Howdy NewSpring Church, I wanted to share five things as we begin this week together…
#1 - I’m still reflecting on Sunday’s services. I am SO thankful as a church that the Lord OFTEN leads us to times of inward reflection in order that we may truly answer the question, “Am I a follower of Christ…or am I merely fond of Him?” Before we can be Jesus to the world we have to do the inward inspection to make sure that He really does reign in our lives. (Thus the spiritual colonoscopy illustration!) :-) What was your response to the question, “Am I a follower of Christ?”
- “I Don’t Want To!” (See the pleading in Hebrews 3:15)
- “I Don’t Have Time To!” (Colossians 2:6-7) - Remember, any relationship minus time will eventually die!
- “I Can’t Afford To!” (Matthew 6:21, Matthew 6:24) - Jesus said money was the number one competitor for our hearts!
- “I Can’t Believe I Get To!” (I Chronicles 17:16)
#2 - Christmas services are filling up FAST (some are already completely full!) Tickets will be available this coming Sunday at each one of our locations…OR you can go online here and get your ticket. I saw this statistic on Jonathan’s blog the other day that I wanted to share here…
Top Five Times People Are Open To Considering Matters Of Faith…
- #5 - After the birth of a baby (28%)
- #4 - After a natural disaster (34%)
- #3 - After a major national crisis i.e. 9/11 (38%)
- #2 - During the Easter season (38%)
- #1 - During the Christmas season (47%)
Church…my prayer is that we will EMBRACE this opportunity (because found people find people) and do EVERYTHING we can to BRING people to a service on Christmas!!! Research ALSO shows that the #1 way a person will receive information about a church is through the PERSONAL INVITE from a friend or family member. Let’s pursue them like Jesus pursued us!!!
This will take MANY of us embracing uncomfortable situations and conversations…remember, that’s what Jesus did for us!!! I’m praying Joshua 1:9 for all of us as we focus on what this season is REALLY all about, introducing people to JESUS!
#3 - I have LOVED seeing the “Hosanna” bracelets everywhere. Remember that each time you notice it take a few seconds to pray for our Christmas services, that God will move in amazing ways and draw THOUSANDS of people to Himself.
#4 - Once again I want to remind everyone that we will not be having services on Sunday, December 26…we are allowing our staff and volunteers to have a Sunday “off” after working through an intense week of Christmas services. We will resume our normal schedule on Sunday, January 2 with our annual “year in review” Sunday…which has turned out to be one of everyone’s favorite services. (This year will be NO exception!)
#5 - On Sunday, January 9th we are going to begin our journey through the book of Ephesians together by doing a series called, “ALIVE” that will challenge us to step up and embrace the life Jesus calls us to live…one that is not normal, predictable and boring…but one that allows us to step into who He created us to be…and accomplish things in HIS name that are unbelievable.