Thoughts on Sunday

Wow, I praise God for showing up on Sunday! Thanks to Sylvia and Chris for doing a great job with our music!

I spoke about Navigating into the deeper waters of God. (If you didn't get to hear the message you can click here and listen.)

And I challenged Creekers in two ways: First of all that We're each responsible for our own spiritual growth! And secondly that, Your faith should be a disruptive force in your life. Boats don't reach destinations tied up in the dock. It's only when we experience the rough seas of the journey that we become navigators. Moving forward and perseverance 'in Christ' is accomplished through trials and trauma (see James 1:2-8).

A couple of more thoughts:
Be patient with yourself, God is faithful.
Back in June I had been running steadily for 7 months and feeling great. Then baseball all-stars hit and I essentially quit from mid-June through the first of August. Now, I've been going again for 5-weeks or so, and I'm still not where I was in June.
If you've been on the sideline spiritually, it's gonna take some time to renew and rebuild your spiritual momentum. Don't feel like it all has to happen this week.

And don't allow discouragement to win!
Today was my day to run. I didn't sleep well last night. Got home late. Didn't want to go at ALL! Almost as soon as I got home dinner was ready. Ahhh, an easy excuse. I knew I should go, but this was easier.
I confess that I even sat down for dinner as the conviction (that I needed) got stronger. I took one bite and then excused myself and laced up my running shoes.
Man, I was glad I did! I went further and felt better tonight than I've felt since June. When I finished - even though my body was burned - in my heart I could have gone 5 more miles!

And I believe that you can too! I felt God was telling me tonight as I was running - you can do it! I am with you, I will never leave you or forsake you! Trust me!
It feels so awesome - and is so much more rewarding - when in the power of the Holy Spirit we press through and faithfully follow Jesus.

You can do it!