Sunday Afterthoughts…
Are you nervous yet? The opportunity for us to come together and do something amazing that will give us momentum for years to come is right around the corner. Right now it’s impossible to know what the heart of the church is. It’s impossible to know if those who attend are buying into what we are trying to begin which is to be a church that makes a real difference in our community not just be another church taking up space. I know the leaders are excited and making faith filled pledges that they will be turning in this week. I say again to them, I love serving with you guys, time to step up and take that first BIG step for the future of Sand Lake. Momentum starts with us, the leaders. We must be willing to walk the talk and put our money where our mouth is before we ask anyone else to follow.
Preached a hard message today. Luke 14:25 Jesus calls out everyone who thinks they want to follow him and hits hard with the truth that you can’t be a disciple if you aren’t willing to give up everything. It was about moving from complacency to committed.
I keep saying it but this whole series has been about us taking a serious look at where we are spiritually and begging God to do something new in us that moves us from just sitting on the sidelines to getting in the game and getting our Kingdom work on this earth done. The stakes are just too high to do nothing. 30,000 people in our community alone are unchurched. They don’t know Jesus. We must refuse to sit by and do nothing while people go to hell everyday. If we expect someone else to do it then we have failed.
In many ways I feel like Sand Lake is getting a fresh start. It’s a chance for us to start over and do something that everyone believes is impossible. Maybe it is and maybe it’s not. What it’s really about is being faithful. Over the coming months and next few years there are going to be adjustments, tweaks and probably big changes to how we do ministry. I have no doubt some will be loved and some will be hated but it’s about putting ourselves in the best position to be the most effective and efficient as possible so that we can make the biggest impact possible in our community for Jesus. It’s an incredibly exciting and scary time in our history. Getting our church out of debt is that first BIG step to accomplishing our long term ministry goals which I will be attempting to outline on February 7th.
That’s enough for the rant. I also want to make sure to add a HUGE thanks to all our volunteers. I think we figured awhile back that it takes about 40 volunteers every Sunday working in various ministries to make Sunday morning work. You guys are awesome. When I don’t have to solve a problem or wonder where someone is that means that someone else is being faithful and committed to what they are doing. Couldn’t ask for a better group of volunteers.
I have never heard the song we closed 2nd service with before but it was absolutely perfect as the closing song for today’s message.
I was blessed to be able to do my 2nd infant baptism in 2nd service. I enjoy doing those and today the mom asked if she could pray in front of the church. She did an awesome job.
Well as you can tell I have a one track mind right now. I am crazy excited about how God has been challenging people in this series as well as excited about our opportunity to make a big sacrifice together on February 7th. I keep saying it but I mean it that our best days are ahead. This is only the beginning. 2 weeks to go. Are you nervous? Don’t be. God is in control. Just be faithful and he’ll handle the rest.
