“Okay, Now What?” (2 Chron 20:12)

NOTE: This is part of the manuscript I take to the pulpit.  It does not include all I say nor do I read it, it is simply a tool I use to keep me progressing in the direction God has given me.  To read the rest of the message CLICK HERE.

You have no idea how much my family & I have been looking forward to today… the first Lord’s Day we begin serving as your Pastor and family!  Literally for years we have been praying for & about you, we just didn’t know who you would be.   Now the day has come & I feel like when my first child Amy was born.  It was wonderful & exciting… till I realized they were letting us take her home!  WHOAH!  I was instantly overwhelmed!

Still we’re all excited, expectant, & hopeful about the future & what God has in store for us.  What it is… we don’t know.  You don’t… I don’t… we don’t… but God does.  HE is the author of all things from eternity past… today… & into eternity.  The Q we have is, “How do we fit in to God’s plan both as a church & individuals?”

I have two goals as a result of God’s call.  The first is to honor Him in all things.  The second is to shepherd you as His people that Jesus purchased w/ His blood.  I take both seriously because in Heb 13:17 I know I will give an account to God for how faithful I am in carrying out those things.

Today I ask you to listen on two levels.  The first is in relation to your walk w/ God… the other is how we as a congregation walk w/ God.  Both are for His glory.  Both are interrelated.

Every time life presses in upon us we wonder… WHY?  Two reasons: 1st, God is maturing us in Christ (Ro 8:29).  2nd, He’s teaching us to rely upon Him rather than ourselves (2 Cor 1:9).