it’s true I’ve encouraged us all to invite guests over these past 3 and 1/2 years, and you might also like to know that I too HAVE invited guests many times over these last 3 and 1/2 years. I think even when churches aren’t fully “ready” to receive company, our call is still to invite because God works in spite of us and our best efforts. It’s God who rescues people, not us. So if we waited till we had it all together to invite, we never would. (By the way, I don’t think we have it all together now, we’re just further along than we’ve ever been). There has been so much that has been good at Grace over these last years and God’s Spirit has been very very evident here over those years and God has also rescued dozens of people as they took steps across the line of faith — so don’t hear me say, “don’t invite until you’re ready” — God doesn’t need us to be ready, just available!
Brett Favre Back in Minnesota
Posted in: Popular Culture, RandomOk, I know this is a church blog and there are much more “weighty” things to concern ourselves with and there will be some more “weighty” stuff coming soon here but I felt compelled to chime in on the decision of Brett Favre to join the Vikings again.
Here’s a clip from the end of the sermon on Psalm 84 which spoke about longing for God and being on a journey towards God instead of “settling”. Enjoy…
A Word from 1873…
Posted in: Christian living, Grace Church, Sermon ExtrasThis Sunday, I’m preparing to share some of my heart and the anticipation/ expectation for this fall season at Grace. In reading, listening and thinking, I came across this section from Charles Haddon Spurgeon who is often called the “prince of preachers” and I even heard him referred to by several as the best preacher to ever live (except for Jesus)! What I find fascinating is this quote comes from a sermon preached in 1873, I think in London. But, wow! powerful and personal and direct words this pastor shares. Would you agree with his statement? what keeps us from being mobilized on the mission of God?
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