What a great start to a new series at Journey.
We started a short series on 3 Old Testament kings that I’m calling “Tools & Fools” because all three of these guys acted the fool and lots of people paid for it. Over the years, you see enough train wrecks in people’s lives. Even though you try and be as positive as you can (after all who needs to come to church just to get bummed out or yelled at?) now and again, if you are going to be faithful to the Bible you got to lay out what is not infrequent on the pages of holy writ: the cautionary tale! There are few other cautionary tales that reach the epically tragic proportions than our boy Saul.
One of the main points that kept seemed to float to the top of the weekend was, SURRENDER. How cool that our worship totally took on that feel! I’d love to say that it was brilliant planning, but if it was, it wasn’t ours.
A question good leaders ask themselves is this: are we really experiencing our values. In this case there are certain things we say our weekend services are supposed to be. Are they really coming off like we hope, pray & plan they will? So when you get some feedback from a person that is new & not steeped in church culture it is super valuable. I got a really encouraging email along those lines after the weekend services. Here’s a little piece of it:
After telling me she hadn’t been to church in years, I asked, “well how did you get to Journey?”
Hi Ed,
It’s a good question and an interesting answer. …Recent events in my life …have inspired me to seek spirituality in hopes of becoming a better person and feeling more connected with God. I have been feeling a loss of purpose lately, and a need for something bigger than myself.
I am 30, a journalist and love the words of the Bible. I love the messages. I love searching for “hidden” messages in the words that relate to everyday life. I went to a few other churches (names 3) but did not feel comfortable. I felt pressured. So, I was skeptical of Journey but came with my best friend, ________. I love the laid-back atmosphere, the “come as you are” vibe, and the way I feel like I can take it all in at my own pace.
I admit, I’m not totally sure HOW to read the Bible, but I bought one the other day. I am thinking about joining your “Group Investigating God” to try and get a better grasp on how I can relate to God in everyday life and use prayer.
That’s a long answer for a short question. 🙂 Sorry about that.
Any advice and/or suggestions for me are totally welcome.
And again, thank you. I really felt inspired by your message and I connected with your delivery.
YES! That’s it!
BETHANY’S ONE & ONLY BIRTHDAY PRESENT: My daughter Bethany is having a B-day this week (Wednesday). She only wanted ONE present from me: for me to go to her Jazzercise class with her. Gulp! So Saturday morning, off I went. Who wants to surf when you can Jazzercise? I don’t like to brag, but I’m really good at it. I do have a hard time with the whole “right/left” distinction. Also just as I was kind of figuring out what to do with my feet, forget the upper body, they would change stuff. I will say this: I had a nice sweat going by the end. Actually, I was thankful that Bethany’s boyfriend Bret showed up so there was someone there almost as clueless as me (he’s like 6’5, but he actually did the moves better than my more low to the ground 5’10 self)
And about that tough question that we skipped over, I plan to write a little more on that in a couple of days, watch for it!
