Tuesday, August 02, 2011

DONE! ...Our Challenge


QUESTIONS-> Do you ever want to say “I’m done!”? Does your life seem stuck? Do you feel like you’re on a plateau? Are you tired of the spiritual rut? Are you eager to see your life, your family and your church achieve a deeper devotion to, and impact for, Christ? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions then you will be very interested in the NEW sermon series and small group semester starting August 28th.

DONE! -> “I’m done!” This is a phrase we often use in exasperation to declare we are closing one chapter and beginning and new one. The reality is that advancement in any endeavor, achievement of any goal, growth in any area of life demands that we say “I’m done.” We must forsake certain things and replace them with others. To achieve a goal, old habits are forsaken and replaced with new ones. You’ve probably noticed that most people remain stuck in unfulfilling patterns of life because they are unwilling to forsake useless, even harmful ways and replace them with healthy, life-giving ones. They haven’t yet come to the place of saying “I’m done”, so their misery continues. We must give up to go up! Improvement means declaring an end to lesser things for greater things.

JESUS‘ EXAMPLE -> Christ was done with people lost without salvation. So he forsook the previously unbroken fellowship with the Father in Heaven, to come to Earth to die on the cross for our sin. He gave up “equality with God” for a greater mission, the mission to redeem people far from God.

SMALL GROUPS -> I urge you to come hear the messages AND to participate in a small group. In our small groups, we will discuss in greater depth the previous Sunday’s message and corresponding challenge. Every member of our church family serious about Jesus should be participating in a group. Groups are forming now and will start the week of August 28st.

BACK STORY -> I read a book and I prayed. In the fall of 2010, I read a book entitled Radical written by David Platt. I knew God wanted me to preach on the topics covered in the book so I waited for the right time. In the meantime, I have been praying a radical prayer for our Church, including you! Because of Radical and Jesus’ words in places like Luke 14, I’ve been praying that all of us would take up the challenge to forsake spiritual mediocrity and replace it with whole-hearted devotion to Jesus. I’m praying every one of us will say “I’m Done” with spiritual mediocrity.

August 28 DONE! with Ignorance of the Bible
September 4 DONE! with Spiritual Apathy
September 11 DONE! with Complacency
September 18 DONE! with Materialism
September 25 DONE! with Isolation