Hey New Life! Here are 6 things I want to share with you…
#1—This past Sunday Pastor Brandan shared a straightforward message on faith, love, hope, and obedience. He challenged us to examine WHAT and IF we believe. That’s tough. He pointed a finger, not at you, not at me, not at the church, but at himself (with each and every one of us included as well…of course). He challenged the complacency of today’s church, of our church here in Inwood, WV. Will we continue to slide through life, just making it by, never making a difference? He asked us the question, “What would change in your LIFE if you knew you only had three weeks to LIVE?” Only the Father knows when Jesus will come back (Matthew 24:36). I pray we find the courage to press forward and see the VISION of New Life lived out!
#2—BIG thanks to Duane Sowers for organizing the Celebrate Recovery band. Live music adds an element to the program that simply cannot be replaced or substituted AND I absolutely LOVE seeing a band made up of our own people, THOSE people, the poor, the needy, the broken, the downtrodden, the humble, the weak, the rejected, the dejected…the BEACONS OF LIGHT full of HOPE found through a relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ! That’s AWESOME! It’s a great reminder of why we do what we do!
#3—The Bible is full of promises. Promises of hope. Promises of restoration. Promises of blessing. Promises of salvation. Promises of things we desire, things we want, need. The crazy thing is that sometimes we FEAR these promises. Like God says, “Here is something GOOD!” and instead of reaching out to grab it, we run and hide. One promise in particular that we tend to skirt around is God’s promise of HEALING (James 5:16). God says we will be healed, BUT (yes, there’s a catch) we’ve gotta be willing to let out our secrets. Many of us are ok with experiencing pain from our past, remaining in the hurt, being stuck, simply because we don’t want to ADMIT our wrongs, our past, our shortcomings. We’re afraid of what people might think. We’re afraid of the consequences. We’re convinced there’s more to LOSE than there is to GAIN. Admitting the crap of your PAST leads to freedom in your PRESENT. Stop holding on and let go.
#4—Read Acts 2:42-47. Read it again. Seriously, read it again. Something’s missing at New Life. We meet on Sunday mornings. It’s awesome. It’s refreshing. Then it ends. The multitudes that show up disappear. The handfuls that volunteer go home. The building empties. Everyone goes their own way. The MAJORITY will not see another person from New Life until the following Sunday. That’s wrong. If we’re going to grow, and I’m not talking about numbers, I’m talking about spiritual growth, we need to be MEETING TOGETHER! 1 out of 3 people at New Life (that’s being extremely generous) are in a Life Group. Something needs to change. Life Groups bring us closer together, building relationships, friendships, accountability…community. On July 20th New Life is launching a Play Group (Ice Age: Continental Drift at Regal Cinema). Play Groups are relaxed, informal events designed to help you build real relationships while having fun! Whether it’s watching a movie, playing laser tag or going extreme bowling… it’s an easy way to check out New Life, meet new people, and just have a good time.
#5—Be encouraged! Know that your identity is found in CHRIST! You are not the mistakes of your past or the labels you’ve been given. You are a NEW CREATION! This week follow Jesus, not people. Let Jesus be your EVERYTHING!
#6—THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
#1—This past Sunday Pastor Brandan shared a straightforward message on faith, love, hope, and obedience. He challenged us to examine WHAT and IF we believe. That’s tough. He pointed a finger, not at you, not at me, not at the church, but at himself (with each and every one of us included as well…of course). He challenged the complacency of today’s church, of our church here in Inwood, WV. Will we continue to slide through life, just making it by, never making a difference? He asked us the question, “What would change in your LIFE if you knew you only had three weeks to LIVE?” Only the Father knows when Jesus will come back (Matthew 24:36). I pray we find the courage to press forward and see the VISION of New Life lived out!
#2—BIG thanks to Duane Sowers for organizing the Celebrate Recovery band. Live music adds an element to the program that simply cannot be replaced or substituted AND I absolutely LOVE seeing a band made up of our own people, THOSE people, the poor, the needy, the broken, the downtrodden, the humble, the weak, the rejected, the dejected…the BEACONS OF LIGHT full of HOPE found through a relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ! That’s AWESOME! It’s a great reminder of why we do what we do!
#3—The Bible is full of promises. Promises of hope. Promises of restoration. Promises of blessing. Promises of salvation. Promises of things we desire, things we want, need. The crazy thing is that sometimes we FEAR these promises. Like God says, “Here is something GOOD!” and instead of reaching out to grab it, we run and hide. One promise in particular that we tend to skirt around is God’s promise of HEALING (James 5:16). God says we will be healed, BUT (yes, there’s a catch) we’ve gotta be willing to let out our secrets. Many of us are ok with experiencing pain from our past, remaining in the hurt, being stuck, simply because we don’t want to ADMIT our wrongs, our past, our shortcomings. We’re afraid of what people might think. We’re afraid of the consequences. We’re convinced there’s more to LOSE than there is to GAIN. Admitting the crap of your PAST leads to freedom in your PRESENT. Stop holding on and let go.
#4—Read Acts 2:42-47. Read it again. Seriously, read it again. Something’s missing at New Life. We meet on Sunday mornings. It’s awesome. It’s refreshing. Then it ends. The multitudes that show up disappear. The handfuls that volunteer go home. The building empties. Everyone goes their own way. The MAJORITY will not see another person from New Life until the following Sunday. That’s wrong. If we’re going to grow, and I’m not talking about numbers, I’m talking about spiritual growth, we need to be MEETING TOGETHER! 1 out of 3 people at New Life (that’s being extremely generous) are in a Life Group. Something needs to change. Life Groups bring us closer together, building relationships, friendships, accountability…community. On July 20th New Life is launching a Play Group (Ice Age: Continental Drift at Regal Cinema). Play Groups are relaxed, informal events designed to help you build real relationships while having fun! Whether it’s watching a movie, playing laser tag or going extreme bowling… it’s an easy way to check out New Life, meet new people, and just have a good time.
#5—Be encouraged! Know that your identity is found in CHRIST! You are not the mistakes of your past or the labels you’ve been given. You are a NEW CREATION! This week follow Jesus, not people. Let Jesus be your EVERYTHING!
#6—THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
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