In our series “Hot Topics”, where our people were able to text in their greatest questions about God, the Bible, life, etc., one of the biggest areas of questions centered around the issue of the afterlife. Apparently people want to know what’s next….imagine that. In this message I tried to address some of the most repeated questions we received.
As we announced Sunday, Grace Community Church has purchased 58 acres of land just a couple miles from our current meeting location. We are excited about the future. To answer some of the questions we did not have time to share Sunday, I wanted to share some details about this process.
Now, I really think there is more to this than just a good trivia stumper. I think the fact that David, the one who “killed the lion and the bear” could be afraid, means that I too will have times that I am afraid. The fact that the one who “approached Goliath” could become terrified means that surely times will shake my confidence. The reality that the one who was “anointed to be king”, could become so afraid that he would act like an idiot to avoid being found out, means that you and I, who may be of lesser stature in our faith, should not be surprised when we have fear and doubts.
For years, I resisted a call to ministry, partly because of this advice. The simple fact was that I could do some things besides ministry. I had some success in business. In fact, at one point I was extremely successful in my field. In my own strength, I found I could do many things.
This month our local Clarksville Family Magazine featured one such woman, Kelly Blevins. Kelly, and fellow Grace girl Lynne Woodson, have decided to use their experience with cancer to launch a local support group for other breast cancer patients. This type ministry fires me up, because it addresses real and practical needs. I want to be their biggest cheerleader!
The most common reasons for not pursuing a dream or goal are the fear of failure or the uncertainty of success.
Never underestimate the power of God’s intervention in your life. He uses broken, mixed up, hurting, fracture stories to mold and shape some of His greatest work.
I have always found it interesting that Rahab continued to be known as a harlot…a prostitute…a hooker… (Sorry for the crude word, but that probably best captures how she must have been viewed at one point in her life.)
Words are powerful…..
We were sharing stories in our weekly community group recently and half of us had experiences where words altered the path of our life.
As a former business owner, I recognize and appreciate good customer service. On our recent vacation to the Southwest, being free from the normal distractions of work, I was even more in tune with the good and bad of customer service we received. Perhaps it was because I was looking more closely than normal, but I honestly believe we saw extremes.
