Thursday, November 10, 2011

Vision Week...

last night we took a break from our journey through the life of david to talk about the value of out-of-the-ordinary experiences. about the fact that we need out-of-the-ordinary experiences in our faith journey to change us forever as we come back to the ordinary.

much like jacob as he wrestled with God before as he crossed the jabbok river...we need these experiences.

as because we need these experiences, we are setting up an out-of-the-ordinary experience this coming week. inviting everyone and challenging everyone to come to what we are calling vision week.

the basement at campus house will be completely transformed into numerous different spaces, and will be open 24 hours from monday at 8am until thursday at 9pm, for people to come and encounter God in different ways.

we also have a few other specific things that will be going on, including:

prayer -

there will be 36 hours of continuous prayer happening during the first 36 hours of vision week. we want to have someone in the prayer room here in the building continuously for those 36 hours. we have half hour time slots for people to sign up for. if you were not at dig last night and didn't get to sign up for a prayer slot but would like to, you can send me an email at cchbrad@gmail.com and i can let you know what times are available.

fasting -

we are challenging people to fast next week...to intentionally remove something ordinary from their lives (food or something else) in order to create an out-of-the-ordinary scenario that will cause people to seek God and encounter God.

worship -

worship will happen in a bit of an out-of-the-ordinary way next week as well. monday, tuesday and wednesday nights at midnight there will be low-key, informal, acoustic worship happening in the basement in the midst of the vision week stuff.

meal packaging for people in africa -

we felt lead to bring something into this out-of-the-ordinary experience that would align us with God's heart for social justice. and this opportunity to package meals fell into our laps.

we have set a goal. by the end of next week we want to package 360 meals. the meals we are packaging cost $1.20/package. so, that means that if 60 people will each bring $7.20 we will meet our goal. so, if you will bring cash next week...you will find in the space in the basement an area where literally for every $1.20 you bring you personally will put food into a package, seal it, and put it into a box ready to ship to africa.

community wrap-up thursday @ 9pm -

we want to gather together at the end of this out-of-the-ordinary time together to worship a bit and to share how we have encountered God in different ways.

i believe there is great potential in what this coming week holds. i pray that it will be a time of deepening relationship with God in a way that people walk away with a limp like Jacob did...knowing that they have been forever changed as they continue in the ordinary.

so...it you are around warresnburg, will you consider coming and spending some time in this space during the week ahead?

and if you are not around here, will you consider praying for what is going on here, that people would encounter God in new ways and walk away changed?

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Life of David [1 Samuel 28 & 31]...

last night we looked at the end of the life of saul. the night was sponsored by this guy. and really not so much by this guy...but by his most notable phrase...

"i pity the fool"

the night was brought to us by the phrase "i pity the fool" not because saul was dying...but because as his life was coming to an end, he was convinced that God had turned away from him and would not answer him...when in reality God was right there, but saul's unconfessed sin and disobedience issue was keeping him from connecting with God.

isaiah 59 gives insight to this where it says...

"Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, not his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things."

and so we must ask ourselves...when we feel like God has turned away from us and will not answer us...are there unconfessed sins and disobediences that are keeping us from fully connecting with him.

because we can be assured that if there is sin and disobedience in our lives, it will causes barriers and disconnection with God.

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