Dear First
Methodist Family,
Two Sundays ago was a terrific example of what happens when a church has an amazing ministry staff. Wayne Williams brought the third message in our “Simple Machines” Sermon Series with “First Line of Defense – The Ramp” during Sunday Morning Worship and Brady Herbert shared the same message in Saturday worship. I shared “Getting Your House in Order – The Lever” last Sunday while Joe Cox shared the same message in Saturday worship. Next weekend we’re looking forward to the last message in the series with “Gaining Momentum -- The Wheel.” We’re already learning that it is one thing to hope to live an influential and abundant Christian life, but quite another to gain momentum all through life and that it takes people around us to help us reach our dreams.
It seems that we often settle for the lesser dreams. We dream about the incredible opportunities that we have as Christians to influence the world for God’s purpose. Through God’s Spirit, we can live a Christian life with the fulfillment, joy, peace, and purpose that God intends, but having a dream and the disciplined lifelong commitment to realize that dream are two different things. It is easy to make a commitment, but keeping that commitment for life is another matter. In the remainder of the sermon series we’ll be talking about how you continue to grow in faith and practice for a lifetime.
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I’ve learned that over the course of life, most good things don’t happen magically or suddenly. They are the result of a predetermined desire, an ongoing commitment to build a “Life that Works.”
God wants so much more for us than we dare imagine. God wants to build in us a life that works as we move toward what we were created to become. The apostle Paul compares the life of faith to running a race that requires the impetus of forward motion (1 Cor. 9:24-27).
In our “Simple Machines” Message Series we’re speaking to how powerful the purpose and spirit of God is in propelling us into a “Life that Works.”
From Genesis to Revelation, we are called to a lifestyle of holiness – “without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14, NRSV). Holiness is whole-life living. It means we are being transformed into God’s likeness. It means our lives reflect the excellence of God. All areas of our life must work together to reflect the excellence of God’s character and the result is living a life with “God at Full Capacity.”
If you’re stuck in some area, I hope this message series will help you name your particular dream “buster.”
I just returned from a missionary journey to Chincha, Peru, where I had the special privilege of playing a part in dedication a church building FUMC funded and helped to build. Wayne Williams, Johnny Mankin, Darrell Anderson, Jon Spelman, and Hack Branch joined me on this special occasion. It was an amazing faith-building time as we shared worship with a group of people who are in desperate poverty, but had an undeniable joy in the Lord. We enjoyed two worship services, I spoke and Wayne interpreted, and we visited many of the outreach ministries that our partnering with these congregations helps make possible. They told us they have much to learn from us in the area of organization, visioning, and discipleship. They want to send teams to Waco to learn from us. But it didn’t take me long to realize we have a lot to learn from them in the area of worship and evangelism. They are outreach-focused and they, even in poverty, have a faith that is powerful and infectious. I hope you’re taking our “Time to Grow” challenge seriously and are reaching out with faith as they do with fervor and commitment. We indeed, have a great deal to learn from each other.
We’ll be sending a team to Chincha in June that will number about 45 people. I’m looking forward to the victory stories they’ll share when they return.
But none of that will happen if we don’t build a strong church here. I’m confident you’ll join me as we build a life and a church that works.
