Hey Friends…
Can I tell you a love story? I’ll warn you, though: it has a break-up in the middle of it like many relationships do. Some of you might have to think back to a younger time in life to recall the ups and downs of early love and those giddy feelings when you finally met “the right one.” Others may recall the heartache of being dumped. Or of the doubt that crept in that this could ever work out. You up for thinking about love? I’ll tell you more--and especially how this relates to you and Jesus—in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… · Ladies: Join us for our annual “Vision Board” event TOMORROW: Saturday, February 1, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Click here for more info! · Teens: Youth Group this Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., with lunch, games, and a personal story from Randy Richardson! Contact Jess if your teen will need a ride home. · Parents: Save the date!! Saturday, February 22, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m., drop your kids at the church and go spend some time alone for a special “Parents Night Out / Kids Night In.” We will have snacks, crafts, games, movies and more that your kids will love. This is for Pre-K through 6th grade. More details to come! · And don’t forget our “Daily Six” video series, six-minute videos every weekday to read along with me as I study through the Gospel of Mark. Click here to jump in this week and catch up! And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here to receive a link to The Daily Six each morning! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who think crazy is all bad. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… The great theologian known as “Calvin and Hobbs” explains how love works. In the once-popular comic strip, young Cavin told Hobbs, his imaginary stuffed tiger friend, that “true love is when your heart falls out of your chest, drops down into your stomach, and then short circuits your brain.” Anyone who has “fallen in love” can relate to that, can’t you? On top of swelling emotions, there is a definite short-circuiting of most rational thought. Doubts, fears, and cautions get thrown to the wind by the joys, anticipation, and imagination of what life would be like with his special someone. But after time, most relationships will enter a frustrating season. Sometimes it’s a lonely phase. Sometimes it’s a painful period. Sometimes it’s even a dark and broken chapter. The genuine hardships of life eventually catch up with our optimistic infatuation. This difficult season--which attends to almost every love relationship—can be stunning and deeply disorienting. Hollywood and American culture has conditioned us to the falsehood that true love sparks brilliantly and then continues unabated “happily ever after.” The deception is so strong that modern culture demands that when hardships come, it must not be true love. The only safe bet is to bail out. When surrender, sacrifice, and the breaking of our stubborn will is what’s next for the relationship to thrive, America says to bail out. Real love says surrender. The Bible calls this “breaking”. Not breaking up. But breaking— breaking the stubbornness of our selfishness and hardness. Real love must go through the crucible of testing our willingness to break, to surrender ourselves to placing the needs of the other first, even at our own personal expense. Why am I telling you all this? It’s still two weeks until Valentine’s Day, so no, this is not a lecture on romance. No, this is a story about God. It is a story about you and me and God. In human romance, the healthiest and most lasting love relationships almost always hit an inflection point--hopefully while still dating and not inside the marriage—where rejection is on the table. “If you really don’t want me for who I am, this is not going to work.” I know a little bit about this from my 20’s. I dated more lady friends than I’d like to admit. I had a very restless soul, so I experienced more than a handful of conversations just like this. Each time, my immature, long-lasting adolescence clung to toxic Hollywood ideals. The relationship was, appropriately, cut off by the one who had enough self-respect to say, “If you really don’t want me for who I am, this is not going to work.” Friends, the same is true with us and God. God will not accept an unwilling and half-hearted romance with us any more than a self-respecting woman would. If our hearts are not in this, God will reach an inflection point. He will clear the deck. He will cut everything down. But this is where He is different from the girls who dumped me when I was young and dumb. God clears the deck not to end the relationship. His discipline always sees a tiny hope, a little shoot of new growth that could grow up from the stump of that which He cut down. God always sees a straight-line path to a vibrant relationship. The path to that relationship is often in the crucible of testing our willingness to break. This Sunday let’s explore this in one of the most important parables Jesus ever spoke. He refers to our heart as soil that can either be hard packed, filled with rocks, or choked out by thorns and thistles. Only some of our hearts are the soft and well-tilled soil in which our relationship with God can thrive. You can do some advance reading… soak in the whole chapter of Mark 4. See if you can pick up where the breaking needs to occur, and what God will do with it. When you come across Mark 4:11-12, be prepared to be confused. But follow the trail to Isaiah’s prophecy that Jesus is referencing. If you follow the trail through Isaiah 6 (catch especially Isaiah 6:13) to Isaiah 10:25 to Isaiah 10:33-34 to Isaiah 11:1-10, you might see God playing hard to get… just like we talked about above. Jesus is the little shoot that grows up out of a cut down stump (Isaiah 11:1). To mix the metaphors, we are the hardened soil that needs breaking up. Shall we get our shovels out? See you Sunday… 10:00 a.m.!! Much love… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
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Hey Friends…
I mean this in the most positive light. Are you nuts? Crazy? Out of your mind? Oh, you’ve been trying to avoid that outcome, have you? I suppose such a moniker isn’t typically at the top of our desired life achievements. But maybe it should be. At least if we want to be like Jesus. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… Some fun stuff at Mt. Hope: · Join our Mt. Hope History Team for a half-day brainstorming session, TOMORROW, Saturday, January 25, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., lunch included. Click here to email Sherri for details and to RSVP! · Ladies: Join us for our annual “Vision Board” event NEXT Saturday, February 1, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Click here for more info! · Teens: Youth Group this Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., with lunch, games, and a personal story from Al Villaflor! Contact Jess if your teen will need a ride home. · Help our leaders pray for you! Even if you prefer to not be in our published church directory, it is super helpful to have your name and a photo of you in our church database so our elders and prayer team can visualize you as they get to know you. Click here to send in a picture for us to add… OR let Dave Firestone snap a picture of you this Sunday after church! · And don’t forget our “Daily Six” video series, six-minute videos every weekday to read along with me as I study through the Gospel of Mark. Click here to jump in this week and catch up! And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here to receive a link to The Daily Six each morning! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who think crazy is all bad. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Genuine mental illness is nothing to laugh about or speak of without compassion and understanding. Let’s set that sober subject aside for today, except to say that anyone who battles an authentic mental, emotional, or personality disorder is worthy of our love, support, care, and bountiful respect. “Crazy” isn’t the appropriate word for that deep struggle whatsoever. But there is a “crazy” that is good. You should seek after it. By any measure, things were going amazingly well in Jesus’ life. He was as healthy a person as has ever been. His accomplishments were stunning. He was at the top of his game, successful, famous, surrounded by thousands of admirers and friends. There was nothing in his life that any one of us wouldn’t want to experience. But his family thought he had gone completely mad. They wanted this to stop. Immediately. There must have been a family meeting. “Jesus has lost his marbles,” someone finally said out loud. Perhaps the boldness of whoever spoke up was a welcome relief to the silent tension that had been building for months. None of his brothers and sisters[i] wanted to say it, and I’m sure they feared deeply hurting their mom. She had undoubtedly told the family over and over again of that supernatural visitation of angels announcing Messiah was in her virgin womb[ii]. Perhaps the repeated stories of their eldest brother’s miraculous origins built a tension of its own among his siblings, maybe even a touch of jealousy. It had to frustrate them that Jesus never got in trouble. Talk about a real “middle child” syndrome when your oldest brother is an actual angel… er… um, a member of the eternal divine Trinity. But everyone was an adult now. Childhood jealousies aside, James and Jude and the sisters were genuinely concerned. Jesus was way out over his skis, and the family was paying a high price for his reckless lifestyle. Perhaps it started the day he embarrassed the family by inflaming the whole congregation at the synagogue[iii]. The rage he sparked that day with his confrontational sermon nearly got him killed. And since it was a small town, Joseph’s whole family must have lost respect among their lifetime neighbors and friends. Even Joseph’s carpentry business likely took a hit. It got worse. Jesus started holding healing services where thousands lined up to get their deliverance. A stately and long-respected gentleman from the synagogue was suddenly screaming out with demonic voices as a hidden evil within him was exposed and cast out[iv]. The crowds were quite excitable as all manner of physical ailments and disabilities were miraculously healed[v]. I don’t know if you’ve ever attended a Pentecostal healing service, but the mood and emotions can get a little uncomfortable for the more stoic among us. The family hit their breaking point when he started picking fights in public with the most respected religious leaders in town[vi]. They grew up learning everything about God from these teachers of the law. The Pharisees were their tribe: their people, their denomination, their comfortable tradition. And now Jesus so infuriated them that they were plotting to kill him[vii]. The Pharisees were certain his power was from the devil[viii]. He had to be stopped. I’m guessing that’s when they had the conversation with Mom. “We have to go get him,” they said to Mary. “He has gone too far. He is embarrassing our family. But worse than that, he’s going to get himself killed. And we know that’s going to break your heart, Mother. We know how much you love him.” Who knows how that conversation went over with Mary. I bet there were a lot of tears. She finally relented. “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:20-21). Mary came with his brothers. Perhaps her loving demeanor could melt Jesus just enough to hear their concerns and come home with them. To avoid making a scene, they asked someone else to go inside and quietly tell him his mother was outside. Jesus’ response was heartbreaking. “‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked.” The rejection was like a knife through Mary’s heart. “Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘Here are my mother and brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother’” (Mark 3:33-34). To his family, Jesus was crazy. To Jesus, his crazy followers were his new family. Friends, the real Gospel--the full Gospel—is foolishness to the common person[ix]. It is way too intense. It is way too supernatural. It is way too emotional. It is way too consuming. It is way too non-religious. Until you have tasted this Gospel’s power, it will feel foreign to you, scary, over-the-top. It will be crazy. I say you should want this. Do you? This Sunday let’s slow down and consider the lifestyle of Jesus and his disciples. Let’s give ourselves some room to feel a bit uncomfortable, to be a little skeptical. But let’s give it an honest look. Do we want to be as crazy as Jesus? By the way, his family finally came around. His brothers James and Jude wrote two books that made it into the New Testament. Mary stood by his side at the crucifixion[x]. They were all there at Pentecost[xi] and received a mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit[xii]. You and I should come around too. If you want to do some advance reading before Sunday, dig into all the footnotes I’ve offered below my signature line. Wow… he is crazy. Shall we join him? Much love… See you Sunday!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
We have a problem. It can be solved, but only if we recognize how deep it is. If we keep seeing it as “normal,” we won’t want Jesus to fix it. We won’t even recognize that he could. Instead, we’ll only look for Jesus to fix a few shallower aspects of our lives. While a shallow healing is certainly enjoyable, most of us are oblivious to the far greater life we could experience if Jesus healed our deeper issue. What to know what it is? More importantly, do you want it to be healed? Let’s talk in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… four important events, and two video links: · THIS SUNDAY: We are watching the forecast suggesting 1-3 inches of snow may arrive during church. We will keep monitoring and will email you Saturday evening with our plans for Sunday service and youth group. · Let’s PRAY!! THIS Saturday, January 18, sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., come pray with us at the church to seek God for our future, with a worship night at 6:00 p.m. Click here to let us know what time to expect you—or if you’re out of town, when might pray from afar! · Join our Mt. Hope History Team for a half-day brainstorming session, Saturday, January 25, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., lunch included. Click here to email Sherri for details and to RSVP! · Ladies: Join us for our annual “Vision Board” event Saturday, February 1, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Click here for more info! · Did you miss our facility expansion update last Sunday? No worries: click here to see our current plans for expanding Mt. Hope, learn about our next steps, and discover how you can participate. Please be patient with some poor audio coverage of folks’ great questions; it gets fixed a few minutes in. · And don’t forget our “Daily Six” video series, six-minute videos every weekday to read along with me as I study through the Gospel of Mark. Click here to jump in this week and catch up! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer shallow living. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… When I was 19 years old, I had major reconstructive jaw surgery. It was incredibly invasive. And painful. Not to ruin your appetite, but the short story is they had to cut my upper jaw completely out, set it on the table, pull some bone from my hip, stuff it up in my face to make new cheekbones, and then tie the jaw back into a new position with large titanium screws. My upper jaw had never grown to its normal adult position; the doctors didn’t want me living with a severe underbite and an even uglier face than I have now. Staring down the barrel of this obviously wretched procedure, I prayed hard. My ask was simple. “Jesus, miraculously prevent any pain. Please.” My surgeon assured me Jesus wouldn’t answer (oh, I tried to tell him all about the Lord) and that I should be prepared for a very rough summer. I prayed. Miraculously, God obliged. But only partly. He left just a touch of pain unhealed to simply make His point. I can imagine that wry little grin on His face as He told the archangel to “hold my holy water and watch this…” My agenda was no pain. God’s agenda was more precise. And far more bold. I didn’t know I needed what He had in mind. But when He delivered, it changed my life. As I laid in Reston Hospital for three days of recovery, my face swelled to the size (and color) of Charlie Brown’s “The Great Pumpkin.” My college buddies stopped by to see how I was doing, but when they walked in my room, they immediately turned around and left. They thought they had the wrong patient as I was totally unrecognizable. My hip was screaming in pain from the bone graft (oops… did I forget to ask God to prevent that specific pain?). But my face and jaw were completely painless. That, the surgeon later conceded, was indeed a miracle. (No, he didn’t get saved.) But more miraculously, those three days in the hospital became the most meaningful intimacy with Jesus I have ever experienced in my life--before or since. With unmistakable clarity, Jesus Christ was distinctly present with me in that room. Wave upon wave of a mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit cascaded through my spirit for three days straight. The Word of God flooded my mind. I experienced irrational levels of joy even as I lay with eyes closed, gritting teeth over the searing bone graft pain. A spirit of perfect love I had never known washed over my emotions and my soul. My heart pivoted to an irreversible devotion to the Lord and a surrender to His lifetime authority over me. It has driven me ever since. The bold faith you see in me every Sunday comes, in part, from that precious, pain-filled, glorious hospital visit in the summer of 1989. Why am I telling you all this? Because I think we often (maybe usually?) ask for the wrong miracle. So did the paralytic’s buddies in Mark 2:1-12. They understandably wanted a healing from their friend’s life of physical pain. But Jesus would rather perform the miracle of Levi’s spiritual healing in Mark 2:13-17. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (Mark 2:5). When Jesus met the crooked mobster Levi he said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). I told you earlier we have a problem. Jesus wants to heal it. But the problem is not first and foremost the physical or emotional discomfort we would prefer he take away. Our problem starts with a shallow, intellectual-based faith that sees its goal as getting from Jesus pragmatic solutions to our temporary physical and emotional needs. We choose to intellectually agree with the doctrines of the Bible so we can get God’s help with our immediate pains and struggles. But Jesus would prefer to forge inside us an everlasting, abiding, and all-consuming intimacy with God. To do this, he needs to heal our sinful hearts, not our ailing bodies. This Sunday let’s look into the life of that paralytic, the spiritually foul Levi, and his motley crew of unsavory scoundrels. Let’s see the supernatural things Jesus did with them. And let’s consider if we are asking for the right miracle in our lives. One more reminder: Let me personally help you spend 12 minutes to abundance with Jesus every day from now until Easter. It is intrinsically tied to the very thing we’ve just finished discussing—forging an irreversible intimacy with Jesus. Let me do it with you. Click here for our “Daily Six” video series and come along with me, Monday through Friday, as I read the Gospel of Mark and pray for God’s revelation in it. Just six minutes together, then you talk with God alone for six minutes more. And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here to receive a link to The Daily Six each morning—or you can just find the videos on our YouTube channel every day. Let’s ask Jesus for what we really need… There's a profound miracle waiting for us if we’ll recognize we really need it. Much love… See you Sunday!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey friends…
Why do anything that’s pointless? Life has enough pressures and responsibilities as it is, so why spend the energy keeping up with something that has no value? Now, if you’re taking the time to read these first few sentences, you obviously value Jesus enough to at least open an email from a church. But look out!! Even among those who deeply cherish their faith, there’s a trap we can easily fall into where we end up missing the point altogether. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… a BUNCH of cool stuff is happening: · Do you pray? Click here to watch today’s “Daily Six” about praying like Jesus prayed. Let’s spend just six minutes together to look at the whole point of following Jesus. More on this in Deeper Thoughts below. · Want to see some drawings of Mt. Hope’s potential future? Hang around after church THIS Sunday to see the current draft of our building expansion concept, give us your feedback, and talk about next steps. 11:45 a.m. until…? · Let’s PRAY!! Plan 30 minutes on Saturday January 18 sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to come pray with us at our next prayer vigil to seek God for our future, with a worship night at 6:00 p.m. that evening. Click here to let us know what time to expect you! · Join our Mt. Hope History Team for a half-day brainstorming session, Saturday, January 25, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., lunch included. Click here to email Sherri for details and to RSVP! · Teens: Join us for youth group after church this Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.! · Ladies: We are collecting items to take Uruguayan missionaries: brand-new or “like new” women’s clothing items of ALL sizes; accessories (jewelry, scarves, etc…); and unopened toiletries. Bring these to the BLUE room at church by January 26. Also… mark your calendars for Saturday, February 1 for our next get together. Click here for more info! · This Sunday is going to be AWESOME!! We’re baptizing our 17-year-old buddy, Coby, who has been on a wildly transformative journey with us. You’ve got to hear his story in detail! And any skeptic you know… invite them. they’ll get a lot out of it. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who enjoy pointless activity. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Why are you even interested in being a Christian? I told you last Sunday that dry, life-less, boring religion has exhausted me since I was a kid. And there is plenty of lifelessness running around religion. Just ask the average churchgoer across the nation: “What did you get out of last Sunday?” Depending on the type of church, the answers might be muddled. For some, faith is really about a social life. Church and religion fill a void by being surrounded with decent people. The morals are quite respectable. The conversations are polite. The generosity of others is encouraging. For others, accepting Jesus is all about fear. With the death rate running right at 100% these days, we all carry a subtle fear of the afterlife, and the message that our sins can be forgiven and heaven assured--and of course hell avoided—is a fairly motivating reason to become a Christian. But is that all you want out of Jesus? Nice people and a comfortable eternity? Or are you hungry for something more? I am. I am ravenous for an authentic spiritual life that is truly substantive, truly transformative, truly supernatural. I am desperate for an experience with Jesus, not just an intellectual affinity with him. And I am so hungry for this that I will rip up any lifeless religious activity that keeps me from him. This next week, we’re going to read in Mark 2:1-12 about a group of friends who were so intent on getting in front of Jesus that they literally ripped the roof off Jesus’ home to climb inside the packed-out house. The crowds were so thick and so hungry for Jesus’ words that not a single person would give up their little square footage to let another needy person get near him. We’ll read about this together on this coming Monday’s “Daily Six.” When was the last time you saw a church so full, and people so hungry to get inside, that people were breaking down walls or tearing off the shingles to get in? Oh, you’ve never seen that? Huh. I wonder why not? When was the last time you were so desperate to get with Jesus that you knocked down your entire schedule and ripped your ceiling open with the intensity of your prayers? Hmmm. Friends, forgive me if I’m being a little too punchy. Consider it my own version of roof-remodeling in search of a personal encounter with Jesus. And I want you to join me. Here’s the deal: There’s only one way to get this kind of experience with Jesus. It’s to go where he is. To do what he did. To inquire and listen to God the way Jesus connected with the Father. It’s to receive the things he received, and to reject the things he rejected. It’s to… hang on… here’s the punch line: it’s to be with Jesus. When we get with Jesus, we will experience what he experienced. And from that, we can do what Jesus did. And from that, we can have a relationship that is not lifeless, dull, boring, and ordinary. Check it out in the scriptures before Sunday morning, and then let’s talk: Mark 1:10-11. Jesus submitted himself to God and then he heard God’s voice. “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” That’s what I’m talking about. That’s an experience with God: His voice; His revelation; His confidence in our relationship. That’s what I am starving for. You? Do you want to hear this--like, really hear it—from God? Not hear it from the preacher, but hear it directly from the Father? If we want this kind of interactive experience with God, we must do what Jesus did. “Follow me,” Jesus said to two guys while they were at work (Mark 1:17). Follow me. Do what I do. Then you will have the relationship. What did Jesus do to get this? Let’s talk Sunday. But until then: Have you been giving God a daily “12 minutes to abundance?” It’s not too late to start. We are challenging everyone to lock 12 minutes with Jesus on top of a specific thing you already do every single day—getting ready in the morning; or eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner; or coffee break at work; or commuting to or from work, school, the gym, the store, etc. (sit in the parking lot for 12 minutes with Jesus). Every. Single. Day. Let me personally help you. I will do it with you. Click here for our “Daily Six” video series and come along with me, Monday through Friday, as I read the Gospel of Mark and pray for God’s revelation in it. Just six minutes together, then you talk with God alone for six minutes more. And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here to receive a link to The Daily Six each morning—or you can just find the videos on our YouTube channel every day. Let’s follow Jesus together… it’s the entire point. See you Sunday!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey friends…
For you. It was quite specific. Distinct. Good. But just a tad costly… well, it’s frankly on the discount table, but you’ll still have to pony up a little. But if you do, God promised me something that I am certain you will like. Want to know what it is? I’ll tell you down in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… a few important reminders: · Hang around after church NEXT Sunday, January 12, to see the first draft of our building expansion plans. We’ll show you the architect’s ideas, get your feedback, and talk about next steps. 11:40-ish until whenever (not super long). · Plan 30 minutes on Saturday January 18 sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to come pray with us at our next prayer vigil, with a worship night that evening. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could get 100 Mt. Hope folks to stop by the church throughout the day and pray with us for a half hour or so? Please carve out the time! We need the Body of Christ together to seek Him for our future! · New small group about marriage: NEXT Friday Night, January 10, 6:30 p.m. at the church, David and Lynn Eisele launch a seven-week small group called “You and Me Together, a study in Christ-centered marriage. This is for marrieds and singles, young and old! Use your marriage and life to show others what love is, to build each other up, support one another in your callings, and keep one another spiritually on-track. Click here to let us know you’re interested! · Ladies: Sandra Cravens and the Uruguay mission team are collecting items to take to the Uruguayan missionaries and church leaders that they will be serving. As you clean out your closets this holiday season, we are looking for brand-new or “like new” women’s clothing items of ALL sizes; accessories (jewelry, scarves, etc…); and unopened toiletries. Bring these to the BLUE room at church by January 26. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer to avoid anything God might have to say. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… I realize that “God spoke something to me” can be a bit intimidating. Perhaps even somewhat manipulative—I mean, how do you argue or push back on something that “Almighty God hath said?” For many people, they can’t say that God has ever spoken anything to them. They’re not even sure what that would be like, so their visualization of it can often quickly pivot to something more grandiose than it really is. Or they could—and perhaps should—have a serious case of skepticism whenever someone says, “God told me this for you.” So, those caveats acknowledged, would you allow me to tell you that “God told me something for you?” It was about four weeks ago. The impression was distinct. It was not audible, but it was a clear gut impression deep in my spirit. I wrote it down. Here it is: Oh… wait… let me set one important stage, and then I’ll tell you what He said. This Sunday, we start a new teaching series where we will be walking chapter-by-chapter through the Gospel of Mark to learn everything we can about Jesus. Each week, we’ll be mapping out five short readings from each chapter that you can read along with us. We’ll provide you a direction to pray. We’ll have a daily six-minute video (Monday through Friday) for you to come with me while I do my own reading and prayer. Most of our small groups will be reading the same chapter each week. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we all soaked in the same stories of Jesus over the course of the week, and then we gathered on Sundays to do a deeper dive into that same text? Wouldn’t we really know Jesus by the end of those sixteen weeks? “OK… C’mon Chris, get on with it. I’m about to click out of this email. What did God say already??” Here goes. A very specific word from the Lord for you and for me—and you be the judge. Does it seem like this might be from God? Ready? “If you will be faithful to give God twelve minutes of focused attention in the Word each day, and if you will not miss a single day for the next 16 weeks, God will do a work in your heart. The Word of God will become a light and a lifeline to you in ways you cannot begin to imagine. “You never miss a day of personal hygiene. You never miss a day of eating meals. And if you ever do, it haunts you all day long. Both take only about 12 minutes. Beloved, the Lord says to us, ‘Do not miss the cleansing and feeding that is found in God’s Word. Ever.’” Wait… um… did I tell you all this already? Seems like I might have told you about this word from the Lord just a few Fridays ago. Ooops… or… should I say “good?” Yep, let’s go with good. This one is worth repeating because it is truly a promise of power. “Powered by Jesus: Living the Abundant Spirit-filled Life” we are calling this new winter teaching series. If we want the power of Jesus in our lives, empowered by him for truly abundant living, then we need to follow his lead on how to get there. Here’s what Jesus did: Mark 1:35: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Will you follow him with this? It doesn’t have to be before dark. It doesn’t even have to be in the morning, though both of those are excellent ideas for how to lock in your day with Jesus. But it does need to be consistent. Lock it on top of a specific thing you already do every single day. Commit to twelve minutes and attach it to that thing—getting ready in the morning; or eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner; or coffee break at work; or commuting to or from work, school, the gym, the store, etc. (sit in the parking lot for 12 minutes with Jesus). Find something you do every day and lock Jesus onto that one thing. Every. Single. Day. Twelve minutes to abundance. Five days a week. Sixteen weeks. That’s eighty times. If you will be faithful and not miss a single day, then God will do a work in your heart. The Word of God will become a light and a lifeline to you. You in? When do you start? On Monday? Good. I’ll have all the tools and details waiting for you this Sunday morning. If you can’t be there this week, pull it up online afterwards. And, just for good measure, I’ll drop a note in your email inbox early Monday morning. Here we go… let’s follow Jesus together!! Much love to you all… see you Sunday! Can’t wait!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend |
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