I am definitely a person who likes to plan. In fact, now days because of our use of technology and doing more than one campus, I have some hard deadlines I have to meet way in advance in order for our incredible team to be able to do what they need to do. Because of that I often plan teaching series out 6 months to a year in advance. The next weekend series has been planned for a long time, “The Good, The Bad, The Manly”. I’m almost done with the notes! Our crack video team has the message intro and has been working on some video illustrations, but…

Maybe you’ve heard us say it around here at Alive Church, “The truth comes after the but.” But, the Lord has really put something on my heart and has been leading me in a different direction for our next weekend series. I tried to ignore it. I tried to tell God that a lot of great staff, paid and volunteer, have already put a lot of work into this series so I should just follow through. But, God keeps telling me to go a different direction.  

I should have kept my big mouth shut! I told a couple of the staff how I have been feeling and what God has put on my heart thinking that they would talk me out of it. But nooooo, they agreed with God and said I should change the weekend teaching series.

So, here we go: our next weekend series is going to be out of the book of Colossians entitled “The Secret”.  We are going to wrestle with how we change and how we are to live up to all the stuff in the Bible. How do we pull off this holy and righteous life? Because the truth is, the Christian life is not just difficult; it’s impossible, so impossible that there has been only one person in all of history to pull it off, Jesus.

In the book of Colossians we see that God is not asking us to “do the Christian life” in the power of our own strength. He already knows we don’t have that kind of strength. The hope of our lives is not in us trying to live the Christian life and do the Christian thing. Our hope is in embracing the reality of Christ living His life in and through each of us, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

I invite you to join me and take the journey of “The Secret” over the next four weeks. Begin to really see who you are in Jesus and who He is in you. Tap into His power and walk in His truth.

The good news is, I am very prepared for a series that I will probably do next year sometime. “The Good, The Bad, The Manly”, maybe a father’s day series, I need to pray on that one! I love it when God messes with my plans!!!

In Christ, Pastor Jeff

 

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Wed 28 Oct 2009 6:56:47 pm