“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).