Archive for August, 2009
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt, “Citizen in a Republic“, April 23, 1910
Are you in the Arena ? We are the Salt & Light of the World!
Did you notice the weather report this morning. High of only 74! Is Fall in the air or what ? J Just want to brag a little on the Leadership of GraceView. Last night I met with all Elders, Deacons, Staff, and Life Groups leaders to celebrate what God has done the past couple years and to look forward to a new year of laboring together and witnessing authentic fruit in people’s lives. We were reminded together that everything we do is all about glorifying Jesus and not building a name or church for ourselves. Our Theme this year for our church is all about bearing FRUIT for God’s kingdom. Colossians 1:10 reminds us of this goal: “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,…” If you attend GraceView, I hope you will join me and many others on the fruit tree this year! J If you attend another church, be a part of growing your church with a kingdom focus of bearing fruit. Today—it’s not about your job or your money or even your family. It is all about glorifying Jesus—illuminatining His grace and love to a lost world who desperately needs Him! Let’ do it! Today! – Blessings
P.S. We are in desperate need at the moment for about 5 more helpers this Friday from 4:30 – 6:30 at the Student Center. We will be feeding appetizers to Anderson College Freshmen as they go on a progressive dinner. Call the church office or Pastor Jeff if you can help—asap. J 224-9581
LAZY – ARE YA ? I was in Proverbs 13 this morning as I am often in this book of wisdom. Know it may be a surprise to some of you –just wondering where the wisdom is—right ? There’s a chapter for each day which makes it easy to read it through in a month. Verse 4 says- “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” Hopefully you would not be one to characterize your life as a sluggard. Yet-without knowing it-you may have fallen in this trap. It’s an easy trap to fall in if we are not on our guard. God makes it clear-the opposite of a “sluggard life” is one that is marked by diligence. We only have to ask the question –“Am I going to be diligent today—and if so—what are my responsibilities, and what will be my attitude and actions for diligence in my personal responsibilities.” Can I give you some advice that I think is based on the wisdom of Scripture ? 1- Make sure you do not sleep latter than necessary and go to bed at a decent time at night so you are fresh and ready to do God’s work the next day. Model this for your kids and your wife. I am thankful My Dad was never one who “slept in” even on “days off” on a regular basis, but rather modeled a life of diligence to His commitments in life. 2- Carve out a meaningful time each day for “God & I Time” and don’t let anything take its place. Mornings are usually best. I am finding more and more that God wakes me up earlier and earlier to meet with Him. He will make sure I get enough rest and have the stamina for the rest of the day. I’m sure He is fully capable. And—when you become diligent about this-God knows you mean business-and He favors and blesses you more with His Spirit Who enables and equips you with His supernatural power. Don’t live a minute without it. 3- Make a “To Do” list. Just last week, I went over this important discipline with the Staff of GraceView. I know personally because of my multi-task responsibilities, unless I keep and follow a “To-Do” list—it is so easy to forget where I need to go and what I need to be doing on a daily basis. Those who have multiple tasks to accomplish have a hard time completing them with diligence if they keep forgetting and not prioritizing. And- when this happens—it is plain –a sluggard life style. Hope this helps you a little today. Let me end by quoting the verse again from the NLT: “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied.”
“When He saw the crowd…”
Matthew writes for us in His Gospel that “When He saw the crowds he had compassion because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples. ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” This past Saturday, many of us were hit between the eyes with the picture Jesus must have seen when he made this statement. I’m sure his compassion was much more deeper than ours however because of His ability to see past the eyes and masks of everyone’s inner soul. We had no less than 700 + Adults- Children and Teenagers from outside our church body come to the Back to School Bash-Free School Supplies event. Most all for sure needed the free supplies and were outwardly expressive in gratitude. Most of my time was at the end of the line thanking them for coming. They were appreciative no doubt. And-some attended our Sunday Worship service! Let’s not soon forget he eyes and the stories we may have heard and the ones we did not here. There are people hurting today like crazy–on every socio-economic line, race, and faith. Only one well proves to be the Living Water–and we found it! We have found the pearl of greatest price –the Living Water from the well that never runs dry. Let’s share it again today. – Blessings-Robbie
MAKE TODAY A TURNING POINT !
This morning, I was observing the conversation of Moses and God when God first called Moses. One thing that stands out to me with this whole “burning bush” experience Moses had With God is that God needed nothing from Moses. He chooses Moses to be his instrument to accomplish His purpose in the lives and hearts of His people. No doubt, God had been preparing Moses for this assignment and Moses did not even know about it. He called Moses to deliver His people (Israelites)from oppression from the Egyptians and told Moses exactly what to do and promised Moses He would be the one to go before Him and prepare the way—in every way- for this miraculous intervention and deliverance. God started by preparing the heats of the Elders to accept Moses leadership , and then He prepared the way for Pharaoh’s heart and mind to change as Pharaoh and the Egyptians would witness the mighty-awesome hand of God against them for oppressing His people. God told Moses he would return to the Mountain of God to worship Him after the deliverance. Soon-Moses, because of his obedience to God, would see the incredible glory of God manifest on the Israelites in their deliverance. The Egyptians too would witness God’s glory and power as a result of Moses’ obedience to God’s plan. APPLICATION FOR YOU AND ME LIVING TODAY: God desires to work in and through us in every little detail of our lives—with one purpose—t o glorify His name -so that the world –the community in which we live and serve, will know that God is God and that HE DELIVERS His people and those Who honor and follow Him. Moses could have set off on his own agenda and simply bragged about this great “burning bush” experience, but He did not. He set out on a journey to follow God for that day and trusted the fact that God knew what He was doing and would accomplish His purposes His way. You and I have the same opportunity this morning! Why not do life differently today than maybe the way you lived it yesterday and last week. Live it for the glory and praise of God remembering, I Corinthians 10:31. Look this verse up sometime this morning before your day gets started. If you have already started—pause—get alone—read this verse—and let God paint HIS glory all over your life –today.“Lord, turn my heart and mind to you in such a way as to be totally consumed with serving you to glorify you and to make your power known in my world-my community to which you have called me to live and serve—this day—August 3, 2009.
