Happy New Year!
Hey everybody HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Did not mean to be three days late in proclaiming that but the New Year is off to a fast start. We were talking about how crazy it seems to be saying 2008 when it seems just last year we were all gathering refried beans hoping the world would not end when the clock struck midnight 2000! The first decade of the new millenium is almost over – "dude!"
Is everybody off to a good start to your New Year Resolutions? Carlee told me of a few of her NY "revolutions" - I said do you mean resolutions, oh yes she said. But I think she might have it right, revolution means a change, a new way, a new thought process, a different way… I think resolutions for us in America simply mean a nice idea, a strong desire but not a radical, sold out comittment for change.
I have a few "revolutions" that I want God to do in me this year, how about you?
I am excited and a little apprehensive about our new series we are kicking off this week T-LIFE: where amazing happens. It is going to be an 8 week discovery, and hopefully a revolution in our hearts, souls, minds of those who call Elmwood home. The apprehension is that we can communicate what God wants us too and in a way that will cause us to act in obedience. I have to remind myself often that God has given us a "way" to live that is non -negotiable. Oh He is gracious and loving but make no mistake there will come a day when we will have to stand before him, no matter what we believe, no matter what we did we will be held accountable for the life He gave us to live. I want us to be able – in all of our ordinary-ness – to get it right.
We have talked about our mission at Elmwood, to honor God by giving our lives to reach every man, woman and child with repeated opportunities to hear and see the transforming message of Jesus Christ in our circle of influence and accountability. How we do that is really what we are going to try to discover and begin to work out in our community of faith in order to accomplish this God given mission. I guess you could call it our strategy. Not just a corporate strategy but a personal strategy that allows us to live our life with a divine purpose. A purpose to our lives that matter not just for today but for eternity.
This week we are asking the question What If? I am hoping and praying that this series will reach everybody, middleschool/highschool, college, drop-outs, drop-ins, jobless, CEO's, teachers, plumbers, dads, moms, married, single, divorced, rich, poor, everything in between!
That is the power of the Holy Spirit, He can and does make God's Word real and relevant to EVERYBODY.
