A Consultation Considered

After a full weekend of interviews, meetings and reporting, I find myself on this Monday after, still in a state of excitement and anticipation. The report Rev. Dr. Doug Talley shared with us yesterday was extremely constructive and I have a good and healthy pride of what God has done through Mooresville Church of God. We have come a long way and this should be celebrated. But a celebration can easily turn into a plateau. Rather than slipping into a state of satisfaction, we need to push on to the goal of having as Doug put it, "greater impact on the community."

A wise man once said, "Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." This is good advice especially when thinking about our dreams and goals for tomorrow. There is no doubt that God is revealing his vision to us for an amazing future. Pastor John's leadership during the last 16 months has been pivotal. I pray that we step up and commit to be fully devoted ambassadors of Christ by accepting the recommendations of the consultation team. I fully believe that this will enable us to jump the life cycle generating a new birth with greater kingdom work in the Mooresville community.

I would like to ask each of you to commit to pray for the next 3 weeks regarding the recommendations by the Consultation Team. Pray that people will put greater faith in God and his Word rather than in their own opinions. Pray that conversations during the next 3 weeks will be edifying and that questions will be appropriately directed to our church leadership. Pray also that Mooresville COG will succeed at being the hands and feet of Christ.

If you have any questions regarding the Recommendations please contact any of the Pastoral Staff.

Committed to the Kingdom,

Pastor Jeremy

Great Rules to Live By

I picked up a John Wooden book on leadership this week and was intrigued with some simple rules that Coach Wooden learned from his father. You won’t find them to be novel in any way. They are a simple set of principles to live by. He calls them, “Dad’s Two Sets of Threes.”

Instructions on Integrity…
1. Never lie.
2. Never cheat.
3. Never steal.

How to face adversity…
1. Don’t whine.
2. Don’t complain.
3. Don’t make excuses.

I had grown up hearing something extremely similar to these rules. The first 3 have always been quite easy for me to follow but the second three convicted me a little bit. More times than I care to admit, I have broken all of the last three rules. I think it’s mostly because there are times when I feel I have a right to whine, complain or make excuses due to the great injustice of adversity. Philippians 2:14 states to, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe…” Paul’s directions to the church at Philippi are still relevant for Christians today. We should be on a journey of becoming blameless and pure having control of our tongue. Too many times have I made situations worse or increased my struggles with adversity simply because I started talking about it in an unproductive way. That’s exactly what these rules safeguard against. When we keep the second 3 rules, it keeps us on the path of becoming rather than prolonging our wallowing in self pity. In addition to afflicting our self through whining, complaining or making excuses we commonly pull someone else into the situation. Usually, this is done behind closed doors with a third party. Most times this only poison groups of people rather than edify them. I believe the only time this can be productive is when someone checks themselves with a confidant rather than anyone who will listen.

Here are some self check questions in regard to how we deal with adversity…

What is your typical response to adversity and setbacks? If venting about a situation is necessary are you sure you are talking to the right person? (The right person would be a confidant who can remain neutral helping you check your reactions) Are you damaging the person you are whining or complaining to? Are you trying to get your listener to be on your side of the argument?

Beginning Sunday, April 11 - Life Hurts / God Heals

I think it will be accepted as fact if I say, "Sometimes life hurts"...won't it?  

I mean life just takes a toll, especially on relationships:  Marriages, friendships, brothers & sisters, parents & children, at work, at home, at church, at school...even our relationship with God shows some wear and tear after awhile.

Many people struggle to trust that God really wants the best for them and their relationships.  In fact, where there has been hurt...He wants there to be healing.  

We will spend a few weeks exploring God's desire to heal what may have been hurt in our relationships.  Here are our topics:

April 11 - God wants to heal our relationship with Him.

April 18 - God wants to heal our relationship with other people.

April 25 we will take a one week break from this series as we invite our Executive State Minister, Dr. Doug Talley, to share with us as a part of our Indiana Ministries Consultation.

May 2 - God wants to heal our own self-image, or you may say, our relationship with ourselves.

We hope you will join us this Sunday, April 4th for our Easter Sunday Celebration!  We will be putting the finishing touches on our Lent Series:  One Month to Live.  And then mark your calendars to be with us beginning April 11th for Life Hurts / God Heals!

In His Grip,

Pastor John