Howdy NewSpring Church, FIVE things I would LOVE to share with you today…
#1 - This past Sunday was one of my favorite Sunday’s of all time in the history of our church. The Lord moved in a powerful way at the end of the message and it always moves me in a pretty big way when I see people responding to the Holy Spirit to take another step in their walk with Christ. (AND…YES, I mean that! My favorite Sunday’s are NOT what happened here eight years ago!!! My two favorite Sunday’s are ALWAYS this past Sunday and this coming Sunday…ALWAYS! Yes, I DO celebrate the past…but I also anticipate the future and believe that the God who has blessed our past will continue to do so in our future!)
#2 - As I said Sunday…God’s voice is as real and as powerful as it has ever been…and He wants to speak to us often times way more than we want to hear from Him. God spoke to Job…and when Job decided to seek and surrender to the voice of God the result was Job 42:12! He has made Himself clear…and we said that the five primary ways that God speaks are…
- The Bible - Hebrews 4:12 says God’s Word is LIVING & ACTIVE…even though it was written two thousand years ago it still speaks loudly TODAY. It is a dangerous thing to proclaim that God does not speak anymore when the Bible is so thick! If we want to hear God’s voice we simply need to read His Word. (HERE is the site where you can find Bible reading plans to help you out in this area.) Success comes from surrendering to Scripture, NOT rebelling against it (see Joshua 1:8).
- The Holy Spirit - We receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14) and He leads us to walk closer with Jesus and keep in step with God’s Word…not to do things in contradiction to it (John 14:26.)
- The Church - The Scriptures say in Ephesians 3:10 that through the CHURCH the wisdom of God is made known! Church isn’t just a good idea…it’s GOD’S IDEA…and if we don’t need it then HE sure did waste a lot of time talking about it in the New Testament!
- Other People - Scripture says in Proverbs 13:20 that if we walk with the wise we will grow wise!!! I don’t need perfect people around me…I need hungry people, hungry for God and His Word because…a hungry person will always tell other hungry people where they found bread. AND…when someone speaks about what God is telling/showing them it is often exactly what I needed to hear. (I also spoke about people who have “words from the Lord” for other people all of the time, not enough time to go into that here, download the message later on today and check it out.)
- The Invitation - Scripture says in Psalm 46:10 to BE STILL and know…not “go & know!” People who strategically choose their seat in a church service in order to hit the door as soon as the message is over & miss the invitation every single week are robbing themselves of an opportunity to hear from and respond to God.
- If you haven’t read THIS ARTICLE I wrote about “Eyes Locked” in regards to spending time with the Lord then you might want to check it out…it gives a fresh perspective.
#3 - THIS COMING SUNDAY is going to be one of the most liberating Sunday’s in the history of NewSpring Church as we are going to be hitting the subject of legalism and how people are placed in the prison of performance…and how that actually robs us of joy! Seriously…if you have ever struggled with believing that God actually loves you…or you think He is mad at you all of the time…you have GOT to be here this coming Sunday!
#4 - THANKSGIVING WEEKEND is going to be amazing! God has allowed NewSpring Church to impact our communities and the world that we live in…and on that weekend we are going to dive into how the Lord has used us to make a difference…and what that means for our future. It’s going to be an amazing day as we get to see through video what Jesus has allowed us to do in Kenya, Estonia, the UK and in our own communities.
#5 - CHRISTMAS SERVICES are going to be INCREDIBLE this year. We’re trying some things we’ve never attempted before…and last week we were on location in New York City, Los Angeles and Las Vegas to film video for these services. I’m asking everyone at NewSpring to go ahead and begin to PRAY for these services and PREPARE to bring someone with you!
That’s all for now…I can’t wait for Sunday…I LOVE MY CHURCH!!!